Her guards

Chapter 103 She Doesn't Want to Read
Yang Luo always liked to please the princess.

"She often quarreled with her sister Yang Hui and was domineering."

The palace maid recounted her story in a trembling voice, glancing around as she spoke.

“The young ladies in the school can all testify to this.”

The girls who were huddled by the door all kept their heads down and didn't respond. Even if it was true, no one wanted to get involved.

"Your Majesty, it's all my fault," Consort Li knelt down beside him, choking back tears. "I failed to teach Wu Yang how to discipline those around him."

The Empress said coldly, "Consort Li, don't be in such a hurry. Wait until I ask you before you speak."

Consort Li choked up and dared not speak again.

"You don't need to talk about the past," the Empress said, looking at the palace maid. "Just tell me about this matter."

The palace maid trembled: "She said that His Majesty had slapped her hand because Princess Heisei complained. She... she wanted to scare the princess."

He then kowtowed heavily on the ground.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, this servant did not know she would use a knife to cut the princess's face."

"This servant thought she was going to damage the princess's painting and make the princess look foolish."

Consort Li, standing to the side, kowtowed again: "Your Majesty, this servant was merely speculating. Perhaps Miss Yang truly did it by accident—"

"Really an accident? Heisei's face is truly injured!" the Empress shouted. "Bring that lowly maid here!"

After saying that, he looked coldly at Consort Li.

"Bring Princess Wuyang up as well. I want to see if that lowly maid was truly careless on her own, or if she was instigated by someone else to be careless."

Consort Li's face turned deathly pale, and she bent over the ground, sobbing.

……

.......
"Ladies, step back."

Whether it was because there were too many people to bring into the hall, or because it involved the royal family's reputation, the Empress finally ordered the maids who were trembling and crying in the hall to leave.

But the young ladies cannot leave yet; they can only depart after the Empress has finished investigating this matter.

Although separated by a single door, the Empress's authority eased slightly, and the young ladies who accompanied her to school were like fish in water, coming back to life. They could no longer help but whisper among themselves to dispel their fear.

"Really her?"

"impossible."

“Why not? Princess Wuyang complained to her earlier, and she looked resentful, after all, she was also beaten.”

"So bold?"

"They look so gentle and weak, but they're really ruthless."

The young ladies whispered among themselves, and some even pushed their way to the front, glancing up to see it was Liu Chan...

Why are you still pushing forward? What are you watching? You're always so close to that Yang Luo, aren't you afraid of getting involved?

"They've been brought here," a young woman said in a low voice.

The young ladies who were accompanying the students immediately stopped their discussion and looked through the layers of guards, eunuchs, and palace women into the hall. They saw a young girl being dragged in, followed closely by Princess Wuyang.

Although her face was not clearly visible, Princess Wuyang's angry voice could be heard immediately.

"Mother--"

"Your Majesty, she is my tutor, but she has nothing to do with me—"

Why were I locked up too?

"Palm mouth."

Before Princess Wuyang could say more than a few words, the Empress gave a cold shout, and the young ladies who were accompanying her outside the school saw two eunuchs hold Princess Wuyang down and slap her across the face.

With a slap, Princess Wuyang screamed and fell to the ground. Consort Li rushed over and caught her. Through the gap, one could see blood flowing from Princess Wuyang's mouth and nose.

"Do not speak until I ask you a question," the Empress said coldly.

Princess Wuyang's cries were also silenced. Consort Li covered her mouth with her hand, and the mother and daughter curled up on the ground, not daring to make a sound.

Although they had already retreated outside the door, the companion girls were still so frightened that they took another step back, wishing they could stand in the plum grove to the side.

Some of them had seen the Empress before, but the Empress they saw at this moment was completely different from the one they had seen at the banquet.

The empress on the throne in the imperial city was gentle, kind, and dignified.

At this moment, although the Empress's face was not ferocious or ruthless, she could still order the Consort and the Princess to be beaten and scolded at will.

At that moment, the young ladies-in-waiting understood the power of the Empress.

Even the emperor's concubines and children were treated like servants in the empress's eyes.

Yang Luo stood in front, her hands clenched so tightly under her sleeves that they ached. The other girls who accompanied her had all stepped aside, but she remained standing at the doorway.

You can see it so clearly.

It's amazing to see such a strong and domineering side of the Empress.

Yang Luo caught a glimpse of a girl kneeling on the other side through the gaps in the figures.

The Empress's gaze also shifted in that direction.

"You are Yang Luo."

The kneeling girl below was slender, her hair disheveled from the fall, and her head was bowed, only the outline of her face visible. The Empress instinctively wanted her to raise her head, but the words caught in her throat.

She didn't want to see the face of any member of the Yang family again.

"Did you slash Princess Heisei's face because you harbored resentment?" the Empress asked coldly.

"No, it wasn't me," Mo Zheng said, without raising her head, but loudly proclaiming, "Your Majesty, I was framed!"

“Miss Yang! You, you clearly said it!” the palace maid shouted, “You were the one who told me to hide the blade in the paintbrush!”

"I didn't! You're framing me!"

"Your Majesty! What I said is true!"

"I didn't! You're not my servant, how could I order you around?"

"Yang Luo! Are you saying I ordered this? You vile servant! You—"

"Wu Yang, shut up! The Empress hasn't asked you anything yet!"

The women's shrill voices made everyone's ears ring, but the Queen remained calm, her hands on her knees slowly clenching.

"Someone come here," she suddenly said, "bring the cane."

The noisy and chaotic hall fell silent.

Yang Luo's heart stopped.

The Empress treats even imperial concubines and princesses like servants, beating them at will. In her eyes, a subject's daughter is nothing at all...

Moreover, the Empress already disliked the Yang family's daughter, and now that she had a handle on her, how could she let it go?
Screw it, look carefully!

How could she just stand by and watch Ah Sheng be punished in her place!

Yang Luo grabbed the palace maid at the door and whispered urgently, "I...I need to go to the washroom."

It's not surprising that a teenage girl would be frightened by such a thing and go to the bathroom.

The palace maid waved to her.

Yang Luo ignored the eunuch who brought in the cane from the hall, leaving behind Princess Wu Yang's suppressed and frightened cries, and ran towards the washroom, lifting her skirt.

……

……

The urgent chirping of birds rose in the air above the Academy of Chinese Studies, then quickly subsided into silence.

The window of the private room for the female companions was being gently tapped.

Yang Luo felt a blur before his eyes and saw a woman crawl in through the window.

"What happened?" Peach Blossom asked in a low voice. "The Empress and the Imperial Concubine have both arrived."

Since confessing to Yang Luo that they were accomplices, and knowing that the palace harbored ill intentions, in addition to Zhang Sheng being responsible for picking up and dropping off Yang Luo, Tao Hua also came along, hiding in the National Academy every day in advance.

She had noticed the incident that had just occurred with the princess's companion, but because the imperial guards immediately surrounded the area, she hid herself to avoid being discovered and causing even more trouble, and dared not inquire about the news.

Just then, she heard Yang Luo blow the wooden whistle he always carried, and she hurried over to find him.

"They falsely accused Asheng of harming the princess, and the empress is going to torture Asheng. You must quickly find someone from the Imperial Academy to stop the empress," Yang Luo said urgently in a low voice.

"Your Majesty!" Peach Blossom's eyebrows twitched.

“I’ll kill her,” she said. “That will stop it.”

Yang Luo was startled. This seemingly delicate Sister Peach Blossom, well, now that she knew they were bandits, it wasn't surprising that she dared to kill someone, but she was, after all, the Empress.

They showed absolutely no fear.

So this is why they dared to oppose the imperial court from this moment on. No wonder they became a major threat to the court in their previous life, prompting the dispatch of a large army to eliminate them.

Even with many guards around, I can prevent them from noticing.

As Sister Peach Blossom was still muttering to herself, Yang Luo quickly stopped her: "We can't kill the Empress, or everyone will be buried with her."

But Peach Blossom thought that the young master would surely escape, though she didn't say it aloud.

“The Grand Master is not here today, but the Imperial Academy must have left some people behind,” Yang Luo said. “Go and lure the person in charge here, and I will find a way to get him to stop the Empress.”

The solution was for her to tell this disciple that Ah Sheng was the real princess, so that he could stop the empress and invite the emperor.

She refused to believe that the emperor would dare to continue beating Ah Sheng in front of so many people. If he continued, she would shout it out in public. If the emperor wanted to silence her, then so be it.
She looked at Sister Peach Blossom.

"You only kill when you're completely desperate."

Peach Blossom responded with an "oh," her expression hesitant: "The Grand Master's disciple, Ling Yu, is here."

Ling Yu, this is a Five Classics Doctor appointed by the Emperor, not bad. Yang Luo urged, "Go and call him over quickly."

But Peach Blossom, who had said she would kill the Empress without hesitation, hesitated at this moment, seemingly afraid to go.

"Hurry up and go! The Empress's cane can really kill!" Yang Luo stamped her foot, urging him on. "Are you going to just watch Ah Sheng get hurt?"

Young master, you'll either get injured or suddenly kill someone. Let's choose the one with the least cost. Peach Blossom turned and went out the window.

Yang Luo looked at the closed window, not worried that Ling Yu wouldn't come if he didn't want to get involved. Even if he didn't come, Tao Hua would definitely have a way to threaten him.

　Thank you to the friend who helped me correct the typos using the error correction feature; I've fixed every chapter!

　　(End of this chapter)