Chapter 13

In the afternoon, Gu Xiaodeng leaned alone on the windowsill, staring blankly at the sky. Gu Jinyu had gone out again due to social obligations, leaving a crowd of servants and maids to watch over him. He moved a chair to sit by the window, turning his back on the room’s silent stares, waiting for the gyrfalcon to bring back a message.

Whenever the sound of flapping wings passed by, he would crane his neck to look.

Autumn had come, and all the flowers were fading. The afternoon sun wasn’t strong enough to warm anyone. Gu Xiaodeng clasped his hands and thought all afternoon, trying his best to think of something bright. He recalled how his adoptive father, Zhang Kangye, on his deathbed, had only said his situation was dangerous and hadn’t mentioned Zhang Dengqing. He prayed his adoptive father hadn’t been lying to him.

Thinking carefully, it wasn’t Zhang Dengqing being targeted by the bad people of the Jianghu. He hadn’t needed to stay bound in the Gu family with him in the first place.

If it weren’t for him, he wouldn’t have to endure the humiliation, grievances, and suffering.

Gu Xiaodeng spaced out, mulling over many things. In a blur, the setting sun dipped low in the west. The gyrfalcon still hadn’t returned when an unfamiliar elderly steward arrived.

“Younger Cousin, His Highness summons you.”

Gu Xiaodeng’s heart pounded. He got up to follow, but the other servants stopped him and, without explanation, fussed over his appearance. But no matter how much they fussed, they couldn’t hide his red and swollen eyes.

After following the elderly steward out, he tentatively tried to ask about matters along the way, but no one around answered him. There was only polite, respectful, and perfunctory evasion.

Gu Xiaodeng grew increasingly uneasy. Walking the path, he had no mind to appreciate the splendor of West Prosperity Garden. His palms sweated with nervousness the whole way.

The steward led him into a courtyard. By now, the last rays of sunset were gone. Passing through the intimidatingly silent Mansion Guards and the servants and maids too terrified to even breathe, Gu Xiaodeng was brought into the main hall of the courtyard. It was brilliantly lit, and Gu Yan sat in the seat of honor.

Even without speaking or moving, the Prince Zhenbei’s aura was overwhelmingly oppressive. It was as if a layer of autumn frost had settled on Gu Xiaodeng’s spine; his hands and feet quickly went cold.

Stepping into the main hall, the main doors remained wide open. Inside the doors, it was brightly lit; outside, the night was hazy.

Gu Xiaodeng, his face pale, walked forward. He stood stiffly for a moment in the deathly silence of the hall before suddenly remembering the etiquette he had learned. He knelt, kowtowed, and paid his respects.

Gu Yan’s aura was too powerful, so powerful it eclipsed the presence of everyone else in the main hall. Only when Gu Xiaodeng stood up did he notice people seated on both sides. Besides Gu Pinghan being absent, his second sister, Gu Jinyu, and his youngest brother were all there.

They stared straight ahead, sitting perfectly upright. From oldest to youngest, they were all extraordinarily beautiful, like a row of statues.

Gu Xiaodeng was even more terrified. He stood in the middle of the hall, head bowed and trembling, when he suddenly heard Gu Yan’s cold, heavy voice bearing down on him: “Do you know why you’ve been summoned?”

A shiver ran through him. He recalled Gu Jinyu’s reminder just today about “deference and timidity,” and awkwardly bowed: “I… I know.”

Gu Yan uttered not a single superfluous word. He merely tapped the table with a bent finger, and immediately, a person came to Gu Xiaodeng’s side, lifted his robes, and knelt.

Gu Xiaodeng stared at Zhu Mi, who was holding a ferule in both hands and kneeling before him, offering it up. He was stunned and scared: “S-Steward Zhu, what’s going on?”

Zhu Mi knelt, presenting the instrument of punishment, his expression as unflappably steady as ever: “This slave failed to properly supervise his subordinates, thus implicating the Younger Cousin’s reputation. I request that the Younger Cousin take this ferule and whip this slave forty times, to serve as a warning.”

Gu Xiaodeng’s pupils constricted. He shook his head instinctively: “No!”

He looked up at Gu Yan in the seat of honor and accidentally met his cold, stern, and authoritative gaze. Goosebumps instantly erupted over his entire body.

Zhu Mi knelt respectfully at his feet, as steady as Mount Tai, and publicly began lecturing him on the Gu family’s rules for punishment and family law, word for word, clear and logical, his voice ringing with conviction. Many people were clearly seated in the main hall, yet they remained still and silent like puppets. In the vast hall, only Zhu Mi’s reciting voice and Gu Xiaodeng’s ragged breathing were clearly discernible.

“Please, strike this slave with all your might, forty times.”

Gu Xiaodeng’s mind went completely blank. An invisible pressure enveloped him from all directions, leaving no escape. He wanted to say, “Don’t be ridiculous,” but his lips and teeth chattered, and he dared say nothing, afraid of provoking an even more bizarre scene.

Zhu Mi raised the ferule higher: “If the Younger Cousin does not wish to exert himself, then hand the ferule to the Mansion Guards outside and have this slave whipped sixty times.”

The Mansion Guards outside were all tall and burly, each more than twice Gu Xiaodeng’s size. Sixty strokes would likely leave a person severely injured.

Cold sweat beaded on Gu Xiaodeng’s forehead, and tears also welled up. He looked towards Gu Yan in the seat of honor for help: “Your Highness, please show mercy…”

Gu Yan looked towards the door: “Drag him out. Eighty strokes.”

Two burly Mansion Guards strode in from outside, bearing down on them like iron towers. Gu Xiaodeng couldn’t take it anymore. He knelt down in panic: “Your Highness! I’ll do it! Please, be merciful! Please, be merciful!”

“Get up. Do it.”

Gu Xiaodeng stiffly, slowly rose. The hall was deathly silent. He didn’t dare look at the people sitting on either side. Zhu Mi had already proactively extended the instrument of punishment.

In the past, as the youngest son of a peddler among the common folk, he had never even gotten into a fight with children his own age. His adoptive father and sworn brother stood in front of him; he only needed to hide behind them and curiously watch the mortal world pass by.

Man is not made of wood, how could he be without feeling? He had been with Zhu Mi for nearly a month. He regarded Zhu Mi as a strict teacher with a cold exterior but warm heart, a newly acquainted older brother, a composed and knowledgeable adult.

Now, this student, this little brother, this child, had to pick up the punishment tool and strike his strict teacher, his older brother, this adult.

“This slave is at fault. Please punish with full force.”

The two Mansion Guards were still a few steps away, serving as a deterrent. Gu Xiaodeng could only use his trembling hand to take the ferule Zhu Mi offered. It was unbelievably heavy.

Zhu Mi lowered his hands, then knelt and bent sideways, offering his broad back for punishment.

Gu Xiaodeng’s eyes hurt fiercely. Trembling, he raised the ferule.

“One… two…”

The ferule was exquisitely made, the end of the handle even decorated with a red silk tassel. With each strike, the ferule bounced back, jarring his palm. The tassel flew wildly, whipping the back of his hand. It was agony inside and out.

He felt as if he was beating himself up, too.

Forty strokes ended amidst the trembling counting. Gu Xiaodeng’s vision was a blur. He murmured, “I’ve finished.”

Surely, this was the end.

But a cold voice came down from the seat of honor: “You were told to punish with full force. Did you use your full strength?”

He opened his mouth, wanting to say he had, when he heard: “Drag Zhu Mi out. Administer the punishment in his stead. Forty strokes of the cudgel.”

An icy chill swept over Gu Xiaodeng’s entire body. He wanted to scream “Why?”, but a Mansion Guard rushed to his side in a flash, clamped a hand over his mouth, and forced him to his knees on the ground.

His forehead struck the floor, and he heard his own punishment: “The Younger Cousin cannot properly control his subordinates. Confinement for one week. Drag him out.”

Gu Xiaodeng struggled desperately. He was actually dragged out in public. In the chaos, he saw Zhu Mi being forced down in the courtyard. They had switched to a military cudgel. It was three times as thick as the ferule.

He struggled even more ferociously, wanting only to scream, but the Mansion Guard’s iron grip effortlessly silenced him. He kicked his legs with all his might, only leaving a long drag mark on the ground.

The Mansion Guards, servants, and maids on both sides of the courtyard were as silent as when he had arrived. Gu Xiaodeng’s tears flowed fiercely. In the blur, he heard the sound of flapping wings. He looked towards the night sky. Blossom Ashes, the gyrfalcon, was circling under the cold moon.

He watched helplessly until it passed from sight.