The Crown Prince had barely endured twenty strokes of the cane when the Successor Empress rushed over in distress, with Chen Chi stepping forward to block the eunuch administering the punishment.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. You mustn't do this, you mustn't!"
At this sight, Emperor Yuanyou's gaze darkened, making the Successor Empress unable to meet his eyes.
"This emperor is disciplining his own son. Why mustn't I?"
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is the heir to the throne. If he is injured, it could shake the foundation of the state!" The Successor Empress, seeing the Crown Prince's pallid face, didn't even pause to consider Emperor Yuanyou's unusual demeanor.
"Shake the foundation of the state?"
Emperor Yuanyou murmured, staring blankly at the Successor Empress shielding the Crown Prince.
In the side hall.
Song Yu craned his neck to peer through the windows, so delighted he forgot his own injuries.
"Why did they stop? Only seventeen strokes! No, I must go out and see for myself."
That wretch Song Ling was truly spineless—howling before the cane even touched him! What a disgrace!
While silently mocking the Crown Prince, Song Yu prepared to step out and witness his humiliation.
"Father, wait!"
Song Yu's leg froze mid-step as he turned to look at Song Shihuan. "Ah-Huan, do you want to come too? You shouldn't move right now. Don’t worry, I’ll recount every detail of what happens outside for you."
Song Shihuan's lips twitched. She had no interest in joining this ridiculous spectacle.
This was the moment Emperor Yuanyou was growing suspicious of the Successor Empress and the Eastern Palace. If Song Yu rushed out now, the Successor Empress might pin some new accusation on him, rendering their suffering pointless.
So Song Shihuan put on a pitiful expression. "Father, you’re going back on your word."
"Huh?"
Song Yu stiffened, the pain from his wounds making him grimace.
What had he promised?
"Before we entered the palace, you said you wouldn’t leave my side for even a step," Song Shihuan accused. "Now you’re abandoning me alone in this room."
Song Yu’s mind spun. He didn’t recall saying that.
After a few seconds of struggling, he managed a sheepish smile. "Then I’ll just watch from the window, alright?"
Song Shihuan was speechless.
......
"Imperial Father, your son has never conspired for personal gain."
The Crown Prince forced out the words through gritted teeth, his voice weak with pain.
At the mention of "conspiring for personal gain," the Successor Empress’s heart trembled, and she dropped to her knees.
Now in her fifties, the Successor Empress had always been revered in the palace due to Emperor Yuanyou’s favor. Never had she been reduced to such a pitiful state.
"Your Majesty, this consort swears upon my life—Ling’er would never commit such an act."
"You certainly protect him." Emperor Yuanyou’s expression remained unreadable. "Continue. Ten more strokes, and this matter will be settled."
These ten strokes were Emperor Yuanyou’s displeasure toward the Successor Empress.
"If there is a next time, this emperor will not be lenient."
With that, Emperor Yuanyou glanced up at the clear blue sky, ignoring the pleas behind him, and slowly entered the hall. He carefully retrieved a painting from a box.
The woman in the painting wore coarse cloth, her features strikingly similar to Song Yu’s, with a bamboo basket hooked over her arm.
"Fen’er, tell me… did I make a mistake?"
Emperor Yuanyou’s whisper was drowned out by the Crown Prince’s cries and the Successor Empress’s sobs outside.
Once the ten strokes were delivered, the Successor Empress immediately called for imperial physicians—a stark contrast to her indifference when Song Yu had been punished.
Even if he didn’t want to believe it, Emperor Yuanyou was beginning to understand.
"Today, I finally realized… she hasn’t treated our son as well as I always believed."
"And what happened back then… I must investigate again."
Wu Qi, standing nearby, lowered his eyes. The world mocked Prince Qin for being a useless wastrel.
But he knew—from beginning to end, only Fen’er’s son, Prince Qin, was truly the Emperor’s weakness.
In the Great Qi Imperial Palace, a son’s status depended on his mother’s favor.
......
"Your Highness, this official repeatedly warned you—your injuries require bed rest. Yet you refused to listen. Now you must endure the consequences." Mei Zhilin applied medicine without mercy, and Song Yu howled like a slaughtered pig.
The noise startled Emperor Yuanyou in the main hall, causing an ink blot to ruin a memorial he had been reviewing.
Wonderful. Hours of work wasted.
"Old Mei, are you doing this on purpose?"
Song Yu’s forehead glistened with sweat. "But it was Song Ling getting beaten! How could I miss that? I only peeked from the window for a moment!"
"Just a moment?" Mei Zhilin raised an eyebrow.
"Song Ling only took twenty-seven strokes—how long could that take? I took twenty-eight!" Song Yu’s face darkened further. "Imperial Father definitely gave him one less on purpose. He just hates me."
Outside, Emperor Yuanyou, who had just arrived to check on him, scowled. Brat!
"That is the Crown Prince, the heir to the throne," Mei Zhilin reminded him.
"So what? Even Imperial Father used to get his ears pulled by Mother!"
"Ahem—" Song Shihuan coughed loudly.
"Ah-Huan, are you feeling unwell?" Song Yu completely missed her warning. "Ah-Huan, you wouldn’t know—back then, Imperial Father obeyed Mother’s every word. Don’t let his current stern demeanor fool you—"
"Song Yu!"
The familiar voice made Song Yu freeze. He turned his head in disbelief. "Im-Imperial Father…"
"When your mother passed, you were only two. I had no idea a two-year-old could remember so much." Emperor Yuanyou was torn between anger and amusement.
"Mei Zhilin told me everything!"
Without hesitation, Song Yu threw Mei Zhilin under the chariot.
"Well… this official must prepare another dose of medicine for the Princess. I shall take my leave." Mei Zhilin’s goatee trembled as he fled, leaving Emperor Yuanyou and Song Yu staring at each other.
"How are your injuries?"
"Don’t worry, I won’t die." Song Yu turned his back on the Emperor.
"I was asking how long until the wounds scab over and you can walk normally." Half of Emperor Yuanyou’s patience was already spent.
"What? Eager to kick me back to the Qin Prince’s Mansion? I don’t even like staying in Zichen Hall anyway!" Song Yu pushed himself up. "I’ll pack up right now—won’t trouble you any longer."
"Get out of my sight!"
Emperor Yuanyou stormed back to the main hall, pacing around the portrait three full circles.
"Fen’er, you see? Sometimes it’s not that this father refuses to discipline him. Even you would be driven mad trying!"
For once, he had considered mending their relationship.
And what happened?
Mend nothing!
Meanwhile, Song Shihuan watched Song Yu, who was now engrossed in a storybook, with utter resignation.
He hadn’t taken Emperor Yuanyou’s rare moment of remorse seriously at all.
But…
A glint flashed in Song Shihuan’s eyes. She had noticed something significant.
Her father… seemed to hold extraordinary favor with the Emperor.
