"Useless thing, beat it up."
On the blue brick and stone floor of Chunxi Palace, there was a wooden bench more than a meter long. A skinny little eunuch was lying on the bench. With a snap, a mahogany cane landed directly on his buttocks, and blood seeped out with just one blow.
An Ning gasped and let out a loud cry, startling several kingfishers that were resting on the glazed tiles.
Before my butt could even catch my breath, I got another slap across the face.
"You still dare to shout? You think you can yell at Chunxi Palace?"
The palace maid Bai Lan slapped An Ning hard across the face, making him see stars.
An Ning was stunned for a moment and tried to open her eyes wide to look around, but was so shocked that she was speechless.
The palaces with their red walls and green tiles were bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun. If it weren't for the excruciating pain in her buttocks, Anning would have thought she had fallen asleep in the Forbidden City.
Just as she was stunned for a moment, another wooden stick fell.
"ah!"
An Ning let out another scream subconsciously. She glanced sideways and saw Bai Lan roll up her sleeves, ready to slap her again. She gritted her teeth, her eyes flashed, and she grabbed Bai Lan's hand first, then forcefully flung her down.
"How dare you! You're getting more and more audacious! Beat him! Give him a good beating! Beat him to death with sticks and then throw him into a mass grave!"
A sharp shout pierced her ears. Anning looked up: Wow, a golden robe and silk skirt, a phoenix crown and hairpins. Judging from her demeanor, she must be a favored concubine.
"Your Highness, this little Ningzi is not only incompetent, but he also dares to openly defy you. Your Highness, you should punish him severely." Bai Lan stood up, rubbing her sore bottom, and said through gritted teeth.
In an instant, An Ning was completely confused: Wait, wait, wait, Xiao Ningzi? That sounds like a eunuch's name! She really transmigrated? And transmigrated into a eunuch? Damn! This joke is too much.
"Then... bring on the flogging and finger torture!" The Imperial Concubine lightly touched her lips, about to subject An Ning to all the most unbearable tortures in the world.
Bai Lan got up from the ground with a smug look on her face, grinning from ear to ear: "Yes, Your Majesty."
An Ning's face turned ashen in an instant. Although she didn't understand what those punishments meant, she was sure they weren't meant to make her eat and drink her fill and then happily leave.
So, is it too late to beg for mercy now?
"His Majesty has arrived!"
An Ning frowned and almost covered her ears: Were all the eunuchs in ancient times clamped?
Before long, a group of people knelt down in the courtyard, and her caning was temporarily stopped because of the emperor's sudden arrival.
An Ning exhaled a breath of stale air, looked up at the sky and sighed: Thank you, clip.
"What's going on?" The emperor's deep voice suddenly rang out.
The Imperial Concubine bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects. The servants have made a mistake, so I was just giving them a small reprimand."
An Ning's pupils dilated in shock: A little reprimand? Your little reprimand resulted in your buttocks being beaten raw and bleeding? Your little reprimand resulted in you being beaten to death and thrown into a mass grave? Your little reprimand? And you subjected it to every kind of torture imaginable?
"Ouch, my head hurts so much." The Imperial Concubine was helping the Emperor into the inner palace when the Emperor's old ailment suddenly flared up.
An Ning was overjoyed: her chance to escape had arrived!
Ignoring the burning pain in her buttocks, she shouted with all her might, "This servant is guilty!"
Upon seeing this, the palace maid stepped forward and tried to cover her mouth.
A 'malicious' glint flashed in An Ning's eyes. She grabbed the palace maid's hand and pressed it heavily onto the wooden bench beneath her.
She saw it clearly just now; there was a protruding nail there. Although it wasn't long, just pressing it in like that was enough to make her suffer.
Before Bai Lan could even utter a sound, An Ning's cunning eyes were fixed on her, and she said softly, "You're not allowed to shout or yell in Chunxi Palace, okay?"
Bai Lan was startled when she saw the woman's grimacing face. She tried to pull her hand away several times, but the 'eunuch' was too strong, and she couldn't break free at all.
The Imperial Concubine looked coldly at An Ning: "Little Ning, if you are guilty, go and receive your punishment. What are you shouting for?"
Anning pressed down hard on the palace maid's hand while using the leverage to prop herself up halfway:
"Your Majesty, Consort, this servant is guilty. I failed to find a way to stop Your Majesty's headaches from recurring quickly. This servant is incompetent. I finally managed to find chrysanthemum and mint in ancient books that can relieve headaches, but I could not find a way to use them. Your Highness is anxious and worried about Your Majesty's health, which is why you had to punish this servant. This servant is guilty."
Upon hearing this, the emperor felt a warmth in his heart.
"I never knew the Imperial Concubine was so considerate. My head was throbbing just now."
Anning seized the opportunity and said, "Your Highness, please use the massage technique I taught you to relieve His Majesty's headache."
The Imperial Concubine stared at An Ning, her lips twitching: You dog servant, when did you ever teach me massage techniques?
The Emperor immediately became interested: "Really? The Imperial Concubine has learned such a skill. Then quickly give me a massage."
An Ning watched as the Imperial Concubine's expression changed from arrogant to flustered and helpless, and she felt extremely pleased.
The Imperial Concubine, of course, knew nothing of massage techniques. After opening her mouth for a long time, she managed to utter a sentence: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I have been assisting the Empress in managing the six palaces recently, and I'm afraid I've become... a little rusty."
"Ouch!" An Ning cried out in an extremely affected manner, doing everything she could to get the emperor's attention.
Seeing the emperor looking over, An Ning's face instantly changed, tears welling in her eyes, and she cried out, "What a pity, what a pity! If I could move, even with my body torn and bleeding, I would still massage Your Majesty. Seeing Your Majesty suffering so much, it hurts me to the core!"
As he spoke, he didn't forget to pat Bai Lan's hand forcefully...
The Emperor looked at the Imperial Concubine, who forced a smile: "Your Majesty, I always think of you, so the servants in the palace also think of you just like I do."
"In that case, there's no need to punish this little eunuch. He just mentioned that chrysanthemum and mint can relieve headaches. Let the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital research a prescription. If it really works, I will reward him handsomely."
The imperial concubine chuckled sweetly, but the sharp, cold glint in her eyes swept directly over An Ning: "Yes, thank you, Your Majesty."
An Ning touched her forehead, which was covered in cold sweat. This ordeal was truly perilous. If the emperor hadn't suddenly gotten a headache, she would probably be a corpse in a mass grave by now.
Strangely, all I did was work overtime to write a repair report, and when I woke up, everything had changed.
Seeing that the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine had entered the inner palace, Bai Lan lowered her voice and roared angrily, "How long do you intend to keep pressing?"
An Ning slowly let go of her hand, and as she left, she said viciously, "You dog eunuch, I'll get my revenge sooner or later."
An Ning raised an eyebrow: "I'd be happy to oblige."
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