Chapter 25 Revlon (7) It’s over…
As Yan Huinan showered, he was thinking about waking Xie Yun up and giving her a beating. He returned to his bedroom with this in mind.
Xie Yun was curled up in a small ball on the inside of the bed. A large empty space beside him had been left, whether intentionally or not. Even if he neglected the general's residence, his bed at home was still more comfortable than the one in the barracks.
The heat had already set in the capital in early summer, so Xie Yun ordered a change of mat for a cooler one, and she had a corner of the brocade quilt tucked away. She was a heavy sleeper, but a fairly steady one. She lay in a different position, and at most tossed and turned during the night; her waking position wasn't much different from the one she fell asleep in.
Yan Huinan lifted the quilt and lay down. At this moment, his sight was only a fist's distance from Xie Yun's face.
As if sensing someone, Xie Yun frowned, but soon relaxed again and prepared to turn over and continue sleeping.
Yan Huinan grabbed her in time, pulled her into his arms, and slept with her in his arms all night.
When Xie Yun awoke, as usual, she was alone. She'd vaguely sensed someone coming in the middle of the night, and even felt hot late at night. But she was so sleepy that the sensation lasted only briefly before she quickly fell back into a deep sleep.
She knew Yan Huinan was there that night. She remembered that when she knelt in the ancestral hall yesterday, there was a cushion placed in the hall. Huaixiu looked at her with a strange and resentful look, as if hesitant to speak.
Xie Yun was very attentive and she guessed that it was Yan Huinan who ordered it.
I don't know how he knew this, but Xie Yun didn't appreciate the idea of a beating followed by a date.
But it must be said that with the soft cushion, Xie Yun didn't feel as much pain as before after kneeling for an hour.
-
It was a sunny day. Han Zhen ordered people to fetch ice from the cellar, smash it into small pieces, and wrap them in thick cotton cloth. He used the cool air that came through to slowly apply to Xie Yunbing's knees, which were injured by months of kneeling as punishment.
Many trees were planted in the renovated garden, and in the afternoon the chirping of cicadas in the trees was deafening.
Suddenly, a servant came hurriedly to announce the arrival of Princess Changheng. As soon as the words fell, a group of people entered the backyard noisily.
At that time, apart from the pain in her knees, Xie Yun was feeling quite comfortable sitting in the yard enjoying the cool air, chewing an apple.
"Xie Yun, come out here!"
Xie Yun now gets irritated whenever she hears Chang Heng's voice. She has already endured Chang Heng twice, what else does she want?
In fact, if Xie Yun hadn't been in such dire straits, she wouldn't have endured it even once. But Chang Heng wanted to come a third time?
"I'm sorry, Princess. My leg is injured and I can't get up. Princess, you came uninvited, and I didn't entertain you well enough. How about we just cancel each other out?" Xie Yun said with a smile.
Chang Heng came in wearing a veil and holding a sword in his hand. When he saw Xie Yun, he pointed the sword at her. However, the sword was blocked by Si Wu beside him before it touched Xie Yun.
Si Wu: "Princess, this is the general's residence. I advise you not to act recklessly."
Chang Heng angrily asked, "Who are you to dare to stop this princess?"
Si Wu remained silent, but did not lower his hand to stop him. The meaning was self-evident.
The two sides were deadlocked, and Chang Heng had no choice but to retract his sword and point it at Xie Yun: "Xie Yun, don't think that you can be safe just because Ziyou married you. Don't think you can be rude to this princess just because you are the general's wife. You have to understand that he hates you more than anyone else!"
Huaixiu was the first to be informed of Changheng's intrusion. She arrived just in time and immediately pulled Xie Yun to her knees upon seeing Changheng.
Huaixiu whispered to Xie Yun, "Madam, she is a princess after all. If His Majesty knew about your rudeness and disrespect towards her, how would you handle it? And where would you put the General's Mansion?"
Xie Yun gritted her teeth. She had truly sinned to be subjected to such humiliation here. She should quickly escape to Jiangnan. "Princess, did you come all the way to the General's Mansion just to tell me this? I already know. I clearly realize that the General hates me to the core and that I have committed a grave sin."
Si Wu had no choice but to order Xie Yun to keep an eye on her and protect her life. As for the matter at hand, it was not within his scope of responsibility, so he naturally would not intervene.
The rest of the people in the General's Mansion also knelt, but they were more interested in watching how Chang Heng would teach Xie Yun a lesson.
Chang Heng knew that Huai Xiu was Yan Huinan's wet nurse, and since Huai Xiu had come from the palace, she naturally sided with Chang Heng. She didn't make things too difficult for him, leaving Xie Yun to kneel alone.
"I'm asking you, were you the one who ordered the snake to be thrown into the princess's mansion?" Chang Heng leisurely sat down on the chair Xie Yun had been sitting on, his eyes filled with resentment and sharpness. This wasn't so much a question as it was a direct accusation against Xie Yun.
Xie Yun was stunned for a long time after hearing this, "I have no idea about this."
"Stop pretending. I know you too well, Xie Yun. You saw that I took your place that day and you're looking for revenge." Chang Heng suddenly leaned forward and slapped Xie Yun in the face. "Who gave you the courage?"
Xie Yun had been slapped for no reason, and now her cheek was burning with pain. She had never been slapped for no reason like this before, not even in the past when she was in the Xie Mansion, and Xie Shaohua, who was so arrogant and domineering, had never slapped Xie Yun.
During this time, Xie Yun had endured a grueling ordeal within the Great Zhou. She suffered wounds of varying sizes, kneeling in the ancestral hall for over a month. If it weren't for her medical skills, her knees would have made it difficult for her to walk. But now, these humiliations and injuries seemed endless, as if she were a soft persimmon to be bullied as long as she was still breathing.
Is she cheap?
Xie Yun sneered. Chang Heng alone had tortured her repeatedly and even wanted to kill her.
Not enough...
This is not enough.
Chang Heng felt disgusted when she saw Xie Yun's smile. She was furious, her eyes full of resentment. She stepped forward and grabbed Xie Yun's neck angrily: "Yan Huinan? But what gives you the right? What can't I compare to you? Beauty? Status? I am a princess, what can't I compare to you? You used to be just a concubine's daughter of a fifth-rank official. Your father even caused the Yan family to be destroyed. Why did Yan Huinan only protect you in the past, but now he is willing to disobey the emperor's order to marry you? My royal brother, the emperor of the Great Zhou, has repeatedly hinted to Yan Huinan, and even sent an order to the general's mansion. But as soon as you came back, Yan Huinan insisted on marrying you as his wife despite the opposition of all the ministers. Why on earth? Xie Yun, what gives you the right? "
Si Wu was about to step forward to stop them, but Xie Yun struggled to free herself from Chang Heng's restraints, choking and breathing heavily. "How should I know... ahem... you... you should ask the right people. Torturing me here... ahem... you'll only make a fool of yourself."
Chang Heng: "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Xie Yun: "Isn't it? You said Yan Huinan hated me, but what are you doing now? You don't even care about the dignity of a princess. What you did to me, don't you think it's ridiculous when you think about it? Is this the tolerance a princess should have? If you tortured me like this for the sake of the Great Zhou, I would still respect you a little, but you are really stupid and ridiculous. For a man, you did such a cheap thing."
Chang Heng's body was shaking with anger. "Huai Xiu, slap her hard! Xie Yun committed treason and attempted to murder me with a snake. Now she's still brazen enough to talk nonsense. Hit her hard!"
Si Wu hesitated, but Xie Yun's gaze ultimately did not fall on Si Wu.
Since she didn't need it, Si Wu pretended not to see it.
When Xie Yun was pricked by a needle before, Han Zhen hadn't stopped those people in time. This time, she couldn't bear to watch Xie Yun get slapped in the face. For the first time in her life, she exerted such great strength to break free from the two maids who were holding her, rushed to Xie Yun, and vigorously pushed away the two people assigned by Huai Xiu.
Han Zhen: "Princess, my wife really has no intention of murdering you! Please, Princess, spare my wife!"
Hua Miao and Chu Yue were originally forced to kneel by Xie Yun, and they still harbored resentment. With Princess Chang Heng backing them up, they naturally wouldn't let Xie Yun go. Together with two other maids, they pinned Han Zhen to the ground, "How dare you disobey the princess's orders?"
Chang Heng: "You are so sincere! Give me both of you a slap!"
Han Zhen's tears were streaming down her face. This time, she couldn't break free from the combined power of the four men. "If the general comes back and finds out, he won't let you go!"
Chang Heng's temples throbbed with pain. She raised her hand and rubbed her brow. "Are all the people in the General's Mansion so ignorant of their own limitations? Change the slapping to fifty strokes of the cane, and then throw them out to feed the dogs."
Upon hearing this, Xie Yun glared at Chang Heng and Huai Xiu fiercely: "Chang Heng! If you want to vent your anger, just come at me, don't embarrass a little girl."
Chang Heng: "Can you take the beating for her?"
Xie Yun: “Yes.”
Chang Heng suddenly smiled brightly. "Alright, then I'll slap you first, then give you fifty strokes of the cane. I'll be right here, counting every single stroke, not missing a single one. Huaixiu, come in person and give him a good beating."
Huaixiu used to work in the palace and had done many things like this. She could always control the force her master wanted to the point of accuracy.
But looking at Xie Yun's eyes, Huaixiu felt a little fear in his heart.
She didn't dare look directly into Xie Yun's eyes.
And Huaixiu thought about what Yan Huinan had done, and she couldn't figure out what position Xie Yun held in Yan Huinan's heart. If...
Chang Heng: "Huai Xiu, you are old now. Have you forgotten all the old rules?"
"...No," Huai Xiu replied. After a moment's hesitation, she finally raised her hand and slapped it hard. The crisp sound of slaps echoed continuously throughout the small pavilion. The maids present at the general's mansion were both excited and a little afraid.
This sound is like a sharp knife hanging over everyone's head at this moment.
I wonder if these blades will ever fall.
Xie Yun's cheeks were swollen and purple, with cuts from fingernails. The corners of Xie Yun's mouth were cracked and bleeding.
“What are you doing!”
Everyone turned around. Huaixiu's hands were sore from fanning themselves. She raised her hand and was about to drop it, but before she could retract it, it was grabbed by a strong hand. The force was so strong that it almost burst her blood vessels.
Huaixiu looked up and saw Yan Huinan. His face was extremely dark and his ferocious expression seemed as if he could eat people.
"Si Wu, are you a dead man standing over there?" Yan Huinan was filled with such murderous aura that it seemed as if this was not the general's residence but a battlefield, and he could swing his sword and kill this group of people at any time.
Si Wen and Yan Huinan returned together. As soon as they were at the door, they heard the servant report that the princess was punishing Xie Yun in the backyard. Yan Huinan dismounted and hurried over, leaving Si Wen no chance of catching up. Until they saw the scene before them...
It’s over…
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