"Ah Huan, would you like to sit beside your grandmother?"
The unfinished braised chicken was brought back to the dining table, and Emperor Yuanyou no longer pressed Song Yu and Song Shihuan about their late arrival. Seeing this, the members of the Eastern Palace exchanged glances filled with resentment.
They had waited all this time for nothing.
"She's shy. She'll sit beside me," Song Yu said calmly, motioning for Song Shihuan to take the seat next to him. "You all should eat quickly. We’ve already had our fill."
His words nearly brought the famished Song Xiyan to tears.
When had Song Xiyan ever gone hungry in the palace, let alone suffered such humiliation?
Noticing Song Yu’s blatant disregard for her, the Successor Empress softened her expression further. "Your Majesty, I see that Yu’er has grown quite fatherly since taking in Ah Huan."
Though Emperor Yuanyou remained silent, focusing on his braised chicken, the upward twitch of his mustache betrayed his satisfaction.
At least this unruly boy was finally showing some improvement.
But then the Successor Empress’s tone shifted. "If only back then... Yu’er had married and had children earlier, he wouldn’t have wasted so many years..."
The atmosphere instantly turned icy.
Both Emperor Yuanyou and Song Yu’s faces darkened as if dipped in ink.
"Sometimes I truly wonder," Song Yu sneered, his voice dripping with scorn, "how some people can commit wrongs without the slightest guilt—and even dare to bring up those filthy matters themselves."
"You insolent wretch!"
Emperor Yuanyou slammed the table and rose to his feet, glaring at Song Yu. "Now you dare to curse your own mother to her face? Song Yu, do you even see me as your father anymore?"
"Was I wrong? She deliberately schemed—" Before Song Yu could finish, a sharp slap struck his face.
His ears rang, and his vision blurred momentarily.
"Your Majesty, please don’t strike Yu’er!" The Successor Empress shielded Song Yu, the picture of a doting mother. "It was my fault for speaking out of turn. I won’t mention it again."
Yet her words only worsened the situation.
"Empress, do not defend him. Our Great Qi has always ruled with filial piety, yet I’ve somehow raised this unfilial disgrace."
Song Yu pushed the Successor Empress aside, ready to argue directly with Emperor Yuanyou.
But though he barely used any force, the Successor Empress staggered backward, nearly falling if not for the Crown Princess’s quick support. Several furious glares immediately turned on Song Yu.
After a stunned pause, Song Yu let out a bitter laugh.
"You’re right. I, Song Yu, am nothing but an unfilial disgrace."
In the courtyard, Song Yu was forced onto a bench. Two eunuchs wielded long, thick paddles, striking him again and again. He clenched his teeth, refusing to make a sound.
Nearby, Song Shihuan stood frozen, her eyes fixed on the relentless swings of the wooden board.
"Scared out of your wits?" Song Yanzheng approached her. "I told you—you’d regret choosing Prince Qin that day."
"Brother, why waste words on her? It’s better if she’s terrified," Song Xiyan said with a venomous smile. Since everyone in Jingren Palace was the Empress Dowager’s people, she spoke without restraint. "If she turns into a fool, and Prince Qin’s already half-mad, they’d make a perfect father-daughter pair."
"Song Shihuan, the father you chose is being beaten right now, while the Emperor stays inside comforting the Empress Dowager, and my father and mother attend them," Song Xiyan taunted. "This is the difference between you and me."
A venomous glint flashed in Song Xiyan's eyes. She could tell that the Empress Dowager was trying to win over this wild girl in front of her.
How dare she! She was the Empress Dowager's favorite granddaughter.
"Difference?"
Song Shihuan murmured softly.
She could see that the eunuch wielding the paddle was using all his strength. At this rate, Song Yu might even end up with broken legs.
But even a vicious tiger wouldn't harm its own cub—Emperor Yuanyou would never order such a brutal punishment.
In an instant, Song Shihuan threw herself onto Song Yu with lightning speed, leaving the two guards no time to react. The paddle came down hard on her back.
A single strike was enough to knock Song Shihuan unconscious.
"Ah Huan, Ah Huan—!" Song Yu roared in realization, struggling to prop himself up and gather her into his arms. The commotion in the courtyard drew Emperor Yuanyou's attention.
"What happened to Ah Huan?"
"Tch—"
Song Yu spat out a mouthful of blood, his pale lips stained crimson, his expression growing colder. "Ah Huan took a paddle strike for me. Call the imperial physician."
Emperor Yuanyou stared at Song Shihuan's unconscious form, his fingers trembling.
"By my decree, summon Imperial Physician Mei."
Mei Zhilin, the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau, was Emperor Yuanyou's most trusted confidant.
Imperial Physician Mei arrived swiftly. After checking Song Shihuan's pulse, he couldn't suppress a gasp:
"How could her injuries be this severe?"
Emperor Yuanyou's pupils constricted.
......
"Successor Empress, these two men are eunuchs from your palace."
Emperor Yuanyou turned to the Successor Empress. Though he had ordered the punishment, any executioner with half a brain would know to hold back.
Yet Ah Huan had fainted after just one strike.
And that fool—Mei Zhilin said his internal organs were nearly damaged beyond repair...
"Your Majesty... This subject had no idea Yu'er and Ah Huan would be hurt so badly."
The Successor Empress panicked. She wasn’t foolish enough to orchestrate something so blatant.
But when her gaze landed on the Crown Prince’s grim expression, her lips turned ashen.
Idiot!
"If the Successor Empress cannot even manage the people in her own palace, this Emperor will take over."
Emperor Yuanyou’s tone was calm, but the Successor Empress grew increasingly unnerved. This was the first time he had publicly humiliated her in front of so many.
"Your Majesty, please believe me. Yu'er is the only bloodline left by Sister. This subject values him even more than Ling'er." The Successor Empress spoke earnestly. "If Your Majesty doubts me, I swear upon Sister’s memorial tablet."
"Guards, execute the two eunuchs by beating."
Emperor Yuanyou ignored her, coldly sentencing the two eunuchs before storming off, ordering Song Yu and Song Shihuan to be carried away.
Inside the chamber,
the Successor Empress hurled her prayer beads at the Crown Prince in fury. "Daring to play tricks in front of your father—have you grown reckless?"
"Mother, calm your anger. This son assumed Song Yu would endure the pain no matter how severe the beating. If not for Song Shihuan, by the time Father realized the severity, it would’ve been too late." The Crown Prince seethed. "A perfect move, ruined by that bastard."
Just a little more, and Song Yu would never walk again.
Why couldn’t that wretch just disappear from this world?
"Have you not noticed how fond your father is of her? She’s just a child—raising her in the Eastern Palace would’ve been enough." The Successor Empress lamented his shortsightedness. "Now, we’ve handed Song Yu a child on a silver platter."
"Moreover, if your father Emperor Yuanyou were to discover that I once schemed to have Song Yu secretly meet Xin'er, not only would my position as Successor Empress be lost, but even your title as Crown Prince would be forfeited!"
The Successor Empress closed her eyes, and the scene flashed before her—Song Yu gripping Xin'er by the throat, forcing her to drink an abortifacient despite her two-month pregnancy.
A shudder ran through the Successor Empress.
And the Crown Prince's face turned deathly pale.
