A full one hundred strokes, not a single one less.
Even though Zhong fainted after being given sixty or seventy strokes, Bai didn't relent, and the guards didn't dare to relax. They continued until a full hundred strokes were delivered.
Seeing Zhong Shi beaten bloody, the people were all silent and dared not utter a word.
From the moment Zhong was beaten until she finally fainted, Su Muyao watched from the side without any reaction, as if it wasn't her mother who was being beaten.
Seeing Su Muyao's expression, Su Xuening truly felt sorry for Zhong Shi.
Whether it was Su Feiling or Su Muyao, both of them were outrageously indifferent when Su Renyi and Zhong were in danger. These were the good children that Su Renyi and Zhong had raised.
I wonder if Su Renyi and Zhong Shi, when they are sober, will regret passing on their selfish and self-serving character to the next generation.
The guards checked Zhong's breathing and found that she was still breathing. They then reported to Bai, "Reporting to the Dowager, she is still alive."
Bai glanced at Zhong and said, "It's all over now. She's lucky to be alive!"
After finishing her sentence, Bai Shi flicked her sleeves and led Su Xuening back to the Prince's Mansion.
As soon as Bai Shi and Su Xuening left, the guards, some carrying sticks and others carrying stools, all followed them back to the Prince's Mansion.
Zhong was just thrown to the ground with blood everywhere, and no one paid any attention to her.
Only after Bai Shi and Su Xuening left did the onlookers dare to speak.
"This Madam Su is really tough! She's been beaten a hundred times and she's still alive!"
"Yeah, I thought she was doomed this time. She's really tough!"
"Being so lucky isn't necessarily a good thing. The Yong'an Marquis's mansion has been plagued by misfortunes one after another. I wonder if it's because Madam Su is so lucky."
"I heard that the eldest young master of the Su family was crippled and exiled, the third young lady of the Su family was defiled and became a beggar and then shaved her head to become a nun, and the other young lady next to her, a perfectly good girl, had her tongue cut out and became mute. Now even the Marquis of Yong'an has been imprisoned in the Dali Temple. Isn't this woman just unlucky? She's brought bad luck to this whole family!"
Su Muyao listened to what the people were saying, and her gaze toward Zhong Shi turned cold.
However, since Zhong was her birth mother, she couldn't just abandon her. So she took out a few taels of silver and hired two people to carry Zhong back.
Before leaving the Holy King's Mansion, Su Muyao looked back at it one last time.
She will enter this place openly and honestly one day!
Chengqian Palace.
Ye Yun escorted Su Xuening back to the Prince's residence, and only returned to report after watching the commotion: "Your Highness, the Princess Consort has returned to the residence safely."
Xuanyuan Zhan had actually been waiting for him for a long time. He frowned and asked, "Why did it take so long? Did something happen?"
"There are too many things to do. Let me tell you about them one by one."
Ye Yun launched into a long, dramatic account of Su Xuening's encounter with Consort Su upon leaving Chengqian Palace, her subsequent entanglement with Xuan Yuan Yu, and her subsequent clash with the troublesome Zhong mother and daughter upon returning to the Holy Prince's Mansion. The story was told with great vividness and passion.
"In the end, the second wife of the Su family was punished by the Dowager with a hundred strokes of the cane, but she did not die. Later, the fourth young lady of the family paid a few taels of silver to have someone help carry her back."
After hearing all these stories, Xuan Yuanzhan's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
The Su family really has the nerve to cause trouble at the Holy King's Mansion. Do they really think the people in the Holy King's Mansion are all sick cats?
However, Su Xuening was no pushover either. Even if Bai Fuya didn't show up today, the Zhong family wouldn't get away with it.
It's good to have Bai Fuya come out and put order, so that no one will dare to bully Su Xuening in the future.
And then there's Xuanyuan Yu, who's like a persistent ghost. I knew he knew Su Xuening had entered the palace, so he would definitely try every means to pester her, and sure enough, he guessed right.
Even though he knew Su Xuening was already married to him, he still couldn't give up his lustful desires; he was quite persistent!
It's a pity, Su Xuening doesn't like him at all!
Speaking of which, he should thank Xuan Yuan Yu for starting his rebellion. If Su Xue Ning hadn't wanted to avoid Xuan Yuan Yu, she might not have been willing to enter the Holy King's Mansion!
He should thank him in person another day for this kindness!
And then there's Su Huiyan, who tried to trick Su Xuening into revealing information without any evidence. Luckily, Su Xuening is smart.
"Who's hiding behind the pillar?" Xuan Yuanzhan suddenly looked up and asked.
"It is Zhu Yu, Minister of Justice."
Ye Yun knew that the prince would ask questions after he returned and reported back, so he had investigated the matter well in advance.
"Zhu Yu?" Xuan Yuanzhan was somewhat surprised.
This person was both expected and unexpected.
Xuanyuan Peng ordered the three judicial departments to jointly investigate Su Renyi's alleged hiring of an assassin, and Zhu Yu was one of them. Therefore, if Su Huiyan wanted to get information out of Su Xuening, the audience must be one of the three judicial departments.
However, as the Minister of Justice, Zhu Yu should be the most impartial of the three. If Su Huiyan summoned Qiu Ye and Pang Hui, even if they would not agree to her unreasonable demands, at least they would not dare to openly offend her and would have to feign compliance.
But she insisted on going to Zhu Yu. Even if Su Xuening's words were perfectly watertight, Zhu Yu wouldn't admit to anything without evidence.
Furthermore, it's quite strange that Zhu Yu would get involved in this mess.
Ye Yun knew what Xuan Yuanzhan was curious about and reported, "I've also investigated this. It seems that General Su had shown Zhu Yu kindness and support back then. The reason Zhu Yu was able to become Minister of Justice so quickly was not only because of his own strong abilities, but also because General Su helped him a lot back then and strongly recommended him to the Emperor. That's why Zhu Yu was able to become Minister of Justice in less than ten years after entering the court. I guess it's because of General Su's kindness back then that Zhu Yu gives Consort Su some face."
Xuanyuan Zhan hadn't expected there to be such a connection. He had gone to his fiefdom when he was young, and he really didn't know much about these things in the capital.
Xuan Yuanzhan was furious just thinking about it: "It's all thanks to General Su's achievements and kindness, yet his two children, who are his own children, haven't received any benefits because of it. Instead, those two bastards, Su Huiyan and Su Renyi, have taken advantage of General Su's achievements and kindness to receive all sorts of rewards and benefits. Not only that, they even want to put General Su's children to death. It's simply outrageous!"
Seeing Xuan Yuanzhan's indignant expression, Ye Yun said resentfully, "Not to mention you, even the common people who were watching at the entrance of the Holy King's Mansion were all standing up for General Su and our Princess and Young Master!"
Xuan Yuanzhan understood why Xuan Yuanpeng had skipped over Su Xuening and Su Yun'an, attributing General Su's military achievements to Su Huiyan and Su Renyi. It was simply because of the Su family's military power; the military seal of the Su family army was probably in the hands of Su Huiyan or Su Renyi, which was why Xuan Yuanpeng repeatedly favored them.
However, this matter cannot be left unresolved; even the Su family's military seal cannot save Su Renyi.
Xuanyuan Zhan beckoned to Ye Yun, who immediately moved closer.
"Go find a few people and have them arrive at the palace gate first thing tomorrow morning..."
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