Having many handsome men means no worries; pampering them all keeps me in good spirits.

Upon hearing the noise, Jiang Qingyan and the others rushed out to investigate. They found the chief executioner and several prison guards kneeling in the courtyard, their faces bruised and swollen from Ling Feng's beating.

Ling Feng shouted sternly, "How dare you! How dare you scum trespass into the Emperor's palace?"

The executioner repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Guard Ling, please spare us! We know we were wrong, we'll never dare to do it again..."

Jiang Qingyan strode forward and questioned the executioner and jailers, "What are you doing in my palace?"

Seeing that he had alarmed the Emperor, the presiding executioner lowered his head, trembling and silent, his heart pounding wildly with fear…

Jiang Qingyan rolled her eyes at him, casually pointed to a prison warden who looked somewhat dazed, and asked, "Tell me the truth, and I might spare your life. But if you're going to pretend to be mute like him, you should really think about whether your head will still be on your body tomorrow..."

The warden gritted his teeth, ignoring the executioner's desperate winks, and mustered his courage to look up and say, "It's the executioner! He said he wanted to bring us here to broaden our horizons!"

Jiang Qingyan raised an eyebrow. "What kind of knowledge do you have?"

The warden glanced into the bedchamber and replied, "The chief executioner said that Shenlun is quite skilled; he's good in bed and has a lot of tricks up his sleeve!"

Jiang Qingyan chuckled upon hearing this, "Could it be that you executioners have played with Chenlun before?"

The warden quickly shook his head, denying it, "No, he always thought Shen Lun was disgusting... but recently, Consort Shen and the Emperor have summoned Shen Lun one after another, so the chief executioner guessed that he has some extraordinary talent..."

Jiang Qingyan stroked her chin, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. She patted the executioner's shoulder. "Since you're so curious, why not try it yourself? Tonight, I'll bestow my solitude upon you. Take him back to prison and play with him at your leisure."

Upon hearing this, the executioner's eyes flashed with surprise. What did the Emperor mean by this? Was she not going to punish him?

Seeing that he didn't react, Jiang Qingyan said in a deep voice, "Why aren't you going to take Chenlun away? Do you want me to personally send him back to the Censorate?"

The executioner immediately replied, "Yes! I will take him back right away!"

He then scrambled to his feet and ran into the hall…

Although he was shocked by the scene before him for a moment, fearing that the emperor would be angry if he delayed any longer, the executioner quickly carried Shenlun on his shoulder and ran back to the Ministry of Punishments.

Jiang Qingyan glanced at the prison wardens again and said coldly, "Didn't you want to broaden your horizons? Why don't you hurry up and follow your chief executioner!"

The jailers looked at each other in bewilderment. Seeing that the emperor had not punished them, they quickly kowtowed to express their gratitude, then got up and chased after the chief executioner.

Shen Yuan slowly walked to Jiang Qingyan's side and said softly, "Husband, the Imperial Prison is extremely licentious... The wardens abuse their power to defile criminals at will. I feel... this is not right..."

Mo Ting frowned upon hearing this and said, "The entire Cautious Punishment Division isn't made up of vicious criminals; many were implicated by their families. While they aren't entirely innocent, they don't deserve such humiliation... If outsiders knew, I wonder how they would criticize my husband's methods of governance..."

Jiang Qingyan let out a long sigh and said, "It seems the palace needs to recruit some new talent..."

Meanwhile, inside the Department of Punishments, a warden pointed at Chen Lun, who was naked on the ground with bloodstains on his buttocks, and frowned, saying, "Chief Executioner, are you really going to...do that with him...?"

After stroking his chin and pondering for a moment, the executioner said, "Since His Majesty has bestowed him upon me tonight, let's give it a try..."

The warden's eyelids twitched; this "Degradation" didn't seem to be the miraculous power the executioner had described...

Otherwise, why would the emperor be willing to bestow him upon the official in charge of punishment?

But what the executioner was really thinking was: The Emperor must be interested in me, which is why he specially asked me to learn some techniques from Chenlun tonight!

Without further ado, the executioner quickly stripped himself naked and then splashed a bucket of cold water on the dejected man's face.

After waking him up, the executioner lewdly said, "Tonight you'd better serve me well, and use whatever tricks you have up your sleeve!"

Having said that, he began to approach depravity step by step…

Sinking in, I suddenly awoke from my dizziness; something seemed amiss...

Wasn't he in the young emperor's bedchamber? Why is he back in the Censorate?

And... what is the executioner... going to do to me...?

The executioner bent down and gave Chenlun's buttocks a hard slap, urging, "Hurry up! If you don't serve me well tonight, you'll be in big trouble!"

A searing pain shot through my buttocks, as if a chunk of flesh had been torn away...

He tremblingly touched his buttocks, then looked at his hands...it was blood!

All the memories from Chaoyang Palace just now flooded back into my mind…

His butt was bitten by an animal that looked like a cat and a dog! And it...

A sudden jolt ran through his heart, he was no longer pure…

Seeing his half-dead state, the executioner impatiently urged, "If you keep dawdling, I'm going to torture you! Don't push your luck!"

Having said that, he picked out a spiked mace from the instruments of torture on the side and aimed it at the buttocks of the woman who had fallen into depravity.

Chenlun stared at the sharp spikes, trembling with fear. He quickly begged for mercy, "Wait! Please put it down, I'll serve you right away... Please don't be impulsive..."

Seeing that Chenlun was somewhat sensible, the executioner tossed the spiked club back onto the rack and pointed to his waist, saying, "Then let's begin..."

He swallowed hard, steeled his resolve, and crawled straight over...

Better to live a wretched life than die a glorious death; preserving my life is the most important thing right now...

Meanwhile, in a side hall of Zhanghua Palace, Jiang Qingyan was passionately kissing Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan agreed to Shen Lun's perverted demands in exchange for the prescription that saved his life, yet he was afraid she would despise him, so he painfully left for so many days...

How could she not love such a devoted and loving man?

Shen Yuan's ears turned bright red, and he murmured breathlessly, "My husband, do you know? These past few days, I could only watch you from afar in the shadows, unable to hold you or kiss you. It's been more agonizing for me than death..."

Jiang Qingyan gently stroked Shen Yuan's cheek and said softly, "No matter what happens in the future, you are not allowed to leave me without permission, understand?"

Shen Yuan nodded gently, put his arm around Jiang Qingyan's waist, and kissed her lips again...

He'd been working up a lot of energy these past few days, and even if he and his husband didn't sleep a wink tonight, it still wouldn't be enough...

The next day at dawn, Jiang Qingyan gently tapped Shen Yuan's chest and said coquettishly, "Baby... I should go to court..."

Shen Yuan turned his head to look out the window. It was indeed time for court. Although he was somewhat disappointed, he immediately got up to help Jiang Qingyan dress and wash up…