A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace-Chapter 830: Administering the Whipping Punishment
This is the Noble Consort, after all. A whipping like this is no child’s play.
Zhao Junyao stood firm with a cold expression.
"Strike!"
Some people, if I don’t act against them, they truly believe they’re untouchable!
Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!
My kindness and benevolence, just trampled on like this?
This time it’s drugging!
And next time? Will it be poisoning?
How vicious!
Wei Sheng, somewhat helpless, had no choice but to clasp his fists.
"Noble Consort, my apologies!"
After speaking, he personally gave the order.
"Administer the whipping punishment!"
Noble Concubine Shih hurriedly begged in panic for mercy.
"Your Majesty, it truly wasn’t me!"
"Truly wasn’t me, Your Majesty, I beg the Emperor for mercy...!"
"Ah!"
Before she finished her sentences, a whip lashed down.
Noble Concubine Shih let out a miserable scream.
Following that, ten more lashes.
The whippings of the Punishment Department were exceptionally cruel; the whips were studded with barbs.
One lash and the skin and flesh came away, leaving the wounds almost impossible to heal.
Noble Concubine Shih was trembling with pain.
But she still gritted her teeth and endured.
’Without entering the tiger’s den, one wouldn’t get a tiger’s cub!’
’The bitter flesh strategy must be acted out convincingly!’
Surviving this hardship, she would surely emerge with glory.
Indeed, she betrayed the Empress Dowager by exploiting her trust!
By now, she had long discarded her past infatuation.
Of course, she wouldn’t do anything to displease the Emperor.
If she had truly taken advantage of the drug’s effects to gain favor, she would never recover from this her entire life.
So, Empress Dowager!
I’m sorry, I deceived you!
From this moment forward, I’m standing beside the Emperor, against you.
The days of you controlling me are gone forever.
In the future, Wanxin will let you taste this "thrilling" feeling too!
...
After the whipping ended, she rolled down from the bench onto the ground.
Her back was already covered in blood, not a single spot intact.
And she, as a woman, had reached the peak of her endurance.
It was time, she could confess.
She bit her teeth, mustered all her strength, and crawled bit by bit, speaking bit by bit.
"Your Majesty!"
"It was... It was..."
"Your Majesty, it was the Empress Dowager forcing... forcing me!"
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager forced me!"
"I beg the Emperor to save me!"
"I didn’t want...don’t want this!"
Otherwise, why would I struggle like this?!
Zhao Junyao saw her like this.
His cold and hardened heart softened somewhat.
"If you tell the truth, I’ll spare your life!"
Noble Concubine Shih coughed twice, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
She suddenly smiled.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager wanted to force me to have a child, but I know the Emperor... cough cough..."
"Know the Emperor doesn’t want it, I didn’t want to make... the Emperor embarrassed!"
"I secretly hid the antidote and detoxed the Emperor!"
"Your Majesty... Wanxin didn’t want to, making... making the Emperor embarrassed!"
Having finished this, she spat out another mouthful of blood and fainted.
Zhao Junyao looked at her miserable condition, his gaze complicated.
His mind was still weighing the credibility, still pondering whether to believe her.
The night’s events and Noble Concubine Shih’s words.
At least for now, seemed flawless.
Indeed, not a single flaw.
If it was acting, then the acting was too real.
Risking life, torture, reputation, all just to stage this act?!
It seemed unlikely.
Thus, what Noble Concubine Shih said could be true!
Behind all this, it might truly be the Empress Dowager pulling the strings!
Once confirmed, Zhao Junyao’s gaze turned terrifying.
He couldn’t wait a moment longer.
Stormed into the Empress Dowager’s Ningshou Palace with a dark expression!
...
The Empress Dowager hadn’t slept.
In truth, she couldn’t sleep.
Her heart was somewhat fearful, events had spiraled beyond her control.
The initial time Wanxin spoke.
She wanted to have a child to leave a Prince for the Shih Family, her words were so earnest.
Even the plan she devised seemed foolproof.
So, she lent her a helping hand.
At the banquet, everyone got intoxicated.
Even the Emperor was no exception.
Wanxin supported the Emperor and went to the side hall that was prepared well ahead of time.
There, everything was ready.
There were concoctions to be taken beforehand, and afterwards too.
As long as Wanxin received favor, the chances of conception greatly increased.
It was expected to proceed smoothly.
Indeed, everything went smoothly.
However...
Why in the end, was there a conflict in the side hall? Why did the Emperor bring Wanxin to the Punishment Department?
Was it because he’d regained consciousness?
Or... was there another reason?
The more the Empress Dowager thought, the more terrified she became, her thoughts tangled like a mess, a sense of foreboding.
Tossing and turning on the bed, unable to sleep.
Only tremblingly did she go to the small Buddha hall.
Praying for Buddha to swiftly rid her of the tension and unease in her heart.
But alas, under Buddha’s gaze.
She grew even more uneasy.
Did not await Buddha’s pardon.
Instead awaited the murderous Emperor.
Fear filled the Empress Dowager’s heart, just one glance and the nagging sense of foreboding became reality.
"Emperor! How are you... here now..."
Her words tripped, her whole person trembling.
Zhao Junyao kicked over the cushion in front of the Empress Dowager, toppling her in panic.
"Emperor, what are you doing?"
Zhao Junyao’s gaze was as cold as a millennium iceberg.
"What does the Emperor want? Mother! It’s you who should answer that!"
Not even calling her ’you’, just you, emblematic of how furious he was.
Perhaps at this moment, even he himself hadn’t realized he no longer acknowledged the Empress Dowager as his mother.
Sister Qing rushed inside.
A glance at the situation and she immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty..."
Zhao Junyao was merciless.
"Get out!"
Sister Qing suddenly looked up, the figure before her felt entirely unfamiliar.
Not yet gathering her senses.
Zhao Junyao added another line.
"Li Shengan, drag her out!"
He was truly angry, having suppressed it for far too long.
Now his fury, like the surging river, once erupted was unstoppable!
Li Shengan trembled with cold sweat, his legs weak.
"Sister Qing, please!"
Sister Qing helplessly stood and left.
Li Shengan followed her, cleaning out all other Palace Attendants within a radius of ten meters.
He himself guarded at a distance, not daring to let anyone rush in carelessly.
Left in the chilly small Buddha hall were just the mother and son.
Zhao Junyao was already despaired.
Unwilling to get entangled with the Empress Dowager, he merely revealed the outcome.
"Plotting against The King, the crime deserves execution, since you’re my mother, I can’t act against you!"
"The Shih Family and Rong Family, let them all be exiled! The women to be official slaves, the men exiled! Never to set foot in the Capital City!"
"Additionally, for such an error committed by mother, surely it must be instigated by someone around, hence..."
"Grant them all death!"
"As for Sister Qing, for the sake of her accompanying mother for many years, spare her death!"
"Grant her the mercy of exile from the palace!"
Empress Dowager was stunned, it took a while to digest all the information.
The Shih Family, they are her mother’s family.
The Rong Family, they are her parental family!
These two families are her closest kin.
And Qingyun, accompanying her for decades, loyal and devoted...
