Chapter 170 Kneeling Punishment
He Ling felt increasingly saddened as she thought about it, and almost buried her face in the plate.
"The male lead is so hard to win over. I can barely even see him a few times. Every time I see him from afar, his eyes are like ice daggers, slicing right through me. Waaah, this mission is practically hellish."
She sniffed, feeling wronged and hopeless, as if her future was bleak.
An electronic voice sounded in my mind at just the right moment.
"The difficulty rating of the mission is S-level. The target character, Huo Lin, has a complex personality and is highly vigilant, which is indeed true."
Upon hearing this, He Ling became even more dejected, and her head slammed back onto the table with a thud.
"but!"
The system's voice suddenly rose a notch, taking on a persuasive tone.
"High risk often comes with high reward, host. Think about it carefully, how many people would kill for this opportunity? Once you successfully win over Huo Lin and become the most honored woman in the Great Liang, what will you have?"
He Ling's ears twitched; she didn't look up, but they perked up.
"Wealth, power, and all the resources of the entire Liang Dynasty are at your disposal. It's not impossible to even change your living environment."
Change your living environment? A small flame suddenly ignited in He Ling's heart.
The system struck while the iron was hot.
"Moreover, host, you possess this system, which is a unique cheat code. As long as you work hard to unlock the advanced shop, you can obtain surprises that will make you thrive."
He Ling's eyes lit up; she seemed to see a bright future where she could have a hot pot in her left hand and a cola in her right.
"So, host."
The system's concluding remarks were delivered with the impassioned fervor of a pyramid scheme leader.
"Don't let the difficulties you face defeat you. Think of the glittering future, think of the change that's within your grasp, and pull yourself together! Step out of this door, and fight! Conquer! Crush that S-level difficulty! Your spicy hot pot and iced cola are beckoning you!"
"Yes! Spicy hot pot! Iced cola!" He Ling slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly, her face flushed with excitement.
"System, you're right. I can't just give up like this. For the sake of food freedom, I'll fight!"
She took a deep breath, straightened her fairly decent palace attire in front of the bronze mirror, and left Chuxiu Palace with a proud and imposing air.
He Ling was so preoccupied with Huo Lin that she didn't pay any attention to what was in front of her.
As soon as they rounded a bend, they nearly collided head-on with a group of people.
The woman at the head was dressed in luxurious clothes, adorned with pearls and jade, with raised eyebrows and a sharp gaze.
"How dare you! Which palace do you belong to? Why don't you immediately bow and give way to the Empress?"
A sharp voice rebuked her; it was the head maidservant beside Consort Li.
He Ling was so frightened that she fell to her knees with a thud, trembling like a leaf: "This concubine, He Ling of Chuxiu Palace, greets Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
Consort Li looked down at the trembling people on the ground with cold eyes.
"These newcomers these days don't understand a single rule." Her tone was filled with disgust. "What are the headmistresses doing? Letting such reckless people run around the palace like this?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! I didn't mean it!" He Ling was so frightened that her voice changed, and she kowtowed repeatedly.
Consort Li waved her sleeve impatiently: "Alright! Since you don't know the rules, kneel here and learn properly! You are not allowed to get up until I give the order!"
She didn't even bother to listen to He Ling's pleas for mercy anymore. Leaving a little eunuch to watch over her, she led her people away.
The sun gradually rose higher, turning from warm to scorching.
He Ling felt her knee gradually go from a stinging pain to numbness, and then to excruciating pain.
Sweat soaked her temples and back, clinging stickily to her body.
"System, help me!" she cried out in her mind. "I'm about to be dried into a dried-up human body."
"Host, please persevere. This is an inevitable test for survival in the harem."
He Ling was on the verge of tears. She felt like a primary school student being punished by being made to stand, but with double the physical punishment.
She regretted it. Why did she listen to the system's nonsense and run out? Wouldn't it have been better to stay in the side hall and lie down?
Time passed slowly, and the sun gradually slanted westward from its zenith.
Just as He Ling was swaying and about to fall, a voice rang out above her head.
"It's you? Why are you kneeling here?"
He Ling struggled to raise her head, and in the bright sunlight, Jiang Huan's figure looked incredibly tall and imposing.
[Waaaaah, radiant golden angel sister, help me!!!]
Jiang Huan frowned as she listened to He Ling's fascinating inner monologue.
It seems they were kneeling so badly that the child started hallucinating.
“Consort Zhuang… Consort Zhuang…” He Ling’s voice was dry and hoarse, trembling with sobs, “This concubine… this concubine offended Consort Li and has been punished to reflect on her mistakes here…”
As soon as she finished speaking, a rigid voice rang out from the side; it was the little eunuch that Consort Li had left to guard her.
"Your Highness Consort Zhuang, Consort Li has instructed that Consort Ling is ignorant of etiquette and must stay here to reflect on her actions. She is not allowed to get up."
Although the young eunuch spoke respectfully, the meaning behind his words was quite clear.
Jiang Huan pondered for a while, then rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment.
The ladies in the palace, both young and old, loved to put on airs. They would punish people by making them kneel whenever they had nothing to do, and their hearts were narrower than a needle tip.
But He Ling and she were not only not friends, they even had a grudge against each other.
She's not a saint either; is it fun to save the common people in the harem every day?
only......
Jiang Huan squinted slightly. The sun was scorching, making He Ling's small face covered in sweat, and her lips were chapped and cracked.
The bluestone slabs were so hard they hurt people. If He Ling knelt down again, her thin arms and legs would probably ruin her kneecaps.
If things get even worse and she faints from kneeling, will the system attached to her become desperate and try something drastic?
What if another big boss spawns later?
For the sake of world peace, Jiang Huan felt it was necessary to lend a helping hand.
She was also thinking of finding out more about the system and seeing if she could get some seeds (referring to the game's content).
"Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. Consort Li is kind-hearted, so she probably won't hold a grudge against a mere concubine for too long."
As she spoke, she bent down to help He Ling.
"Alright, alright, get up. If you keep kneeling, Consort Li will be accused of mistreating newcomers."
The eunuch who was looking at He Ling changed his expression and subconsciously wanted to speak up to stop her again.
But looking into Jiang Huan's calm and serene eyes, he swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Everyone in the harem knows that the Emperor protects Consort Zhuang.
Those of them who were servants, if they dared to hurt her or disobey her, would at the very least face death.
He Ling then successfully grasped Jiang Huan's hands, which seemed to have fallen from the sky. Feeling as if she had been granted a pardon, she almost burst into tears.
But because he had been kneeling for too long, his legs suddenly went weak, his vision went black, and he slumped to the side.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com