"There's no need for you to trouble yourself, Consort Li." Yun Chaoxi smiled slightly. "I'll be going now."
"Stop!" Consort Li shouted. "Who told you to leave! You haven't learned proper manners at all. You pretended not to see me when you saw me, and after you bowed, I didn't tell you to get up, but you got up on your own."
"I thought the Prime Minister's daughter would be a model of virtue among noble ladies, but I didn't expect her to be nothing more than that, just a beautiful woman in name only."
Yun Chaoxi finally understood that Consort Li had a lot of grievances against her and had come specifically to find fault.
Before entering the palace, she was a pampered young lady at home, so there was no reason for her to swallow her anger towards these people with ulterior motives after entering the palace.
She immediately retorted, "At least I have good looks, and my etiquette and manners were taught by the palace matrons. Although they are not outstanding, they are not wrong either. Unlike Consort Li, who seems to be ten years older than me? As you get older, you need to take better care of your skin. It seems that you have two wrinkles at the corners of your eyes."
"Fortunately, His Majesty never lights lamps when he summons you, otherwise I would lose interest as soon as I see your face."
Consort Li subconsciously touched the corner of her eye.
"you!"
Yun Chaoxi's words were like poison, and Consort Li's face turned red with anger but she couldn't find a way to refute Yun Chaoxi's words. She was immediately furious and embarrassed, as if she had caught Yun Chaoxi in a compromising situation.
"Your words were disrespectful. A mere concubine offends a high-ranking imperial concubine. I pointed out your faults and you talked back. Today I am going to punish you and teach you a lesson! Even if the Empress Dowager hears this, I will be right."
"And this food box, you think of currying favor with the Emperor as soon as you enter the palace. I can't stand arrogant people like you."
Consort Li rushed in front of Zhu'er, snatched the food box, and threw it to the ground.
The lid of the box was lifted, and the plate containing the pastries inside shattered, with sharp shards of porcelain scattered on the ground.
Consort Li pointed to the broken porcelain shards on the ground, "Today, I will punish you by making you kneel on these shards for one hour."
After saying this, she gave a wink to the palace maids behind her. The maids understood and stepped forward one after another.
"Your Highness!" Zhu'er anxiously tried to rush forward to protect Yun Chaoxi, but was stopped by two palace maids of Consort Li.
The other two palace maids held Yun Chaoxi down, forcing her to kneel.
Yun Chaoxi narrowed her fox-like eyes slightly, about to flick the silver needle hidden in her hand, when she caught a glimpse of a bright yellow figure out of the corner of her eye.
Yun Chaoxi calmly put the silver needles back into her small space, her expression suddenly turning aggrieved, and she squeezed out a few tears.
“Sister Li Pin, I was just reminding you that you have wrinkles around your eyes and that you should take better care of them. I didn’t mean to mock you. Just now, you were in the flower bushes, and your clothes were the same color as the yellow flowers. Your complexion was also sallow. I was in a hurry and didn’t notice you.”
"But these pastries are something I carefully prepared all morning to deliver to the Emperor. The Emperor ordered me to go there at noon, but now the appointed time has passed. I'm afraid the Emperor will be angry if he doesn't see me. Sister, could you let me go to the Imperial Study and then kneel as punishment when I come back?"
Consort Li was furious. This little vixen was pretending to be weak, but every word she said was actually a veiled insult.
"You bitch! You little hussy, you think you can cause trouble just because you have a bit of looks?" She rushed forward, trying to kick her knee to force her to kneel down.
A figure in bright yellow strode over, walking with a gust of wind. In the blink of an eye, he rushed between the two, kicked Consort Li aside, and pulled Yun Chaoxi into his arms to protect her.
Yun Chaoxi trembled silently in his arms, her small hands tightly clutching his clothes. "Your Majesty, you've finally come. I was so scared. Consort Li was so fierce."
Yun Chaoxi herself felt like a pure white lotus after hearing these words.
Chu Xiao couldn't bear to see her crying and saying she was scared, so he gently patted her back to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
He had been waiting for her in the Imperial Study, but he hadn't been able to concentrate on reading the memorials all morning. Finally, after a quarter past noon and still no one had come, Chu Xiao couldn't sit still any longer and decided to go and see what was going on.
Unexpectedly, she ran into Consort Li bullying her in the Imperial Garden.
He turned to look at Consort Li, his eyes cold, his voice filled with anger, "Consort Li, who are you calling a slut?"
Consort Li hurriedly got up, ignoring the pain in her body, and knelt in front of Chu Xiao, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
"Just now, I saw Consort Yun speak rudely and disrespectfully, and she not only mocked me for being old and ugly, but also said that my complexion was so yellow that I was unrecognizable!"
"I was thinking of giving her a small punishment to teach her a lesson, making her kneel for an hour to remember it."
Chu Xiao: "What? What she said isn't true? Where does this sarcasm come from?"
Consort Li, "..."
Consort Li almost cried. Was she really just an ugly woman in the Emperor's eyes?
"Your Majesty... I did not wrong her. She was arrogant and defiant towards me just now, and I couldn't stand it..."
"Shut up! I have eyes and ears. Just now you were clearly acting like a shrew, and your words were vulgar. Since you can't tolerate others speaking the truth, I will demote you to the rank of Consort. From now on, no one will dare to disobey you!"
Consort Li was horrified. "Your Majesty, no!"
She's been in the palace for so many years, but she's always been a concubine or a beauty... she's always been bullied and ignored!
She finally realized that the Emperor had come specifically to protect this woman!
"Your Majesty, I apologize to Consort Yun and beg Your Majesty to be magnanimous and not pursue this small misunderstanding between sisters."
Chu Xiao looked down at the woman in his arms, "Now that your rank is higher than hers, you can decide how to deal with her since she just insulted you."
Yun Chaoxi looked at Chu Xiao gratefully, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for standing up for me."
"I am not a petty person and do not want to dwell on it. It's just that I made these snacks for Your Majesty all morning and she spilled them. It breaks my heart."
"How about we punish her by making her kneel on the broken porcelain shards and eat the snacks from the floor?"
I might as well try out the effects of the "Seven Times a Night Pill".
Chu Xiao nodded. "Okay, Liu Quan, you stay here and watch her finish eating. Don't let her get up until she's done."
"No, Your Majesty! I know I was wrong! Ah!!!" Consort Li was forcefully pressed down by two eunuchs and forced to kneel on the porcelain shards, her shrill screams echoing out.
Chu Xiao didn't even glance at her, and led Yun Chaoxi back to the Imperial Study.
Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, Yun Chaoxi gave him a sweet kiss. "Your Majesty was like a god descending from the heavens just now. You have no idea how happy I was to see you!"
"It's just a pity that Your Majesty didn't get to try that plate of translucent glutinous rice cakes. May I make some for you to try next time?"
Chu Xiao nodded slightly, maintaining a reserved demeanor.
Did that woman hurt you just now?
Yun Chaoxi shook her head, "I'm perfectly fine!"
Chu Xiao noticed the red marks on her collar and suddenly reached out to pull open Yun Chaoxi's collar, revealing one of her shoulders.
Her fair shoulders were covered in red marks.
That was left when Consort Li's maid forcibly pressed down on her shoulders and made her kneel down.
Chu Xiao then tore off the other side, revealing his right shoulder, which was also covered in red marks.
Yun Chaoxi, “…”, what a rude man.
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