Chapter 290 For every ten steps taken, one stroke of the cane.
Xiao Yeming released the end of the stick, took half a step back, and bowed respectfully: "Your subject greets Your Highness. I have waited all day because my mother has always admired Lady Lu's character and ordered me to come in person to express my desire to marry her. I earnestly hope that Your Highness will grant my request."
A faint, cold sneer flickered across Linglang's lips: "Madam Xiao is very kind. However, Madam Lu has been working hard today and has already retired early. The matter of proposing marriage cannot be discussed in a short time; we can discuss it again tomorrow."
Xiao Yeming knew she was deliberately delaying, and his worry deepened. His words became even more earnest, yet subtly sharp: "Your Highness, please understand! My mother is already at home awaiting good news and has informed the clan, choosing tomorrow as an auspicious day to burn incense and open the temple at the ancestral hall for me to perform the 'asking the name' ceremony. This is a momentous event to comfort our ancestors, and we need to obtain Lady Lu's birthday invitation to complete the ceremony. If we miss the auspicious time, I will be guilty beyond measure! I implore Your Highness to grant me permission to see Lady Lu once, obtain the invitation, and leave immediately!"
A cold glint flashed in Linglang's eyes. She hadn't expected him to use ancestral temple etiquette to coerce her, which clearly meant he had already guessed that she wouldn't let her go.
Her face darkened: "General Xiao! Does your Xiao family's etiquette surpass the rules of my household? I said, we'll discuss this again tomorrow!"
Seeing that she had no room for negotiation, Xiao Yeming abandoned all remaining politeness and straightened his back: "Since Your Highness is determined not to allow it, I have no choice but to disobey and go to find Lady Lu myself to ask for an explanation!"
After saying that, he turned around and resolutely walked towards the hanging flower gate leading to the backyard!
Seeing his resolute demeanor, the guards dared not step forward to stop him.
Linglang was so angry that she laughed instead.
Although she admired Xiao Yeming's talent, seeing that he was so disregarding his future and openly contradicting Lu Zhaoruo, it was clear that he had no feelings for Yunxiu.
Since that's the case, let Yunxiu give up completely, and let Xiao Yeming pay the price!
Her voice was cold and pierced through the night: "Fine! Xiao Yeming, you have already violated the law by trespassing into forbidden territory. But considering your 'sincerity'... I will give you a chance."
Her gaze swept over the guards wielding sticks, and she commanded, "Pass on the order! Since General Xiao insists on seeing me, he shall be allowed to proceed. However, the law must not be disregarded."
She paused, looking at Xiao Yeming's figure, and said, word by word, "For every ten steps you take, you will be punished with a stick! Whether you can make it to Lady Lu's side depends on your own fate."
The guards were all horrified!
It's more than three hundred steps from here to Tingzhu Pavilion!
What does this mean? More than thirty blows with the water and fire sticks! Those sticks are made of solid hardwood. Let alone thirty blows, even ten blows would break the bones of an ordinary person.
This is no longer punishment, but almost a death sentence!
Many of them had heard that General Xiao, at a young age, commanded the navy and fought a bloody battle in Linhai, eradicating the Japanese pirates who were ravaging the coast and ensuring peace for the region.
Privately, who doesn't respect him as a true man?
But at this moment... military orders are as firm as mountains, and government regulations are even stricter.
They dared not, nor could they, disobey the Grand Princess's orders.
Xiao Yeming took a deep breath, suppressed all his emotions, and focused his gaze on the moon gate leading to the backyard. He resolutely took the first step.
One step, two steps, three steps... His footsteps could be clearly heard in the deathly silent courtyard.
The moment the tenth step landed, a sudden gust of wind arose behind him!
"Bang!"
The first blow from the head guard, delivered with a fierce gust of wind, slammed heavily into his shoulder and back.
The force was incredibly strong, and the intention was all too clear: to break his spine and shatter his dignity with a single blow, forcing him to kneel on the ground!
However.
The moment the stick struck, Xiao Yeming's shoulder and back muscles tensed up like iron, and a powerful internal force burst forth, dissolving most of the incoming force.
His body sank slightly, and he stood firmly as a rock, without even the slightest stumble!
The head guard felt a tremendous force of recoil coming from the end of the staff, causing him excruciating pain in his hand and numbness throughout his entire arm!
His pupils contracted sharply, and he was horrified: "This General Xiao... his internal strength is so profound!"
Xiao Yeming silently took another step forward, walking steadily ahead.
Ten steps later, we arrived.
The second blow came whistling down with the sound of wind!
A duller, more muffled thud came from his back.
His figure swayed almost imperceptibly, but his steps had already taken the next step without stopping.
And so he took the eleventh step!
Twenty steps, thirty steps, forty steps, fifty steps, sixty steps... one blow after another, falling in succession, precise and cruel.
Although these guards were far less skilled than him in martial arts, they were all physically strong and trained, and the force they used on their sticks was considerable.
He was able to withstand the initial three or five blows with his profound internal strength, and his body remained intact.
But after ten blows, the powerful internal energy finally began to dissipate under the continuous heavy blows.
The heavy sticks began to pound solidly into his flesh and bones.
By the time the twenty blows landed, his black outer robe was soaked with sweat and blood, clinging tightly to his back.
His face was shockingly pale, and large beads of sweat kept rolling down his forehead.
Twenty-one strokes!
The water-fire stick, carried by the wind, slammed into his waist like an iron hammer!
"Well……"
A muffled groan, suppressed to the extreme, escaped from his throat.
The excruciating pain instantly drained the strength from his legs. Xiao Yeming staggered and lunged forward, about to fall to the ground, but at the last moment, he braced himself with his arm and slammed one knee heavily onto the bluestone slab!
The kneecap struck the stone surface with a dull thud.
His whole body trembled uncontrollably, every wound screamed, and his vision went black intermittently from the excruciating pain.
But the next moment, he used his supporting arm to push against the immense pressure, trembling, inch by inch, to lift his broken body back up!
Even under such torment, that back still held an indomitable stubbornness, struggling to straighten up again, never truly bending!
He continued walking forward.
With each step, a winding, dark red trail of blood and sweat was left behind him.
A young guard could no longer bear to watch and cried out in a trembling voice, "General Xiao! I beg you... bow your head to His Highness! If you continue fighting... you will die!"
But the blood-soaked figure paid no heed to the pleas behind him.
He stubbornly and inching closer and closer to the bamboo grove that rustled in the night wind.
A bolt of lightning tore through the night, illuminating the courtyard as bright as day, followed by a thunderclap that rolled across the sky, sending shivers down one's spine.
Yunxiu, lifting her skirt, rushed into the courtyard without regard for anything else and blocked Xiao Yeming's path: "Xiao Yeming! Are you willing to risk your life for that Lu Zhaoruo?"
Xiao Yeming was covered in blood, sweat mixed with blood dripping down his forehead.
He seemed not to hear her, his empty gaze piercing the darkness, fixed on the direction of the bamboo forest, his steps never faltering, like a wreck driven only by will, staggering straight past her.
Yunxiu felt a sharp pain in her heart from his complete indifference. She turned around and opened her arms to block him again, her voice trembling with tears: "Say something! If you're willing to admit your mistake and apologize to Mother, I'll beg her to stop! Please stop hitting me!"
Xiao Yeming remained silent, dragging his broken body, and tried again to bypass her.
Just as he turned to the side...
The twenty-second blow! Slammed hard into his left shoulder!
"puff……"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the bluestone slab.
His left side collapsed instantly, but he pressed his right hand firmly against his aching shoulder blade, managing to stay upright.
Looking at the glaring crimson blood, Yunxiu finally broke down, crying out, "What's so good about her? Is she worth this? Is she worth risking your life for?"
Xiao Yeming slowly raised his eyes to look at her.
Those once jet-black eyes were now bloodshot, yet deep within them burned a flame of almost devout devotion, one that would never be extinguished.
He spoke, his voice hoarse but forceful: "It is worth it."
These four words, like four red-hot branding irons, pierced through Yunxiu's last shred of hope.
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