An Yi was frozen in place when he finally realized his blunder. But luckily, he quickly recovered. “Lord Lin, please…” he said as he approached the male, attempting to help take the robe off.
Unfortunately, Lin Xiao was not about to let it go. He took a step back and glared at An Yi. “Just now, how did you address me?” he asked again.
“This slave merely called the lord as ‘Lord Lin’,” An Yi replied.
“No, before that!”
“Lord Lin,” An Yi replied once again, putting on a thick face. As long as he did not admit to calling Lin Xiao as ‘Wangye’, Lin Xiao would eventually forget about it.
Lin Xiao saw that An Yi wouldn’t cooperate with him, so he fixed his robes once more, eyes never leaving An Yi. “I am leaving!”
“Lord Lin, please wait,” An Yi quickly blocked the door to prevent Lin Xiao from leaving. “This slave was wrong. If it would please the lord, then the lord may punish this slave,” An Yi said as he went down on his knees before Lin Xiao.
With An Yi blocking the only door leading out of the room, Lin Xiao could only stare at the kneeling shadow guard. If he is being honest, he is actually curious about the other’s identity. Clearly this was the first time they have seen each other and yet, this shadow guard feels very familiar. “Your name, is Yi?”
“Yes. This slave was given the honour of bearing the name ‘An’, the first of their rank. Therefore, this slave is called An Yi.”
“I will not ask again. Earlier, what did you call me?” Lin Xiao asked again. “Don’t lie… If I think you’re lying, I will leave.”
“… This slave…”
Seeing that An Yi was hesitating, Lin Xiao turned to the direction of the open window and was about to take a single step when An Yi speak.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Wangye! This slave had called Lord Lin with this title by accident…”
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“Because… Lord Lin… will be conferred the title of ‘Qing Wang’ by the Emperor after this incident…” An Yi replied after a while.
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“Lord Lin will need to get used to it. His Majesty will hand down the edict in the next few days,” An Yi informed him and Lin Xiao’s face became complicated.
“It’s useless to give me this title. I won’t be staying in the capital for long,” Lin Xiao replied. “You go and help me inform the Emperor that Lin Xiao doesn’t think he’s worthy of the title. He can confer the title to someone who is more deserving of it.”
After saying that, he quickly waved his hand, telling An Yi to go but unfortunately, the other didn’t move at all.
“Well? Why aren’t you moving yet?”
“His Majesty ordered this slave to look at Lord Lin’s injury. Unless this slave has done so, this slave will not leave,” An Yi replied.
Lin Xiao: …
In the end, Lin Xiao allowed for An Yi to inspect his wound. The shadow guard was careful and meticulous when he removed the top inner garment. Due to the fact that some time has passed since the injury, some of the blood had dried off. So, even though An Yi was careful when he peeled the inner garment, he still end up agitating the wound and fresh blood began to flow.
An Yi frowned and quickly took a clean piece of clothing from his inventory and wiped the blood off. He kept on wiping them until the blood flow had slowed down. Only then can he see the wound better. “Lord Lin…” he said after a while. “Is this a flesh wound to you?” he asked.
“Is it not?” Lin Xiao asked. Because of the position of the wound, he is not able to see them.
The shadow guard didn’t reply and instead, pressed the cloth onto Lin Xiao’s wound. “Lord Lin, please keep this in place until Master Pan arrives and he will make sure to treat your wound,” An Yi said to Lin Xiao. “Try not to move your right shoulder too much until then. Please excuse this slave for now,” An Yi then bowed to Lin Xiao before finally leaving the room.
He only took a step out and closed the door when he suddenly heard the Emperor’s voice from his side.
“How is his injury?”
“Answering to the Emperor,” An Yi immediately saluted the other as he answered. “The wound is quite deep and it took a while for it to stop bleeding when this slave peeled the inner garment off the wound. Also… this slave seemed to have seen a small trace of white bone inside the wound. But because of the blood, this slave is not so sure.”
Qin Yijun’s expression turned dark and he could feel the fury rising in his chest. “Remind Zhen how many times Huang Zhexian swung his whip…”
“Twice aimed to the shoulder, one aimed to the eyes with the intention of harming Lord Lin’s vision,” An Yi replied.
“Three times… considering that he did quite a lot of meritorious deeds in the past two years, Zhen will reduce his punishment accordingly,” Qin Yijun said to himself. “San, Si, Wu, you go and prepare the dungeon just beside that person surnamed Zheng. Make sure that it would be comfortable for the beloved Minister Huang,” he directed three of his shadow guards, giving them a menial yet very important task.
“Er, you will protect Lin Xiao in the dark alone for a few days because Yi will receive his own punishment.”
“Your slave obeys,” the five shadow guards answered. Four of them left to do their task while An Yi stayed close to the Emperor, awaiting for his punishment.
“Yi, do you know where you were wrong?”
“This slave knows…”
“The same punishment as two years ago, but this time, only take ten,” Qin Yijun told him. “You can leave.”
“This slave thanks His Majesty for his benevolence,” An Yi kowtowed to the Emperor before finally leaving to undergo his punishment.
After he finished giving out his order, Qin Yijun went back to the main hall and returned to his seat from before. He gazed at Huang Zhexian who was still kneeling on the ground, but he didn’t say anything to him. Instead, he called for Meng Chen.
Meng Chen who arrived not long before quickly rushed forward and kowtowed to the Emperor. “Your Servant is here, Your Majesty.”
“En. Go and bring Minister Huang to the Royal dungeon. That room beside that of surname Zheng should be ready to be inhibited,” Qin Yijun told Meng Chen. He made sure that his voice is loud enough for everyone to hear and Huang Zhexian immediately looked up.
“Your Majesty! Please forgive this lowly minister! This lowly minister was only trying to protect Your Majesty!”
Sure enough, Huang Zhexian started to plead for leniency out of fear. Who doesn’t know who the Emperor was referring when he mentioned the surname Zheng. His name is a taboo within the whole kingdom. In fact, no one really know why the Emperor had taken him captive but there were rumours that he had done something that the Emperor can never forgive. But one thing that people know for sure is that he is the former Minister of Justice.
To be placed in a dungeon just beside him already speaks how heavy Huang Zhexian’s crime is in the heart of the Emperor.
Qin Yijun merely stared at Huang Zhexian who are still pleading with a cold expression. After a while, he finally moved his lips to speak: “Did Zhen ever allow you to lift your head?”
Huang Zhexian froze in place and his body began to shake as he tried to pacify the Emperor. “Your Majesty… please calm your anger… This lowly minister was wrong. This lowly minister is willing to compensate that man called Lin Xiao. This minister will also hand over Huang Xiulan to him so that he can punish her as he sees fit…”
“You wish to hand over your niece to him? Do you think she’s worthy for him to lay his hand on?” Qin Yijun asked. “She’s not even worthy to appear before his eyes. Steward Zhong! Come here and write down this decree. The lady from Huang family, Huang Xiulan who were married to Xia Yuanfeng will have her status reduced from the official wife to secondary wife! This decree will take effect immediately and if the Xia family fails to adhere, they will suffer heavy consequences!”
Aaah i knew it that shadow guard is from that time his sooo cute anyway thank u sooo much for the update author 😆😆😆
Xia family gives thanks to the emperor xD Xia patriarch in particular 👍
Thanks for the chapter! This Huangjia is just suffering retribution! Xia Yuanfeng send his regards!