Chapter 17: The Disabled Lady (Seventeen)

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Chapter 17: The Crippled Miss (Seventeen)

However, the smile had barely lifted her lips before it froze.

“Ha! Do you know how many breathtakingly beautiful women there are in this palace? Any one of them would be a peerless beauty, and there are even more whose status and position surpass yours! What exactly are you showing off in front of me? No matter how exalted your rank is, can it possibly exceed that of His Majesty or the Empress Dowager? I was personally appointed by the Empress Dowager to instruct you all, so do not put on airs as some grand young lady before me. I will not tolerate it!”

Yu Yingying’s pretty face had gone frighteningly rigid. Shame, fury, hatred, and countless other emotions mingled together, forming an exceedingly strange expression.

Aunt Tan stood with her hands clasped behind her back and no longer spared her a glance.

“Now that you have entered this imperial palace, your identities and positions outside these walls are worthless! Here, you are nothing more than candidates awaiting selection. Before you become royal ladies, I advise you all: whether you are tigers or dragons, you will keep your heads down and behave!”

“You. Go outside the hall and kneel for one hour. Reflect properly on your conduct! The rest of you, continue practicing!”

What?!

Kneel for an hour? Yu Yingying’s beautiful eyes widened. For a moment, she even thought her ears had deceived her. This ugly, rigid old servant actually wanted her to kneel in punishment?!

As the daughter of the current prime minister, when had she ever suffered such treatment? She immediately flew into a rage.

“On what grounds are you punishing me?”

“On the grounds that I am the instructress personally appointed by the Empress Dowager, with the authority to eradicate all your bad habits! Out!”

Aunt Tan’s tone remained calm as she pointed toward the entrance.

“I refuse to accept this!” A rush of heat surged into Yu Yingying’s head. Why? Just why did that damned woman think she could—

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“Two hours!”

“You!”

Yu Yingying glared at her with eyes that seemed ready to split from their sockets.

“Three.”

Yu Yingying was about to say something else when the girl beside her grabbed her and dragged her out. She frantically gestured with her eyes and whispered, “Yingying, picking a fight with the instructress will do you no good. Do you really want to add more time?”

Yu Yingying gritted her teeth.

“Fine! I’ll go. I’ll remember this grudge! Just you wait!”

She spun around and strode out of the main hall.

The uproar caused by the palace training on the first day at the Court Etiquette Bureau was another matter entirely. By the time Green Waist arrived late, she saw a group of young women holding a water-filled porcelain vessel above their heads with both hands as they practiced their posture and gait.

Aunt Tan stood to one side, watching them. Green Waist quietly approached and whispered something into her ear.

Aunt Tan’s eyes flickered. She smiled and said, “Is that so? What unfortunate timing. Please convey my regards to Lady Feng and tell her to rest well. There is no need for her to worry about things here.”

Green Waist gave a graceful curtsy.

“Then I shall trouble you, Aunt.”

After a brief exchange of polite but insincere words, Green Waist quietly departed just as she had come. Apart from Feng Qingqing, no one noticed her.

—

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Su Kui had been perpetually short of sleep in her previous life, so in this one, she could hardly touch a pillow without wanting to fall asleep.

Just as she was deep in a sweet dream, the door was pushed open with a creak, then gently closed again.

Su Kui assumed it was Green Waist and paid no attention. Unexpectedly, the visitor did not leave. Instead, steady footsteps drew closer to the bed, one step at a time.

The footsteps were firm and powerful, making no attempt to conceal themselves.

Thus, Su Kui heard them perfectly clearly. Her eyes flew open, their drowsiness replaced by sharp clarity. She turned her head and demanded coldly, “Who is it?”

Then she met a pair of phoenix eyes as silent as ancient wells, so deep they seemed capable of swallowing a person’s very soul.

“Jun Mo?”

Standing before her bed and looking down at her was the very man she had met only yesterday—the Regent, Jun Mo. A four-clawed python robe embroidered with cloud patterns wrapped around his tall, sturdy frame, and the corners of his lips curved faintly upward.

Was he not the villainous boss she had resolved to cling to for protection?

What puzzled her was this: why had he come?

The End.