Exile at the start? The princess is no ordinary woman.

"Then hurry up and fetch a better doctor to treat the young lady!"

After yelling, Aunt Zhao hugged her daughter and started crying again.

"Reporting to Madam, we have already gone to invite them."

"Moon, my Moon, don't cry, Mother will definitely heal you, don't cry, Mother will definitely find someone to heal you."

"Ahhh"

"..."

Aunt Zhao stayed at Xiangyue Garden for a long time. Only after Gu Jiaoyue's emotions had stabilized somewhat did she have her maid help her to Yuehua Pavilion, where her son was.

However, this time she could already hear her son's angry shouts and beatings coming from inside the house while she was still at the door.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhao hurriedly helped her maidservant stagger into the room, where she also saw the situation inside.

The servants knelt down in a flurry, while her son, disheveled and sprawled before the bed, raged and lashed out at them, wildly waving his hands and spewing insults.

Seeing her son like this, Aunt Zhao was startled and rushed forward, "Xuan'er, Xuan'er, what happened? Mother's here, don't be afraid."

Then, her crazed son seemed not to recognize her at all, ignoring her completely, and continued waving his hands frantically, yelling, "Get out! You piece of trash! I'm going to kill you!"

"Xuan'er, Xuan'er"

Even Aunt Zhao's approach was accidentally bumped and pushed to the ground, startling Caiju and Caiyue, who quickly helped her up from behind, crying out, "Madam!"

Aunt Zhao was shocked that her son didn't even recognize her, his own mother. After a moment's composure, she didn't rush to comfort him this time, but instead looked towards the family physician.

"Doctor Wang, what's wrong with Xuan'er? How could this happen?"

When asked, the physician immediately reported what he knew to the lady.

"Reporting to Madam, when I came to examine the young master just now, he was perfectly fine. But after I finished examining him and informed him of his condition, he suddenly became like this."

He started hurting people out of control, and the servants couldn't get close. I suspect it was because the young master was suddenly agitated and emotionally agitated.

The physician said, "He doesn't know either. He suddenly went mad. He must have been unable to accept the reality, which caused him to be overwhelmed with anger and grief. Besides, this young master has always had a bad temper."

Was it caused by a shock? Aunt Zhao was puzzled. What kind of shock had her son suffered?

What could have injured her son to cause him to react like this?

"Tell us the truth about the young master's health condition."

"Yes, the young master's Achilles tendons were also severed, and so was the young master..."

However, when it came to this last point, the physician seemed hesitant, unsure whether he should state it or not.

Sensing the physician's hesitation, Aunt Zhao reverted to her previous authoritative demeanor.

"Say"

Her heart was breaking. Who was that villain from last night who had hurt both her children? How could someone be so vicious?

The physician hesitated, but with Aunt Zhao's insistence, he seemed to have made up his mind and explained the situation, "Young Master... Young Master may be unable to have sexual relations in the future."

These words struck Aunt Zhao like a bolt from the blue: "Impotent?"

If she can't have sex, wouldn't her son become a useless person?

It's all ruined, everything's ruined. My carefully nurtured daughter is ruined, and my son is ruined too.

Everything he had schemed and plotted for his entire life to achieve was destroyed overnight.

The successive blows, coupled with the fact that Aunt Zhao had come despite her severe injuries, made it so hard for her to accept that she fell into a coma once again.

"lady"

"lady"

"I'll kill you, you bitch! I'll kill you!"

Aunt Zhao fainted again, while her eldest son continued his frantic, desperate cries.

The chaotic Ministry of Personnel remained in chaos, with no one in charge of the overall situation;

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

It was June, the height of summer. At dawn, the heat wasn't too intense, but as noon approached, the sun grew increasingly scorching, making it almost unbearable. Sweat poured down, and one's steps began to falter, as if one might collapse at any moment.

But the urging voices of the escorts kept ringing out behind them.

"Hurry up, all of you! We still have thirty li to go. Anyone who dares to dawdle, I'll whip you to death!"

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

Under the scorching sun, even among these pampered people, despite their fear of the whips in the hands of the escorts, some still couldn't bear it.

He stopped and begged the guards.

"Sir, please give me some water. It's so hot, I can't stand it anymore!"

One person spoke up, and then others followed suit, pleading, "Sir, please, please give us some water to drink, otherwise we really can't walk anymore, or we could at least rest a bit before continuing."

"My lord, please, I beg you, please give me some water. I'm so thirsty!"

As soon as they stopped, the nearest guard immediately turned and lashed out with his whip, striking the men who were asking for water without a word.

"Swish"

"Swish"

"Want some water? Fine, I'll give you some."

Would you like some more water?

"Drink water, drink water! Don't act like some big shot! I'll beat you to death!"

"You still want to boss me around?"

"Swish, swish"

The escorts lashed out with their whips, hurling insults at the men as they struck them. Those whose bodies were whipped were sent tumbling to the ground.

"Ah...ah..."

"No, no more smoking, no more drinking, no more drinking!"

"Help... Ah... Sir, sir, I won't do it again!"

But the escort did not stop there; he continued to wield the whip, each lash clearly demonstrating immense force, instantly leaving red welts on the skin.

None of those who had spoken escaped being whipped. The escorts immediately raised their whips, and their men showed no mercy, frightening the others who feared the whip would strike them.

Of course, some people, even in fear, still stepped forward and begged the guards for mercy. A woman rushed to the side of one of the men who had been whipped and was rolling on the ground, protecting his upper body.

"My son"

He then turned to the guards and begged for mercy, "Sir, sir, please stop hitting me! I won't drink any more water, I won't drink anymore, I'll leave right now, please stop hitting me!"

The guards had only beaten him enough; their main purpose was to intimidate and teach him a lesson, not to actually kill him. Therefore, they stopped when they felt they had done enough.

He then shouted at the crowd, "Remember who you are! You're just an exiled convict, yet you dare to make demands! Anyone who dares to delay our journey will taste the power of my whip! Get up and get on your way!"

As he spoke, he flicked the whip in the air, making a "whoosh" sound as it sliced ​​through the air. The prisoners who were nearby trembled, fearing it would fall on them.

The lash did have a brief deterrent effect; no one dared to complain of thirst or fatigue anymore, and even those whose steps were unsteady continued to drag themselves forward.

The women and children who were nearby were especially frightened.

After a brief interruption, the procession continued its slow march forward.

The group of nearly two hundred people were spaced quite far apart. The person who had just been whipped came from the second-to-last family in the front row.