Deep Palace Pet Peach Blossom Flawless

Chapter 278: The Caning

Court Cane - Outside the hall, the Black Feather Guards immediately stepped into the hall. The two men, with serious expressions and frosty faces, saluted Emperor Shenwu with their fists, and then went to arrest the stunned Yu Huiling.

When the Lan family heard the word "assassin" again, they hurriedly knelt on the ground. Lan Youchen was the first to apologize: "Your Majesty, please punish me for not managing my family properly."

Second Master Lan knew he couldn't escape, so he touched his forehead to the ground and said, "It's all because of my poor parenting and my indulgence of my children. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Second Master Lan's body trembled slightly as he spoke. "Assassin!" His daughter would have no chance of survival if the word "assassin" was mentioned to her! He wondered if His Majesty would vent his anger on him and the rest of the Lan family.

Emperor Shenwu remained calm and gently smoothed his wide sleeves.

Outside the door, the cold voice of the Black Feather Guards could be heard: "Fifty strokes of the cane!"

At this moment, Yu Huiling seemed to have just come to her senses and began to cry and fuss, begging for guilt, begging for mercy, and biting her tongue. "Your Majesty, spare me! I was instructed by the fourth daughter of the Lan family to show my face in front of Your Majesty. Your Majesty, spare me! It really has nothing to do with me! Your Majesty... wuwuwu"

It turned out that a Xuanyu Guard stuffed something into Yu Huiling's mouth.

When Lan Qingwu returned to the living room of the Lan family, he saw the scene of Xuanyu Wei Ting beating Yu Huiling with a stick. Yu Huiling's mouth was blocked and she could not make any sound, but her body was shaking slightly from the beating, and blood was faintly visible.

Lan Qingwu glanced at Lan Qingtong, who was kneeling on the ground with a pale face, and understood what had happened, so her face turned cold.

Li Xiang, who was supervising the execution, immediately bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, be well! His Majesty is waiting for you!"

Lan Qingwu nodded, called out, and walked into the middle hall without looking around.

Li Xiang's voice rang out: "Don't stop, keep going!"

Behind him, Madam Lan II screamed. She threw herself on the kneeling Lan Qingtong and exclaimed, "Tong'er, what happened?"

Seeing Yu Huiling being caned, she looked even more panicked. She opened her mouth to scream, but was quickly blocked by Mrs. Lan San. Mrs. Lan gritted her teeth and said, "If you want to kill this whole family, keep screaming!"

After saying this, he ignored Second Madam Lan and knelt respectfully at the entrance to the central hall, as if to apologize. The other female members of the Lan family looked panicked, but they all followed Madam Lan's lead and knelt on the ground. Third Madam Lan let go of Second Madam Lan, ignoring her, and knelt beside her.

The second wife of Lan was frightened and knelt on the ground, trembling with fear and not daring to make a sound. Seeing this, Lan Qingtong felt even more desperate. Assassin! If she was associated with an assassin, what good would come of it! But she just wanted to make things difficult for Lan Qingwu! She also wanted to be proud of her husband's family, that's all! How could things turn out like this!

When Lan Qingwu entered the central hall, the entire place fell into a solemn silence, a pin drop audible. Emperor Shenwu sat expressionlessly at the head of the table. Only when he saw Lan Qingwu enter and bow to him did his expression soften. He said in a deep voice, "Queen, please rise!"

Lan Qingwu was helped to sit beside the Emperor. She looked at the people kneeling in the hall, then looked at the Emperor, who was looking at her with a deep gaze. "Empress, what do you think should be done with the assassin who ordered the assassination?"

Mr. Lan in the hall trembled slightly, but he gritted his teeth and didn't say a word.

Lan Qingwu paused and said, "Since the assassin has already been caned, how can the instigator be spared? Come, pass on my imperial decree. The instigator shall be caned fifty times and imprisoned in the Lan family ancestral hall after his punishment!"

Second Master Lan opened his mouth to plead for mercy. "Fifty strokes of the cane!" How could a pampered official's wife still be alive? Especially since those ferocious Black Feather Guards were personally carrying out the execution!

But Lan Youchen spoke first: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy!"

Ru Ping went down the stairs to the outside of the hall to convey the imperial edict. Soon, the woman's whimpering and the dull sound of the court stick were heard again, and Master Lan's face became even more pale and ugly!

Emperor Shenwu and Lan Qingwu at the top were waiting motionless like mountains.

Finally, Li Xiang and Ru Ping entered the hall one after another. After they bowed, Li Xiang reported, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the execution is complete!"

Ru Ping continued, "Reporting to Your Majesty and the Empress, the assassin and his instigator have been imprisoned in the Lan Family Ancestral Hall!"

Emperor Shenwu looked at the Lan family members below and said, "Everyone go down, and the Wujing Hou stay!"

Everyone stood up and backed out of the hall.

The Shenwu Emperor stood up and said, "Martial Realm Marquis, please stand up!"

Lan Youchen paused slightly and slowly stood up.

Emperor Shenwu walked down the steps and came to Lan Youchen's side. Lan Youchen hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted: "Your Majesty!"

Emperor Shenwu waved his hand and spoke word by word, "Marquis Wujing, I didn't expect that there would be someone in the Lan family who was disloyal to the Queen! I hope that the Lan family will be as solid as a rock, a solid block, and can be the Queen's support! Instead of internal division when there are no external enemies, and falling into civil strife before the enemy attacks, don't let outsiders take advantage of it and implicate the Queen!"

Emperor Shenwu said meaningfully: "Rectify the Lan family before the most critical moment comes. Even if you can't help the queen, don't let her be a drag!"

Lan Youchen's heart was pounding, and he quickly lowered his head: "I am ashamed! I will definitely follow your Majesty's instructions and will not cause your Majesty and your wife to worry!"

Emperor Shenwu said calmly: "That's good!"

After saying that, he raised his foot and walked out the door.

Lan Qingwu stood up silently and looked at his father: "Father, I have given Lan Qingtong one chance, but she is seeking death herself. She has repeatedly violated my taboos and done such stupid things! I can no longer tolerate this! If I don't punish her, I'm afraid she will cause even greater trouble in the future! Also, I ask father to take good care of my grandfather!"

"I'm terrified. Your Majesty, rest assured. I will keep the Lan family in check and take good care of the old man. I'll take care of your second uncle. Your Majesty, do you have any other instructions?"

"The rest is unimportant! Just one thing—please, father, put the country first! Put Your Majesty first!"

Lan Youchen bowed solemnly: "I will do my utmost! I will do my utmost!"

Lan Qingwu nodded, and without saying another word, he walked out of the hall. What happened today made him no longer in the mood to stay.

Outside the central hall, Emperor Shenwu was waiting for Lan Qingwu. When he saw her come out, he stretched out his hand. Lan Qingwu hurriedly grasped Emperor Shenwu's big hand, and the two walked out of the Lan Mansion.

On the holy carriage, the Divine Martial Emperor embraced Lan Qingwu and said, "My weakness is my soft heart. If I had punished that person the first time he committed a crime without knowing what was good for him and what was bad for him, how could we have gotten into this situation today? It wouldn't have affected my mood!"

Lan Qingwu had no choice but to quietly admit his mistake: "I'll have to trouble Brother Heng to intervene in the Lan family's affairs!"

Emperor Shenwu chuckled, "It just happened to fall into my hands. How is General Lan?"

Because of Lan Qingtong's matter, Lan Qingwu had recovered from the bad news of his grandfather's serious illness: "Brother Heng, thank you!"

When Lan Qingwu saw General Lan’s sick face, he realized that Emperor Shenwu had no choice but to hide the truth from her when she was pregnant!