"Your Majesty, Consort Yin... Lady Yin has arrived." It was someone from the Imperial Concubine's side. Upon hearing this, Yu Jingchen's eyes immediately turned cold.
"Yun'er, wait here for a while. I'll go out and take a look, okay?" Yu Jingchen asked her.
"I also want to go out, I don't want to be alone," Nan Zhiyun replied. She didn't want to stay here alone. This was Yunpeng Palace, which she disliked and was afraid of.
Other palace servants: "..." Are we no longer human?
"There are too many people outside, are you really going to go out like this?" Yu Jingchen didn't refuse, but he felt that Nan Zhiyun's current state was a bit inappropriate, after all, she had been crying quite miserably, with swollen eyes and a dirty face.
"Hmm, not here." Nan Zhiyun still refused.
"Okay, let's go out then." Seeing that she really disliked being here, Yu Jingchen gave in to her wishes and simply picked her up in his arms.
When Yu Jingchen carried Nan Zhiyun out, everyone was stunned. What was going on? Although Nan Zhiyun had spoken confidently just now, she was still too embarrassed to show her face, so she kept clinging to Yu Jingchen and hiding herself.
Yu Jingchen chuckled as he looked at the girl nestled in his arms. She had just said she was okay with it, but now she was backing down. However, the person in his arms was rather small and soft, making him feel tender-hearted. He suddenly felt like he was raising a kitten.
Yu Jingchen went over and sat in the main seat. These people had not left yet. In addition to the noblewomen coming to the palace to offer their congratulations, there were other activities in the afternoon, namely the plum blossom banquet.
Held annually at the end of the year, the Plum Blossom Banquet, as the name suggests, is primarily for appreciating plum blossoms. However, it also carries an underlying meaning: the plum blossom symbolizes unwavering love, elegance, and admiration for one's beloved. Therefore, the Plum Blossom Banquet also serves as a meeting place for daughters of officials and gentlemen of prominent families.
This time, Consort Yan arranged the plum blossom banquet together, so not only did the noblewomen attend, but almost all the eligible young members of their families also came. As a result, there are really a lot of people here now.
However, Yu Jingchen didn't pay much attention to these people; his gaze was fixed on Yin Shi, who was lying on the ground. Bloodstains were left along the path from the doorway to her location, and Yin Shi herself was covered in blood. Especially the hem of her skirt and her hands… those people had been ruthless today.
"Your Majesty..." Lady Yin called out upon seeing Yu Jingchen, probably wanting to beg for mercy.
Yu Jingchen was too lazy to listen to her ramblings about "reasons." The punishment he had just received was for her actually injuring Nan Zhiyun, and now it was time to interrogate her about her crimes.
"Your Majesty," Xia Yi said, kneeling beside Lady Yin. Yu Jingchen looked at him.
"Just now, Her Majesty encountered Madam Yin on the road. She saw Madam Yin beating and scolding the servants. Her Majesty did not want to interfere, but Madam Yin took the initiative to come up to Her Majesty and started to berate her. Her Majesty did not pay much attention to it and ordered the servants to leave. However, Madam Yin was malicious and pushed the little eunuch over, which caused him to bump into the people carrying the sedan chair."
"The palanquin could have been stabilized, but Consort Yin gave it a push, causing Her Highness to fall out. Please, Your Majesty, grant Her Highness justice." Xia Yi recounted what had just happened.
"Who is responsible for serving her?" Yu Jingchen asked coldly, his eyes were cold, but his hands were very gentle, patting Nan Zhiyun gently as if he were coaxing a child.
"Your Majesty, spare us!" The group quickly kowtowed and begged for mercy. These were all people who had just served Lady Yin, including the half-dead little eunuch.
It was so cold, and he was dressed so thinly that he looked like he was about to collapse from kneeling on the ground. Yu Jingchen didn't say much, focusing on comforting the girl in his arms.
"If the master makes a mistake, and the servant fails to stop him in time, that is also a mistake," Yu Jingchen said coldly. If it were anything else, he might not necessarily blame the servant, since servants have no say in their master's affairs. But this time, he wanted to take his anger out on the servant.
Putting aside the fact that Nan Zhiyun was injured this time, Yu Jingchen knew what kind of servants she had in the past, but he didn't care. If he didn't care, then whatever others did was irrelevant to him, since there were quite a few people like that in the palace.
It's a pity that this time I've run into his minefield. Since that's the case, then we'll have to settle both the old and new scores together.
"Your Majesty, spare us! Your Majesty, spare us!" These people were truly terrified. How could they possibly withstand Yu Jingchen's methods? Everyone knew that if Yu Jingchen truly wanted to punish someone, it would be a truly cruel and outrageous torture.
"Imprison them all in the Department of Cautious Punishment and treat them as criminals who have died as slaves," Yu Jingchen said casually, deciding their final fate.
When Nan Zhiyun heard the words "Careful Punishment Division," her body trembled, and Yu Jingchen noticed it.
"Don't be afraid, it's alright." Yu Jingchen felt reassured. He knew that Nan Zhiyun was probably thinking about what had happened when she was punished and sent to the Shenxing Division.
Nan Zhiyun moved slightly and looked into Yu Jingchen's eyes. She was indeed afraid of that place.
"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw that Nan Zhiyun was no longer close to him, but was still looking at him.
Nan Zhiyun shook her head, tilted her head slightly, and looked at the people below, but before she could see them clearly, Yu Jingchen covered her eyes.
"There's nothing to see, don't dirty your eyes," Yu Jingchen said.
Nan Zhiyun grabbed Yu Jingchen's hand that was covering his eyes, but didn't move.
"Your Majesty..." Nan Zhiyun's voice had not yet recovered.
"Hmm?" Yu Jingchen responded when she called him.
"Your Majesty, I wish to see..." Nan Zhiyun did not pull down Yu Jingchen's hand, but told him this instead.
Yu Jingchen frowned. The current situation wasn't appropriate. What if she got scared? She was timid to begin with.
"I think," Nan Zhiyun made her stance clear.
Yu Jingchen sighed and lowered his hand. Nan Zhiyun turned her head slightly and saw the scene below. Hmm... Madam Yin's appearance was indeed somewhat eerie.
Nan Zhiyun glanced at them. These servants had basically been serving by Madam Yin's side all along, and had made their presence known to her quite a bit...
Nan Zhiyun pursed her lips; Yu Jingchen thought she would plead for him. But… unexpectedly, Nan Zhiyun asked one of the people below, “Why were you punished?”
Yu Jingchen looked over and saw that Nan Zhiyun was asking about the little eunuch who had been beaten and scolded and was half-dead.
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