As soon as Ye Miaoyun finished speaking, the "Consort Shu" who had fainted immediately opened her eyes.
Qi Yu, however, did not notice that she was looking at Ye Miaoyun with a face full of anger and said, "Ninth Aunt, my grandmother is so old. What are you trying to do by deliberately making her faint?"
"I haven't been in the palace long, so I don't know much about the rules. But... I've heard Granny Hong say that there is only one mistress in the harem, and that is the Empress. The only one who can be your grandmother is the Empress who has already passed away. Princess, you keep calling Consort Shu 'Grandmother.' Doesn't that violate the palace rules?" Ye Miaoyun said with a faint smile.
"What do you, a country bumpkin, know about palace rules?" Qi Yu shouted instinctively, both angry and anxious.
"Yu'er, shut up!" Consort Shu quickly grabbed her granddaughter's hand.
"Granny Hong, is what the princess is doing considered insubordination?" Ye Miaoyun put down her teacup and asked, feigning ignorance.
"Your Highness, in the entire harem, apart from the Empress, you are the most powerful. Now that the Empress is gone, you naturally have the final say. The princess just now humiliated Your Highness, which is not only insubordination but also a violation of palace rules. According to the rules, she should be punished with a beating," said Granny Hong as she curtsied.
"Then... let's give him ten strokes of the cane!" Ye Miaoyun said with a smile, "That's not too much, is it?"
"Your Majesty, it's not much!" Granny Hong nodded with a smile. "Your Majesty is kind-hearted and only punishes you with ten strokes of the cane. It's not too much at all. If it were any other lady in the palace, she would have been given at least thirty or fifty strokes."
Of course, it was always the servants who got beaten. Unless the princes and grandsons of the emperor committed a terrible mistake, they would not actually be punished.
Even if such a rule existed, the most that would be punished was simply kneeling.
"I..." Qi Yu was furious upon hearing this.
Consort Shu held Qi Yu's hand tightly and had the servants beside her help her up.
"Oh, didn't Your Highness just faint? You woke up quite quickly!" Ye Miaoyun said with a half-smile.
These people in the palace just can't see things clearly.
The emperor was already old, yet he still clung to the throne. If he had passed the throne to the former crown prince earlier, none of this would have happened, and he wouldn't have been burdened with the crime of killing his wife and children.
And then there's this Consort Shu, who's over sixty years old. Not only does she cling to power in the harem, but she also wants to help her son seize the throne. Today, she's even scheming against her daughter.
No way!
These people are disrespectful to their elders; they all want to seize power and profit even in their old age, and they refuse to settle down. If they do not have a good end, it is all their own fault.
"Your Highness, please calm your anger. Yu'er just spoke recklessly and angered Your Highness. I apologize on her behalf. I hope Your Highness will forgive her this time, considering her young age," Consort Shu said respectfully while curtsying.
Upon hearing this, Ye Miaoyun glanced at Consort Shu with some surprise.
The people in this palace are really flexible. A woman who is more than 30 years older than her, who has been a principal consort for so many years, actually humbled herself to admit her mistakes and plead for her granddaughter.
No wonder Qi Jiu said that none of the women in the palace were easy to deal with, especially the older concubines, and that he had to be careful of them.
She has witnessed it all today.
Seeing that Ye Miaoyun remained silent, Consort Shu felt helpless.
What can they do when she's the Crown Princess? She can put on airs all she wants.
She had assumed that this woman from the countryside knew nothing and could only be manipulated by the grandmother and grandson, but she never expected to run into such a tough opponent.
At this moment, Consort Shu couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
Granny Hong, who was standing nearby, knew that this stalemate could not continue. Her mistress just didn't want these people to make a fuss and disturb her precious daughter, so she quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
"Your Highness, the Princess is of noble birth and cannot withstand the caning. If she is indeed beaten, the Emperor and Consort Shu will surely be heartbroken. Perhaps... Your Highness should let the Princess return to Ningde Palace to reflect on her mistakes in seclusion!"
“Yes, those who are punished with caning in the palace are all palace maids and eunuchs. Yu’er is, after all, the Emperor’s granddaughter. I hope the Crown Princess will reconsider,” Consort Shu quickly added.
Ye Miaoyun couldn't wait for them to leave. Just as she was about to say something, she noticed something fly out from inside the courtyard wall and crash heavily to the ground.
Everyone was startled. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was a small white cat covered in blood.
"Snowflakes!" Consort Shu exclaimed in shock, "This is my Snowflakes!"
"The Crown Princess said that the kitten wasn't inside. Isn't she just trying to fool us? Xue Rong is covered in blood. It's obvious that she was beaten to death. That's a life!" Qi Yu said loudly.
"My snowflakes." Consort Shu pretended to faint again.
Ye Miaoyun was extremely disgusted when she saw them. She waved her hand, intending to have them driven away, but then she noticed that Zhengzheng flew out from inside.
“Auntie, these people have ill intentions. This little white cat is different from ordinary cats. It has already shown some signs of demonic transformation. Just now, it went berserk and actually rushed into the inner palace, almost touching the restriction set up by my sister. Of course... this little cat is too weak, and I swatted it away with one wing.”
“Since it’s a cat on the verge of demonizing, it can’t be kept alive.” After saying that, Ye Miaoyun looked at the guard beside her and said, “Deal with it.”
"You...you're talking nonsense! My Xue Rong is clearly just an ordinary white cat. How could it have become a demon? It's not a demon. It's just more intelligent and can understand what we're saying, but it's really not a demon," Consort Shu said loudly.
She had raised this snowflake for many years, and it had always been very well-behaved. To her, it was like half a child, and she had to protect it.
“A cat’s lifespan is no more than twenty years, but this cat… it has lived for more than forty years. What else could it be but a demon?” Zhengzheng flapped her wings and said speechlessly, “However… it will take more than a hundred years for it to become a demon completely. To put it this way… although its former owner helped it by giving it a little more spirituality than an ordinary cat, thus setting it on the path of demon cultivation, it was not a complete transformation.”
Therefore, this cat is only beginning to transform into a demon, and has not yet become a true demon.
This road is still very long and far.
"Former...former master!" Consort Shu was somewhat frightened upon hearing this.
"Where did Your Majesty get this cat?" Ye Miaoyun pressed.
Consort Shu was somewhat distraught and didn't dare to utter a sound.
"Colluding with evil spirits is a serious crime. Someone, go and report to the Emperor," Ye Miaoyun instructed the eunuch beside her.
"Yes!" the little eunuch replied.
"Wait!" Consort Shu hurriedly said, "This cat... this cat was given to me by Consort Yi more than ten years ago. When this cat came into my hands, it was a newborn kitten. It is not at all like what this golden eagle said, that it has lived for more than forty years."
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