Chapter 31 Slapping
Yun Zhao was sleeping soundly, as if sinking into endless darkness.
Suddenly, a biting coldness came down on my head!
"Ah——!" She screamed and suddenly sat up from the bed, her heart pounding. Cold liquid flowed freely along her hair, cheeks, and neck, instantly soaking through her thin undershirt. The biting chill penetrated her bones.
Rage! The overwhelming rage instantly swept away the remaining sleepiness!
She wiped away the water that blurred her eyes, and her gaze was like a knife, stabbing the culprit fiercely.
When he saw who was coming, the murderous intent almost burst out of his chest!
She took a deep breath, suppressing her surging anger. Her voice trembled slightly with coldness and anger. "Your Highness, the Eighth Princess? I don't know how I have offended you to deserve such 'favor'."
Xiao Yao—the current Empress Dowager's biological daughter and the only unmarried princess in the palace—stood before the bed with her arms folded and her chin held high, looking domineering. "Hmph! What a lazy fellow! As a palace maid, instead of serving His Majesty wholeheartedly in front of him, you dare hide here and laze about? What's your punishment?"
Yun Zhao no longer looked at her. He stepped barefoot on the cold floor tiles, and the chill rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
She immediately found a towel and wiped her soaked hair and cheeks vigorously. Her voice was as cold as ice: "Then Your Highness, please quickly report to His Majesty and ask him to punish me. I await your judgment."
"You!" Xiao Yao was so angry at her stubborn attitude that she stamped her feet. "Yun Zhao! Your father is a criminal! How dare you be so arrogant and show no remorse?!"
The wet undershirt clung to my skin, making me feel even colder.
Yun Zhao simply pulled it off, revealing her smooth shoulders and plain bra. Under the astonished gaze of Xiao Yao and her maid, she took out a clean palace maid's uniform from the cabinet and put it on quickly.
"You daring slut!" Xiao Yao's personal maid screamed, "The princess is giving me a lecture, and you're so rude, changing your clothes on your own! Do you have any respect for hierarchy?"
Yun Zhao fastened the last of her belt and raised her eyes, her gaze sharp as a needle. "What if, Your Highness, this 'refreshing soup' has been poured thoroughly. If I don't change my clothes in time and catch a cold, and then pass the disease on to Your Majesty in front of you... then who will bear the grave sins of 'negligently treating Your Majesty' and 'endangering the Emperor's health'? Your Highness, what do you say?"
Xiao Yao's face turned pale as she pointed at her, her fingertips trembling: "You... you, the daughter of a traitor, dare to contradict me! Kneel down!"
Yun Zhao, however, only gave a standard, yet neither humble nor overbearing, half-salute. "I am Your Majesty's personally appointed female official in charge of the imperial court, and I am also the daughter of Duke Yun. Kneeling down is not in accordance with etiquette. If the princess insists on having me kneel, why don't we go before Your Majesty and the Queen Mother and ask for their permission?"
She paused, and said in a calm tone with the intention of leaving, "If there is nothing else, I will take my leave. The emperor must have someone to serve him." After that, she raised her foot and walked out.
"Stop!" Xiao Yao had never been ignored like this before. She chased after him with her maid in a rage, "Yun Zhao! Just wait! I'll go find my brother and punish you severely!"
She lifted up her complicated skirt, looking like a lit firecracker, and trotted towards the Yanying Palace.
Yun Zhao watched the angry figure disappear around the corner of the palace road, then turned back to his room with an expressionless face.
Looking at the wet and cold bed and quilt, she resigned herself to carrying them all out and hanging them on the rope in the yard.
The cold fabric made her feel chilly to the touch, and she sighed softly - she was afraid she would have to find another place to stay tonight.
By the time she had packed up and rushed to Yanying Palace, the atmosphere inside the palace was already wrong.
Xiao Yao was standing beside the imperial desk, weeping bitterly. She exaggeratedly wiped away her nonexistent tears with a handkerchief, her voice tinged with tears. "Royal brother! Please help A-Yao! That Yun Zhao is completely lawless! She's so daring to hide in her room and sleep in broad daylight! A-Yao kindly went to call her, but she dared to contradict me. Her attitude is so arrogant! Look at her. How can she even respect the palace rules or you?"
Xiao Jin's brows were furrowed, clearly disturbed by the noisy crying. His gaze fell heavily on Yun Zhao, who had just entered the hall. "You have nothing to do, so why are you running to Yanying Hall?"
[What else can I do? I received the Queen Mother's order and came all the way here to pick a fight and bully me.]
Xiao Jin's gaze seemed to deepen as he turned to Yun Zhao, "Yun Zhao, tell me. What made the Eighth Princess so angry?"
Yun Zhao took a few steps forward, walked to the imperial desk, and slowly recounted the entire incident in detail.
Her voice was calm, as if she were describing a matter that had nothing to do with her. Finally, she bowed her head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, every word I have said is true. If Your Majesty believes that I have acted inappropriately and offended Her Highness, I am willing to accept the punishment."
[I feel so wronged! A good dream was extinguished, and I was even blamed for it.] The depression in my heart almost overflowed.
After hearing this, Xiao Jin turned his gaze towards his sobbing sister, his tone unrecognizable as either emotion or anger: "Ayao, in your opinion, how should we punish this female official who is in charge of the secretarial affairs of mine?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yao immediately stopped pretending to cry. A hint of pride and cruelty flashed in her eyes. She pointed at Yun Zhao and shrilled, "She was disrespectful to me! She deserves to be slapped in the face twenty times! Even if... even if I was wrong to pour water on her first, she can't escape this punishment for her arrogant attitude and her contradictory attitude!"
Xiao Jin did not respond immediately, but only gave Zhang Fuan, who was standing beside him, a very faint look.
Zhang Fuan understood and immediately stepped forward. A smooth and respectful smile was plastered on his face. His voice was neither too loud nor too low, but loud enough for everyone in the palace to hear clearly: "Your Highness, please calm down. This old servant would like to remind you that in half a month, General Yun will be ordered to return to the capital to visit his relatives... If the general knew that his only sister had some unpleasantness with Your Highness in the palace, he would be in trouble."
[Oh right! This unruly princess was still obsessed with marrying my brother last year.]
If the Queen Mother hadn't disliked the generals' vulgarity, she would have succeeded.
[Becoming a consort to a prince consort means taking off your armor. My brother, who died on the battlefield, is not worthy of such a beautiful woman.]
Xiao Yao was awakened by Zhang Fuan and was feeling a little embarrassed. When she heard Yun Zhao mention it, her face turned red and blue: "Royal brother, I..."
"I accept the punishment!" Yun Zhao interrupted her in a cold voice.
Before she could finish her words, there was a crisp "Pa!" sound, and she raised her hand without hesitation and slapped herself hard!
Xiao Yao's eyes widened in shock.
"Snap!" The second blow followed immediately, and Yun Zhao's cheek instantly showed a red mark.
She looked directly at Xiao Yao, her words clear and distinct: "My servant's brother is a rough and tumble man, a rough and tumble man, I dare not marry a noble and defile the princess's golden branches and jade leaves! The Yun family is a criminal, and there is no such foolish dream!"
"Seven, eight, nine..." She hit very hard, and the sound of the slaps was particularly harsh in the silent hall. She counted while she hit, without stopping.
"Yun Zhao!" Xiao Yao finally reacted and screamed, feeling both ashamed and angry. "What do you mean?! I'd rather humiliate myself than let your brother become the Lord?!"
"Ten, eleven..." Yun Zhao turned a deaf ear to him, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth, but his eyes were as cold as iron. "Your Highness, please understand. How dare a family of criminals attach themselves to the emperor's relatives?"
On the throne, Xiao Jin's eyes were deep, but he did not say anything to stop him.
He could not hear the raging waves in Yun Zhao's heart, but he could see her determination to burn herself and the enemy together.
Was this self-slap an admission of guilt? No, it was the sharpest rejection, a silent slap in Xiao Yao's face!
He glanced at his arrogant but shallow imperial sister and sneered in his heart: How can a person with such a character be worthy of Yunfeng's national sword?
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