Madam Song’s face turned terribly unpleasant, and her usually gentle tone became much sharper, "The ancestral hall back home is spacious enough. Go kneel for a month. Nobody will compete with you."
Song Ya Lan was scared and trembling, her legs became weak. Madam Song was known for her gentleness. She had been very tolerant towards many things, and because of this, Song Ya Lan had become so daring and acted recklessly. However, she almost forgot that no matter how gentle she was, she was still the household head of the Song family.
How could she tolerate such wanton behaviour?
"I, I, I... Second Aunt, I was just being honest and quick-witted, I didn’t mean any harm." Song Ya Lan hastily explained.
To the daughters of noble families, the most severe punishment elders imposed was usually to make them kneel in the ancestral hall since physical punishment might leave scars that would affect their entire life. Therefore, the harshest punishment to these young ladies would be kneeling in the ancestral hall. Being made to kneel for a month would be like being locked up in the chilling ancestral hall for an entire month, which would undoubtedly scare anyone to death.
Even though Song Ya Lan was bold and aggressive, she was just an ordinary girl brought up delicately. This punishment seemed horrifying enough to scare her to her core.
Madam Song’s face remained frosty, "A momentary lapse? It was you who insisted on coming along. Since I let you come, you must represent the face of the Song family daughters. How can you act so sarcastically and unpleasantly and let outsiders judge our family?"
"Second Aunt, I will never dare again, I’m truly sorry," Song Ya Lan pleaded with a miserable face, nearly in tears.
Madam Song replied coldly, "Why are you apologizing to me? The person you should be apologizing to is Lady Mu. It’s my responsibility that I failed to discipline you. I’m also at fault. But the one you really should beg for mercy from is Lady Mu!"
Upon hearing this, Song Ya Lan felt deeply ashamed and bit her lip, only feeling resentment. She despised Lady Mu so much and now, she was being forced to beg her for mercy?!
Song Ya Lan’s face instantly showed a multitude of expressions. She bit her lip hard, speechless for a while.
Madam Song coldly harrumphed, "You can’t even apologize. It seems you still haven’t learned your lesson. It seems I should send you directly to the family temple to cleanse all the filth from your character and stop you from being so wild and reckless! Otherwise, who knows how much face you’re going to lose for the Song family!"
When Song Ya Lan heard the words "family temple", her face totally collapsed and she immediately turned to Ji Xinhe and said, "I was wrong, I was wrong Lady Mu, please forgive me this time, I won’t dare to do it again!"
Then, Madam Song also looked at Ji Xinhe, making it clear that she was leaving the decision to her.
Ji Xinhe couldn’t help but find this amusing. This woman clearly despised her, yet she insisted on coming just to suffer. Eventually, she was forced to beg for mercy from someone she severely looked down upon.
Of course, she understood that given Song Ya Lan’s pride, having to bow her head now was extremely humiliating for her.
Ji Xinhe remained silent, simply looking at her, seemingly pondering something.
Song Ya Lan raised her head and gave her a threatening look. It contained a hint of hatred also. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Hatred? She hadn’t even offended her yet. The crazy woman had been acting by herself, why would she harbor hatred towards her for no reason?
Ji Xinhe was somewhat confused, but she didn’t care. She had no interest in guessing the thoughts of such an insignificant person.
After a long silence, she finally laughed softly and said, "Since Miss Song is so sincere in admitting her mistakes, of course I would not be too harsh."
Upon hearing this, Song Ya Lan relaxed, her heart finally at ease. She couldn’t help but sneer with disdain. That poor scholar woman finally showed a bit of sense, she apparently didn’t dare go too far."
However, before she could take a breath of relief, Ji Xinhe softly spoke to Madam Song, "She was so rude to me today. I, being a tolerant person, wouldn’t mind, but others might not see it the same way. I fear this could damage the reputation of the entire Song family. Since Miss Song is the daughter of the Song family and often goes out, it is necessary that she be disciplined."
Song Ya Lan stood still, staring at Ji Xinhe, her heart raised once again.
On the other hand, Madam Song listened to Ji Xinhe’s words attentively, saying, "How does Lady Mu suggest disciplining her?"
"About that," Ji Xinhe smiled at Song Ya Lan, "I don’t have any method as such. It mainly involves strict discipline. With regard to educating a woman, copying a few codes of conduct would naturally imprint them on your mind. Miss Song, while serving your punishment in the ancestral hall, it would be a good idea to copy some text to pass your time as well as mend your ways. When you come out, you might understand the rules."
When Ji Xinhe finished, Song Ya Lan’s face turned from blank, to surprised, and finally to rage.
She jumped up and angrily pointing at Ji Xinhe’s nose, cursing loudly, "Ji Xinhe, you mean person! How dare you do this to me? You’re even making me copy texts during my punishment period. What kind of cruel wretch are you!"
Having heard too much of such slander in the past, Ji Xinhe remained calm. She was used to the harsh words from Lady Ding and Ji Xiulan in the past, which were even more bitter. Hence, she faced Song Ya Lan’s anticipated rage calmly without any change in expression.
However, Madam Song’s face suddenly became very gloomy. She never thought that the daughter raised by the Song family would have such a distorted face! She almost jumped up and gave a slap on Song Ya Lan’s face.
Just after she heard the sound of the slap, Madam Song shouted, "Servants! Drag Miss Song out and directly take her home. Let family discipline take care of her!"
As soon as she finished speaking, two sturdy women servants rushed in, held down Song Ya Lan and dragged her out.
Song Ya Lan was both angry and afraid. She pleaded and protested while crying, her tear-streaked face was covered with tears and snot, "Second Aunt, please forgive me, it was all her, it was all her manipulations. Second Aunt, I didn’t mean to!"
However, Madam Song was deaf to her pleas and watched quietly as she was dragged away.
Eventually, when Song Ya Lan disappeared from the room, the East Warm Chamber finally became quiet.
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