Zi'an had been kneeling. The weather in mid-May was very hot, and the sun was scorching her head viciously. The blood on her forehead had stopped, and the sweat was flowing through the whip marks, causing a burning pain.
After kneeling for an hour, she felt that she could no longer hold on and her body was about to fall.
The old woman who was supervising her saw that she was kneeling improperly and kicked her. Zi'an saw stars and almost fainted.
Her eyes were filled with hatred. She supported herself with both hands and kicked the old woman. The old woman was not affected by her sudden kick and fell to the ground with a thud. Her head hit the ground heavily. Zi'an grabbed her neck with one hand and said cruelly, "You are an old slave, and you dare to bully me? You are asking for death!"
"You..." The old woman was frightened by her eyes. After a long while, she said sternly, "It was the Prime Minister who ordered me to supervise the young lady. How dare the young lady disobey the Prime Minister's order?"
Zi'an sneered and knelt on her arm. He pressed hard with his knee and the old woman screamed in pain.
Zi'an said coldly, "Father told me to kneel in front of the ancestral tablets, and I am kneeling now, am I not?"
The old woman was in great pain, and she could only beg, "Please forgive me, Miss. I know I was wrong."
Zi'an stood still, still kneeling on her arms, his expression as cold as an ice sculpture.
Around the time of Shen, two maids came to the palace and said that the Queen wanted to summon Xia Zian, the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
finally come!
Zi'an's eyes flashed, this was the most difficult battle to fight, if you were not careful, you would die without a burial place!
When the nanny took her out, Madam Linglong walked up to Zi'an with a smile and stretched out her hands to tidy up Zi'an's hair and clothes. "After all, you are going to the palace to see the Queen, why are you so embarrassed?"
Her hand slid across Zi'an's arm and she pinched him hard. With hatred rising in her heart, she threatened in a low voice, "Xia Zi'an, if you don't die in the palace, I will make you die ugly."
Zi'an looked at her expressionlessly. Suddenly, he stretched out his hand and slapped her on the face. Zi'an used all his strength to slap her so hard that Madam Linglong fell to the ground.
Zi'an said word by word: "Same words, I give it to you, wait for me to come back."
After saying that, he turned around and looked at the two maids, and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Please lead the way, maids."
The two maids looked at each other, somewhat surprised. Although this young lady was in such a miserable state, her demeanor was not diminished at all. On the contrary, she looked fierce.
But, did she really not know that she could not escape the palace this time
Madam Linglong stroked her face and looked at Zi'an with resentful eyes. Very good, she would remember this slap. If she could leave the palace alive, she would have to repay her a thousandfold and then let her die.
The palace did prepare a carriage for Zi'an, but she could not sit in it. The nanny ordered that she could only sit with the coachman.
The common people with eyes could recognize the carriage in the palace, and they could recognize the woman in the red wedding dress with scars all over her body and face. Because there were so many people watching today, the news spread quickly, and everyone knew that the eldest daughter of the prime minister's mansion refused to get on the sedan chair, which made King Liang angry.
Some people say that she is strong-willed, while others say that she is stupid. But no matter what they say about her, everyone knows that she has only one way out after entering the palace this time, and that is death!
Breaking off the engagement with Prince Liang would be an offense to the Queen Mother, and even beheading her would not be an exaggeration.
Zi'an looked expressionless, like a wax figure, as she stared straight ahead. The sun began to slowly sink above her head. She felt dizzy and had no strength in her body. Everything in front of her seemed like a dream, even the sun was blurry.
The carriage galloped along the bluestone road, and the sound of horse hooves sounded like a death bell.
How could she not know what the consequences would be if she broke off the engagement today? But the worst consequence would not be worse than if she married into the Liang Wang Mansion.
Among the more than ten concubines in the Prince of Liang's mansion, half of them were disabled. According to the investigation, no less than twenty bodies of concubines were carried out of the Prince of Liang's mansion in three years.
This King Liang is crazy.
There are no high-ranking officials in the capital who would be willing to marry their daughters into the Prince of Liang's palace, so he has not yet married a principal wife.
Naturally, King Liang was unwilling to marry Biyu, who came from a humble family. He had been joking while drinking with Prime Minister Xia, but he didn't expect that Prime Minister Xia actually agreed after drinking. How could King Liang miss this opportunity
King Liang, King Liang, you must be in the palace for a while, otherwise, my plan will not succeed!
Zi'an turned the soul-stealing ring and thought silently in his heart.
The carriage stopped at the west gate of the palace. After getting off the carriage, the nanny said to Zi'an, "The Queen Mother has ordered that June 19th is the birthday of the goddess Guanyin. In order to pray for the Queen Mother, all the noble ladies who enter the palace on May 19th must kneel three times and kowtow nine times before entering through the west gate."
Zi'an looked at the nanny and said calmly, "The Queen's filial piety to the Empress Dowager is touching. I will follow the Queen's example."
Mammy said calmly: "Then please kneel down and go in, Miss!"
Zi'an knelt down slowly. How could he not know that this was a show of power from the Queen
But this is just the beginning.
Three kneelings and nine kowtows, one kneel every three steps and one kowtow every nine steps, this is to pray for the Empress Dowager. Of course, the kowtow cannot be done casually, and a loud sound must be heard.
Two maids followed behind him, counting, "One step, two steps, three steps, kneel, stand up, one step, two steps..."
Zi'an listened to the commands, and when it was time to kneel, he knelt down with a plop, and when it was time to kowtow, he kowtowed with a thud.
Every time you kneel down, you must do it with a plop, and you cannot kneel down slowly.
If her strength was not enough, the nanny would ask her to kneel again with a stern face. If the sound of her kowtow was not loud enough, she would have to kowtow again.
Walking from the West Palace Gate to the harem, just a few hundred meters away, Zi'an's forehead was swollen and bleeding, and her knees felt like they were being pricked by needles.
Everything in front of her eyes began to double and her head felt very dizzy. The voice of the nanny in her ears seemed to come from the sky, so far away, but each voice seemed to explode in her ears.
Xia Zian, this is just the beginning. You must hold on, otherwise you will die again today.
She was afraid of death and she longed to live. Only by living could there be hope.
So, even if her face was covered in blood, she had to kneel down.
This journey seemed to take a lifetime. Zi'an almost fainted several times, but the belief in living supported her and she had to get through it.
She controlled the rage and hatred in her eyes, and tried to be as pious and peaceful as possible.
Finally, we arrived at the Queen's Jingning Palace.
Zi'an was already sweating all over, with sweat mixed with bright red blood flowing down his body. Combined with her tattered wedding dress, it gave people an indescribable sense of tragedy and weirdness.
"Miss Xia, please kneel down first. The Queen is talking to the Regent and will summon you after she finishes talking." The nanny said lightly.
The sky has gradually darkened, and the layer of orange clouds on the horizon has slowly faded into light yellow.
Zi'an knelt straight, using all her strength to control herself from shivering. She couldn't tell whether she was cold or hot, or perhaps in pain. Blood was oozing from her swollen forehead, dripping onto the marble floor. However, her expression was very calm, like a sculpture.
She knelt for half an hour until she could hardly stand up straight. Then the nanny came out of the palace and said, "Miss Xia, the Queen wants you to come into the palace to see her!"
Zi'an said respectfully, "Thank you, Madam!"
She was able to stand up with great difficulty. Her legs were so numb that she could not feel anything, even the pain disappeared.
He staggered a few times before he managed to steady himself.
(End of this chapter)