punish
Jiang Yan definitely chose the wrong path.
The path on the left is a winding path. If you go straight, you can cross the arched bridge and reach the brightly lit banquet in the blink of an eye. But instead, you have to walk more than twice as far to reach the arched bridge.
As she dragged her tired and frightened body onto the arched bridge, she was spotted by Wu Lanyu, who was looking in her direction.
"Look! Isn't that Consort Liu?" Wu Lanyu was so excited that she stood up and pointed with her right index finger.
The banquet was held on the shore of Emerald Lake, and colorful lanterns were placed on the lake to create a pleasant atmosphere.
The river lanterns illuminated Jiang Yan's figure very clearly.
When Wu Lanyu shouted this, everyone looked over curiously, including Princess Xiao Yiqing, who also raised her upper body slightly and looked over with her eyes wide open.
Shangguan Zeyu had a faint smile on his face, his right hand constantly playing with the light pink, translucent teacup, and he also looked over.
Jiang Yan's physical condition was never very good to begin with; he would be out of breath as soon as he ran. Now, using Liu Ruyi's body, his condition was even worse.
She only quickened her pace a few steps before she broke out in a sweat, her legs began to tremble uncontrollably, and her head felt dizzy, as if she were about to faint from holding her breath.
My goodness, what a terrible body this is! It's not even as good as hers!
The arched bridge was uphill, and quite steeply so. Jiang Yan held her breath and barely made it to the top of the bridge. She was panting so badly that she collapsed onto the bridge, letting it carry her so she could catch her breath.
Wu Lanyu thought she was going to jump into the river and exclaimed, "She wants to jump into the river!!"
Wang Qianqian turned her head and looked over without paying attention, squinting as she looked: "Sister, you must have bad eyesight. Consort Liu is clearly panting, how could you tell that she is going to jump into the river?" She gave her a meaningful look.
Wu Lanyu stopped talking and sat down obediently.
Shangguan Zeyu noticed the subtle interaction between the two women, smiled slightly, and continued to look at Jiang Yan.
Xiao Yiqing also noticed Jiang Yan's behavior, frowned, and said with concern.
"Why is Sister Liu so frail? How will she bear the prince's child in the future?"
Wang Qianqian said, "Yes, what the Princess Consort said is absolutely right. Sister Liu is already panting like this after only walking a few steps. If outsiders saw this, they would think that our royal family has mistreated her!"
Xiao Yiqing looked at Shangguan Zeyu with concern: "Your Highness, what should we do?"
Shangguan Zeyu didn't care and said, "It must be because she's lazy and doesn't like to work. Otherwise, how could she be like this? I'm relieved that the princess is kind-hearted and worried about her, but she still needs to take care of her own health. The princess just needs to take good care of herself."
He hugged Xiao Yiqing again with a look of heartache.
Wang Qianqian glanced at the air and lazily drank the water in her teacup.
Wu Lanyu, along with the other three ladies, were still staring at Jiang Yan.
Why did the music stop?
Why aren't you joking around anymore?
Has the banquet begun or ended?
The thought that the banquet might be over suddenly energized Jiang Yan, who stared intently into the distance.
But because the view was obstructed, I could only vaguely see that there were still people sitting there, and my mood immediately plummeted into despair.
It seems I have no choice but to attend this banquet today!
They might have been waiting for her all along.
She has already missed the banquet, and she will surely be punished when she arrives!
Ugh, what a mess! I wanted to take a shortcut to get away from Shangguan Zeyu, but I never expected this to turn out like this... Ugh, I'd better hurry up and get there!
Jiang Yan didn't dare linger on the arched bridge any longer. Lifting her skirt, she took a deep breath and ran down, reaching the banquet in one breath.
Sure enough, everyone was there, each one looking preoccupied, as if they were going through some kind of hardship.
Jiang Yan locked onto Shangguan Zeyu, but could only see half of his body. Moreover, because her head was spinning, she couldn't even see his half-body figure clearly.
"Your Highness, I am late!" Jiang Yan mustered her courage and ran to Shangguan Zeyu's side. With a "plop," she knelt down at his feet and kowtowed.
Shangguan Zeyu smiled faintly at her, and there was a strange charm in his eyes.
But he didn't say anything. Instead, he gave her a deep look before going back to playing with the teacup in his right hand.
What happened?
Did she really commit a heinous crime?
She didn't do it on purpose. She just didn't know the way and accidentally arrived late.
Jiang Yan thought for a moment, then quickly kowtowed again, begging for mercy: "Your Highness, spare me! I didn't mean to be late. I just got lost."
However, Shangguan Zeyu ignored her and calmly drank his tea.
What happened? Can't you forgive her? Do you really want her dead?
Jiang Yan immediately thought of the scenes in TV dramas where villains are torn apart by five horses and executed by slow slicing. He was so frightened that his mind went blank, and he grabbed Shangguan Zeyu's legs with both hands in a daze.
"Your Highness, spare me! Spare me! I really didn't mean it! This is my first time here, and I don't know the way."
Wang Qianqian sneered: "Sister Consort, you must be joking. You were here just a few days ago, didn't you? Don't you remember?"
"This..." Jiang Yan was truly terrified, terrified that Shangguan Zeyu would order her execution, so her mind went blank with fear.
Xiao Yiqing looked at Jiang Yan and noticed Jiang Yan's hands on Shangguan Zeyu's knees. Her expression suddenly turned sinister and her eyes turned cold.
"Your Highness, since Sister Liu has made a mistake and is willing to correct it, why not give her this chance?"
Shangguan Zeyu remained silent, only giving Xiao Yiqing a slight smile of agreement.
Xiao Yiqing said seriously, "Consort Liu, since you don't know the way, then let my personal maid Chunhua lead you through it again, shall we?"
Upon hearing this punishment, Jiang Yan was afraid something might go wrong, so she quickly said, "Yes, yes, yes, I'll go right away." and prepared to get up.
However, because Liu Ruyi's health was really poor, she had exerted a lot of effort to get here. She had just kowtowed several times despite feeling dizzy. When she suddenly stood up, she saw stars and felt unsteady on her feet. She lost consciousness.
"How dare you! You dare to offend His Highness!!" Xiao Yiqing's stern rebuke quickly reached her ears.
She regained some consciousness and vaguely sensed that she was holding something, so she gently touched it with her hand...
It's Shangguan Zeyu's head!!!
Oh my god, is she going to die?
How could you hold his head?
Jiang Yan was terrified and quickly let go of his hand, then retreated backward, but because of his weakness, he fell to the ground.
Shangguan Zeyu glanced at her, his expression unreadable.
However, because she was too terrified, she kept her eyes down and missed Shangguan Zeyu's gaze and the opportunity to see his face clearly.
Shangguan Zeyu got up and left without saying a word.
Xiao Yiqing stood up in a panic and called out to him, but he did not stop and insisted on leaving.
Xiao Yiqing vented all her anger on Jiang Yan: "How dare you, Consort Liu! How dare you touch the Prince's head so casually? Do you know your crime?"
Jiang Yan had managed to kneel properly on the ground.
She tried to explain herself, but she was speechless, because Xiao Yiqing had unilaterally placed the blame on her.
"Consort Liu has disregarded etiquette and offended His Highness. I hereby order that Consort Liu be confined for one month!"
Jiang Yan's head was buzzing. She heard what she said, but didn't know how to react.
"Hmph! Vulgar!!" Xiao Yiqing said coldly and left.
Jiang Yan was very puzzled. How was she vulgar? She hadn't done anything wrong.
Wang Qianqian walked up to her and said sneer, "Consort Liu, you brought this on yourself. You can't be so impatient to please the prince! Haste makes waste! Humph!"
She wasn't trying to curry favor with Shangguan Zeyu! Which eye of hers saw that? Nonsense! She clearly just blacked out and fainted!!
"Your Highness, the Prince, Princess, and other ladies have all left. Please get up as well."
Jiang Yan let her carefully help her up.
"Who are you?"
"Your Highness, this servant is Chunhua, Your Highness's personal maid."
Upon hearing that it was someone from Xiao Yiqing's side, Jiang Yan subconsciously broke free from her support and retreated to the side in a hurry and fear.
Chunhua: "Your Highness, this servant is acting on the orders of the Princess to guide you on your way."
"What?" Jiang Yan was not surprised at all.
She thought that Xiao Yiqing had already put her in solitary confinement and wouldn't do this again, but she never expected that he would do it again!
Is this going to kill her?
"That Chunhua, I'm not feeling well, so let's call it even for today." Jiang Yan smiled obsequiously, trying to play the victim to Chunhua in hopes that she would let her off the hook.
But Chunhua was very firm: "Your Highness, this is the Princess's order. I dare not disobey. Please do not make things difficult for me."
Ha, in a difficult position? How have I put you in a difficult position? You're the one putting me in a difficult position!
Exhausted, Jiang Yan had no energy left to argue with Chunhua. Dragging his weary body, he slowly walked back, saying, "Lead the way!"
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