Pei Jiuyan pointed at Jiufu's nose and cursed, "You lowly slave, do you know who you are talking to? I am the younger brother of Empress Chunyi, and was personally appointed by His Majesty as Shu Rongze. How dare you tell me to get out? How dare you say such a bold thing?"

Jiufu was equally furious. He had come on behalf of Lu Jinshu to order Pei Jiuyan to leave, and Pei Jiuyan's disrespect towards him was clearly a sign of contempt for his master. A mere servant dared to disrespect the empress; this was sheer rebellion against the Heavenly Gang.

Just as Jiufu was about to go back and ask Lu Jinshu to come out, a servant's announcement came from the direction of the door, "Shangguan Guiyi is here..."

When Pei Jiuyan was talking nonsense in the room just now, Shangguan Xu had been standing at the door and heard all his arrogant words.

Shangguan Xu was always the type who would rather fight than talk. Without a word, he raised his hand and slapped Pei Jiuyan twice. "Do you think Chenyou Palace is the vegetable market in front of your house? You are allowed to shout and yell here. You don't know the slightest bit of etiquette! I think you deserve a beating. If these two slaps don't wake you up, I don't mind giving you a few more."

Pei Jiuyan covered his swollen cheeks with his hands. He looked at Shangguan Xu in disbelief, "How dare you hit me? How dare you?"

Seeing Pei Jiuyan's expression, so shocked she couldn't speak properly, Shangguan Xu's personal attendant, Ru Yan, almost laughed out loud. When their mistress first married His Majesty, she had a truly fiery temper, but now she's much more restrained. But because Pei Jiuyan had only been serving His Majesty for a short time, she didn't understand how difficult Shangguan Xu was to deal with.

Shangguan Xu did not answer Pei Jiuyan's question, but raised his hand and slapped him again.

Pei Jiuyan was so slapped in the face by these consecutive slaps that tears streamed down his face. He screamed, "Shangguan Guiyi, you have gone too far. I will go to His Majesty and ask for justice. His Majesty will not forgive you."

Pei Jiuyan could no longer maintain his relaxed mood. He turned and ran towards the door. He raised his hand to open the beaded curtain, and the next moment, he was thrown into a warm embrace. It was the emperor who had just finished his morning court and hurried to Chenyou Palace to visit Lu Jinshu.

Ling Shumo's brows furrowed in a flash, and she asked in a cold voice, "What's going on with all the yelling?"

Pei Jiuyan raised his head to look at Ling Shumo. He pointed at his swollen cheek, and his tone was full of excitement as if he had found a savior. "Your Majesty, I came here with good intentions to deliver the Lotus Seed, Five Ding Zhi, and Red Date Soup to Empress Lu as per your request. Not only did I not see him, but I was also slapped several times by Shangguan Guiyi for no reason. Look at how badly I've been beaten. If I had been disfigured, I would have been in vain."

Ling Shumo's gaze fell on Pei Jiuyan's cheek, and saw that the swollen part was covered with red blood vessels. If she used a little more force, the skin would be broken.

Seeing such a delicate and charming beauty like Pei Jiuyan being treated so violently, Ling Shumo's face suddenly darkened. "Shangguan Xu, I always thought that you had been cultivating yourself and your character had softened a lot in the past two years. But seeing you today, I can see that your arrogant temper has not changed. You are still so unreasonable. I am so disappointed."

A few years ago, Shangguan Xu would have thrown a tantrum upon hearing Ling Shumo's groundless accusations. But now, he suppressed his temper and said calmly, "Your Majesty, please do not believe Shu Rongze's one-sided account. I am not criticizing him for no reason. His actions have gone too far, and I cannot bear to see them, so I am punishing him."

Jiufu said, "The Queen was worried about the Crown Princess's illness. She was unwell and unfit to see guests, so she asked me to send Shu Rongze back. However, Shu Rongze ignored the Queen's feelings and insisted on barging into her resting place. Shangguan Guiyi happened to see this scene, so he wanted to vent his anger on her behalf."

Pei Jiu cried in disgust, "Originally, I could have asked any servant to bring the lotus seed, five-ding sesame, and red date soup, but I made this trip myself to express my respect and concern for my master, the empress. My kindness has been taken for granted, which is more unfair than Dou E's. Your Majesty, you must intervene for me and punish Shangguan Guiyi. Give justice to a kind-hearted person like me."

Ling Shumo looked at Pei Jiuyan, whose eyes were filled with tears, and recalled the moment she bumped into him in the Imperial Garden last night. He had such a poignant and lonely expression on his face. Compared to the arrogant and domineering Shangguan Xu, he was truly endearing. She couldn't help but pull Pei Jiuyan's hand, saying with pity, "Shangguan Xu is too ungrateful. You've been wronged."

Ling Shumo said, looking up at Shangguan Xu, "You are blaming my concubines without any reason. This is really inappropriate. Go back and reflect on your mistakes for three days."

Pei Jiuyan was overjoyed when he heard Ling Shumo had punished Shangguan Xu, but he still looked disgruntled. He said aggrievedly, "If Your Majesty had come a step later, Shangguan Guiyi would have beaten this servant to pieces. Yet, Your Majesty only let him confine himself to reflect on his mistakes for three days. This is truly too partial."

Shangguan Xu was very annoyed when he saw Pei Jiuyan, who was acting like a good boy after getting the upper hand. He knew that he should be submissive to Ling Shumo at this time, but it was obviously not his fault in this matter. He could not suppress his hot temper and raised his hand to hit Pei Jiuyan again.

Pei Jiuyan's face was filled with fear, but he didn't shy away. He knew that if he received another slap, the emperor's original three-point heartache for him would increase to seven-point. As long as he could win the emperor's pity, what did a few more slaps matter?

At this critical moment, Lu Jinshu's voice came from behind the black lacquered mahogany screen with a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix, "Shangguan Xu, stop it!"

The next moment, Pei Jiuyan saw Shangguan Xu's hand, which was about to land on his face, slowly fall away. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Lu Jinshu wearing a moon-white robe with silver-threaded floral patterns, without a single piece of jewelry.

Lu Jinshu's face was bare, his dark circles under his eyes exposed to everyone's sight. His long hair, like a waterfall, had not been trimmed at all, hanging down in a disorderly manner, and the roots of his hair were dry and frizzy. At such a sudden glance, Pei Jiuyan almost thought he was looking at a male ghost crawling out of hell.