"Eunuch Zhang, has His Majesty changed his mind?" a royal guard asked hurriedly.

They didn't want to punish the Crown Prince at all; if he held a grudge, they would all be finished.

“His Majesty has not changed his mind, but this old servant is worried that you warriors might act recklessly and injure His Highness, so I have come to supervise you,” Zhang Shunde said to them with a hidden meaning.

The guards immediately understood his implied meaning.

Thirty strokes of the cane can kill someone, or it can just tickle them; it all depends on how it's applied.

Ye Jingchen understood and breathed a sigh of relief. He fearlessly lay down on the long bench and said to the guards, "That's enough, let's fight!"

The guard picked up the wooden board and reminded Ye Jingchen, "This humble servant is beginning."

Then, Ye Jingchen heard a muffled 'bang'.

The sound was loud, but when the board hit my buttocks, I didn't feel much pain.

As the saying goes, all talk and no action; this guard clearly had mastered the essence of making a fake board.

Normally, even if Ye Jingchen were hit three hundred times with this kind of force, he wouldn't feel anything because he had tied thick padding to his buttocks beforehand.

However, he had been injured in that spot the night before last because of Xie Chang'an's lack of restraint. The beating aggravated the original wound, so it was still quite painful.

Moreover, he also needed to use 'pain' to make his father continue to be soft-hearted towards him.

Ye Jingchen paused for a moment, and when the guard struck him a second time, he let out a scream of "Ah—"

The guard was startled by his shout, and his hand trembled so much that he almost dropped the wooden plank on him.

"Go easy on him! If you hurt His Highness, can you bear the consequences?" Zhang Shunde was also frightened and shuddered, and hurriedly warned the guards who were about to administer the beating.

Guard: ......

Did he use force just now?

With his years of experience in cracking fake boards, how could he possibly make a mistake in the force he applied?

The guards focused their attention and struck again with greater force, but the force they applied to Ye Jingchen's buttocks was less.

"Ah—" Ye Jingchen exclaimed again.

"Why don't you do it?" The guard looked at his colleague, unsure of what to do with the wooden board.

"You come, you come, you're the best at it!" The other imperial guards quickly declined.

Just kidding, they wouldn't take on such a hot potato.

"I'm fine, you can continue," Ye Jingchen said through gritted teeth, with a look of resignation.

The guards who were about to administer the punishment found themselves in an even more difficult position.

How is he supposed to make a move?

"Use the same force you had just used, hit faster, finish as soon as possible and hand it in," Ye Jingchen urged.

He can't stay in Chengqian Palace for too long, or Xie Chang'an will worry.

Moreover, for a certain unspeakable position, it is indeed better to be hit with the paddle quickly and finish the punishment sooner so that he suffers less.

"I'm sorry for offending you!" The guard gritted his teeth and struck the board much faster than before.

"Bang bang bang..." The continuous sounds, along with Ye Jingchen's screams that rose and fell, terrified all the palace servants in Chengqian Palace, who dared not even breathe.

The emperor listened to the sounds of being beaten with a cane and Ye Jingchen's high and low screams coming from outside, and felt extremely distressed.

What's going on with Zhang Shunde and those imperial guards? Don't they have any common sense?

The emperor endured it for a long time, but finally couldn't hold back any longer and strode out of his bedchamber.

Just as he was about to tell the guard to stop, the guard had already put away the wooden board, knelt on one knee, and reported to him, "Your Majesty, the thirty strokes of the cane have been completed!"

The emperor glanced down at the guard and remembered him.

"Your Highness, are you alright? This old servant will summon the imperial physician for you right away!" Zhang Shunde said as he helped the grimacing Ye Jingchen down from the long bench.

Ye Jingchen's expression froze for a moment.

His buttocks were actually fine, just a little sore in a certain spot.

But if the imperial physician were to be summoned, then there would be a serious problem.

Although he couldn't see how many marks Xie Chang'an had left on his back, waist, and below, he could guess from the areas he could see that there must be quite a few marks on the back.

If the emperor saw this, Xie Chang'an would probably be executed along with his entire family.

"No, no, I'm fine! I just screamed a little louder, but it doesn't hurt at all!" Ye Jingchen quickly said.

To prove to the emperor and Zhang Shunde that he was really alright, he pushed away Zhang Shunde's hand that was supporting him and jumped up and down a few times.

These few blows aggravated a wound in a certain area, and Ye Jingchen's face twisted for a moment, but in order not to let the emperor notice anything amiss, he could only force a smile.

"Father, I've been up since early this morning and haven't eaten anything yet. Let me have my meal with you first!" Ye Jingchen limped over to the emperor's side and smiled ingratiatingly at him.

The emperor snorted coldly, feeling that he had been deceived again.

The fact that this unfilial son is still eating at a time like this proves that his injuries are not serious at all, and the screams he heard earlier must have been a lie!

"You are disobedient and unfilial, and you still want to have breakfast? Dream on! I punish you by making you stand to the side!"

"Zhang Shunde, serve the meal!"

The emperor strode into the main hall, and Ye Jingchen quickly followed, his expression subtle.

Standing as punishment is fine, since he can't sit down anyway.

However, the emperor's punishment was quite severe for a foodie, so he still had to make a scene so that the emperor wouldn't suspect anything. He could also use this opportunity to act cute and charming in front of the emperor and appease his anger.

"Father, no!" Ye Jingchen stretched out Er Kang's hand and cried out in a drawn-out, mournful voice.

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