Chapter 25: Punishment

After waiting for a considerable time, Wei Zhaoxian should have arrived by now, given his usual pace.

“Go check where the General is,” Madam Wei instructed Jinxiu, tightening her grip on her handkerchief. “Or… has he gone to Shen Shilang’s quarters first?”

“Yes, Madam,” Jinxiu replied and hurried out.

Madam Wei clutched the doorframe, unconsciously tightening her hold. “This Shen Shilang usually stays quiet, even when wronged. I thought he was sensible. I never expected him to explode like this!”

If he hadn’t insisted on preventing the exorcism and even resorted to violence, causing such a commotion, how could so many issues have come to light?

Just then, Jinxiu rushed back.

As she approached, Madam Wei noticed the panic on her face.

“What happened?” Madam Wei asked anxiously.

Jinxiu reached Madam Wei’s side and whispered, “The General and the eldest young master went directly to the ancestral hall.”

Madam Wei nearly collapsed, supported just in time by Jinxiu.

“He’s going straight to find Jianming and Ruyan!” Madam Wei hadn’t expected that Wei Zhaoxian wouldn’t go to Shen Shilang first, nor would he come to see her. Instead, he went directly to the ancestral hall.

Could he be planning to beat Wei Jianming and Wei Ruyan to death?

“Quick! To the ancestral hall!” Madam Wei urged, leaning on Jinxiu as they hurried there.

As they neared the hall, before seeing anyone, they heard Wei Jianming and Wei Ruyan’s cries.

“Father, Father, we know we were wrong! Father, please don’t!” Wei Jianming shouted.

“Father, Second Brother… he still has to take the provincial exam! You can’t beat him!” Wei Ruyan sobbed. “Father, we were wrong, we won’t do it again. Please forgive us this once!”

“Hurry!” Madam Wei urged Jinxiu to quicken their pace.

“General!”

Entering the ancestral hall’s courtyard, Madam Wei saw Wei Jianming and Wei Ruyan bound and lying face down on the ground, unable to rise.

Wei Jianming’s situation might have been tolerable, as he was a man.

But Wei Ruyan was a young lady. Being tied up like this would ruin her reputation if word got out!

Even within the mansion, it was utterly humiliating!

“General!” Madam Wei rushed in. “General, they’ve already admitted their mistake.”

As she got closer, Madam Wei saw that Wei Zhaoxian was holding a whip.

“General, what… what are you planning to do?” Madam Wei asked in alarm.

Wei Zhaoxian, suppressing his anger, said, “However they beat Shilang, I’ll beat them the same!”

“General!” Madam Wei grasped his hand. “In ten days, Jianming has his provincial exam. You can’t beat him. How will he take the test?”

“If he can’t even be a decent person, what’s the point of taking exams?” Wei Zhaoxian replied. “Even if he passes, he’d be a scourge as an official!”

“General, they truly understand their mistakes!” Madam Wei pleaded. “And… and Ruyan is a girl! She can’t be left with scars!”

“Step aside!” Wei Zhaoxian said coldly.

Madam Wei stood in front of Wei Jianming and Wei Ruyan. “General, if you want to beat them, then beat me first!”

Wei Zhaoxian laughed bitterly, “Your own children haven’t even been struck yet, and you’re ready to die for them. But when your children beat someone else’s child, you did nothing!”

“When I returned before, Shilang didn’t say anything, and neither did you,” Wei Zhaoxian’s eyes reddened with rage. “I trusted you completely, left the mansion’s matters to you, entrusted Shilang to you, and this is how you treat him?”

“I can’t even imagine how many such despicable acts you’ve committed before this one was exposed by Jianlang!” Wei Zhaoxian raged. “How dare you try to stop me!”

“Take Madam Wei away!” Wei Zhaoxian ordered. “I won’t beat them excessively. However many lashes they gave Shilang, I’ll give them the same!”

“No! General!” Madam Wei cried, unable to protect them as she was pulled away. She could only beg through tears. “It’s my fault for not managing the household properly, for not disciplining them. If you must punish someone, punish me! General, you can’t beat them! Jianming has his exam, and Ruyan is a girl; she can’t endure the whip!”

Wei Zhaoxian ignored her pleas and brought the whip down, striking both Wei Jianming and Wei Ruyan at once.

“Ah!”

Wei Jianming and Wei Ruyan screamed in unison.

Wei Ruyan’s cry was high-pitched and shrill. She felt a searing, bone-deep pain in her back.

“She couldn’t tell if her back was already torn open. The pain from just this single lash was so intense that she wished she would faint, but she couldn’t stop herself from screaming.”

Yet when Shen Shilang was beaten last time, he hadn’t made a sound.

How… How could it be so painful?

Wei Jianming wailed beside her, crying out, “Mother! Save me, Mother! Ah!”

Midway through his words, another lash fell.

Wei Ruyan, a delicate young lady who typically got tired from walking a few steps, fainted after the third lash.

“Take your young miss back,” Wei Zhaoxian said coldly.

Wei Ruyan’s maids quickly placed her on a stretcher, which was then carried away by servants.”

Wei Zhaoxian brought the whip down again, continuing to beat Wei Jianming.

“General, you can’t beat him anymore!” Madam Wei cried. “How will he take the exam if you continue?”

While striking, Wei Zhaoxian said: “After Shilang was whipped by them, he could still practice martial arts with me the next day. Why can’t he endure this? If his injuries haven’t healed in ten days for the exam, then he shouldn’t go!”

Wei Jianming, thinking of the unconscious Wei Ruyan being carried away, quickly closed his eyes, pretending to faint.

Wei Zhaoxian snorted coldly and lashed out again.

“Ah!” Wei Jianming cried out in pain.

“Fool!” Wei Zhaoxian grew angrier. “If you were truly unconscious, you wouldn’t cry out no matter how much I beat you.”

“Father, I was wrong, Father!” Wei Jianming could only beg for mercy, tears streaming down his face. “Brother, Brother, save me, please save me! Ah!”

“I’ll be beaten to death, Mother! Brother!” Wei Jianming wept.

On the tenth lash, Wei Jianming finally lost consciousness.

This time, it wasn’t an act.

“Ten more to go,” Wei Zhaoxian said. “Wake him up with water.”

Only then did Madam Wei notice water buckets placed nearby on the ground.

Wei Zhaoxian had prepared everything.

“He knew Wei Jianming’s uselessness all too well. He was certain that Wei Jianming couldn’t endure for long and would surely faint midway.”

Wei Zhaoxian was determined to deliver the full punishment.

Madam Wei collapsed to the ground, muttering, “Why… why…”

All this for a Shen Shilang?

Madam Wei’s heart was filled with both regret and hatred.

She regretted not stopping Wei Jianming when he attacked Shen Shilang, and hated Shen Shilang himself.

Wei Zhaoxian paused his whipping and said, “This will teach you a lesson, so you won’t dare lay hands on Shilang again.”