Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Punishment
Yan Luo forced a smile. "Commander, what brings you here?"
He cleared his throat and made an explanation. "I was disciplining them since they dared to steal things now!"
Commander Leng Hai had an expressionless look on his face as he listened to Yan Luo’s explanation.
Yan Luo’s fists already clenched on his sides, praying that the Ye family wouldn’t mention anything about their lowered meal portion.
He and his men had secretly pocketed the money needed to buy the provisions, using them to buy wine they could drink at night.
"Commander Leng Hai, our family didn’t steal the rabbits." Ye Zhiqiu seized the chance to explain. He gestured to the rabbits on the ground. "We found their burrow and led them out."
Ye Lanxi added. "Captain Yan made a baseless accusation against us. He just wanted to seize the rabbits for himself."
Listening to his plan getting exposed so blatantly, Yan Luo’s face flushed red in anger. He pointed to Ye Lanxi and scolded angrily. "You! Don’t speak nonsense!"
He turned to Commander Leng Hai. "Commander, please judge fairly. They are hiding the rabbits in their carriage, so we found it suspicious."
Ye Lingyue listened with great interest, waiting to see whether this Commander Leng Hai was an upright person.
"Lin Su also supported them..." Yan Luo trailed off, his face full of reluctance as though he didn’t want to speak but still had to for the sake of justice. He shook his head with pity. "I am not sure if he is also involved."
Lin Su’s expression stayed calm. Seeing not even the slightest rippled on his face, Yan Luo frowned inwardly.
"Bring the people here." Commander Leng Hai suddenly opened his mouth, his voice stern and his eyes sharp.
Yan Luo’s pupils contracted when he saw his men getting dragged to them. He asked hesitantly, "Commander...?"
Commander Leng Hai spoke words similar to what Yan Luo had uttered before. "Confess directly, and I will grant you leniency."
Upon hearing that, Yan Luo’s expression immediately changed. His eyes flitted around, and he spoke with difficulty as if he was unaware of the matter.
"Commander, these are my men. What have they done? I will definitely punish them strictly if they have done something wrong!" He spoke with great conviction, his eyes blazed with some anger.
The imperial guards kneeling on the ground trembled. Their eyes secretly alternated between their commander and captain.
They were pleading for Yan Luo to help them, and the latter pretended not to see the look on their eyes.
As if he had a realization, Yan Luo went to his men and kicked the two who had come to rob the rabbits away. "You, impudent wretches! Did you try to frame Mrs. Ye and others?!"
Yan Luo’s chest heaved up and down in anger, as though he had suffered an injustice of being misled by his own men.
Ye Lingyue inwardly rolled her eyes. Still, she enjoyed the self-directed performance by Yan Luo.
Commander Leng Hai hadn’t said much, and the imperial guards on the ground hadn’t confessed to anything, yet he was already too anxious to explain.
In the end, Yan Luo went to Shen Jingyi, trying to de-escalate the matter. "Mrs. Ye, I am sorry for misunderstanding you and your family."
From the angle Commander Leng Hai couldn’t see, Yan Luo had an insincere expression on his face as he apologized to Shen Jingyi. His face was all scrunched up reluctantly.
Unfortunately, his opponent was Shen Jingyi.
"Captain Yan, what’s wrong with that look? Are you reluctant?" Shen Jingyi asked with some surprise. Despite her gentle tone, it was full of sarcasm. "Or, are you feeling unwell?"
Yan Luo stiffened. He sent Shen Jingyi a threatening look. Any ordinary woman might have been frightened, but Shen Jingyi remained calm.
"Commander, it seems that Captain Yan is sick," she muttered with concern. "He has that kind of expression again."
When Yan Luo turned his head around, he saw the cold look in Leng Hai’s face. His heart shuddered, and he immediately lowered his head.
"Commander, I won’t trouble you with disciplining them. I will definitely teach them a hard lesson myself," he told Leng Hai as he walked toward his men kneeling on the ground.
He ordered them, "Get up!"
Just as the imperial guards were about to heave a sigh of relief and got up, they heard Leng Hai’s stern and cold voice again. "You dare to get up?"
They felt as though cold water was poured on them. Shaking slightly, they continued to kneel on the ground.
Yan Luo’s face twisted and darkened, but he didn’t dare complain even when the commander had slapped him in the face.
"Are you going to confess or not?" Commander Leng Hai repeated, his eyes swept over the imperial guards kneeling on the ground.
The other family members from other branches and the servants were watching the commotion. Some felt trepidation, others excited and relished on the tyrannical imperial guards getting in trouble.
"I... Commander. I am wrong, please punish me." One imperial guard started to confess under the pressure. He didn’t even dare to look at Yan Luo.
He began to spit out about what they had done, starting from embezzling the money for provision on wine and starving the Ye family members and servants.
Everyone was in uproar, staring at the imperial guards on the ground with angry looks on their faces.
The imperial guards who had planned to rob the rabbits for themselves finally also cracked under the commander’s power. "The rabbits aren’t stolen, Commander. It was us who were too greedy."
They lowered their heads after they finished, waiting for the commander to determine their punishment.
"Give each of them fifty strokes of military cane." Leng Hai uttered the words coldly. He turned to Yan Luo. "As a captain, you are negligent in disciplining them. You will bear the same punishment."
Yan Luo and his men could feel their feet shaking. While fifty strokes wouldn’t kill them, it was still detrimental.
Leng Hai’s personal attendants moved quickly, grabbing a military cane and started executing the punishment.
Ye Lingyue had a satisfied look on her face. Their meal was finally saved!
***
In another place, a masked man with black robe entered a room quietly and kneeled in as soon as he spotted the man donned in imperial robes.
"Greetings, Your Highness," the guard greeted as he lowered his head.
He was still trying to catch his breath. As soon as he received the news from the capital, he had gone to his Master’s place in order to report it.
"Any news?" The of voice of the man in imperial robes was rather cold and rough. However, every of his movement was poised, radiating nobility.
The masked man trembled. He didn’t know whether he should tell the news directly to his Master.
"Hmm?"
Realizing he had been dawdling too long, the masked man began to open his mouth. "Your Highness, there is a huge news from the Capital."
He tried to organize the words in his mind, so nervous that his brain blanked temporarily, fearing his Master’s anger. He swallowed before he finally said it.
"S-Shen Wuqing... she is dead."
