The strength in which high-rank imperial guards executed the flogging with a stick was beyond the tolerance of ordinary people. After thirty strokes, Madam Sun was on the verge of death, and then she heard that Consort Sun was now kneeling in the Buddhist Hall for self-reflection. After twelve shichen (twenty-four hours), the imperial child would definitely not survive and there is a possibility that both the child and mother would die.
The reason she went to the palace was for her son’s marriage. But she did not expect that the marriage would fall through, and the pillar of the Sun family would collapse. Her sister-in-law was favoured and the Emperor had also promised to decree him as a Prince as soon as she gave birth to a son. So why did he want to kill her sister-in-law in the blink of an eye?
Madam Sun was not a fool. How could she not see that the Emperor and Empress were working together to get rid of her sister-in-law? Her body ached as if it was torn apart, but the fretfulness and anxiety in her heart were even greater than the pain in her body. She wanted to return to the manor immediately to have a proper discussion with her son. However, she felt that the sudden change in the Emperor’s attitude was not a good sign. It was as if the fate of the Great Han was about to change.
“Madam Sun, has the decree for the marriage been obtained? If so, give it to me, so I can go back and prepare the dowry.” The Shen’s family carriage stopped on the main road, and Yu Xiang lifted the curtain and smiled radiantly.
A maidservant lifted the curtain and said in a coaxing manner, “Our Madam is very ill. Please make way, Miss Shen.”
“Ill? Wasn’t she stripped of her trousers and flogged? There were so many guards in front of the palace. In broad daylight, Madam had her lower body exposed. Indeed, it is very interesting. If it were me, I would be ashamed to death.” Yu Xiang did not deliberately lower her voice. This was the main entrance to the palace, and the only people passing by were dignitaries, so they turned their heads to look at them.
Madam Sun, who was already on her last breath, was so incensed that she almost vomited blood. She shrieked at the top of her lungs, “Go, quickly return to the manor! Hurry up!” She felt as if she had died one more time here.
“Get out of the way. She’s in a hurry to hang herself.” Yu Xiang beckoned her coachman.
The driver immediately moved out of the way and watched as the Sun family’s carriage disappeared into a sea of finger-pointing. Yu Xiang lowered the curtain and said, “Let’s go. The Sun family has a big play waiting for us to watch.”
Tao Hong couldn’t hold back her laughter when she heard this. She urged the coachman to speed up, while Liu Lu had a hint of helplessness on her face.
The two carriages arrived at the Sun manor one after the other. The doorman had been informed and brought out a bamboo bed to receive the Madam. Lord Sun was still on duty at the magistrate’s office and it was Sun Ming Jie’s day off. When Sun Ming Jie heard about the flogging his mother was bestowed instead of an imperial decree, he was already waiting at the side door with a few small drops of sweat visibly on his forehead.
His mother must have caused big trouble to have been personally ordered to be flogged by Emperor Cheng Kang and beaten by the guards in front of the Hall of Nurtured Hearts. Now that Consort Sun was kneeling in the freezing Buddhist Hall, it was apparent what had occurred within the duration of twelve shichen (twenty-four hours). He was not a fool, and had already thought of the worst possible outcome.
“Someone come, someone come. Quickly receive Madam.” The servants saw the carriage and hurriedly carried the bamboo bed with its thick bedding over.
Sun Ming Jie held Madam Sun’s hand and bombarded her with questions, “How are you doing, Mother? How is Niang Niang?[1] What has happened to provoke such anger from the Emperor?”
“Are you Sun Ming Jie?” A clear voice came from the carriage in the back.
Sun Ming Jie turned his head to look towards the back, and what met his eyes was the silhouette he had whipped and toyed with countless times in his dreams. Currently, the person’s jaw was slightly raised. She had an arrogant expression and her small red lips spat out hurtful words, “With your appearance, neither a male nor female, you would dare to desire a true Si Nong Xiang Jun?[2] Why don’t you look in the mirror and see if you are even worthy?”
One thing Sun Ming Jie hated the most was when people say that he had an appearance that was neither feminine nor masculine. His eyes flushed red with murderous intent visible between his brows.
Yu Xiang laughed contemptuously and waved her sleeve, “Stop glaring. I won’t lose a piece of flesh if you keep doing so. I have something here for you, take it.”
As soon as she said that, another carriage came ahead of her and several manor servants came down carrying a huge iron cage containing a white swan and several hundred toads. She had gone to a lot of trouble to find all these toads in the middle of winter and placed them on the fire pit to wake them up.
Toads were supposed to be food for swans, but there were so many of them in the cage. What one could see was a densely packed flesh bubbling with white venom. Even a person would be too terrified to look at them, let alone a swan surrounded by them.
The swan craned its neck and let out a loud hiss that it drew the gazes of all passers-by. When they saw the radiantly smiling Yu Xiang leaning out the carriage window, they all wondered—Who is the unlucky person who has messed with this devil incarnate again? If you want to talk about mischievousness, even the dandy boys in the capitals were no match for the young lady of the Yu family. Oh no, it’s the Shen family.