In That Case, Increase the Punishment!

"What's going on here?" Lu Qing Yu asked.

Due to his surprise arrival, the attention of the whole garden was on us now. All the attention-starved concubines were congregated in one place, and they all wanted acknowledgement from Lu Qing Yu in order to hold their heads high.

"What else? They dared to say I was "selling my wares" and even tried to spank my maid for speaking up for me! Now they dare to act innocent?" I retorted, in a poor mood.

"What's "selling your wares"?" Lu Qing Yu asked, bewildered.

Eunuch Song Chu, who I hadn't noticed was here until now, said something to Lu Qing Yu quietly. Upon hearing what it meant, his face became distorted with anger.

"And? What did you do?"

Before I could answer, Concubine Mao, who had recovered her wits spoke up. "Answering to Your Highness, Noble Concubine Ling ordered Concubine Ping to take her robes off and also... also wrenched the hairpin out of my hair and threw it on the ground! She also wanted to spank Concubine Ping 20 times!"

"Did zhen ask you to speak?"

"Your Highness, I-I..."

"Who was responsible? Why did you do that?" Lu Qing Yu asked me.

"All 3 of them were responsible. They were all wearing items made by Luna Marche, so what right did they have to insult me over "selling my wares"?"

"Pfft." Unable to help himself, Lu Qing Yu stifled a laugh.

"Very good. For the crime of slandering zhen's wife, and attempting to punish Noble Concubine Ling's people without permission, give Concubine Ping, Concubine Mao, and Concubine Qing, 40 lashes of 笞 (chī)!"

Concubine Ping, Concubine Mao, and Concubine Qing paled immediately. 笞 (chī)? Wasn't that too severe? How could they bear the humiliation?

At this moment, Qiu Ci suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, pressing her head to the ground. "Your Highness, may this maid say something?"

"Speak."

"Your Highness, the Concubines also spoke informally to Noble Concubine Ling, referring to Noble Concubine Ling as "sister" and "you"!"

"Oh? In that case, increase the punishment to 50 lashes of 笞 (chī)!"

Who know from where they came from, but 6 very strong palace grannies appeared and grabbed each concubine by the arm and wrestled them to the ground!

Stricken with terror and despair, the concubines were unable to fight back.

How could they, concubines who pursued youth and beauty in order to have a willow like body with narrow waist be able to fight back against the palace grannies who cultivated martial arts and a righteous mind?

They were about to be flogged right here, instead of in privacy or behind shut doors? What about their dignity?

"Wait. Do it in the middle of the garden. This place is too secluded." Lu Qing Yu said.

The grannies promptly obeyed, dragging the concubines forcefully to the middle of the garden, where there was an open viewing area.

"Ahh!" "Agh!" "Ahh!"

Piteous cries came from the viewing area as they were flogged in succession. Having been handled in an unrepentant way by the grannies, their makeup, hair and robes were all in disarray, muddied and streaked with runny cosmetics. A light bamboo cane was used, and the flogging was divided into installments, with 1 lash every 12 seconds. When the skin was healed, it was time to whip again.

"What are we waiting for? Isn't it tea break?" Lu Qing Yu asked.

"R-Right away, Your Highness. Please forgive this servant for his insolence." After replying to Lu Qing Yu, Eunuch Song Chu shouted in his official tone "Prepare tea break for His Highness the Emperor!"

The gardens spurred to life as the servants rearranged the seats in the Lotus Pavilion, someone dragged Lu Qing Yu's special seat, cutlery and crockery in, and maids scrambled to replace the tea and confectioneries that had long gone cold.

Lu Qing Yu only glanced at the arrangement, then lazily commented "Zhen can't see the flogging from that seat."

The seats were rearranged again so that Lu Qing Yu's seat faced the viewing area.

"Noble Concubine Ling will sit beside zhen. Place the other seats further apart from zhen. Zhen wishes for some personal space."

The seats were rearranged yet again. Surely this young master was satisfied now, right?

Paying no heed to the heavily sweating eunuchs who had just performed manual labour, Lu Qing Yu leisurely strolled to the pavilion. "Ling Yue, come."

Speechlessly, I trailed after him.

The inside of the pavilion was cool and indeed had a spectacular view of the garden. 2 seats, one unnecessarily grandiose, and one ordinary were placed side by side facing the viewing area, and the other seats were placed around it, with the two Noble Concubines' seats to the right of Lu Qing Yu and Concubine Lay's seat to my left. The eunuchs were perceptive and knew what to do. 3 seats were also prepared for the 3 concubines, though it was doubtful if they would be able to join us.

I lowered my head as I got into my seat, trying to avoid all eye contact with the others still standing outside in the sun. Things had escalated far beyond my expectations. I was afraid I wouldn't have an easy time in the harem after this.

Once we had taken our seats, the other concubines slowly made their way into the pavilion and took their seats as well and we could begin to eat.

Outside, the flogging which had paused momentarily so that Lu Qing Yu could have a good view from his seat continued.

After 20 lashes, blood began to appear on their buttocks, visible through the thin, delicate material of their silk robes. The grannies would then hand the canes over to their colleagues to take a rest.

Flogging was a particularly disastrous punishment for concubines. The grannies were trained not to break the skin, but the aftermath was usually inflammation of the internal organs and pulpy softening of muscles. The concubines would not be able to sit comfortably while their skin healed and would have to be treated for their internal injuries.

We were halfway through our tea when the flogging finally came to an end. The 3 concubines lay lifelessly, long unable to produce any yelps of pain. It was particularly warm today, and they would have trouble recovering.

"Your Highness, what about the portraits?" Eunuch Song Chu asked.

"Hmm..." Lu Qing Yu stroked his chin, pretending to be thoughtful.

"Not to worry. They will still have their portraits painted. They will have to be completed at the same time as the rest of the harem, within the 3 day period. As arranged, the painters can only do minor touch-ups after that.

This is to be fair to the rest of the harem who came out specially for this, right?" Lu Qing Yu turned to the harem.

"That's right, Your Highness!" the concubines chorused without any need for prompting, all of one heart and mind. They mustn't offend the Emperor!

I almost vomited blood after hearing this.

How merciful of him... how would they be able to sit and pose for their portraits? It would be a miracle if they were able to sit down for the next week.

And this Eunuch Song Chu... like master, like servant. The two black-bellied men delivered a one-two punch with perfect teamwork as always.