Chapter 11 Su Yingxue opened her eyes and asked gently, “Have you thought it through carefully? Absolutely no mistake?”

“What’s wrong?” Seeing this, Su Yingxue suppressed her anger, forced a smile, and gently helped the yellow-clad palace maid before her to her feet. She spoke softly to Qiushuang, “Qiushuang, why haven’t you offered her a seat?”

“You must think carefully,” Su Yingxue said as if casually, but her hand slammed her whip heavily onto the desk.

The sound was sharp and abrupt in the silent main hall. “This Palace has always been clear in rewards and punishments. If anyone dares to deceive, This Palace’s whip will not spare them!”

“If someone is honest and loyal to This Palace, the rewards will naturally be substantial as well, right? Qiushuang.” Su Yingxue closed her eyes and gestured for Qiushuang to massage the acupoints on her head.

After all, Qiushuang had long been by her side, and she instantly understood Su Yingxue’s intention as she massaged her. The Eldest Princess probably wanted Eunuch Shen and this palace maid to think she was still as flamboyant and brainless as before, to lower their guard.

But it had to be said, Qiushuang thought, since Her Highness the Eldest Princess woke up this time, she seemed like a different person. She couldn’t quite put her finger on how, but the Eldest Princess of the past was nowhere near as intelligent and strategic as she was now.

Just after Her Highness the Eldest Princess finished questioning, she went to Chu Huangzi’s Cold Palace residence. Although Her Highness the Eldest Princess did not explicitly state her plan, Qiushuang could sense that she had calmly and composedly made her calculations. If all went as expected, a good show was about to unfold.

The main hall was utterly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Although the yellow-clad palace maid was now seated on the stool, it did nothing to ease the panic in her heart.

She struggled to recall the memories of that day when Chu Xingchen was captured. From afar, she had caught a glimpse and seen that Chu Xingchen was wearing a black robe.

As if clutching at a lifeline, the palace maid rose and knelt on the ground, her voice trembling as she said, “Your Highness the Eldest Princess, Your Highness, this servant remembers now!”

“It was black! That day, Chu Huangzi was wearing a black robe!” The palace maid spoke as if relieved of a heavy burden, her voice shaking as she kowtowed in reply.

“Oh?” Upon hearing this, Su Yingxue smiled and waved her hand to stop Qiushuang’s movements. She opened her eyes and asked gently, “Have you thought it through carefully? Absolutely no mistake?”

“You must know that This Palace despises being deceived the most!” Su Yingxue said softly, her voice gentle and graceful. “If you have deceived This Palace in the slightest, do not blame This Palace for turning ruthless and punishing you severely!”

“No, Your Highness, no! This servant’s every word is true!” The yellow-clad woman said while kowtowing, seeming to gain some confidence as her voice grew louder.

“That day in the Imperial Garden, many guards saw Chu Shizi wearing black robes. If Your Highness the Eldest Princess does not believe this servant, Your Highness can summon others to ask!”

“So, it was you who saw with your own eyes that Chu Xingchen, wearing a black robe, pushed This Palace into the lake?” Su Yingxue looked up at her and said with a faint smile.

“Yes, Your Highness the Eldest Princess. Every word is true.” The palace maid affirmed once more.

Having obtained the answer she anticipated, Su Yingxue suddenly laughed. Her expression turned stern, her tone icy, as she fiercely threw the teacup from the desk beside her onto the ground and said coldly, “What a treacherous servant who deceives her master and hides the truth! Even kneeling before This Palace, you resort to such sophistry! Not a single word of truth!”

Su Yingxue pointed at the kneeling guards who had been carrying out the beating and coldly ordered, “Someone, fetch this palace’s leather whip. Tie up this lowly servant. You all, whip her fiercely for this palace. If this wretch does not speak the truth today, this palace will flay her skin and rend her flesh!”

Upon hearing this, the kneeling guards promptly took the leather whip and long bench handed over by the palace attendants. After several lashes, the cries of the yellow-clad palace maid echoed throughout the Eldest Princess’s palace. Her back was covered in bloody whip marks, her face streaked with tears as she wept and painfully called out, “Your Highness, Your Highness, this servant is wronged!”

The guards struck with full force over a dozen lashes until the maid could no longer endure the pain and fainted. Seeing this, the whip-wielding guard stopped, seemingly afraid of accidentally killing the maid with excessive force.

“Your Highness the Eldest Princess, she has fainted,” several guards reported on their knees.

“Fainted already? Fetch water and splash her awake,” Su Yingxue said, her heart burning with indignation as she recalled the woman’s wild accusations that had led to Chu Xingchen’s body being covered in wounds. Chu Xingchen had been whipped for a full day and night, his upper body densely covered in lash marks, with almost no patch of unblemished skin. When she applied medicine to him, her eyes reddened.

That body of Chu Xingchen’s was not one a young man should have. It was covered with countless old scars mixed with fresh wounds. Looking at it, she felt not only shock but also pity.

When reading the novel before, Zhang Susu had only thought the male lead’s personality was bizarre, twisted, and yandere, his controlling nature terrifying. After seizing the Da Sheng Kingdom, although he had enthroned the female lead as empress and changed the nation’s name to Qi Sheng, he had still harmed some of her relatives, so the female lead hated him.

At the Empress Enthronement Ceremony, Chu Xingchen had bound the female lead and performed the state rites with her. Afterward, he had kept her confined in Fengxiang Palace until she gave birth to a young prince. Only then did their relationship ease somewhat because of the child.

Now, Zhang Susu, aware of Chu Xingchen’s tragic past, realized that perhaps it was the shadows of his childhood that had twisted his personality into such a yandere state.

If the current Su Yingxue were to thoroughly reform, take Chu Xingchen under her wing while he was still a minor, treat him kindly as an elder sister, properly nurture and protect him, and not allow outsiders to harm him in the slightest…

Hiring a learned gentleman of excellent character to teach him literacy and propriety, letting him study literature to cultivate his mind, and raising him to become a refined gentleman—perhaps that was feasible.

Jade must be carved to become a vessel; a person must learn to understand righteousness. Su Yingxue thought this way. After all, he was still young and could still be guided.

That ladle of cold water splashed down, jolting the yellow-clad palace maid awake. She felt a searing pain on her back, her voice hoarse and weak, her entire body sapped of strength from the agony.

“Your Highness the Eldest Princess, this servant spoke no falsehood. I beg, I beg Your Highness the Eldest Princess to show mercy and spare this servant, spare this servant…”

Hearing this, anger burned in Su Yingxue’s eyes. This palace maid’s mouth was stubborn indeed, still refusing to relent even now.

She suddenly gave a cold laugh, walked over to the maid, and said softly, “However, the fabric torn from the person who pushed this palace that day was clearly this light blue color. You, this audacious criminal slave, deceived this palace, falsely reported the truth to the Inner Eunuch Directorate, slandered this palace’s savior, and caused Chu Huangzi to be severely injured by the Inner Service Directorate. He remains unconscious and in critical danger!”

“With your own power, you muddied the waters of that day’s situation! With malicious slander against Prince Chu, you deceived the Inner Service Directorate, leading to Prince Chu being severely injured! Should Prince Chu’s life be in danger, you would be deliberately attempting to destroy the friendly alliance between Qi and Sheng!” Su Yingxue angrily rebuked. The crowd knelt in complete silence, none daring to rise.