The two servants escorting Li Su hesitated even further.
After all, the Grand Princess was the true mistress of the Princess's Estate. However, she was also exceedingly accommodating to her consort. If they chose incorrectly, they would be driven out of the estate.
"What are you standing around for? Let him go," Qiao Ci said, her voice deep.
"Who dares!" This was the first time Qiao Ci had openly defied him in front of outsiders, and the veins on Zhao Shimei's forehead pulsed.
Marrying her meant he was destined to have no future in officialdom, which was already a great grievance. Now, he was to be publicly humiliated for another man?
While the servants hesitated, Li Su struggled free and ran behind Qiao Ci.
Although she had hit him earlier, she hadn't forced him further and had even provided him with healing ointment. Compared to the consort who intended to disfigure him, the Grand Princess seemed much safer!
"What do you mean by this?" Zhao Shimei asked Qiao Ci, his eyes filled with a threatening glint. "Are you going to slap my face for a lowly male favorite?"
"Why can't I?" Qiao Ci appraised Zhao Shimei from head to toe with undisguised disdain. "He is better looking than you, younger than you, has a better physique than you, and is cleaner. Is it not reasonable for me to slap your face for him?"
"I am your husband! Qiao Ci!! For you, I have given up any chance of an official career and am destined to live a life of mediocrity. Yet, you... for another man... Hmph, is this your sincerity for a good relationship, Grand Princess?" Zhao Shimei's eyes were filled with sarcasm, and his expression carried a pretense of noble superiority.
Inwardly, he was perplexed. The Grand Princess had always indulged him, and her boundaries had become increasingly lax. What was happening today? Could it be that his cousin's arrival at the estate had made her angry with him?
"You still remember that I am the Princess? Guards, seize this cur who dares to address this Princess by her given name, slap him a hundred times, and then make him kneel overnight. He is not to rise until the sun comes out," Qiao Ci said in a light tone, but her words struck Zhao Shimei with shock.
This time, Zhao Shimei was truly angered. "You dare!"
"What? I can't command you?" Qiao Ci glanced at the two servants. "Are servants who don't obey meant to die?"
Upon hearing this, the two servants resigned themselves and stepped forward to seize Zhao Shimei. One held him in place, while the other raised a hand towards Zhao Shimei's face. However, the force of the blow was negligible.
After all, they couldn't afford to offend either party, and they feared retaliation from the consort later.
"Are you not eating?" It felt rather good to resolve an enemy without having to lift a finger. Qiao Ci opened her mouth and let out a cold scoff.
The two household servants froze, wondering if the Grand Princess was serious this time.
The force in their hands gradually increased, and the crisp sound of slaps echoed clearly.
The pain on his face jolted Zhao Shimei out of his self-absorbed world.
"Qiao Ci, you venomous woman! Mmph..." Zhao Shimei's disbelieving glare at Qiao Ci was distorted as the slaps landed askew.
"So noisy, stuff his mouth," Qiao Ci said, feigning to clean her ears.
Li Su didn't understand the drama unfolding between the Grand Princess and the consort, but it seemed his face was safe.
Having endured hardships since childhood, he knew how to read people and recognized who the true master of the estate was.
Someone as refined as Qiao Ci must be tired from standing for so long. Thus, he brought a chair from a nearby pavilion to her side.
Qiao Ci sat down, seeing his action. "It's getting late, you should go back and rest. Apply the ointment I gave you before you sleep, and the swelling will subside tomorrow."
"Yes," Li Su, also fearing disfigurement, dared not linger. He obediently withdrew.
The two servants worked diligently. Before long, the hundred slaps were administered. They looked at the Grand Princess, who was sitting upright, and cautiously asked, "Grand Princess, where should we make the consort kneel?"
Qiao Ci replied, "Since he cannot recognize his place, make him kneel beside Wangcai's doghouse."
The two attendants exchanged glances and dragged Zhao Shimei, whose face was swollen like a pig's head but still held a proud expression, away.
It wasn't until Zhao Shimei was pulled to the doghouse and found himself making eye contact with Wangcai that he vaguely regretted his stubbornness.
Before he was forced to kneel, he glared hatefully at the two treacherous servants who had struck him with all their might, gritting his teeth and saying, "Go tell the Princess that if she doesn't stop, I, Zhao, will never forgive her in this lifetime."
The two household servants had long been displeased with Zhao Shimei, who, despite being blessed, failed to appreciate his fortune.
Thinking that the Grand Princess had a new favorite and that the "old cured meat" might no longer be pampered, they unleashed all their pent-up grievances. "The Grand Princess is kind-hearted and always wanted a good life with you. But you are always playing hard to get, refusing even to consummate the marriage, and you even brought your delicate cousin into the estate! Now look, the Grand Princess has finally grown tired of you!"
Another servant kicked Zhao Shimei, pushing him down and holding him firmly. He added, "Indeed, it's not as if consorts haven't taken concubines before. But that was always after the Princess was unable to bear children. What kind of spell have you cast on the Princess to make her so devoted to you? Now look at you, you've gone too far! The Grand Princess has found a new love!"
Most people cannot stand to see others succeed. The more they were praised before, the more saliva they spat when you were down.
Zhao Shimei was furious that even the servants of the estate dared to mock him. However, he also realized that he had gone too far.
The Grand Princess's endless indulgence over the past year had made him excessively arrogant. He never expected her to dare to resist. He assumed it was because he had favored his cousin before her that had provoked her.
Furthermore, with Qiao Yue, who had no regard for wifely virtues, finding a damned substitute for her, Qiao Ci couldn't resist the temptation.
The most pressing matter was to stabilize Qiao Ci's emotions.
"Do you really think the Princess has given up on me? She's just angry. Once her anger subsides, she'll be the same Princess who doted on me. Hurry and deliver my message!" Zhao Shimei's voice was as foul as the stench emanating from the doghouse.
"Then we'll just wait for the Princess's anger to subside. Anyway, this kneeling is unavoidable this time," said the round-faced servant with a cold sneer, looking at the bruised and swollen consort, who had lost all his former dignified bearing and whose face was round. "After all, the Princess said before she left that no circumstances should disturb her."
"Exactly, consort. Don't be too confident, and don't try to completely control royalty. Look, you're kneeling in a doghouse?" added the slightly thinner servant.
Zhao Shimei knelt on the ground in humiliation, glaring fiercely at the two. "Don't you forget who the head of this household is! Aren't you afraid of what I'll do to you when the Princess's anger subsides?"
"We never forgot, but you did. The mistress of the Princess's Estate is naturally the Princess. To put it nicely, you are the consort, but to put it bluntly, you are a son-in-law. You should recognize your place," said the round-faced servant.
No matter how eloquently Zhao Shimei pleaded, the two servants were unyielding. He knelt until dawn, by which time his legs had lost all sensation.
His cousin, Zeng Honglian, who had recently moved into the Flowery Courtyard, also had a sleepless night, feeling unbearable anguish at the thought of Zhao Shimei staying overnight in the Princess's quarters.