Chapter 10: Punishment by Kneeling and Copying

Meng Shisan remained composed, her expression calm and the ferocity in her eyes dissipated. She turned around unsteadily and saw Lady Shang, Lady Wu, Concubine Jiang, and Old Madam Meng.

They had arrived in the garden just as Meng Shisan had pierced Meng Meijing's palm through with a golden hairpin, at the moment Meng Meijing let out a piercing, shrill scream.

Lady Wu happened to witness this scene; her eyes rolled back, and she fainted alongside Meng Meijing.

The others stood frozen in place, staring at Meng Shisan with eyes full of terror, as if they were looking at some kind of monster.

Meng Shisan paid them no mind. She turned her gaze to the other side and saw Meng Renping, Ji Kuan, and Li Shou.

Her grandmother, eldest aunt, stepmother, and Concubine Jiang had all arrived in the garden after her violent act, but the Crown Prince, her eldest cousin, and the young master of the Ji family had all been on this patch of grass before she struck.

They had been unable to stop her.

And they had chosen to stop nothing at all.

Her gaze shifted slightly downward, landing on the palm of Li Shou's left hand.

Subsequently, Meng Shisan was taken back to Changchun Court by Old Madam Meng, where she was punished by being confined to the Buddhist hall to kneel and transcribe scriptures for one month.

Li Shou said nothing this time, though he seemed hesitant to speak.

Old Madam Meng said indifferently, "The state has its laws, and the family has its rules. Your Highness should know that my punishment of Yaoyao is for her own good."

"Grandmother is quite right." Li Shou, of course, knew that Meng Shisan had gone too far this time. Sibling rivalry resulting in violence was a great taboo, and Meng Shisan had refused to admit her mistake afterward. For her grandmother to merely punish her eldest cousin with a month of kneeling and scripture transcription in the Buddhist hall was already a lenient sentence.

Stepping out of the main room, he glanced toward the Buddhist hall to the south.

Ji Kuan asked perceptively, "If Your Highness wishes to do something, this subordinate can go to Chinan to find a way."

"Meddlesome," Li Shou replied, stepping forward to walk away.

Ji Kuan rubbed his nose sheepishly and muttered to himself as he stood there, "How is that meddlesome? You clearly told Chinan just before we came into the main room: 'Do not scold my eldest cousin.'"

Having finished his mutterings, he hurried to catch up.

Following this incident, Li Shou no longer went to sit in meditation at Xuanyuan Terrace; instead, he turned and took Ji Kuan back to the Eastern Palace.

Meng Shisan was punished to kneel and transcribe scriptures, forbidden from stepping a single foot out of the Buddhist hall for an entire month. This meant she would have to remain in Changchun Court for a full month.

When this news reached Taichen Court, Jin Yin first found Baozhu to clarify the reason. After listening to Baozhu—who had not yet fully regained her wits—stutter through the account of the fight in the garden, Jin Yin also lost her soul for a long while.

"Is the Young Mistress... not just suffering from memory loss..."

"...Yes, it's more than just forgetting things..."

It was as if she had become a completely different person!

Both Baozhu and Jin Yin shuddered simultaneously, their wits returning as they exchanged looks of bewilderment, confusion, and even lingering fear.

"According to what you said, the Young Mistress was protecting you..."

"She was protecting us..."

Baozhu corrected Jin Yin, including both of them in the statement.

"...Then what is there to wonder about?"

"There's nothing to wonder about!"

Their thoughts drifted to this point and got stuck in limbo. They neither knew why their mistress had undergone such a massive change after a single illness, nor did they understand why the Young Mistress, after years of enduring the Second Young Mistress's bullying with submissive patience, had suddenly launched such a fierce counterattack.

But!

There was one thing they knew better than anyone.

That was that the Young Mistress was still their Young Mistress. Not only had she resisted the Second Young Mistress's humiliation herself, but she had also protected them, making them her backbone so they could strike back at those who had previously bullied them!

Therefore, no matter what the Young Mistress became, or how drastically her temperament and behavior changed, she remained their only mistress.

Whatever the mistress said, they would do. If the mistress was confined to the Buddhist hall to kneel and transcribe scriptures, they could not simply sit comfortably in Taichen Court.

Unfortunately, they couldn't even enter the gates of Changchun Court.

While Baozhu and Jin Yin could not see Meng Shisan, Meng Renping was granted permission.

"As the eldest brother, you have the responsibility to look after your younger siblings. You have taught An-ge'er and Kang-ge'er very well; you have never lost face for the Meng family in public. As for Yaoyao and Jing-jie'er, you see them less due to the constraints of the inner household, so your understanding of them must be limited."

"However!"

Old Madam Meng's previously kind and gentle face turned stern as she said sharply, "You must not tolerate it!"

"Rest assured, Grandmother, I will certainly look after my two younger sisters from now on." Meng Renping knew his temperament was gentle and that in his youth, he had often taken the blame for his younger siblings. His grandmother was well aware of this and was giving him a warning, forbidding him from enabling his eldest sister's ferocity.

However, Grandmother was overthinking it.

Though he had always been very lenient with his siblings, he knew the importance of boundaries and would not be so foolish.

"There is no need for that. You stay by His Highness's side and travel frequently; you won't have the time. As long as you strive to be successful, succeed your grandfather and father, uphold the Meng family name, and extend the glory of the Meng clan, that will be your greatest act of filial piety."

"Matters of the inner household are originally the responsibility of your mother and your second aunt. They will surely increase their efforts to teach and correct them in the future. The daughters of our Meng family must not be overbearing or bully the weak, and they must certainly not be fierce toward one another."

Old Madam Meng had always felt that the inner workings of the Meng household were simple, and that the eldest daughter-in-law was quite capable, managing the household affairs in an orderly manner.

After this incident, she realized that she had been away from domestic affairs for too long, becoming deaf and blind to the reality. Not only had her eldest granddaughter suffered mistreatment from the successive daughters-in-law since childhood, but even the sickly Yaoyao had reached a point where she would use a hairpin to stab Jing-jie'er.

She was not an unreasonable, irrational, or biased grandmother who could not distinguish right from wrong.

The fact that Yaoyao, after so many years since the death of Lady Zeng, had finally exploded and seriously injured Jing-jie'er—the daughter of Lady Wu—and that a young girl who used to pant after walking just a few laps could become so ferocious overnight, showed that she had been pushed to her limit.

When people are driven into a corner, they will inevitably perform extraordinary acts they never would have dared to even imagine before.

Now, whenever she thought of that bloody scene of Yaoyao stabbing Jing-jie'er with the hairpin, her eyelids could not stop twitching.

"Grandmother is right; I will listen to everything you say." Seeing the exhaustion on Old Madam Meng's face, Meng Renping stepped closer to the couch and promised in a soft, gentle voice, "Regarding Yaoyao, I will counsel her well. Grandmother, please do not worry; your health is the priority."

"I know you are filial. You may go," Old Madam Meng said, waving her hand.

By the time Meng Renping exited the main room, twilight had fallen.

Following the bloody incident in the morning, physicians had been summoned in the afternoon to both Shanfang Court, where Meng Zhinian and Lady Wu resided, and Wanfei Court, where Meng Meijing resided.

Diagnosing pulses, prescribing formulas, buying medicine, and decocting medicine.

Servants rushed in and out, and soon the courtyard was filled with the scent of medicine, interspersed from time to time with cries of complaint, shouts of pain, curses, faint sobbing, and the sound of objects being smashed to the ground in frustration.

In contrast, Taichen Court was so quiet it was as if all sound had vanished; one could hear a needle drop.

Lady Shang was busy moving between the various courtyards, feeling that the world was truly unpredictable.

Previously, no one cared about Yaoyao, and she had been bullied into a sickly state. Recently, however, she had frequently performed heroic feats. Against Jing-jie'er, who showed no respect for her elder sister, Yaoyao would either deliver a lesson with reasoned slaps or engage in a wild, bloody brawl!