Two hundred strokes? This was an astronomical number for Nan Zhiyun. But she dared not argue, much less beg for mercy. She could only stretch out her hand again. She had used too much force in the previous stroke, and a swollen welt had appeared on her hand.
Yu Jingchen said nothing and struck her with what seemed like five-tenths of his strength. Zhiyun was prepared and managed not to pull back. Seeing this, Yu Jingchen didn't waste a moment and struck three more times, each with the same five-tenths of his strength. But Nan Zhiyun still couldn't take it, and her hands were trembling slightly.
Yu Jingchen watched without saying anything. He probably only had a third of his strength left, but Nan Zhiyun couldn't hold on any longer. After about four more strokes, she withdrew her hand again.
This time, Yu Jingchen was truly enraged and roared, "Stretch it out!"
Nan Zhiyun's hand was already swollen, but she had no other choice but to extend it again. Yu Jingchen, whether out of anger or something else, used all his strength this time. Nan Zhiyun felt like her right hand was about to be ruined; she couldn't even withstand that blow. Tears fell; she wanted to cry, but dared not utter a sound.
"There are still 190 strokes left, why are you crying?" Yu Jingchen looked at her coldly, but this time he didn't urge her to stretch out her hand.
Nan Zhiyun's hands, hidden under her sleeves, trembled. It really hurt, especially the last one; she felt as if her hands had lost all feeling.
"If you can't bear it, then let these palace servants kneeling here bear it for you." Yu Jingchen put down the ruler in his hand.
"Ten lashes each of those kneeling," Yu Jingchen ordered, and the sounds of people being punished echoed throughout the room. Nan Zhiyun's heart clenched painfully.
“Next time you can’t finish copying, or can’t bear it, then they will still be punished for you, but the punishment will be doubled,” Yu Jingchen said.
Nan Zhiyun didn't dare to argue. Her right hand had just been hit, making it difficult even to hold a pen, so how could she possibly finish copying? Yu Jingchen was clearly doing this on purpose; he wanted Nan Zhiyun to remember this punishment and this lesson deeply. He knew very well where Nan Zhiyun's weakness lay, so he used this method to make her wary.
This kind of thing isn't hard to understand. It's like a cat lover: rather than hitting the person, it's better to beat their beloved cat to death right in front of them. This kind of punishment is more profound than anything else; Yu Jingchen has always been this cruel.
If he couldn't bring himself to kill Nan Zhiyun, he had ways to make her suffer even more than if he himself had been punished.
In that brief moment, Xinglai had already had the porridge that Yu Jingchen had the imperial kitchen prepare brought up. Xinglai knew perfectly well who this bowl of porridge was for, so she had it placed directly in front of Nan Zhiyun.
"You haven't eaten all day, and you even spilled the food? Eat now, finish this, or you'll understand the consequences." Yu Jingchen's words left no room for negotiation.
Looking at the porridge in front of her, Nan Zhiyun knew she had no choice but to drink it all. But her hands really hurt... She couldn't bear it. Perhaps it was the humiliation, or perhaps the resentment and anger in her heart, but tears streamed down her face as she ate the porridge. However, she held back her tears, and in the end, she even wolfed it down, not because she was too hungry, but because her emotions were overwhelming.
Nan Zhiyun finished the entire bowl of porridge. She really wanted to throw the bowl away, but with Yu Jingchen watching, she didn't dare. She had nowhere to vent her grievances and anger, and perhaps she felt utterly hopeless.
"After you finish eating, continue copying. Remember, you only have half an hour. After this half hour, you need to copy fifty pages, ten times per page." Yu Jingchen wouldn't allow Nan Zhiyun to bargain.
Nan Zhiyun dared not delay. Even knowing the final result, she wanted to minimize the damage. She picked up the calligraphy brush beside her, but her hand was so swollen and painful that she could barely hold the brush.
Holding this pen to write felt like enduring the punishment once again, but no matter what, Nan Zhiyun had only one choice: to endure it.
But no matter how hard Nan Zhiyun tried, she couldn't reach the goal, and she couldn't finish it. Because she was still injured, she only managed to write about three pages in half an hour.
“You should have written fifty pages, but you wrote eight, so you owe forty pages, which is a total of four hundred and twenty.” Yu Jingchen’s punishments were cumulative, and Nan Zhiyun knew very well that her rebuttal would be ineffective, so she simply stretched out her hand.
Yu Jingchen showed no mercy and struck her hard. Nan Zhiyun did not flinch. Yu Jingchen sneered and struck her several more times. In the end, Nan Zhiyun could not take it anymore.
“If you shrink back, it means you can’t take it anymore. The rest will be done by them, twenty strokes each.” Yu Jingchen continued. These palace servants kneeling on the broken pieces had not only been kneeling for an hour, but had also received thirty strokes to the palm of their hands, but Nan Zhiyun did not dare to say a word of pleading.
Another half hour passed, and clearly, she hadn't finished writing. Nan Zhiyun's hands were swollen beyond recognition, but she still hoped she could endure as much as possible so that the palace servants would suffer less. However, Yu Jingchen clearly saw through her intention, and after only a short while, Nan Zhiyun couldn't take it anymore.
This time, the palace servants were struck thirty times. Nan Zhiyun couldn't hold back any longer. She looked at Yu Jingchen and said, "Why did you do this? I clearly listened to you, why did you still do this?" Nan Zhiyun didn't explode, but was filled with grievances.
"Don't try that on me. You have half an hour left. This time, you'll be punished with caning." Yu Jingchen's expression didn't change at all.
Nan Zhiyun kept looking at him, but she was no match for Yu Jingchen in the end. She was defeated in no time and could only obediently continue copying. She could no longer even hold the pen, so in the last half hour, Nan Zhiyun barely managed to finish copying one page.
Seeing that time was up and he had only copied about twelve pages, Nan Zhiyun was on the verge of collapse. Despairing, she raised her hand, closed her eyes, and Yu Jingchen looked at her already swollen and red hand, but the ruler did not fall.
(There was a slight hiccup, and I missed one day of updates. I apologize. Updates will resume starting today.)
(Finally... surely there's someone who doesn't know that the calligraphy punishment in Chapter 587 involved a car, right?)
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