Yu Jingchen never spoke while eating, and Nan Zhiyun sat beside him alone, not daring to make any other movements. She would simply eat quietly as soon as Yu Jingchen served her food.
Nan Zhiyun was indeed hungry. At first, she was trembling with fear while eating. But later, perhaps because Yu Jingchen appeared calm, her grievances gradually dissipated, and she focused on eating what was in front of her.
There's a rule when dining with Yu Jingchen: they can only start eating after Yu Jingchen has started, and if Yu Jingchen stops eating, everyone else has to stop too.
As Xinglai served Nan Zhiyun the food, he secretly thought to himself, "Your Majesty, you're eating really slowly today. Shouldn't you have stopped eating by now?" If even he, the personal steward, couldn't figure out what was going on, then he would have been working for nothing, and not only that, he might even lose his head.
Fortunately, it was noticeable that His Majesty only stopped eating after Consort Shu slowed down her pace. Seeing that Yu Jingchen had stopped eating, Nan Zhiyun naturally couldn't move either, though she had almost finished eating herself.
"Remove it," Yu Jingchen said, then stood up, and Nan Zhiyun could only stand up as well.
Yu Jingchen didn't say a word and went straight to sit down. Nan Zhiyun stood to the side, feeling helpless. She didn't even know if Yu Jingchen was still angry or if he would punish her.
"Your Majesty, Consort Shu still has injuries on her hands and feet. The imperial physician has just brought over all the ointments and other medicines," Xinglai reminded her.
"What does this have to do with me? Do you expect me to apply medicine for her?" Yu Jingchen's tone remained unchanged, just as awful.
But who was Xinglai? He naturally understood the implication. So he summoned Qianxia, Nan Zhiyun's maid, and asked her to come in and apply the medicine to Nan Zhiyun.
Qianxia had been outside the whole time, unaware of the situation inside. Now that she could finally come in, she felt a little relieved. Xinglai was also speechless. Who told this palace maid to talk so much and easily dislike His Majesty? So he had no choice but to have Qianxia kept outside every time.
"Your Highness, please sit for a while and apply the medicine first." Fortunately, he knew that without His Majesty's permission, His Highness would certainly not dare to do it. But now His Majesty had clearly acquiesced, so he took it upon himself to do so.
Nan Zhiyun carefully observed Yu Jingchen's reaction. Seeing that he didn't say anything, she dared to sit down next to him. Qianxia brought out the ointment. Nan Zhiyun had abrasions on her left hand and her foot was also injured from being hit by a candlestick. Although they weren't too serious, Qianxia didn't dare to be careless.
Nan Zhiyun is afraid of pain, but because Yu Jingchen was there, she endured it. Fortunately, the medicine didn't hurt too much when applied and was still within her tolerance.
After Qianxia finished treating Nan Zhiyun's wounds, Nan Zhiyun's hands were wrapped in a thin layer of gauze. Yu Jingchen "inadvertently" glanced over and found the gauze inexplicably displeasing.
"Tear it down," Yu Jingchen said.
"Tear it down?" Qianxia hesitated, but dared not say anything.
"Your Majesty, Consort Shu's hands are badly chafed, some even on her wrists. The fabric of her clothes is prone to chafing, so we used gauze to help it heal faster," Xinglai quickly interjected.
Yu Jingchen frowned, clearly dissatisfied. Seeing this, Nan Zhiyun looked at Qianxia and nodded gently.
"Your Majesty..." Qianxia felt sorry for her and didn't move her hands.
"Forget it, it's not a big problem. Let it be demolished," Nan Zhiyun sighed inwardly, feeling a sharp pang of sadness. But since Yu Jingchen had spoken, how could she dare disobey?
“Yes…” Qianxia felt aggrieved and gave in. Just as she was about to take it apart, Yu Jingchen spoke up: “No need to take it apart, just leave it ugly.”
...Alright, Your Majesty, you are the emperor, whatever you say goes.
Qianxia lowered her hand, and the room fell silent again. Why was it so awkward? Xinglai didn't even know what to say.
"Go get some paper and a pen." Yu Jingchen's voice broke the silence in the room.
"Yes," Xinglai replied. Although she didn't know what His Majesty wanted to do, she could only obey since he had given the order. On the other hand, Nan Zhiyun, who was standing next to her, was uneasy. It had been so long today, but Yu Jingchen still hadn't punished her, so she was afraid that she would have a hard time later.
Fortunately, he quickly brought over paper and pen.
"Your Majesty, the paper and pens have been brought over." Fortunately, they brought quite a lot.
"Put it on that table over there," Yu Jingchen said after glancing at it.
"Yes," Xinglai said, laying out the paper and preparing to grind the ink, but Yu Jingchen stopped him, saying, "You don't need to grind the ink."
Upon hearing this, Xinglai withdrew his hand; he could roughly guess who it was prepared for.
Sure enough, Yu Jingchen turned his gaze to Nan Zhiyun: "You've slept all day, so you don't need to sleep tonight. Go and copy it." Yu Jingchen said.
Copy? Copy what? Nan Zhiyun was a little confused. There was nothing here except for writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. What was she supposed to copy?
She couldn't speak, so Xinglai asked on her behalf.
"Your Majesty, what should Consort Shu copy?" Xinglai asked.
"Copy down all the mistakes you made these past few days. Didn't we talk about them quite a bit today? Copy them all down, a hundred times." Yu Jingchen calmly sipped his tea, but Nan Zhiyun became frightened.
How could she dare to write down what she said today? She only said it once and it was already... She naturally understood what Yu Jingchen meant, how could she dare to copy it?
"What? You don't dare? You're not even afraid to speak up, so why would you be afraid to copy?" Yu Jingchen looked at her. Nan Zhiyun knelt down, begging for mercy. Yu Jingchen knew what she meant.
“We dare not, but there’s nothing we can do. You have to be punished for your mistakes. Haven’t you made enough mistakes today? We didn’t do anything to you just now. Did you think you could get away with it?” Yu Jingchen said to Nan Zhiyun.
Yes, Nan Zhiyun naturally knew that Yu Jingchen hadn't really punished her today, but she didn't dare to copy those words.
"How many sheets of paper did you take?" Yu Jingchen suddenly asked.
"Your Majesty, there are ten," Xinglai replied.
"Go get more, make it a hundred sheets." After saying that, Yu Jingchen said to Nan Zhiyun, "Copy ten sheets for each mistake. Tonight, make a hundred sheets. If you're short one sheet, you'll get ten lashes on the hand. If you miss one mistake, you'll get ten strokes of the cane. You can decide for yourself." Yu Jingchen had many methods.
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