Volume One, Chapter Six: The Cane Punishment at Yunxi

The study was a forbidden place, rarely visited by anyone in the prince’s mansion—not even the prince or the princess consort often set foot there. Now that this maidservant wanted to enter, no one knew whether it would anger Gu Nanxiao.

The princess consort looked at her with suspicion, but seeing Yunxi’s resolute expression, she thought it might be worth a try. She sent one of her top maids to accompany Yunxi to Gu Nanxiao’s study.

Sure enough, they were stopped by the guards outside the study. However, once the guards learned that the princess consort had permitted their entry, they reluctantly allowed them inside.

Once inside, Yunxi closed the door behind her and immediately approached Gu Nanxiao’s desk, flipping through the weapon blueprints he had drawn.

Over the past three days, she had learned from the servants that Gu Nanxiao’s greatest passion was various weapons. He was also highly skilled in crafting them and often drew his own designs.

Coincidentally, Yunxi shared this interest and was well-versed in historical cold weapons such as Tang swords and Qin crossbows.

With her photographic memory, she quickly sketched precise drafts beneath Gu Nanxiao’s original blueprints.

Half an hour later, Yunxi put down her brush, unlocked the study door, and left confidently.

The guards immediately entered to inspect the study. When their eyes fell upon the weapon blueprints—on which the master had spent three months of painstaking effort—they were horrified by the defaced and altered drawings. Even as bystanders, they trembled with fear.

Without delay, the guards rushed to the Jinwu Guard headquarters to report.

Only twenty minutes later, Gu Nanxiao stormed back into the mansion. Upon entering, he went straight to his study. Seeing the altered blueprints, fury surged to his head, veins bulging uncontrollably at his temples.

He grabbed the inkstone on the desk and smashed it onto the floor with great force. Watching it shatter into pieces, his anger only intensified. He shouted sharply toward the door, “Go! Bring that woman here at once!”

Obediently, the guards went out and returned shortly after, dragging Yunxi into the study.

Three days had passed without seeing her, and the tumult in Gu Nanxiao’s heart had somewhat calmed. Yet when he met Yunxi’s calm gaze, his anger turned to bitter laughter as he coldly demanded, “You destroyed my blueprints?”

Yunxi met his furious eyes without a hint of fear, nodding silently without uttering a single word in her defense.

Seeing her brazen defiance, Gu Nanxiao cursed three times in quick succession before ordering the guards, “Tie her down in the courtyard and give her twenty strokes—no, thirty strokes.”

Yunxi remained silent, anticipating punishment. In this feudal society devoid of human rights, she was nothing more than a bedwarmer, a mere plaything to Gu Nanxiao. Yet she refused to accept being a mere object forever.

Her intention was clear: only after he punished her would Gu Nanxiao realize the brilliance of her sketches.

She wanted to stir his guilt so that when he came to seek her insights on the blueprints, their combined efforts would yield greater benefits for her.

Gu Nanxiao watched silently as Yunxi was forced onto the bench, his fists clenched tightly beneath his sleeves. As the first stroke landed, the sound of flesh tearing made him involuntarily step forward.

He almost blurted out to stop, but upon recognizing his own leniency toward her, he hated his softness even more. With a cold voice that masked his inner weakness, he commanded, “Hit her harder!”

Contrasting his rage, Yunxi endured the searing pain without a sound, locking eyes with him and revealing a glaring disappointment.

Unable to hold their gaze, Gu Nanxiao turned and strode back inside, slamming down into his chair. He glared at the blueprints on the desk, but the longer he looked, the more grave his expression became.

After a moment, he abruptly stood, about to order the guards to stop when the sound of the strokes suddenly ceased.

Moyu entered and reported, “Master, Miss Yunxi has fainted. Do you wish to continue?”

Hearing this, Gu Nanxiao hurried to the door. Seeing the pool of crimson beneath her, he urgently instructed, “Find some maids to carry her back and summon the mansion’s physician immediately.”

Yunxi had feigned fainting. She wasn’t foolish enough to endure every stroke. As long as Gu Nanxiao felt remorse and refrained from demanding her presence in bed, her goal was achieved.

When she was carried away, her face was pale, stray hairs damp with cold sweat, and her lips bitten until blurred with blood.

Witnessing this, Gu Nanxiao felt his breath tighten. Yet he had no intention of following. Instead, he took a bottle of golden wound ointment from his sleeve and instructed Moyu to deliver it to the side wing.

The mansion’s physician soon arrived and prescribed treatment before reporting to Gu Nanxiao, “Master, Miss Yunxi’s external injuries are not severe and have not affected her organs or bones.

However, judging from her pulse, she not only suffers from congenital weakness but also a cold condition and, more seriously, has severe mental distress and overthinking. Without proper rest, this could harm her heart’s energy.”

Gu Nanxiao had never imagined Yunxi’s body was so frail; no wonder she fainted after only ten strokes. As for the mental distress, he recalled Moyu’s report that shortly after Yunxi’s arrival at the mansion, she had attempted suicide by drowning out of humiliation.

Clearly, she was reluctant to serve as his concubine. Moreover, after favoring her, he had essentially left her stranded in the mansion, inviting scorn.

Glancing back at the blueprints and recalling Yunxi’s disappointed gaze, an uncommon pang of regret stirred within Gu Nanxiao.

The troubles he imagined were precisely the direction Yunxi intended to guide his thoughts. Her so-called mental distress was actually a calculated preparation.

During those three days, she had stayed awake night and day, plotting her next moves while repeatedly recalling how Shi Qingchen had betrayed and killed her. Naturally, her pulse reflected this heartache and repression.

After the flogging, the servants who had once flattered her turned cold. Only Zisu remained to tend to her in the side chamber.

Zisu dampened a cloth with warm water and began cleaning Yunxi’s wounds. Seeing her porcelain-like skin torn and bruised in many places, her eyes reddened immediately.

This maidservant was truly inhuman—beating on a whim. No lady, even one married to a commoner, would endure such treatment.

Gu Nanxiao’s golden wound ointment was highly effective, both stopping bleeding and alleviating pain. As the ache in her back lessened, the exhaustion from three sleepless days and nights overwhelmed Yunxi, and she soon fell into a deep sleep.

When she awoke again, it was nearly noon the next day, hunger rousing her from slumber. Groggily, she murmured, “Water… water…”

Soon, a large, well-defined hand brought a cup of water to her lips.