Nan Zhiyun's heart jumped. She didn't know if Yu Jingchen would believe her, and she was afraid that Yu Jingchen's hard-won change of attitude would change again because of this incident.
Those around them, upon hearing of Yu Jingchen's arrival, wore expressions of schadenfreude, clearly enjoying the spectacle. After all, even for the smallest mistake Nan Zhiyun had made, Yu Jingchen would find ways to punish her. How much more so now, with something as serious as witchcraft.
Yu Jingchen soon came into everyone's view, and all the concubines of slightly lower rank knelt down.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," everyone began to bow and greet.
Yu Jingchen didn't say a word and walked through the crowd on his own. Since he didn't speak, the people below didn't dare to stand up, and the atmosphere in the entire hall instantly became tense.
Yu Jingchen's gaze swept around the crowd below, finally landing on Nan Zhiyun, who was kneeling in the middle.
"Get up," Yu Jingchen said.
Everyone stood up, except for Nan Zhiyun.
But then... "Kneel down!" Yu Jingchen's tone was icy. The concubines, including those of high rank, instinctively knelt. The sound of their knees hitting the floor was painful.
"I just called for her, why are you all moving around? I told you to get up!" When Yu Jingchen mentioned "her," he saw that he was referring to Nan Zhiyun, so it was obvious that he had only called for Nan Zhiyun to get up.
"Your Majesty, please forgive us!" everyone shouted in unison. Even though they couldn't believe it, no one would have thought that Yu Jingchen had called out to Nan Zhiyun in that situation. But now was not the time to talk about it, so they could only hold back.
"Get up," Yu Jingchen said again.
This time, the concubines dared not move again, looking left and right but not daring to actually stand up. Nan Zhiyun wasn't sure if Yu Jingchen was talking about her, but... she still stood up.
result……
"What? Apart from her, do you all enjoy kneeling so much? Or are you all too incapable of standing up?" Yu Jingchen coldly swept his gaze over the people below.
Just as these people were about to speak, Yu Jingchen did not give them the chance.
"Since that's the case, there's no need to get up. Kneel. I see you all have quite a bit of free time." Yu Jingchen sat down in the seat of honor.
Everyone: "..." They had an idea, but they couldn't believe it, nor dared to say it...
However, Yu Jingchen didn't care what they were thinking. Instead, he looked directly at Nan Zhiyun and asked, "Did you make this?" Yu Jingchen glanced at the doll and asked, his expression calm and unremarkable.
Nan Zhiyun was always ready to kneel, but Yu Jingchen yelled at her, "If I didn't tell you to kneel, you'd better answer standing up!"
Nan Zhiyun stiffened slightly, not daring to disobey, so she remained standing. However... everyone else in the room except her and Yu Jingchen was kneeling, which made her feel uncomfortable and uneasy.
"Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly. I truly have not done such a thing, and..." Nan Zhiyun's tone was somewhat hurried, and she wanted to continue speaking, but was interrupted by Yu Jingchen.
"If you didn't do it, you didn't do it. Why are you so agitated?" Yu Jingchen said, sounding impatient.
"Your Highness, please get up," Yu Jingchen changed the subject.
The Imperial Concubine didn't know what Yu Jingchen meant, but after hearing Yu Jingchen's words, she said, "Thank you, Your Majesty," and stood up.
"What do you think?" Yu Jingchen asked.
"The matter has not yet been fully investigated, so I dare not make any rash conclusions," the Imperial Concubine replied politely.
"Then you still want to investigate like this?" Yu Jingchen asked again.
"Well... perhaps I should have someone investigate the remaining fabric from this brocade weaving?" the Imperial Concubine asked tentatively.
"If it were that easy for you to find out, would you even believe the result yourself?" Yu Jingchen's tone was slightly cold.
"Your Majesty is foolish and does not understand what Your Majesty means..." the Imperial Concubine asked.
"After all, this thing was found in Ya Jing Ju, so let's punish Consort Nan with three days of confinement," Yu Jingchen said casually. But... just like that? Just like that? So lenient? So lenient? That's it?
No one could believe this was the final result... well, of course not, because there were still a number of people who hadn't been dealt with.
Yu Jingchen's gaze fell on the people kneeling below: "You all seem to have nothing better to do. In that case, after you return to the palace, each of you should copy the Precepts for Women twenty times, and do it while kneeling."
"Furthermore, I heard that this morning Consort Yin and... Consort Shu clashed with the Imperial Concubine?" Yu Jingchen looked at Consort Yin below. As for why it wasn't Consort Shu, sorry, he didn't know which one it was.
"Your Majesty, you are wise. This concubine has never offended the Imperial Concubine. This concubine..." It was Consort Shu. No wonder she's a beauty; look, isn't she just a fool?
As expected, Yu Jingchen said without any mercy, "Did I give you permission to speak?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me, I didn't mean it, I..." Before Shu Meiren could finish speaking, Yu Jingchen ordered, "Slap her fifty times, demote her to commoner status, and send her to the Cold Palace. Take her far away before carrying out the punishment." Yu Jingchen was already impatient.
After that, no matter how much Shu Meiren struggled, it was no use, because she had already been pulled down.
As for Yin Xiuyi... she dared not utter a sound.
However, how could Yu Jingchen be the kind of person to show favoritism? He immediately ordered: "Consort Yin is demoted to a low-ranking concubine and confined to her quarters for one month."
"Your Majesty?!" Consort Yin couldn't help but exclaim.
But when she saw Yu Jingchen's eyes, she dared not continue speaking.
"Yes, Your Highness knows your fault." Consort Yin was unwilling to accept it.
The Imperial Concubine stood by, seemingly unconcerned, after all... just because someone had contradicted her? Who would believe that?
"Alright, let's leave it at that. Everyone, step back." Yu Jingchen gave the final order.
"Your Majesty, I take my leave," everyone said, and then they all left.
Even after everyone had left, Nan Zhiyun was still in a daze. Was it really over?
"Are you stupid?" It was Yu Jingchen's voice that finally brought Nan Zhiyun back to her senses.
“Your Majesty…” Nan Zhiyun lowered her head.
"You can't stand not causing trouble every day. What would you have done if I hadn't come to handle this?" Yu Jingchen's tone wasn't very good, but it was hard to tell if he was just pretending...
"I'm sorry," Nan Zhiyun said, not daring to look up at Yu Jingchen. Yu Jingchen's cold expression suddenly became unbearable.
This incident also happened in his previous life, but not in the present. Yu Jingchen remembered that after this incident occurred in his previous life, he didn't even come over and condemned Nan Zhiyun without asking a single question.
If it weren't for the Empress Dowager and the Nan family, he probably would have executed Nan Zhiyun directly. But it was precisely because of this that he became increasingly dissatisfied with Nan Zhiyun. It seems that he punished Nan Zhiyun with a beating that time, without saying much, only saying... "Just leave her with a breath left."
————————Although it's only one chapter, it's equivalent to two chapters, hehe.
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