Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Holding Tight to the Thigh
Ji Qingwu clutched her right cheek, her shoulders trembling as her voice cracked with grievance.
"If you’re determined to lay blame, you’ll always find a way. Your anger should have subsided by now, Princess. You’ve already slapped me without a second thought. Isn’t that enough?"
The rims of Ji Qingwu’s eyes were red, and her body trembled. She looked so fragile that a gust of wind could have blown her over.
Seeing her in such a state, Princess Qingyun was at a loss for a rebuttal.
Wei Chi Lianping’s thick brows furrowed. He hadn’t expected Princess Qingyun to be so senseless.
’This Miss Ji Wu has wised up a bit,’ he lamented to himself, ’but it’s still not enough.’
’She should have run straight over, latched onto the Emperor’s leg, and not let go, pleading her case through tears.’
’No, maybe she wouldn’t even need to cry. If she just looked at the Emperor with those red-rimmed eyes, she wouldn’t have to say a single word.’
Before everyone arrived, Ji Qingwu had been perfectly calm and composed.
Her sudden display of vulnerability reminded Princess Qingyun that it was this delicate-looking older cousin who had disregarded the danger to save her life.
’She’s a woman, too. She must have been scared.’
"Zhao Jiayun."
Just then, someone uttered two words in a flat voice.
Princess Qingyun’s full name was Zhao Jiayun, but it had been a long time since anyone had called her that. She was always addressed respectfully by her title. Throughout the entire palace, the only one who dared to call her by her given name was...
Emperor Wu Su sat high on his horse, his expression impassive as he looked down at her, his eyes deep and unreadable.
Princess Qingyun took one look, and her own gaze trembled. She fell silent at once and lowered her head.
Li Yuzong cleared his throat. "Princess, why do you not salute His Majesty?"
Eunuch Li’s words were meant to jog her memory. Princess Qingyun quickly knelt and stammered, "Imperial Brother, I was just... I was just frightened. That is why I lost my composure in the imperial court."
"Who did you say deserved to die just now?"
Princess Qingyun kept her head bowed, kneeling properly, no longer daring to act out.
Emperor Wu Su’s expression was grim as he looked down at her. "In my eyes, it is you."
Princess Qingyun’s pupils contracted.
Although she and the Emperor were not born of the same mother, he had been rather indulgent with her for as long as she could remember, rarely scolding her even when she made mistakes. This was the first time he had ever spoken to her so severely.
Emperor Wu Su’s words made her realize with stark clarity.
The man before her was the unassailable Emperor, not the brother who would tolerate her temper tantrums.
Emperor Wu Su’s gaze fell upon the marks on the ground. He could well imagine how perilous the situation had been. In a deep voice, he said, "If Miss Ji hadn’t saved you, would you even be alive right now?"
"You overestimated your abilities and went after prey, and even after your lucky escape, you didn’t have the sense to stop. You dragged someone else down the cliff with you, and then you treat the very person who saved your life with such cruelty. Are these the manners you’ve learned all these years? Who taught you to behave this way!"
Princess Qingyun’s lips quivered. She wanted to offer an explanation, but her Imperial Brother wasn’t wrong. She was starting to see that her actions had been utterly unreasonable.
Emperor Wu Su was clearly disappointed to the extreme. His eyes were like ice as he said bluntly, "You are worse than a four-year-old. You bring me nothing but shame."
His words hurt a thousand times more than any slap could.
Tears streamed from Princess Qingyun’s eyes as she pleaded, "Imperial Brother, Qingyun knows she was wrong."
Emperor Wu Su said coldly, "If you know you were wrong, then kneel here and reflect on it."
"Imperial Brother..."
Princess Qingyun only dared to call out to him softly, not wanting to provoke him further.
The fate of a princess who fell from favor was well-documented by the bloody examples of the previous dynasty. They were sent to barbarian lands for political marriages, forced to marry a father, then his son, then his brother in succession, suffering endless humiliation and ridicule.
Ji Qingwu agreed. ’The Princess’s willful nature really needs to be corrected.’
’Kneeling at the edge of a cliff... This is a good punishment. It will give her a chance to reflect on just how perilous that was.’
Ji Qingwu quietly glanced up at the Emperor, only to find him still staring at the edge of the cliff. The veins on the back of his hand were bulging, as if he were suppressing an emotion on the verge of erupting.
Everyone waited in silence, but Emperor Wu Su spurred his horse and rode away, the sound of its hooves fading into the distance.
The rest of the retinue followed.
Ji Qingwu watched the large party disappear, her brow furrowed with complicated feelings.
She pushed herself up from the ground and deliberately walked over to the kneeling Princess, circling her once.
Having been scolded and now being punished, Princess Qingyun couldn’t meet her gaze, her guilt palpable. All her previous arrogance had vanished.
Ji Qingwu knew the sense of disappointment welling up inside her had nothing to do with Qingyun.
Li Yuzong had remained behind. He walked up to Li Chengxun and said, "Lord Li, the Princess is kneeling here as punishment, but she cannot be left unattended. I must ask you to watch over her."
As he was leaving, Eunuch Li passed by Ji Qingwu and coughed a few times, as if to urge her to leave quickly as well.
That was precisely her intention. She had no desire to stay here with those two.
The pure black steed was still waiting for her nearby. It was a fair distance back to the camp, and Ji Qingwu’s mind was in a fog. She really didn’t want to walk.
She swung herself onto the horse and grabbed the reins. Only then did an unbearable soreness belatedly flare up in her right arm and shoulder. She figured it was from holding on to the tree with all her might.
Only two people remained at the edge of the cliff. The sky had already darkened. Princess Qingyun’s clothes were soiled, and she was kneeling on a sandy path filled with sharp pebbles. After just a short time, the pain in her knees was so intense that she broke out in a sweat.
Li Chengxun said with a frown, "Princess, there is nothing between Miss Ji and me. You shouldn’t have made such a scene in front of His Majesty."
Princess Qingyun was now overcome with guilt and misery.
She had been snapped to her senses by the Emperor’s rebuke and knew she had gone too far.
But it was one thing to be scolded by her Imperial Brother; to be lectured by Li Chengxun on top of it was another. Qingyun snapped, "Not only did you save her first, but you also defended her. Who knows what the two of you have been doing behind my back? Just like with that female servant from Liangxiang Pavilion."
So, Princess Qingyun had found out about Mo Lingling.
No one in the Imperial Family was truly a fool. It had been easy enough for her to investigate Li Chengxun’s activities outside the palace. When the Empress Dowager learned of it, she had actually advised her not to worry too much about it. What man didn’t stray? Besides, the two of them weren’t officially married yet.
The Empress Dowager had said that the Female Historian was just a plaything from a pleasure house. They could send someone to investigate; if the female servant was truly pregnant, the matter could be resolved with a bowl of abortifacient soup. It wasn’t worth damaging the couple’s relationship over.
But Qingyun couldn’t swallow her anger and had been giving Li Chengxun the cold shoulder for days.
Li Chengxun sighed. "Princess, after the Lu Ming Banquet that night, my colleagues insisted on celebrating for me further. I only went to Liangxiang Pavilion to be polite. I was drunk and confused... I mistook her for you. That’s why..."
So that was the truth. The anger Qingyun had been stewing in for days vanished. Even the pain in her knees seemed to lessen. She said shyly, "Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You let me misunderstand for so long."
He lifted his robes and knelt beside her, making Qingyun’s heart flutter.
Seeing that the Princess was placated, Li Chengxun lowered his eyes. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, and the hand that had grabbed Ji Qingwu’s slowly clenched into a fist.
*
As Ji Qingwu rode through the woods where the beast had appeared, her ears pricked up. She heard a faint rustling from inside the forest. Her heart clenched. ’The beast can’t still be nearby, can it?’
’I can’t be that unlucky...’
She urged her horse forward, wanting to leave the area as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, she heard something rush up from behind, moving as fast as the wind.
Before she could even cry out in alarm.
The person snatched her by the waist, plucking her from the horse as easily as one might pick a tender leaf from a branch.
