Lu Huan and Lu Xuan’s hearts were in their throats. Lu Xuan was at a loss, while Lu Huan sensed that something was terribly wrong; she dared not imagine the consequences if Lu Qiuci chose to tattle.
She stared anxiously at Lu Qiuci, then glanced at Wei Hanjun, wishing she could rush over and cover Lu Qiuci’s mouth. With a fierce look, she silently commanded Wei Hanjun: Stop your son!
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the Lu residence. Wei Hanjun wouldn’t—and wouldn’t dare—undermine his son, and Lu Qiuci certainly wouldn’t yield to Lu Huan’s pressure.
Lu Qiuci spoke to Xu Chen in a tone that was almost childishly petulant: “I didn’t plan to give it to him. I couldn’t bear to part with it. He snatched it from me, held it close to his chest, and insisted I give him the zither.”
Xu Chen’s gaze shifted to Lu Xuan, and the faint smile on her face vanished as Lu Qiuci finished speaking.
Xu Chen’s expressionless face resembled a divine statue, causing people to unconsciously reflect on their own behavior and examine their own faults. Almost no one could withstand a gaze like Xu Chen’s.
Even though she wasn’t looking at him, Lu Xuan was already drenched in sweat. Unable to hold himself up any longer, he collapsed to his knees with a thud, still clutching the zither tightly in his hands, letting out muffled sobs.
The commotion caused by her son made Lu Huan startle. She quickly knelt down as well and said hoarsely, “Please, Your Highness, forgive my son!”
“It is this humble servant who has raised him to be too spoiled. Even when he was at home, my son looked up to his elder brother; it was he who misunderstood the Princess Consort’s intentions!”
Lu Huan tried to make excuses for Lu Xuan, but Lu Qiuci and Wei Hanjun felt nothing but revulsion.
Unfortunately, Xu Chen wasn’t buying it.
Her gaze grew even colder, making Lu Huan feel as if a layer of skin had been scraped from her body. A wave of regret welled up inside her as she realized she’d made a mistake—she’d played a losing hand.
“Censor Lu, there’s no need for such formalities. Xuan Yu, help Censor Lu to her feet.”
Xuan Yu rushed over to Lu Huan’s side, hoisted her up without a word of refusal, and forced her into a chair.
“He who takes without asking is a thief. According to the laws of the State of Zhou, theft is punishable by forty strokes of the rod to three years of forced labor. Since Censor Lu has failed to raise his son properly—and as the saying goes, ‘an elder sister-in-law is like a mother’—shall I teach him a lesson?”
Xu Chen’s gaze finally drifted lightly over Lu Xuan. Upon hearing that Xu Chen intended to punish him according to the law, Lu Xuan completely broke down.
“I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong! Your Highness, spare my life!”
He knelt on the ground, banging his head against the floor. His pitiful wailing made everyone, including Lu Qiuci, shudder. Wei Hanjun was somewhat startled, while Lu Huan’s heart sank completely.
Lu Qiuci couldn’t help but look at Xu Chen, as if asking with his eyes: Are you really going to punish him like this?
Three years of hard labor would ruin Lu Xuan’s life, and forty strokes of the rod would likely take her life entirely.
The price was unimaginably heavy.
Realizing he couldn’t sway Xu Chen’s resolve, Lu Xuan suddenly snapped and chose to shout at Lu Qiuci.
“Brother! I truly regret my mistake. I shouldn’t have forced you to give me the qin. I’ll never do it again. Please, spare me this once.”
“Please, as a magnanimous elder, overlook a younger one’s transgression. Speak to the princess consort and ask that I not be imprisoned, that I not be sentenced to forty strokes of the rod. Waaah—”
“That’s right, Qiuci. Your younger brother knows he’s wrong. We’re all family—please spare him.”
“It’s Mother’s fault for not teaching your younger brother to respect his elder brother. From now on, Mother will make sure to properly guide your younger siblings.”
Lu Qiuci was somewhat surprised. How had this mother and son suddenly become so reasonable? They seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.
Finally, they were willing to reflect on their mistakes and even knew how to apologize to him.
Unfortunately, while Lu Qiuci was kind-hearted, he was no saint.
He did feel that whether it was forty strokes of the cane or three years of hard labor, the punishment was too severe. The world was already harsh on men; these punishments would either leave Lu Xuan half-paralyzed or completely ruin the rest of his life.
However, he was unwilling to simply let Lu Xuan and Lu Huan—who had enabled her wrongdoing—off the hook.
After all these years, how could he possibly not harbor any hatred?
Lu Qiuci turned to look at Xu Chen again. Without a word, Xu Chen knew exactly what he was thinking.
Xu Chen wasn’t in a bad mood today, which meant she didn’t have to impose such a harsh punishment. The reason she brought it up was mainly to warn Lu Huan to recognize his own status and circumstances.
“Can the Princess Consort not bear to punish him so severely?” Xu Chen asked.
Lu Qiuci replied, “After all, he bears the Lu surname. The second young master of the Lu family committed a crime within the Princess Consort’s residence and was sentenced to imprisonment by his own sister-in-law. If outsiders learn of this, it will tarnish Your Highness’s reputation.”
“Very well—”
Xu Chen said, sounding as if he were conceding, “Since we are all family, then we shall deal with this according to family law.”
“The qin is yours; if you cannot bear to pursue the matter, then do not.”
“Grand Censor Lu, I’ve heard you’ve always been strict in managing your household. When the Princess Consort was still unmarried and made a mistake, how was he punished?
Xu Chen suddenly called her name again, and Lu Huan flinched.
When she realized what Xu Chen was asking, her whole body went limp. She had thought Xu Chen was willing to show leniency, but it turned out she had no intention of sparing them.
Even Lu Qiuci was taken aback; he never expected Xu Chen to bring this up.
Lu Qiuci had received his fair share of punishments growing up—in fact, “fair share” was an understatement; there had been so many that he could no longer recall the specific details.
After all, as an unloved son caught between a favored concubine and a biased mother, the reasons to punish him were truly countless.
Lu Huan dared not speak a word, her face as pale as a sheet of paper.
But even if she remained silent, someone else would speak.
Wei Hanjun’s voice suddenly rang out: “At home, if Qiu Ci did something wrong, he would be taken to the study and made to kneel there, then beaten on the thighs with a bamboo rod. He was not allowed to move during the punishment; otherwise, his kneeling would be extended by another half-hour.”
“If he wasn’t made to kneel, he would be denied food for three days and forced to copy sutras by hand to teach the concubine’s son to read.”
“Or he’d be struck on the palms, forced to confess his mistakes in person, and made to declare that the punishment was just and that he’d never dare to repeat the offense. He’d also have his monthly allowance withheld, be forced to wash clothes by hand in the winter, and be made to recite the gentleman’s code of conduct without pause.”
“Father—”
Lu Qiuci called out in a daze; he hadn’t expected Wei Hanjun to remember every single punishment he’d ever received.
Never forgotten—
“Oh, is that so?”
Xu Chen’s gaze fixed directly on Lu Huan. To her horror, Lu Huan noticed a faint smile playing at the corner of Xu Chen’s mouth.
Yet her smile was even more terrifying than a blank expression.
Lu Huan felt as if every drop of cold sweat on her body had dried up.
“I knew the Lu family’s discipline was strict, but I never imagined it would be this harsh. Still, it matters little. Since these are the Lu family’s rules, I shall respect them.”
“Xuan Yu, fetch my riding crop.”
Lu Xuan had already collapsed onto the ground in sheer terror, and Lu Rong was sobbing uncontrollably. Yet in Xu Chen’s presence, she dared not even make a sound, her tears simply streaming down her face.
Soon, Xu Chen’s riding crop was brought forward.
Xu Chen handed the riding crop directly to Lu Qiuci.
“A beating with a riding crop only wounds the flesh, not the bones. Since the Princess’s residence lacks teaching implements like bamboo rods, let’s use this as a substitute. The effect should be much the same.”
“Bring him over.”
Di Liu immediately called another young attendant, and the two of them went to drag Lu Xuan over.
Lu Xuan tried to struggle, his eyes fixed on Lu Huan. Lu Huan lowered her gaze, unable to bear looking at him.
Lu Xuan knew he couldn’t escape this punishment today and began to sob quietly.
No sooner had Lu Xuan been dragged before the two, Xu Chen spoke up: “And that little one—since we’re teaching a lesson, we might as well teach her too.”
The chubby girl let out a shriek like an explosion, released her grip on Lu Huan’s clothes, and ran toward the exit.
This time, Xu Chen didn’t need to give the order; Xuan Yu stretched out her long arm and yanked the girl back.
Then, with a single press on a certain acupoint on her body, Lu Rong went limp and lost all ability to move, and Xuan Yu tossed her down in front of Xu Chen and Lu Qiuci.
Lu Huan was startled. She wanted to reach out to stop it, but forced herself to hold back. Her lips trembled, but in the end, she didn’t utter a single word of plea for mercy.
Xu Chen was different from Lu Qiuci; in Xu Chen’s presence, she dared not.
“Hold out your hand,” Xu Chen commanded.
Lu Xuan dared not disobey and tremblingly extended a hand.
Xu Chen turned to ask Lu Qiuci, “Zhengjun, how many lashes do you suggest?”
Lu Qiuci pressed his lips together, unsure how to answer.
Seeing this, Xu Chen didn’t press him further and simply decided, “Then twenty lashes it shall be.”
“Only twenty lashes—I’m not making you kneel for hours. That’s because your elder brother is kind-hearted.”
“Hurry up and thank your elder brother.”
Lu Xuan: “Th—thank you, Brother.”
Xu Chen signaled to Lu Qiuci that he could begin. She had ordered twenty strokes of the rod at the Ministry of War that morning; now, punishing Lu Xuan with twenty lashes would make for a nice pair.
Lu Qiuci had no experience in administering punishment. He raised the whip but couldn’t find the right angle to strike.
His breathing grew heavy, and his grip on the riding crop tightened again and again, unsure of the appropriate force to strike with.
Xu Chen quickly noticed this and found it somewhat amusing. Without hesitation, she extended her slender hand to cover Lu Qiuci’s.
“This is how you use a whip.”
Crack!
Guided by Xu Chen’s hand, the whip struck Lu Xuan’s hand with precision and force, leaving a high, red welt on the palm of both hands.
Lu Xuan’s sharp, urgent cry of pain died in his throat. Lu Qiuci’s heart skipped a beat, but Xu Chen didn’t even glance at the punished Lu Xuan.
She remained focused on teaching Lu Qiuci how to wield the whip.
“Grip the handle firmly, hook your little finger around the whip’s cord to prevent it from slipping, and when you swing the whip, use your arm to guide your wrist—flick your wrist with force. Only then will the whip carry enough power and produce a loud crack.”
“If you’re using the whip to ride a horse, you don’t need to actually strike the horse; the sound alone is enough to make it gallop.”
“Come on, try again.”
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
After several lashes, Lu Xuan’s hands were crisscrossed with whip marks. All sensation had left his hands; only pain and a burning sting filled his mind, leaving him unable even to cry.
Xu Chen let go. “Have you learned it?”
“Finish off the rest.”
Lu Qiuci nodded and tried it himself. On the other side, Lu Huan could no longer bear to watch and shut her eyes tightly.
Wei Hanjun’s expression, however, was filled with delight and satisfaction.
Seeing Lu Huan’s pained expression, he felt nothing but contempt—even a sense of schadenfreude.
Who was she putting on a show for?
“If a child is not taught, it is the mother’s fault.” If she truly felt such heartache, why didn’t she step forward to take the punishment herself?
Back then, when his son was beaten and punished, the pain and humiliation were ten times worse than this. Why didn’t Lu Huan show such an expression then?
Was his son not Lu Huan’s son?
Only those two little brats were her children!
Lu Xuan couldn’t bear it and tried to pull her hands back, only to be restrained by the servants of the Princess’s residence. Lu Qiuci struck him seven or eight more times himself; Lu Xuan’s hands swelled up immediately, and if the beating continued, not a single patch of good skin would remain.
Lu Qiuci felt a pang of discomfort; he was kind-hearted by nature and ill-suited for the task of flogging others.
But he knew he couldn’t show weakness now; otherwise, all their efforts would be in vain, and he would waste Xu Chen’s goodwill.
So Lu Qiuci steeled his resolve and lashed out with the final few strokes. By the time the twenty lashes were complete, Lu Xuan’s hands had turned into two pig’s trotters. His tears had completely dried up; he didn’t even have the strength to sob, and he could no longer stand.
Lu Qiuci’s hand, still clutching the whip, trembled slightly; it took several deep breaths to steady it.
He had done it.
Xu Chen had watched from start to finish, merely sipping tea without offering any guidance.
She didn’t speak, nor did she offer any encouraging glance.
Yet when Lu Qiuci finished administering the twenty lashes, the corners of her mouth lifted into a faint smile.