Chapter 013: Minor Punishment

Song Wujie did not appear at the west gate for no reason.

Today, Ruyi and he both took a day off and went home. He even told her not to rush back because of the hot weather.

But as the time for closing the gate approached, and Ruyi still hadn't returned, Song Wujie felt that something was amiss. Ruyi was not someone who would stay out all night without good reason.

Since she didn't come back, there must be something wrong.

So he had Tianfu take him to the west gate, and sure enough, he overheard several servants shouting to each other that they were going to claim a reward.

He stopped these servants and questioned them, and found out they deliberately kept Ruyi outside the gate.

At first, upon seeing the still-angry Song Wujie and the servants who had been standing tall but were now kneeling on the ground trembling, Ruyi couldn't help but want to show her authority.

"Didn't someone just talk big about teaching me a lesson? I want to see what your so-called lesson is all about!" Ruyi deliberately paced back and forth in front of them.

Although Song Wujie's position in the mansion was awkward, to these people, he was a real master, especially since his aunt was the empress and his grandmother was the queen dowager, even the Duke Ningguo had to be wary of him, let alone these servants.

And they hadn't expected that attempting to trouble a lowly maidservant in the Twilight Hall would draw the attention of the young master who usually ignored such matters.

Besides feeling unlucky, they had no choice but to beg for mercy, "Miss, please forgive us. We are just first-time offenders. If we are not forgiven, we will be expelled from the mansion by Manager Yao."

Hearing that they would have to slap themselves fifty times, they begged even more desperately.

One of them stepped forward and said, "Young Master, it is not our fault today, but someone paid us to make it difficult for this girl. Otherwise, we have no grudges or disputes with her. Why bother making things difficult for her today!"

Hearing someone confess, the others also hurriedly spoke up, "Yes, yes, someone paid us to do this to the girl!"

"Who?" Song Wujie's tone became unknowingly hostile.

They looked at each other and one of them stuttered, "It's... it's Miss Baoqin from the Twilight Hall... she gave us silver this morning to hold the girl with the Twilight Hall badge outside."

Baoqin?

Ruyi couldn't help but smile bitterly in her heart. In this lifetime, she still couldn't escape the fierce competition among maidservants?

"Let's go back," Song Wujie suddenly spoke after remaining silent for a long time. Before leaving, he instructed Tianfu, "You stay here and make sure they slap themselves fifty times each. If anyone doesn't comply, report it to Manager Yao to kick them out of the mansion. We cannot afford such people in the Ningguo mansion!"

"Yes, sir!" Tianfu responded somewhat gleefully, then watched as the servants counted the slaps one by one.

As she listened to the somewhat harsh sound of the slaps, Ruyi pushed Song Wujie, moving forward and stopping intermittently.

"What? Do you think I am too harsh in punishing them?" Song Wujie's voice unexpectedly carried a softness that Ruyi had never heard before. "Dealing with people who cannot be used requires no mercy. Once you decide to act, you must make them afraid, so that they will be more cautious in the future and not think you are easy to bully."

These words, in her past experiences, Ruyi naturally understood, but in her current situation, she could only hide her knowledge.

But why was the Young Master saying this to her?

Could it be that he was teaching her something?

As Ruyi was lost in thought, Song Wujie impatiently turned and said, "Did you understand what I just said? When you encounter such situations in the future, you should act when necessary and not pretend to be a good person. In this world, good people don't live long, and the troublemakers last a thousand years!"

Ruyi couldn't help but laugh, "Young Master, what do you mean by that? Are you trying to be a good person or a troublemaker?"

"Obviously a troublemaker!" Song Wujie answered coldly, "I'm afraid everyone in this mansion is looking forward to my death. How could I fulfill their wish?"

As Zhao Ruyi listened to these words, a trace of bitterness inexplicably surged in her heart.

She knew that what Song Wuji said was not false. Even in her previous life, she had the same thoughts. At that time, she often wondered when that sickly Crown Prince would finally breathe his last so that the Second Prince could rightfully inherit his position. Only then could all of them soar to new heights.

Unfortunately, she didn't even have the chance to wait for that day before she met her demise.

"Crown Prince, you will definitely live a long life!" This time, Zhao Ruyi genuinely joked with Song Wuji.

"A hundred years is not enough. As I said, I want to bring calamity for a thousand years!" Song Wuji replied with a smile that may or may not have been genuine.

The two of them continued joking like this all the way back to the Twilight Hall.

Inside the Twilight Hall, however, Bao Qin wandered around the courtyard with a pale face.

She had really thought of everything, but the one thing she never expected was that the Crown Prince would personally come looking for Zhao Ruyi upon hearing she hadn't returned to the mansion.

Bao Qin and Ru Hua had been in this mansion for many years, and they had never encountered such a situation before.

Bao Qin became increasingly puzzled as she thought about it.

What was so good about Zhao Ruyi? Why did she deserve such treatment from the Crown Prince?

And compared to Zhao Ruyi, where did she fall short?