strictlysupreme Chapter 148 A mere 5 lashes
Chapter 148 A mere 5 lashes
Princess Li Duan tilted her head, a smug smile playing on her lips.
"Oh well, no matter what the process was like, the goal was achieved!"
Lu Yangyang sighed and said, "That's because my brother already had a plan in mind. Otherwise, all our efforts would have been in vain."
"Your Highness was right after all."
Lu Yangyang muttered something under her breath.
They clearly didn't understand their elder brother well enough. He had indeed sensed something was amiss long ago, which is why he made a trip to Muzhou to learn about the case before returning to find Xue Wanning. Unfortunately, Xue Wanning didn't appreciate it.
"What are you muttering about?" Princess Liduan asked.
Lu Yangyang shook her head: "It's nothing. It's getting late, aren't you leaving?"
"Fine, Lu Yangyang, how can you be so ungrateful? I've been running around all day and I'm starving, and you're trying to kick me out? And, and..." Princess Liduan blinked desperately at Lu Yangyang, "I haven't even seen Brother Sheng yet. He's not really leaving like this, is he? Leaving the capital again? He finally came back; if he leaves like this, I won't even have a chance to say goodbye! Yangyang, Yangyang..."
Princess Li Duan leaned closer and shook Lu Yangyang's arm: "Why don't you let me stay here and sleep with you tonight? We've been through thick and thin together, haven't we?"
Lu Yangyang pulled her away expressionlessly: "How are we friends who've risked our lives for each other?"
The county magistrate of Liduan replied matter-of-factly, "You saved my life, how can that not be a life-or-death friendship?"
Lu Yangyang: "This is the first time I've ever heard of a life-or-death bond being used in this way."
"Then you can let me stay overnight, I promise I won't bother you." Princess Liduan said to Lu Yangyang with an innocent look.
Lu Yangyang smiled at her, raised her finger, and shook it: "No."
"Yangyang!" Princess Liduan glared at her angrily, then turned to Sheng Yunjiao: "Sheng Xiaosi, Jiaojiao, you..."
"Ahem, Princess, it's not that I don't want you to stay, but as you can see, the entire Shengguo Duke's mansion will probably be closed all night. There's really no way I can keep you here, and it's also inconvenient for Yangyang," Sheng Yunjiao explained helplessly.
Princess Li Duan sighed in disappointment: "Alright, alright, I'll come tomorrow then. It's a promise, okay? Also, if Brother Sheng leaves tonight, you can't be ungrateful. You have to tell me, understand?"
"Okay, okay, Yan Yue, hurry up and take her back," Lu Yangyang urged.
Yan Yue beckoned to Princess Liduan with his finger.
Princess Liduan rolled her eyes at him, then raised her hand and slapped his finger across the face. "Childish!"
Got up and left.
Yan Yue angrily waved his fist at her retreating figure: "You're the childish one!"
"You two are both so childish, such childish fools!" Sheng Yunjiao retorted mercilessly.
"You too, goodbye!" Yan Yue turned his head and made a face at her, which made Sheng Yunjiao angry and wave her fist at him.
After the two left, the courtyard finally quieted down.
At this moment, Sheng Yunjiao's maid entered the courtyard: "Miss, cousin, something bad has happened! The Duke has sent word to all the households, asking you to go to the ancestral hall."
"Ancestral hall? What would we do at the ancestral hall?" Lu Yangyang asked curiously.
Sheng Yunjiao's face immediately changed, and she grabbed Lu Yangyang: "Oh no, Uncle is definitely angry, and Big Brother is going to be punished by the family!"
"What?" Lu Yangyang jumped up immediately.
The two hurriedly followed the maid and ran out.
Yuanxing returned with the snacks and happened to see Lu Yangyang dragging Sheng Yunjiao away. She let out a heavy sigh and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
……
Inside the ancestral hall, the door was closed. Duke Sheng looked at Sheng Junyao kneeling on the ground with his hands behind his back, his clenched fists trembling slightly.
"You unfilial son! Do you treat marriage as a child's game?!"
"Do you even realize how utterly disgraced the Duke of Sheng's mansion today?!"
“I’ve told you countless times that the Guangping Marquis’s mansion has long since fallen into decline. You can have any kind of noble lady you want. Just break off the engagement and find another marriage that will benefit you. But what happened? You stubbornly refused, bringing up your maternal grandfather, your uncle, and all sorts of moral principles and rules to pressure me and force me to agree!”
"Now look what's happened, I've given you what you wanted, and what are you doing? You called off the engagement on your wedding day, what do you take the Duke of Sheng's mansion for? What do you take the reputation of the Sheng family for? Where do you put your parents and relatives?"
Duke Sheng was truly furious. He didn't have time to deal with the previous matters before he came to the ancestral hall.
Seeing Sheng Junyao kneeling upright on the ground, he became even angrier. Before anyone else could come in, he closed the door and, unable to contain himself, berated Sheng Junyao.
"The annulment of the engagement today is my son's fault, and I am willing to accept the punishment." Sheng Junyao looked calmly at the ancestral tablets before him, bowed slightly, raised his head, and replied in a calm voice.
"Rebel!"
Enraged, Duke Sheng grabbed a thorny branch hanging on the wall and lashed it across Sheng Junyao's back.
The Duke of Sheng was a martial artist, and when he struck with the thorny branch, he did not hold back, leaving a deep bloody gash on Sheng Junyao's back.
Sheng Junyao's back tensed slightly, but he didn't move an inch.
"Tell me, why did you break off the engagement? I heard that His Majesty has ordered a thorough investigation into the Muzhou case these past few days. I remember that the eldest daughter of the Xue family's uncle happens to be the prefect of Muzhou. Is your annulment of the engagement related to this case?"
After taking that shot, the Duke of Sheng's pent-up anger dissipated considerably, and he gradually calmed down and came to his senses.
He didn't think highly of the Xue family, and if he could annul the engagement and choose another noblewoman, that would be a good thing.
But the prerequisite is that he needs to know whether Sheng Junyao has changed.
The situation is different now. If Sheng Junyao remains obstinate, he will only bring trouble to the Duke of Sheng's mansion in the future, which is something he absolutely cannot tolerate.
Only if Sheng Junyao learns to be pragmatic and adaptable can the Sheng State Duke's Mansion continue to thrive in his hands.
"My son broke off the engagement because Miss Xue and I were not compatible and could not be a good match. This has nothing to do with anyone else, so Father, you don't need to make any unfounded speculations," Sheng Junyao replied calmly.
"You!" The Duke of Sheng's anger, which had just subsided, was reignited. He closed his eyes in anger, pointing the thorny branch at Sheng Junyao. After a long while, he looked at Sheng Junyao with a deep gaze and said, "You broke off the engagement without permission, which has damaged the reputation of the Duke of Sheng's mansion and violated the family rules. If I don't punish you, it will be difficult to convince everyone. But I can give you a chance. I promised you that the matter of removing Yunzhu from the family register would be held after your wedding. Now that your wedding has been canceled, I think we should just let it go. What do you say?"
"Father doesn't seem to understand that these are two separate matters. Removing Yunzhu from the family genealogy is also a family rule."
"Family rules must not be violated."
"Fifty lashes are all you need to do."