Yu Feng immediately said, “Soldiers, repeat after me.”
“By imperial decree, Second Princess Xiao Lan, for allowing her servants to commit violence, is confined to her residence for three months. The perpetrator is sentenced to death.”
Hundreds upon hundreds of voices rang out in perfect unison throughout the courtyard, loud enough to hurt the ears. They repeated the proclamation over and over, and every residence along the street should have been able to hear them. Yet no one dared stick their head out to watch the spectacle.
……
In front of the bronze mirror, Xiao Lan was combing her hair and carefully filling in the ends of her brows. She appeared relaxed, but the hand holding the brush was clenched tightly and trembling faintly.
Servants and old maids knelt all over the floor. The woman at the front trembled as she asked, “Princess, what should we do now?”
Xiao Lan flung down the eyebrow brush and swept everything from the dressing table onto the floor. “What are you panicking about? I am a princess. Does he really dare barge in here and kill me?”
He did not dare kill her, but he dared force her into this predicament.
Xiao Lan gripped the edge of the table tightly. “He truly is as difficult to control as he claimed.”
The Imperial Discipline Office had blockaded the entrance, shouting for her to hand over the culprit.
“All this, for the sake of a servant?” Xiao Lan sneered.
An old maid beside her said, “Princess, could it be that Lord Shen learned what happened in the main hall that day—that it was your doing—and is using this as an excuse to make trouble?”
Xiao Lan kicked the old maid. “It is all because you were useless.”
From this day forward, the dignity of Second Princess Xiao Lan would be utterly ruined. She would become the first princess of the Xiao imperial clan in history to have soldiers blockade her residence and force her hand.
Life in the capital would become even more difficult for her.
Xiao Lan cared deeply about her reputation. As a member of the imperial family, this was nothing short of humiliation.
She rose and walked toward the door, but the old maid from before suddenly wrapped both arms around her leg. “Princess, are you going to hand this old servant over?”
The old maid was so terrified that her face had gone deathly pale.
Xiao Lan’s expression twisted. “Do you intend to let the Imperial Discipline Office remain outside my residence, so that every official and commoner in the capital can come and watch me make a fool of myself?”
By tomorrow, the story of Xiao Lan would become the talk of the town, spreading through every street and alley.
She had thought that if she stayed behind closed doors, Shen Xiabai would not dare force his way inside. If she could delay things for one day, the Empress Mother might have time to beg her imperial brother for mercy.
She was a princess of the realm. If she allowed a trusted subordinate to die merely because she had killed some lowly commoner, what would become of her dignity as a princess?
And especially when that subordinate was to die in place of Cui Yunchu’s old maid!
“No, Princess.” Tears and snot streamed down the old maid’s face. “The Imperial Discipline Office’s methods are cruel. They’ll torture this old servant to death. Please, Princess, save me!”
Xiao Lan tried to kick her away, but she did not have enough strength.
The shouts outside showed no sign of stopping. Xiao Lan’s head was nearly splitting apart.
“The Imperial Discipline Office’s people are blocking the entrance, and there has still been no word from the Empress Mother. How do you expect me to save you?”
Xiao Lan was exceedingly irritable.
This matter should have been handled by the Ministry of Justice. Why had the Imperial Discipline Office come instead?
Suddenly, the voices outside fell silent. Xiao Lan and the old maid also stopped making a sound. Then Shen Xiabai’s low, icy voice rang out once more.
“The princess cannot hear even with this much commotion outside. She must have fallen gravely ill. To prevent the princess from dying alone in her residence without anyone knowing, I have no choice but to overstep my authority.”
He placed particular emphasis on the words “dying alone.” When they came from his lips, they sounded as if they had risen from the depths of hell.
Xiao Lan’s body stiffened. She forcefully tore herself free of the old maid’s grasp. “Rest assured. I will make you pay for today’s humiliation.”
Shen Xiabai had already given the order. “Break down the door.”
Yu Feng stepped forward with his saber. After only a few strikes, he cut through the door. Soldiers streamed inside, while Xiao Lan stood in the room, her beautiful face drained of color, staring at the intruders.
Their footsteps were heavy. Through the path the soldiers opened, a white-clad figure slowly appeared. The moment his tall, slender form came into view, an oppressive presence filled the room, making everyone’s heart tremble.
Yet there was someone else beside him—a woman with striking features. When she lifted her eyes, her gaze was calm but carried a trace of cold mockery, as though she were looking at someone on the verge of death.
Xiao Lan had never imagined that Shen Xiabai would bring Cui Yunchu with him, openly flaunting her presence and swaggering before everyone.
“Judging by the looks of things, the princess is still alive and well. Could it be that she has some trouble with her ears? Yu Feng, go fetch a physician and have him examine the princess.”
Xiao Lan’s expression turned cold. “Shen Xiabai, how dare you?”
Shen Xiabai’s expression did not change, and he did not answer her question. He merely said, “I am here under the Emperor’s orders to ask the princess to hand over the culprit.”
Xiao Lan bit her lower lip hard and glared at Shen Xiabai. “Do not forget that the authority in your hands comes from the Xiao imperial clan. You actually dare bring the Cui girl out in such a brazen manner. Are you not afraid that my imperial brother will have you killed?”
He was using the authority granted by her Xiao family for the sake of the daughter of the minister her imperial brother feared most and wished more than anyone to eliminate.
The capital had gone completely mad.
“The Emperor ordered the princess to hand over the culprit, yet you keep answering questions that were never asked. It seems your ears truly are having trouble.”
Shen Xiabai glanced behind him. “Where is the physician? Why has he not arrived yet?”
Yu Feng immediately dragged in an old man with a white beard. “Reporting to my lord, he is here.”
Shen Xiabai took Cui Yunchu by the hand and led her to a seat. Then he calmly ordered, “Examine Her Highness the princess for her hearing ailment.”
Yu Feng led the physician forward. Xiao Lan backed away in disbelief, staring at Shen Xiabai. “You truly have gone mad. What are you trying to do?”
The servants in the room tried to move forward and protect Xiao Lan, but the soldiers dragged them outside, leaving only Xiao Lan and her two trusted attendants behind.
Yu Feng beckoned two men over. They seized Xiao Lan and held her down while the physician approached with his medical case.
Shen Xiabai casually picked up a fruit from the table, peeled it, and held it to Cui Yunchu’s lips. “Princess, do not be afraid. Imperial Physician Chen has remarkable skills. He will certainly cure your hearing ailment.”
“I am not sick!” Xiao Lan struggled like a madwoman.
“I say you are. Otherwise, how could you have failed to hear the soldiers of the Imperial Discipline Office shouting outside? Could it be that the princess intends to resist an imperial edict?”
Xiao Lan looked at Shen Xiabai, standing behind Cui Yunchu with an icy expression. For the first time, she truly understood how terrifying this man was. This was no longer something she had merely heard about from others.
He had truly lost his head over Cui Yunchu.
Xiao Lan gritted her teeth. “You want the woman? I will hand her over.”
Shen Xiabai let out a soft laugh and slowly walked toward her. When he stopped in front of her, he lowered his voice and said, “Princess, your hearing ailment did not arise in just one or two days. Otherwise, how could you have forgotten the warning I gave you at the palace gates a few days ago?”
With that, he straightened and continued, “Since you are ill, you must not avoid treatment. Otherwise, you will commit the same offense again. I believe it would be best to cure you once and for all.”
Imperial Physician Chen took a silver needle from his medical case. It was thick and long, its sharp tip glinting coldly, as though it could pierce straight through a person’s throat.
Xiao Lan looked at Shen Xiabai as if he were a madman. His gaze was exactly the same as that of those two people from several years ago when they had looked at her.
“Princess, please cooperate. Imperial Physician Chen is very quick. It will not hurt much.”
Yu Feng seized her arm and, with a forceful pull, pressed her against the wall. Imperial Physician Chen’s silver needle was already closing in. Xiao Lan wanted to shake her head frantically, but she was terrified that the needle would be driven into her head and take her life.
She widened her eyes and watched as the physician brought it closer and closer.
Imperial Physician Chen’s movements were indeed swift. The silver needle entered Xiao Lan’s ear, then suddenly pressed downward before he pulled it out.
Blood stained the end of the needle.
He wiped the needle clean, put it back in his medical case, and reported, “Lord Shen, the Second Princess was indeed suffering from an ear disorder. I have already treated her.”
“Thank you for your efforts, Imperial Physician Chen. Yu Feng, see Imperial Physician Chen out.”
After Xiao Lan let out a shrill scream when the silver needle was pressed down, she had remained huddled in the corner, clutching her right ear, her entire body writhing in spasms.
Cui Yunchu’s expression remained calm, but inside, her heart was in turmoil. She watched Shen Xiabai’s tall, rigid, and icy back as he paced over and slowly crouched down beside Xiao Lan.
The cruel things said about him by the outside world had always been different from the man she had known.
Or perhaps, the ruthless decisiveness he had shown toward her in her previous life had actually been a form of mercy.
His cruelty had never been as simple as ending your life with a single stroke.
“Today, I have cured the princess’s ear disorder,” Shen Xiabai said. “I imagine that the next time I speak, Your Highness will be able to hear me clearly and will not make the same mistake again.”
Xiao Lan’s face was twisted with pain as she looked up at Shen Xiabai, her brows drawing together slightly.
“Couldn’t hear me?” Shen Xiabai smiled. Facing her left ear, he repeated what he had just said, then reminded her, “Your Highness had better take care of your left ear as well. Do not let it develop the same disorder.”
With that, he rose to his feet and stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Looking down at Xiao Lan huddled on the floor, he radiated an unruffled composure that seemed to look down upon everything.
“Now that the princess’s ear disorder has been cured, it is time to move on to the next step.”
