Wei Jingxuan nodded helplessly and continued to eat the rice in the bowl. After eating, they had to go wash the fruits. They could rest only after everything was done.
Neither Wei Jingxuan nor Xia Qing noticed that a woman outside who was still washing her clothes looked up at them from time to time. This person... was none other than Su Yingxue.
Xin Zheku's life is monotonous. He is doing things as soon as he opens his eyes, from morning to night, without rest. The heavy errands make people become more and more numb and taciturn.
On this day, Wei Jingxuan was carrying the clothes she had just washed to dry them. She didn't notice the feet sticking out from the side and accidentally tripped. She was fine, but the clothes in the tub fell to the floor. They had just been washed.
His clothes suddenly became dirty again.
"I have to wash it again, what a bad luck." Wei Jingxuan muttered. When picking up the clothes, she found that the sleeves of one of them were torn by the sand and stones on the ground. Before she could recover, Sister Song
Mammy's sharp voice was already ringing in my ears, "How did you do it? You actually tore through Concubine Xian's clothes. You don't want to die, do you?"
Wei Jingxuan was startled, and quickly knelt down and said: "Mom, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I accidentally fell down just now, so that's why..."
Aunt Song said with a gloomy face: "In this Xin Zheku, a mistake is a mistake, there is no excuse."
Wei Jingxuan did not dare to refute and lowered her head to admit her mistake. However, Nanny Song did not intend to let her go like this. She said: "If you make a mistake, you should be punished. Come here, drag her down and slap her twenty times."
Wei Jingxuan was so frightened that she even forgot to beg for mercy. Xia Qing reacted quickly and rushed over to plead for her, "Mommy, please be merciful. My sister didn't mean it. Please forgive her for the sake of her first offense."
This time."
Wei Jingxuan came to her senses and cried and kowtowed for mercy. Aunt Song said expressionlessly: "If this is not the first offender, do you think twenty slaps on the mouth can offset her crime?" Before Xia Qing could speak, Aunt Song said again: "You too
Don't think that my punishment is too heavy, my clothes are ruined, I have to take them to Concubine Xian personally, I don't know what will happen then, maybe I will get a heavier punishment than this."
After all, Xia Qing was still young. When Nanny Song said this, she immediately didn't know how to respond. Seeing the eunuch overseeing the work and dragging the frightened Wei Jingxuan away, she was about to open her mouth to accept the punishment on her behalf when a timid voice interrupted, "
No...it's none of their business. It's my fault. I stretched my foot too far and tripped her." The speaker was a woman who was washing her clothes. She looked scared, but she was still intact.
The words were spoken.
"I didn't punish you, but you should admit your guilt first." Nanny Song recognized the speaker and sneered: "Since our pure concubine admits that the fault is on you, then the only thing you can do with me is your father-in-law.
.Come and reward her with twenty lashes. She must be whipped to draw blood, otherwise it will not count."
Hearing the punishment, Wei Jingxuan blurted out: "Didn't we say twenty lashes just now? Why did it suddenly become twenty lashes, and it also has to be... bloody?"
Nanny Song said with a smile: "Because you are a palace maid and she is a sinner. She made a mistake and the punishment she received will naturally be heavier than yours. Do you understand?"
When Wei Jingxuan was about to talk, Xia Qing had already stopped her. Aunt Song ignored the two of them and ordered the supervisor and eunuch to pull the thin Su down. Soon the sound of the whip hitting the flesh could be heard, saying
It was twenty lashes. In fact, it took more than thirty lashes before it stopped.
During this process, Mrs. Su kept biting her lips tightly without making a sound. It was not until the supervisor and eunuch left that she fell softly to the ground.
Wei Jingxuan and Xia Qing, who had been standing next to her, hurried over, helped her up and said, "How are you doing? Is it okay?"
Su Shi said with cold sweat on her head: "It's okay, it's just a skin injury. I've been used to it for a long time."
"Stop talking about this, let's help her back first." Xia Qing and Wei Jingxuan, one on each side, struggled to help Su Shi back to the house. At this time, the people who lived in the same house with Su Shi were still working, so there were only
Three of them.
Xia Jing fetched a basin of water, wiped the blood on her back, and took clean clothes to put on for Su. Then he said: "Thank you for what happened just now. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here now."
The person who is being punished is Jingxuan."
Su Shi shook her head and said: "I have nothing to thank you for. What happened just now was originally my fault. How can I bear to let you suffer."
Wei Jingxuan said curiously: "I just heard Nanny Song call you the pure concubine empress. Were you the empress of the palace before?"
Su Shi smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, it's a pity that this is all in the past. Now I am just a sinner in Xin Zheku. This life is worth less than grass. I may die when I am."
Her words made the two of them sigh. Wei Jingxuan looked at Xia Qing and trembled: "Sister, will we die here too? I'm so scared, I don't want to die."
Xia Qing reassured: "No, we will be fine. Don't scare yourself."
Su said from the side: "Yes, you are different from me. You will still have the opportunity to leave Xinzheku in the future. Just be careful every day you are here. Don't be careless and do something wrong; in addition,
Let me remind you one more thing, other masters’ things are easy to talk about, even those belonging to Concubine Yanxi Palace, don’t make any mistakes. Having said that, Aunt Song’s punishment of twenty slaps on your face today is really not serious at all.”
Wei Jingxuan asked curiously: "Why can't Concubine Xian's things be wrong? Is she the most favored person in the palace?"
"The most favored?" Su Shi sneered and said: "Although I have been away for a while, I still don't know anything about the things in the palace. Concubine Xian will never be the most favored person by the emperor. The queen empress
That’s it.”
Wei Jingxuan said in confusion: "If that's the case, why did you just say..."
"She is not the most favored, but she is the most critical and harsh person. Once something does not suit her, she will use different methods to deal with you, and she will not let you find any loopholes. Tell me, how can such a person be offended?
?”
Wei Jingxuan exclaimed: "It's so scary, no wonder you said that." At this point, she remembered something and asked curiously: "What about you? Why did you turn from a queen to a sinner?"
Xia Qing pulled her sleeve and said, "Sister, this is not what we should ask."
Su Shi shook her head and said: "It doesn't matter. Speaking of which, I am here today only because of Concubine Xian. She ruined my life."
"How could she do such a thing? It's too much." Faced with Wei Jingxuan's angry words, Su Shi smiled bitterly and said: "That's the kind of person she is. She will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. That's fine with me, I'm just pitiful.
I have two children, but I lost my mother at such a young age." After speaking, she shed tears that seemed real or fake.