However, Su Yunmo had no mood to admire this masterpiece bestowed by heaven.
As her hand, smeared with medicine, traced his firm back, she counted silently in her heart.
Ten... Fourteen... Thirty-eight... One hundred...
A total of one hundred and twenty lashes.
The girl's tender fingers brushed like a gentle breeze, causing shivers. Ye Jingyu subconsciously tightened his lips and urged her.
"Can't you be quicker?"
This sensation was really not pleasant.
"You're the noisiest patient I've ever had," Su Yunmo said with disdain, her gaze falling on his waist.
His muscular and elastic waist bore no lash marks, which meant the whip had fallen from a height.
In other words, Ye Jingyu had been kneeling at the time.
Su Yunmo took a deep breath, a red glow flashing in her eyes.
Empress Luo!
Silence fell upon the room.
After a while, Ye Jingyu suddenly spoke, "Did I say anything foolish in your place the night before last?"
Su Yunmo glanced at him. He lowered his gaze, concealing the expression in his eyes.
Su Yunmo put away the medicine bottle and re-bandaged him. After finishing, she turned his head, looking at him seriously.
"You did, and I don't think it was nonsense."
Ye Jingyu clenched his fingers.
Su Yunmo continued, "You said you wanted to be my subordinate, to obey me forever, and you begged me to protect you. You even called me master."
Her voice rose on the last sentence, her tone filled with pride.
Ye Jingyu: "..."
A moment later.
The young man slapped her hand away, silently put on his clothes, then stood up, grabbed the hem of her clothes, opened the door, and threw her out.
He turned back and closed the door.
Su Yunmo, propped against the doorframe, refused to back down.
"Why are you ignoring me after putting on your clothes? I know you're shy, so you don't have to call me master, but you have to keep your promise and be my subordinate!"
A grinding sound came from the room, followed by a single word.
"Scram!"
Su Yunmo spread her hands and shrugged, sighing, "Young lads these days really like to turn their backs on their promises."
She shook her head helplessly, her hands behind her back, and walked away like a little old man.
Qian Xue watched her leave with a wry smile and pushed the door open to enter.
Ye Jingyu stood by the window, his gaze fixed on Su Yunmo's receding back, his voice laced with coldness, "Has the news been spread?"
Qian Xue replied, "Your Highness's attendance at the academy is merely a facade. You've been privately meeting with ministers and accumulating capital during this time."
"Besides the Zhao family and that minister, the deaths and imprisonments of King Cheng's subordinates over the years were also your doing. The rebels organization has now been brought under your command."
"You have already obtained nine-tenths of the evidence on that list and have begun to eradicate the Luo family."
"Furthermore, all of this has been disseminated to the Empress through our hidden channels within the palace."
Ye Jingyu let out a cold laugh, a sharp glint flashing in his narrowed eyes, filled with bloody intent. "Very well. Since the Empress is wary of me, I shall let her be wary to her heart's content!"
Meanwhile, Su Yunmo left the Prince Yu's mansion, went to the horse market to buy some materials for making whips, and then to a silk shop to purchase top-quality silk.
Upon returning to the General's mansion, she closed her door and busied herself inside, working all afternoon, not even eating dinner.
When Luoluo knocked to tell her to rest, she had already fallen asleep on the table, with piles of messy cut scraps at her feet.
Su Yunmo didn't know when she was carried to bed. When she woke up, she was already in bed.
The room had been cleaned.
Luoluo brought in toiletries but did not ask about last night.
After breakfast, Su Yunmo had a carriage prepared and headed to the imperial palace.
The jade token given to her by Nanny Rongjin proved very useful. As she entered the palace gates, the palace guards did not stop her.
Su Yunmo proceeded unimpeded into the inner palace. The palace maids in the Empress Dowager's palace heard the commotion outside and came out to greet Su Yunmo.
Su Yunmo then followed them to the Empress Dowager's palace.
Along the way, Su Yunmo observed her surroundings. She vaguely recalled that Fengqi Palace, where the Empress resided, was nearby.
"You say that, Nanny Jin is an old hand in the palace and was brought by the Empress from her family. She is the Empress's wet nurse. Besides you, who else can speak to the Empress?"
Su Yunmo stopped in her tracks.
Near the wall, a nanny in her forties, wearing a brocade robe embroidered with silver threads, was standing.
She was plump and round, but her chin was sharp, giving her a cunning appearance.
Two young palace maids beside her were flattering her.
"I heard that even Prince Yu was disciplined by you a couple of days ago, which shows your power and authority."
Nanny Jin snorted coldly and looked at them askance, "What do you mean disciplined? That was merely to teach him a lesson."
"A prince of unknown origin, even His Majesty doesn't favor him. If it weren't for the Empress's kindness in giving him a place to live, how could he have survived until now?"
"But he is ultimately an orphan with no upbringing and no manners. Prince Cheng, with his heavenly demeanor, is the most distinguished prince, yet he dared to disrespect his elder brother. Doesn't he deserve to be taught a lesson?"
The two young maids repeatedly agreed.
Su Yunmo exuded killing intent.
She hadn't sought out the Empress, but the Empress had sent her minions.
"Little Miss? Ci'an Palace is just ahead. The Empress Dowager is waiting for you. Let's hurry."
Su Yunmo clutched her stomach, her face covered in cold sweat. "Palace maid sister, Mo Mo's stomach hurts and I need to use the latrine. Why don't you go tell the Empress Dowager to wait for Mo Mo for a while?"
"This..."
The palace maid looked hesitant, but seeing Su Yunmo squatting on the ground in discomfort, she reluctantly said, "Alright then, the restroom is over there. Be careful on your own. I'll go report to the Empress Dowager."
Su Yunmo nodded and thanked her, then ran in the direction indicated.
After the palace maid left, Su Yunmo emerged from the corner and walked towards the wall.
Nanny Jin was still elaborating on the events of the previous day.
"It was raining so heavily that day, and he knelt for at least the time it takes an incense stick to burn. His Majesty always disliked him; it would be cleaner if he died."
"It's a pity it's not raining today," Su Yunmo said, drawing her whip from its glazed sheath and cracking it in the air with a crisp 'snap'.
The two young palace maids turned their heads simultaneously upon hearing the sound, only to meet a pair of blood-red eyes.
In an instant, something seemed to echo in their minds.
Nanny Jin furrowed her brows, her voice sharp as she reprimanded, "How dare you! What wild girl are you? How dare you be so presumptuous in the imperial palace!"
The whip lashed out fiercely, striking her face and crookedly twisting her mouth.
"Ah!" Nanny Jin was thrown to the ground, tears and snot streaming down her face from the pain.
She covered her mouth and yelled, "You two little bitches, what are you standing there for? Didn't you see this brat attacking in the palace? Hurry and grab her!"
The two palace maids stood frozen, their eyes glazed over, showing no reaction as if their consciousness had been stripped away.
Su Yunmo raised her whip and lashed out again, her voice tinged with bloodlust, "Second whip."
"Ah! Stop, quickly stop!" Nanny Jin screamed, using her arm to block the whip. "I am someone of the Empress! How dare you hit me? I'll make you pay!"
Su Yunmo let out a cold snort and flicked the whip again, saying fiercely, "I'm hitting someone of the Empress!"
And not only the servants, but today she would also strike the master!