Chapter 52: Penalty
Jiang Shuyi listened to Cheng Shou's vivid description in amazement. When Pei Yan raised his eyes and looked over, she turned around and walked towards the inner hall.
She didn't know why, but she felt a strong sense of guilt. She almost ran back to the inner hall and wanted to lock the door to deceive herself that Pei Yan had not returned yet.
However, in the Qianqing Palace, she really did not have the courage to rebel and lock the emperor out.
After a while, Cheng Shou called her at the door: "Madam, His Majesty wants you to come in."
Jiang Shuyi looked up and glared at him fiercely.
Cheng Shou was so scared that he quickly lowered his head.
No matter how angry Jiang Shuyi was, she couldn't take revenge now. She returned to the outer hall, stood in front of Pei Yan, lowered her head and pinched her belt.
Pei Yan's unhurried voice came from the top: "Why are you running away when you see me?"
Jiang Shuyi didn't sound angry from his tone. Or maybe he was angry at first, but was both angry and amused by her escape, so he couldn't get angry anymore.
She breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered to the white jade floor, "I'm afraid that His Majesty will punish me when he's angry, so I want to hide for a while. I won't be able to leave when His Majesty calms down."
Pei Yan saw her thick black eyelashes drooping and trembling, and could imagine that the pair of black almond-shaped eyes covered must be flashing with cunning light at this moment.
He stroked the cup, slightly curved his lips and said, "I was reluctant to do it, but seeing that you knew you were wrong but refused to admit it and tried to escape, I felt that I had to punish you well so that you would remember this lesson."
Jiang Shuyi no longer had time to pretend to be pitiful. She quickly raised her head and saw a faint smile in Pei Yan's eyes. Only then did she realize that he was joking.
Pei Yan stretched out his hand: "Come here."
Jiang Shuyi immediately stepped forward and grabbed Pei Yan's hands with both hands, kneading them flatteringly, and asked with a smile: "Your Majesty is not angry with me anymore, right?"
Pei Yan's face was calm, as if he didn't care: "You didn't run away secretly, you just said a few words to Concubine Feng, why should I be angry, but as a concubine, you still have to respect your status and don't hug others casually."
Jiang Shuyi took two small steps forward, stood between Pei Yan's slightly apart legs, bent down, hugged his neck, rested her chin on his shoulder, and blew gently into his ear.
Pei Yan's eyes darkened slightly, and the next moment he heard her humming softly in his ear: "I want a hug!"
He laughed.
When Cheng Shou saw His Majesty picking up Empress Jiang and carrying her to the inner hall, his legs went weak.
Cheng Shouzhong followed silently behind and closed the door of the inner hall. When he came back and was about to instruct the palace servants to prepare water in a familiar manner, he saw his godson looking like a sick chicken.
He couldn't help but hit Cheng Shou on the head with his whisk: "What are you doing?"
Cheng Shou looked at him and asked tremblingly, "Godfather, if the queen wants to beat me to death, will His Majesty plead for me?"
Cheng Shouzhong: "...Why did the queen beat you to death?"
Cheng Shou recounted in a trembling voice what had happened when he had previously filed a complaint against Empress Jiang, which had happened to be heard by Empress Jiang.
After hearing this, Cheng Shouzhong sneered, "You deserve it! You have no sense of propriety and don't even know how to report. You've learned your lesson after being beaten to death once."
Cheng Shou was almost frightened to death and wanted to ask his godfather, "Did anyone say that?"
He said in panic, "Godfather, it was His Majesty who asked me to watch the Empress' every word and action and report back in time! Your Majesty can't just ignore me, right?"
Cheng Shouzhong was too lazy to pay attention to this stupid son and drove him away.
*
Jiang Shuyi really wanted to beat up Cheng Shou.
However, before he could find the right opportunity, he was interrupted by an uninvited guest.
This was the second day of the army's expedition. Wen Yao could no longer hold her temper and came to the Ganqing Palace to ask for a meeting after the morning meeting.
Your Majesty was worried about the war before, but now that my father has become a marshal, Your Majesty no longer needs to worry so much, and it is time for you to become a real couple with her...
Soon, Cheng Shouzhong came out, holding a whisk in his pocket and smiling, "Please go into the palace and wait, Queen Concubine Qing. His Majesty is still in the Imperial Study discussing politics with several officials from the Ministry of Personnel. It may take an hour or so for him to come back."
Wen Yao was not stopped outside the door, and she finally calmed down and walked towards the majestic palace.
She was no stranger to the Qianqing Palace, but this time, she found that many things were wrong.
There was a brocade carpet under the imperial desk, with exquisite and gorgeous embroidery, which was a far cry from the plain one before; there were many more pastry plates on the table, and some of them were obviously missing one or two pieces; on the flower table was a two-eared vase with pastel-colored flower and bird patterns. Wen Yao remembered that it was a solid sky-blue glazed vase before.
There is also incense in the hall, which has a sweet smell, like the scent that women like.
For some unknown reason, Wen Yao raised her head and turned to look towards the inner hall.
The gauze curtain covered her and she couldn't see clearly what was inside. Driven by something, she walked over there.
"Oh, my lady, this is His Majesty's bedroom, you cannot trespass!"
Cheng Shouzhong quickly stepped forward and shouted to stop them.
Jiang Shuyi was terrified in the inner hall. She stood behind the wall, not daring to move for fear of making any noise.
She turned her head to look at Fang Chu, who was also afraid to speak, and asked with her eyes: Didn't you ask Cheng Shouzhong to stop Wen Yao from coming in? Why did he bring someone in?
Fang Chu shook his head innocently, indicating that he didn't know either.
Outside, Wen Yao came to her senses and realized that she had been a little rude.
She frowned and asked, "Has your majesty visited the concubines in private these days?"
The tone of voice was so loud that if you didn't know better you would think it was the Empress Dowager.
Cheng Shouzhong muttered inwardly, then smiled and said, "If His Majesty summons a concubine, wouldn't the harem know about it?"
Wen Yao: "So I'm asking in private. Maybe one of the concubines is being coquettish and is trying to seduce Your Majesty, but they don't dare to spread the news to the harem."
Cheng Shouzhong continued to smile perfunctorily: "How could this be possible? Your Majesty, don't you know what kind of person your Majesty is?"
Wen Yao felt relieved when she saw that Cheng Shouzhong did not look fake. She sat down on a chair away from the carpet and waited for His Majesty to come back.
The outer hall became quiet, but Jiang Shuyi knew that Wen Yao had not left, so she became even more nervous, fearing that any sound would attract her attention.
When Fang Chu saw Empress Jiang, she didn't even dare to breathe loudly and sighed secretly in her heart.
I'm sorry, Empress Jiang. It was you who hugged and kissed Concubine Feng yesterday and made His Majesty angry.
Suddenly there was a crisp sound in the hall. A teacup fell to the ground and broke into pieces.
Jiang Shuyi stared at Fang Chu in disbelief.
Fang Chu looked panicked. She pointed at the tea table that was too close to her, waved her hands and mouthed, "I didn't mean it!"
What does it matter whether it was intentional or not!
"What's going on in there?!"
Wen Yao immediately stood up and walked towards the inner hall again, and asked with a stern face, "Who's in there?"
Cheng Shouzhong hurried to her and knelt down to stop her: "It must be a palace maid who was cleaning the bedroom and accidentally dropped something, disturbing the queen. She deserves death, and your majesty will punish her later!"
Wen Yao scolded him: "Get out of the way! I want to see which palace maid is so bold. She entered the bedroom while I was still here. Is she planning to climb onto the dragon bed?"
Jiang Shuyi was so scared that she started looking for a place to hide in the hall.
Fang Chu pointed at the bed. Jiang Shuyi understood and quickly tiptoed towards the bed.
She was originally standing behind the wall on the east side of the palace gate, and the bed was on the west side. To get through, she had to pass through the palace gate. Jiang Shuyi was in a hurry and couldn't think so much, but Wen Yao watched a slim palace maid rushing straight towards the dragon bed.
“This is outrageous!!”
She shouted angrily and went around Cheng Shouzhong to enter the inner hall. At this time, a gentle voice sounded behind her: "What is Qingpin going to do?"
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