Chapter 11: Terrified
The spring bench has been placed outside the hall.
Qiu promised to be tied up, and the eunuch from the Ministry of Punishment raised a wooden stick as thick as his arm and dropped it quickly.
The concubines were ordered to watch. Listening to the sharp sound of sticks breaking the wind and Qiu Da Ying's screams, they were terrified and their legs trembled.
Feng Yiyue was timid and her legs were shaking with fear. She almost cried. Miao Zhaoyi stood behind her, scolded her softly, "You are useless," and quietly grabbed her hand.
As the niece of the Queen Mother, Wen Yao's face lost its usual gentleness when she watched the scene of venting her aunt's anger. Her expression was just indifferent.
Queen Shen had a string of sandalwood Buddhist beads hidden in her sleeves, which she was gently turning at this moment, her eyes half closed, with no expression on her face.
The blood gradually soaked the clothes behind Qiu Da Ying red. Concubine Wu couldn't help but look away. It was not because she sympathized with her, but she had never seen such a scene before and was terrified.
Concubine Xue Shu secretly glanced at Jiang Wanqing and saw that her hands hanging at her sides were clenched tightly, and her face was anxious and afraid. She was more and more convinced that she was an impatient fool.
Qiu Tong's screams and pleas for mercy became weaker and weaker, and at a certain moment they stopped, and the last few strokes of the cane seemed to hit dead flesh.
Cheng Shouzhong went over, sniffed Qiu's breath, and said two words with a half-smile: "Dead."
After these words were spoken, everyone could no longer hold back and let out a cry of panic. Concubine Lin lost her balance and sat on the ground. Concubine Zhou was also afraid, but still tried to help her up with trembling hands.
"Only, only 20 strokes of the cane, how could he die?"
Concubine Wu was a little bit unbelievable. She had also beaten the servants in her palace with a stick, and the servants were still alive after being beaten with fifty sticks.
Concubine Rou, whose father worked in the Ministry of Justice, had already seen something and felt a chill in her heart.
This is a fatal stick, it hits the waist, not the buttocks. A few strong blows will shatter the kidneys.
Cheng Shouzhong represented His Majesty's intention. His Majesty had no intention of letting Qiu Ying live.
Really, such a cruel heart...
Cheng Shouzhong raised his hand to signal for people to drag Qiu Ying away, then bowed to the Queen and said with a smile: "Queen, the ladies are frightened. Your Majesty is kind and unwilling to punish the concubines easily. This time, Qiu Ying was really a traitor, and for the Queen Mother's sake, she had to be punished. As for letting the ladies watch, it is also to punish her as a warning to the rest, to prevent the ladies from following Qiu Ying's footsteps."
Queen Shen stopped fiddling with her Buddhist beads and nodded gently: "I understand. I will discipline everyone in the harem and be careful in what they say and do in the future."
Cheng Shouzhong glanced at the other concubines and said with a fake smile: "Where are the ladies?"
Everyone hurriedly said in trembling voices: "Your Highness/Your Highness will keep it in mind..."
Cheng Shouzhong was satisfied and ordered the eunuchs who followed him to pack up the torture instruments, and then he took his leave.
He walked away in a swagger, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground from where Qiu Da Ying was dragged, which was shocking to see.
Queen Shen closed her eyes, turned around and saw that everyone was terrified and fearful, and she had no intention of continuing the morning meeting.
She sighed and said, "Remember what Eunuch Cheng just said. Go back early today. Later, I will ask the Imperial Hospital to send you some tranquilizing soup."
"Yes, thank you, Queen..."
*
After leaving Kunning Palace, Feng Yiyue walked quickly on the palace road with red eyes. Miao Zhaoyi saw that the direction was wrong, frowned and asked behind her: "Isn't this the way back to our Chuxiu Palace? Where are you going?"
Feng Yiyue kept walking and crying, "I want to go see Concubine Jiang. I'm scared. I can't sleep alone tonight. I want to be with Concubine Jiang."
Miao Zhaoyi immediately took two steps forward, grabbed her and scolded her: "What are you doing? How much more courageous is the queen than you? Besides, there is still the little prince to take care of, do you want to make the queen restless?"
When Feng Yiyue heard that the Empress would be tortured by her, she stopped and was stunned with tears in her eyes.
Miao Zhaoyi took out an embroidered handkerchief from her bosom and handed it to her, saying impatiently, "Well, if you are afraid, just come to my palace tonight and stay there."
Feng Yiyue sniffed, hesitated for a moment, took the handkerchief and wiped her tears, and reluctantly said: "Okay..."
Miao Zhaoyi's expression eased a little: "Well, you go back to the palace first, I have something else to do."
Feng Yiyue looked at her suspiciously: "What are you going to do?"
Miao Zhaoyi remained calm and said, "Go find Concubine Jiang."
Feng Yiyue:......
She was about to ask why she was not allowed to go, but Miao Zhaoyi interrupted her: "I am going to discuss serious matters with the queen, not to cry like you. Concubine Jiang entered the palace and is the queen's sister. I have to ask the queen before I know how to treat her."
Feng Yiyue was at a loss: "But didn't the queen say long ago that we should treat Concubine Jiang the same way we treat the queen?"
Miao Zhaoyi pondered.
She felt that the Empress' attitude towards Concubine Jiang seemed to have changed.
He was looking forward to it so much before, but when they met at the morning meeting yesterday, he looked indifferent. Sometimes, even when he looked at Concubine Jiang, hatred flashed in his eyes.
So she did not take the initiative to show her goodwill to Concubine Jiang, but wanted to find an opportunity to ask the Empress again.
Miao Zhaoyi was too lazy to explain so much to Feng Yiyue, who was so brainless, and just said, "I have something else to ask you, you can go back."
Seeing her serious expression, Feng Yiyue knew that it might be an important matter that she could not help with, so she could only follow her maid and leave through another palace path with grievance.
Miao Zhaoyi watched her back disappear around the corner before she withdrew her gaze and continued walking towards Zhaoyang Palace.
"Empress Zhaoyi!"
After walking a few steps, a call suddenly came from behind.
She paused, turned around, and saw that the person coming was none other than Concubine Jiang's sister.
Jiang Wanqing walked quickly, her hair slightly messy. When she got closer, she bowed and smiled softly, "Is Empress Zhaoyi also going to see my sister?"
After all, she was the Empress's sister, so Miao Zhaoyi was very kind and nodded with a smile: "Yes, Concubine Jiang actually recognized me?"
"The Queen told me."
Jiang Wanqing's tone was full of pride that she didn't even notice: "After the morning meeting yesterday, the Queen asked me to stay, and the Imperial Concubine and the Concubine were also there. They told me that the one sitting below my sister and who was calm and taciturn was you, the Concubine Zhaoyi."
Miao Zhaoyi didn't think that this group of people would say anything good about her and the Empress.
She looked at Jiang Wanqing deeply, and as she continued walking forward, she reminded her casually, "The Empress and Concubine Jiang are not actually on good terms, so you should be careful when interacting with them."
Jiang Wanqing asked innocently, "How could that be? The Empress and Consort Shu are both very nice people. Is there a misunderstanding between you and them?"
Miao Zhaoyi's eyes darkened completely, but she still smiled: "Maybe, you can talk to the queen later."
The two men walked to the gate of Zhaoyang Palace and asked the palace servants to go in and report.
Soon, the second-class palace maid Dicui came out with a smile on her face, knelt down and saluted: "Empress Zhaoyi, please follow me in."
Miao Zhaoyi smiled and nodded, then stepped into the palace. Jiang Wanqing was about to follow her, but Dicui put away her smile and stopped her.
"Lady Jiang, please stay. Our queen will summon you after seeing Concubine Miao."
Jiang Wanqing was stunned.
Call?
My sister actually asked me to wait for a call?
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