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After Shen Ning’s body had recovered, she resumed her daily morning practice while also keeping a close eye on the changing winds outside.
Rumors spread throughout the capital that Princess Pingyao was plotting a rebellion, and the rumors grew more intense. She even stormed into the imperial court to confront the officials, displaying an extreme level of audacity and shocking the world.
This commotion directly overshadowed the Regent’s control over the government, leading people to suspect whether she had deliberately chosen this moment to oppose the officials, thus thwarting the Imperial Uncle’s schemes.
The Imperial Uncle’s attempt to join forces with the others to impeach the Regent for holding onto power was no longer a topic of discussion among the court officials. Most believed that if they had to choose a new Emperor, they would rather support the Regent’s claim to the throne than Princess Pingyao.
Of course, this was just their inner thoughts for the time being, and no one had yet dared to voice these ideas.
Instead, the Imperial Uncle had suffered a setback, being impeached for corruption and forming a clique for personal gain, causing a sense of fear and unease among the Qin family faction.
The Imperial Uncle’s plans were disrupted, and he harbored a deep hatred for Princess Pingyao, grinding his teeth in anger. On the evening of the eighth day, as Qin Yumo was returning home from his duties and riding in a carriage back to the Princess’s estate, he was forcibly stopped by a dozen guards and then taken back to the Qin family residence.
As the head of the Qin family, the Imperial Uncle despised Qin Yumo, who relied on his looks to serve others and had betrayed his parents. He immediately ordered Qin Yumo to be taken to the ancestral hall to be dealt with according to family law.
The four guards accompanying Qin Yumo were stopped outside the Qin family’s gate, and since Qin Yumo was a weak scholar, he was powerless to resist his father’s firmness and the collective action of the Qin family’s guards. He was forcibly escorted into the ancestral hall.
In front of the ancestral hall were the tablets of the Qin family’s ancestors.
After Qin Yumo was kicked to his knees on the ground, two guards brought in a desk, with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone neatly arranged.
Qin Yumo looked at this setup, and a sense of foreboding rose in his heart. Not long after, he heard a familiar set of footsteps behind him.
“Madam.” The voice of the guard maidservant bowing confirmed his judgment.
The mistress of the Qin family had arrived.
Qin Yumo’s expression changed slightly, and the hand hanging by his side involuntarily clenched into a fist.
Qin Yumo had grown up fearing the mistress’s displeasure, and his deep-rooted fear of Madam Qin was not something that could be erased in a few days.
“Qin Yumo.” Madam Qin walked to his side and sat down on the chair brought by the servants, looking down at him from above, “The writing implements have been prepared for you. According to your father’s wishes, you will now write a memorial impeaching Princess Pingyao for plotting rebellion and draw out the military deployment of the Princess’s estate.”
Qin Yumo silently looked at the four treasures of the study on the desk, his eyes lowered, his tone calm: “The Princess has no intention of rebelling. I do not know the military deployment of the Princess’s estate.”
Madam Qin looked at him coldly.
Since losing her son, Qin Yanshu, she had grown to hate Qin Yumo even more. If she didn’t need him to do something today, she would have torn him to pieces right now.
“You don’t know?” Madam Qin’s gaze was icy, “Do you think I’ll believe that?”
Qin Yumo said indifferently: “After going to the Princess’s estate, I never wandered around the place, nor did I try to understand the military deployment.”
“In that case, first write out the words impeaching the Princess.” Madam Qin ordered.
Qin Yumo insisted: “The Princess has no intention of rebelling.”
Madam Qin’s eyes turned cold, and she ordered viciously: “Call the servants, apply the family law!”
Two stout maids approached with rattan whips in hand.
“If he doesn’t write today, beat him to death right here! I’ll have him buried with Yanshu!”
The two maids followed the order and mercilessly lashed Qin Yumo’s slender back with the rattan whips. Qin Yumo was held down by the shoulders, unable to escape or dodge, and could only endure the pain.
Although he had endured such family punishments countless times since childhood, after going to the Princess’s estate, he had lived a pampered life for a while. Now, experiencing such pain again, he found it difficult to bear.
Qin Yumo was pressed to the ground, and it wasn’t long before his back was seeping with blood. His face was pale, and cold sweat covered his forehead. He clenched his teeth tightly, not making a sound.
Madam Qin asked coldly: “Will you write it?”
Qin Yumo clenched his teeth and remained silent.
Seeing this, Madam Qin snatched the rattan whip from the maid’s hand and viciously lashed Qin Yumo’s back: “You bastard! Since you dare to serve others with your looks, don’t blame the family law for being merciless! You’ve utterly disgraced our ancestors! Even if I beat you to death here today, Princess Pingyao won’t stand up for you, a mere concubine’s son!”
Qin Yumo was in so much pain that his vision blurred. He instinctively bit his own arm, feeling a sense of despair in his heart.
Was he really going to die here today?
“Madam! Madam!” A servant girl rushed in from outside, “It’s not good! The Princess… The Princess has barged in with her men and ordered the Imperial Uncle to hand over the Prince Consort immediately, otherwise… Otherwise…”
Madam Qin’s expression was fierce, and she struck Qin Yumo with a sharp blow as if she wanted to break his back, her voice icy cold: “Otherwise what? Could it be that she wants to destroy the Imperial Uncle’s residence?”
“No, no, the Princess has had the young miss captured.” The servant girl said with a pale face, uneasily. “The Princess said that if you don’t release the Prince Consort soon, she… she will strip the young miss naked and throw her… throw her into a brothel…”
Madam Qin was about to strike again, but the hand she raised suddenly stiffened, and then the rattan cane fell to the ground, the air growing tense bit by bit.
Her face was ashen, and she looked at the servant girl in disbelief: “What did you say?”
The servant girl stammered: “The Princess sent people to the young miss’s courtyard and took the young miss… took the young miss away.”
Madam Qin was furious. Although she was worried about her daughter, she couldn’t bring herself to lose face as the mistress of the house. She said coldly: “I refuse to believe this nonsense! Keep beating him until he’s dead!”
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Suddenly, a series of noises came from outside, sounding like someone being repeatedly kicked and thrown, followed by a cold female voice: “Since Madam Qin refuses to believe, this Princess will accompany you to the end.”
As soon as the words were spoken, someone was roughly pushed in. After stumbling, the person fell to the ground in a disheveled state: “Ah!”
Madam Qin was shocked and looked down to see that the person on the ground was her own daughter, Qin Zhilan, and she became both anxious and angry: “Zhilan—”
“Ah!” Qin Zhilan let out a scream of agony.
It turned out that Princess Pingyao had stepped on her back, forcefully pinning her to the ground.
“Princess Pingyao, what are you doing?” Madam Qin was furious, “Let go of Zhilan!”
Princess Pingyao glanced at the battered Qin Yumo and coldly raised her eyes to look at Madam Qin: “Madam Qin dared to lay hands on this Princess’s Prince Consort without my permission. You truly have the audacity of a bear and the boldness of a leopard!”
Madam Qin’s face turned from green to white, unable to imagine what had happened outside and why Princess Pingyao had arrived at the Qin family’s ancestral hall so quickly.
Hadn’t the Imperial Uncle arranged for people to block her outside?
“Someone.” Princess Pingyao removed her foot and commanded leisurely, “Madam Qin has committed an offense by attacking the Prince Consort. Take her and Qin Zhilan to the Princess’s estate. This Princess will interrogate them thoroughly.”
“Yes!”
Several tall and slender women rushed into the ancestral hall, looking like martial artists. One grabbed Madam Qin, and another seized Qin Zhilan, awaiting Princess Pingyao’s instructions.
Princess Pingyao turned and walked out: “This Princess brought two hundred people tonight. Anyone from the Imperial Uncle’s residence who dares to make a move will be killed without mercy!”
Madam Qin was horrified, her face turning deathly pale.