Her guards

Chapter 92 The Emperor's Admonition

"Why are the palace maids here again?!"

When Yang Hui was summoned, she was imagining her good days after those three lowly maids were kicked out of the exams at the end of the month.

She had barely begun to enjoy her thoughts when she was summoned to the front hall and told that the emperor had sent palace maids again.

"That's a question for you!" Lady Ding'an looked equally agitated, gritting her teeth and whispering, "What were you doing at the Imperial Academy again!"

She hadn't done anything! Yang Hui glared angrily, her eyes immediately catching sight of the two people who had been summoned and were now standing in the hall...

"It was them!" Yang Hui shouted. "They did it!"

Duke Ding'an coughed loudly: "Shut up!"

Yang Huicai was not afraid of her father and continued to shout, but a palace maid standing in the hall looked over with a stern face.

"Miss Yang, please wait a moment," she said. "Please wait until I have finished conveying His Majesty's instructions before you speak."

Yang Hui immediately fell silent.

Lady Ding'an glared at her and pushed her over again.

The palace maid smiled again and looked at Yang Hui: "But Miss Yang, don't worry, we're not here to teach you etiquette this time, so it won't interfere with your rest or school."

Yang Hui, her arm twisted by her mother, didn't dare to speak. She stood up with her head down and biting her lip.

"His Majesty has something to say to Miss Yang," the palace maid said solemnly.

The Duke of Ding'an and his wife, who were inside the hall, hurriedly bowed in greeting. Since it was not an official imperial edict and the words were not addressed to them, they did not need to kneel to receive it.

The young ladies of the Yang family knelt down in unison, saying, "Your humble servants humbly await Your Majesty's instructions."

The palace maid looked down at them and said, "Stretch out your hands."

The three people raised their hands.

Three eunuchs standing behind the palace woman came over, took out a board, and struck each of the three women's hands hard.

Yang Hui suddenly let out a scream.

Liu Chan let out a soft cry, but then immediately gritted her teeth.

Mo Zheng didn't react much, keeping her head down and letting the wooden board hit her palms.

Accompanied by the loud thuds of striking, the palace maid's voice rang out.

"I appointed you as tutors, so that you may study diligently and not disgrace the word 'study'."

……

.......
After the palace maid left, Yang Hui's cries echoed throughout the hall.

Lady Ding'an embraced her, directing the maids surrounding her to apply medicine and blow on her skin, repeatedly comforting her.

"It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt."

"Only ten strokes, and those eunuchs all knew how to use skillful force, so there was no bleeding or broken skin."

Yang Hui suddenly raised her hand and cried out, "It's all swollen! It's all swollen!"

Lady Ding'an quickly pulled her back, saying, "Don't move, don't move." She then urged the maids, "Quickly apply ice."

Mo Zheng and Liu Chan did not cry out.

Mo Zheng held Liu Chan's hand and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Liu Chan nodded: "It's nothing." She smiled again, "When I was little, I often got my hands slapped." But as she spoke, her eyes reddened, "But, it was because I didn't study well that I got slapped, never for no reason like this..."

"What do you mean 'for no reason'!" Duke Ding'an paced back and forth in the hall, and upon hearing this, he shouted angrily, "What exactly did you two do to offend His Majesty?"

“Uncle,” Mo Zheng said to him, “perhaps it’s not us who offended His Majesty, but the princess.”

"What?" Duke Ding'an frowned.

"It's all because of you!" Yang Hui stood up with her hands raised, glaring at the two of them hatefully. "Who told you to flatter Princess Wuyang and Princess Nangong and help them cheat? Princess Heicheng reported you, and His Majesty is angry now."

At this point, she burst into tears again.

"What does this have to do with me? It has nothing to do with me, so why are you hitting me too?"

Lady Ding'an quickly hugged her, saying, "Don't cry, my dear child."

Duke Ding'an roughly understood, and frowned as he looked at Mo Zheng and Liu Chan.

"You guys are confused."

"The Emperor and Empress bestowing upon you the honor of serving as tutors is a favor upon Princess Wuyang and Princess Nangong, and also an honor upon you. How can you go and help Princess Wuyang and Princess Nangong?"

"Although you are nominally their tutor, you must, like Ah Hui, put Princess Heisei first! She is the Emperor and Empress's most precious daughter!"

Her gaze fell on Mo Zheng, and she became annoyed. "The Empress never liked you—"

Mo Zheng, who had been listening with her eyes lowered, raised her head and asked, "Why doesn't the Empress like me?"

Duke Ding'an's face stiffened, then he raised his eyebrows and shouted, "...What why? Think about it, originally only her daughter was serving as a tutor. To resolve your identities, I repeatedly petitioned His Majesty, and he made you tutors for the other two princesses. How could she possibly like you—"

"Just because of this? The Empress is the mother of the nation, and the princesses all call her Mother Empress. They should treat her as their own daughters—" Mo Zheng asked, puzzled.

Lady Ding'an could no longer bear to listen and scolded, "How dare you talk about the Empress! It's precisely because the Empress knows you have no manners and are audacious that she dislikes you."

He then glared fiercely at Duke Ding'an, saying, "Watch your mouth! Don't say what's on your mind!"

Duke Ding'an nodded stiffly, "That's right, it's your personality. How could the Empress or His Majesty like you?"

Mo Zheng gave an "oh" and lowered her gaze without saying anything more.

Liu Chan's eyes reddened even more as she listened, and she turned to leave, saying, "I'm going to find my father. The princess stole my question, and now I'm being punished. The empress and emperor even dislike me because of it. I don't understand this..."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.

Mo Zheng followed her: "It's my fault. I shouldn't have disobeyed Princess Heping after she stopped me. I'm the one who caused you, Miss Liu, to suffer. I'll go apologize to Mr. Liu, and then we'll go to the Emperor and Empress to make things clear!"

We mustn't let that old scholar surnamed Liu find out!
That old scholar was reckless and dared to cause trouble and go see the emperor and empress!
We absolutely cannot let her see the Emperor and Empress!
Ding'an Gong quickly lowered his voice and followed up, "No, no, this is a small matter. Let me talk to Mr. Liu..."

Lady Ding'an released Yang Hui and quickly pulled Mo Zheng back, saying, "Don't cause trouble." "It's getting late, you can't go out anymore." "This is His Majesty's decree." "Your aunt will explain to His Majesty and the Empress." "Don't worry, I won't let you suffer any injustice."

Yang Hui stood there with her hand raised, watching her father treat the two people with kindness and her mother even hugging Yang Luo and speaking softly to her. Suddenly, she felt her hand hurt even more and burst into tears again.

How unlucky she is!
She was clearly a beloved jewel in her family, and no one in the capital dared to bully her. The emperor even gave her a gift on her birthday, and he liked her very much.

How did everything suddenly change?

……

.......
"Let me see."

As night deepened, Yang Luo, who had been asleep, got up in her nightgown and held Mo Zheng's hand to look at her.

That evening after school, the Liu family master and apprentice, along with Yang Luo, moved out of the Ding'an Duke's Mansion and returned to live in the alley.

Although Liu Chan was persuaded not to go to her father that night, Mo Zheng could not be kept in confinement.

As night deepened, she quietly left the Ding'an Duke's residence to see Yang Luo and tell her what had happened that night.

Yang Luo disregarded everything else and immediately grabbed her hand, holding it up to his eyes to look at it.

Mo Zheng watched as Yang Luo practically pressed her eyes to her hand.

"It's alright, it's just a formality to give a reprimand." She chuckled softly, then added, "Luckily you moved out in time, otherwise you might have been beaten too."

Yang Luo couldn't laugh at all. Looking at her swollen and red palm, he said, "Is this what you call a show? You really went all out and hit her."

If it was just for show, three hits would have been enough, but they hit him ten times.

It's such a small matter.

Although she wasn't actually hit in the hand, it felt like she was being hit as well.

Does the Emperor really despise this Miss Yang so much?

Yang Luo's tears slowly slid down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, it doesn't really hurt," Mo Zheng said. "His Majesty is worried that we will lead the two princesses astray, causing them to neglect their studies and go astray. Although we are innocent, parents love their children unconditionally, and the emperor is no exception."

He smiled again as he said this.

"Besides, the Empress never liked me..."

Yang Luo raised her head and asked, "Empress? You don't like her?"

Mo Zheng nodded: "Duke Ding'an blurted it out, but when I asked him again, he didn't dare to say it again." She smiled as she spoke, "He was probably afraid of gossiping about the Empress behind her back, and if he were found out, he would also be punished with a slap on the hand."

Yang Luo didn't laugh at her joke; her expression was blank. "Yes, the Empress certainly doesn't like it..."

Mo Zheng gently patted her hand: "Don't think about it, don't worry. Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. It's inevitable to encounter trouble as a princess's tutor. I will be careful in the future and not get caught doing anything wrong..."

“No, being on guard is useless,” Yang Luo murmured.

Mo Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Miss Yang, do you not believe in my abilities?"

Yang Luo looked at her. In the dim light of the night, her eyes, dressed as a boy, had a sharp look about them.

“Ah Sheng, you took the punishment for me not because you were incompetent, but because of my background,” she said softly. “I have a secret I’m keeping from you.”

Today's beating wasn't in vain, and not using medicine was the right thing to do. Mo Zheng looked at her swollen palms, then raised her head with a helpless expression: "Miss, you have another secret."

(End of this chapter)