As the order was given, two burly nannies stepped forward and forcibly pressed Chu Yun Jiao down to the ground.
"What are you doing?" Concubine Chen tried to intervene. "You are all being presumptuous! Let Jiao'er go!"
No one paid her any mind.
Then, someone presented a black rattan cane, as long as an arm and as thick as a thumb, with unknown patterns carved into its handle.
Madam Chu commanded, "Nanny Hai, strike!"
"Yes." Nanny Hai took the rattan cane and, with swift and merciless movements, struck Chu Yun Jiao's back.
"Ah!" Chu Yun Jiao's tears welled up instantly from the pain. "The Prince and I are truly in love, Mother... Even if you beat me to death, you cannot separate us... Ah!"
"Beat her hard!" Madam Chu’s anger grew even more intense upon hearing her words. "If you can't beat her to death, then beat her until she is!"
"Jiao'er!" Concubine Chen's face turned pale, and she instinctively lunged forward to stop them. "Let Jiao'er go! Otherwise, when the Master returns from the morning court, he will certainly not let you off!"
Chu Yunfei smiled coldly.
Even now, they still had not figured out their own identities. Did this mother and daughter really think that with the Master's favor, they could do whatever they wanted in this house?
She would let them know just how ridiculous their thoughts were.
"His Highness the War King!" Concubine Chen suddenly turned her head and looked pleadingly at Rong Cang. "I beg the Prince to save Jiao'er! She has deep feelings for the Prince, and the heavens are my witness. Please, I beg the Prince to save her!"
Just as Rong Cang was about to speak, Chu Yunfei's gaze shot over abruptly. "Chu Yun Jiao is a concubine-born daughter of the Chu family and has no relationship with the Prince Zhan's Estate yet. Even if the Prince intends to take her as a concubine, he must wait until tomorrow when he sends a sedan chair to bring her to the estate."
Rong Cang's expression paused, and his tone was cold. "Madam Chu is establishing the rules; naturally, I will not interfere."
Concubine Chen's face turned pale, and she looked at him in disbelief. "Prince?"
He was standing right here, yet he watched Jiao'er get beaten without defending her?
Was he truly sincere toward Jiao'er?
"Only after Chu Yun Jiao has entered the Prince's Estate will I have the authority to intervene." Rong Cang's voice was deep and cold, and he did not even glance at Chu Yunfei. "The matter of taking her as a concubine shall be left to the Princess Consort to decide with Full Authority."
After saying this, he turned and left.
"Ah!" Chu Yun Jiao's screams rang out quickly, echoing in their ears. "Concubine, save me! Concubine, save me! Prince! Prince..."
Madam Chu's expression was cold and stern. "Beat her hard."
Concubine Chen was pulled aside by the burly nannies; no matter how much strength she used, she could not break free and could only watch her daughter being beaten. "Jiao'er!"
"Concubine, save me!" Chu Yun Jiao's face turned pale from the pain, and she struggled violently. "Prince, save me! Prince... let me go, let me go!"
"Younger Sister, you had better be well-behaved. The Prince has already left and cannot save you." Chu Yunfei walked over and looked coldly at her disheveled state. "The louder you scream, the more I will consider you ill-behaved. A proper young lady of an official's family has lost all decorum; I fear you don't even have the qualifications to become a Prince's concubine."
After speaking, she leaned down and whispered into Chu Yun Jiao's ear, "Do you guess that when the time comes, there will be nannies from the Palace coming specifically to teach you the rules and etiquette that a daughter of an official's family should have?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the rattan cane in Nanny Hai's hand landed heavily on Chu Yun Jiao's back.
A sharp pain exploded across her delicate back. Chu Yun Jiao tilted her head back, letting out half a scream of agony, then gritted her teeth so hard that she swallowed the rest of the scream.
Cold sweat was dripping, her hair was messy, and she was in unbearable pain.
Welts swelled up under her clothes, and the pain was so intense that Chu Yun Jiao could not speak. Unable to bear it, she tremblingly reached out, trying to grab Chu Yunfei's sleeve. "E-Eldest Miss..."
Chu Yunfei stepped back, her tone indifferent. "Do not make another sound. If you endure these twenty strikes peacefully, I will let the nanny let you go."
Twenty?!
Chu Yun Jiao's vision went black. She had already endured so much, and she still had to take twenty more?
"Eldest Miss is so heartless, are you not afraid that the Master will come back to settle accounts with you?" Concubine Chen looked up at Chu Yunfei, gritting her teeth. "Don't think that just because you are married off and have become the Princess Consort Zhan that the Master cannot discipline you. You are so ruthless; if this gets out, others will only think that you, as a Princess Consort, are narrow-minded and lack the capacity to tolerate others!"
"I am not afraid of the reputation of being narrow-minded." Chu Yunfei smiled gently. "But I wonder, which is more serious: the Main Wife disciplining a concubine-born daughter, or a concubine-born daughter committing adultery before being married off? If Concubine Chen wants to spread this, you are welcome to add fuel to the fire and make it even more spectacular. I would like to see who will be the unlucky one if it ends up affecting Father's official career."
Concubine Chen's pupils shrank, and she looked at her in disbelief.
Was Chu Yunfei prepared for this today?
"The Master is back!" someone shouted from outside. "The Master is back!"
A glimmer of light appeared in the bottom of Concubine Chen's eyes, and she hurriedly struggled and shouted, "Help! Master, Master, please save Jiao'er! She is about to be beaten to death..."
Madam Chu's expression was cold and silent.
Chu Yunfei turned her head to look outside, expressionless.
Chu Yuanzhong, who had hurried back from the Palace, had just walked into the hall when he saw the chaotic scene before him. He immediately frowned, "What is going on here? Are you trying to rebel?"
"Master!" Concubine Chen cried out regardless of everything and lunged toward Chu Yuanzhong. "If the Master hadn't returned, I fear that this concubine and Jiao'er would have lost our lives..."
Chu Yuanzhong reached out to support her and glared at Madam Chu. "Madam Ji, what are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Can't the Master see?" Madam Chu smiled coldly. "I am establishing the rules, properly establishing the rules for your concubine and your concubine-born daughter."
"Nonsense." Chu Yuanzhong shouted coldly, "All of you, stop!"
Nanny Hai paused slightly and looked up at Madam Chu.
"Continue the beating." Madam Chu's attitude was firm. "Chu Yun Jiao is not self-respecting and has disgraced our family tradition. She must be taught a lesson today."
"Father! Father, save me!" Chu Yun Jiao tried her best to break free from the restraint, her voice hoarse from crying. "Daughter cannot take it anymore, I cannot take it anymore... Ah! Father..."
"Yunfei." Chu Yuanzhong turned his head and glared fiercely at Chu Yunfei. "As the legitimate daughter, why are you not in the Prince's Estate properly acting as your Princess Consort, but instead running home? Are you deliberately inciting your mother to suppress a concubine-born daughter?"
"Father has misunderstood." Chu Yunfei walked up to him and performed a junior's salute unhurriedly. "As a concubine-born daughter of the Chu family, Yun Jiao should have been extremely careful about her reputation and protected the Chu family's name before being married off. Yet, she had no sense of shame and, completely without my knowledge, trespassed into the Prince Zhan's Estate and was embracing my husband in the study... If Mother does not punish her severely today, I fear that the Chu family's reputation will be destroyed in the future, which would be a devastating blow to Father's official career."
This speech was quite long and contained many words.
But Chu Yuanzhong did not take in a single word, except for the last sentence, "a devastating blow to the official career," which made his expression change instantly.
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