“Say, how should this prince punish you? You are so beautiful. This prince can’t bear to make this face of yours ugly.” Pei Qianhao’s gaze was on Su Xi-er as his voice became increasingly lower and slower.
“This servant will accept any punishment. But…this servant doesn’t wish to be forced to take off my clothes again.” Su Xi-er raised her head and looked straight at him. She felt that it was very necessary for her to stress the latter part.
Pei Qianhao laughed. “This prince has just seen it today, so I won’t see it a second time. It’s just that this prince can’t think of how I should punish you. Tell me, why did you prank this prince? If you provide a satisfactory explanation, perhaps your punishment will be lighter.”
“Prince Hao, don’t you understand what the most important thing to a woman is?”
Pei Qianhao looked at her endlessly flickering eyes that appeared to dance in the moonlight. She was using such an earnest expression to ask him what the most important thing to a woman was.
Su Xi-er didn’t wait for him to reply before continuing. “Prince Hao, you may answer appearance, but what this servant wants to tell you is chastity. Every woman, no matter what their status is, hides the thought of marrying someone.”
Her words were only half truthful, although for her, she had only played a prank to get back at him. Everyone had their own dignity, but she figured that if she talked to Pei Qianhao about dignity, what she would get in return would probably be a sneer of disdain.
What sort of dignity did a palace maid have to speak of in front of Pei Qianhao?
“What you mean is that, since this prince have seen all of you, I have to take responsibility and marry you? So it turns out that this was your plan.”
“This servant doesn’t dare, Prince Hao. You can beat and lambaste this servant, but you can’t joke with me, ignoring the difference between men and women, overstepping your status and doing some bad things to this servant.”
Her tone was flat, but her words were extremely audacious! In short, she was telling him, “With your lofty and powerful status, you should stop acting like a common hoodlum!”
Pei Qianhao’s voice was deep and low as a dangerous glint flashed across his eyes. “Bad things? No one has spoken those words to this prince before. Su Xi-er, this time, you have overstepped your boundaries.”
He then chuckled and swayed the hem of his sleeves before fading into the distance.
Su Xi-er looked at the empty wooden basin beside her. Is he really going to let me off just like that?
That hope was soon dashed as an imperial guard soon made his way over with a whip in his hands.
Stopping before Su Xi-er, the imperial bodyguard cupped his fist and said apologetically, “I am an imperial guard from the Prince Hao Residence. Conveying Prince Hao’s verbal edict, Su Xi-er offended her superior and is to be whipped 20 times as discipline.”
Not a second after, the whip was raised and struck Su Xi-er’s back fiercely.
Su Xi-er was expressionless. How meaningless. This sort of pain can’t even begin to compare to what I have experienced. The whips on landing on her felt only felt like a drizzle to her.
Puzzlement and shock flitted across the imperial guard’s eyes, feeling that he was witnessing something inconceivable. A normal woman would definitely collapse to the ground within ten strikes. I have already thrashed more than ten times, yet she is still not budging even an inch.
The imperial bodyguard was a little soft-hearted and couldn’t bear to continue. The complete lack of reaction suggested that this woman was already used to such punishments. A woman who is used to being whipped must have suffered a lot of hardships.
He involuntarily began to slow down his strikes, but when he recalled Prince Hao’s expression and tone when he had issued the edict, the guard’s whole body trembled.
Hence, the imperial guard could only clench his teeth and increase the force for the last three whips.
Rip! The back of the dress was torn, revealing the lacerated skin and fresh blood slowly trickling down.
The imperial bodyguard wound up the whip and cupped his fist again. His tone was filled with apology. “I’m sorry. I was executing orders. Don’t blame me.”
Su Xi-er bit her pallid lips and suddenly smiled. “Why would I blame you? You should leave.”
I brought this upon myself. I can’t blame anyone. For that teeny bit of pathetic dignity, I blustered and even played a prank before the eminent and mighty him.
Twenty whips is considered a light punishment.
