Transmigrated as the Short-Lived White Moonlight, I Ended Up Happily Ever After With the Female Lead - Chapter 14

The body of Song Yi was not completely pressing down on Ji Yan’an, but her loose strands of hair lightly brushed Ji Yan’an’s face, just like Song Yi’s hand had.

Ji Yan’an listened to the sound of the plank savagely landing on Song Yi’s back, and her heart ached more and more with every strike. The force was clearly heavier now. She only regretted that she had come to protect Song Yi, yet was now the one being shielded by her.

Ji Yan’an hated Liu Wanwan’s seductive appearance. The pain in her body gradually became numb, but Song Yi was slowly being beaten to the point of near breathlessness. It was already the twentieth strike.

The defiance deep within Ji Yan’an’s bones was ignited. She crawled out from under Song Yi. Her clothes were wrinkled and disheveled, and her hairpin was severely askew, on the verge of falling out.

With quick eyes and hands, Ji Yan’an pulled the hairpin from her bun and stabbed it towards the eunuch. Without the hairpin to secure it, Ji Yan’an’s long dark hair immediately fell loose, fluttering slightly with the movement she generated.

The eunuch was focused intently on beating Song Yi and didn’t notice Ji Yan’an suddenly rushing over. The next second, the hand holding the plank was covered in blood.

“Ah!” A pig-like scream echoed through the palace. The eunuch’s voice was already shrill, and from a distance, birds in the western palace scattered into the sky with mournful cries.

The eunuch, stabbed, turned red with rage. Enduring the pain in his hand, he raised the plank and began to strike Ji Yan’an fiercely.

Stabbing the eunuch’s hand had already exhausted all of Ji Yan’an’s energy and courage. Now, she was weak and could only curl up in a corner and endure the beating.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Liu Wanwan quickly ordered the other servants to stop the eunuch, then rushed over herself to examine Ji Yan’an’s injuries.

The little one was curled up in the corner, trembling with fear. Song Yi had also rushed over and held her in her arms, looking at Liu Wanwan with intense vigilance as she approached.

Liu Wanwan completely panicked. The person in Song Yi’s arms was only able to cry and couldn’t speak, and Song Yi’s eyes were filled with darkness. Liu Wanwan’s beautiful, clean fingers trembled as she gently lifted Ji Yan’an’s sleeve… underneath was a bloody mess.

“Preposterous!!”

Just as Liu Wanwan was pondering how to punish the eunuch, the gate of Yong’an Palace was slammed open, and a group of people stormed in aggressively from outside.

Song Yi looked closely and saw that Ji Yan’an’s mother and the Empress Dowager had arrived, along with a woman wearing a hair ornament adorned with Eastern Pearls, who must be the current Empress.

The one who had just spoken was the Empress Dowager.

Seeing the crowd, Liu Wanwan dared not be arrogant. She respectfully performed a curtsy, but was not granted an exemption from the salute.

“Consort Liu is putting on quite a show!” The Empress Dowager was clearly furious, and her speech lacked her usual kindness.

Liu Wanwan lowered her head and remained silent.

While the Empress Dowager was erupting, Ji Yan’an’s mother ran straight to Ji Yan’an. Ji Yan’an’s small face was pale as she lay in Song Yi’s arms, thankfully not having fainted.

“Mother…” Ji Yan’an’s voice was extremely soft, whether from exhaustion or pain, it sounded utterly weak.

“Yan’an has suffered…” Ji Yan’an’s mother couldn’t bear to look at such a fragile Ji Yan’an, but when she turned her head, she also saw Song Yi’s forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.

This was too much for Ji Yan’an’s mother. She turned around, pointed at Liu Wanwan, and demanded, “Both young ladies of our household have been subjected to corporal punishment by Her Ladyship the Consort. I must ask if they committed some grave mistake, or if you are deliberately making trouble for the Ji family? Could it be… that you think the Ji family has no one to stand up for them?!”

As expected of Ji Yan’an’s mother, who had navigated the circles of wives and mistresses. In a few sentences, she escalated the incident to a conflict between the two families.

Although the Liu family was powerful now, they were drawing attention and inviting trouble, and the Ji family was certainly not to be trifled with. Liu Wanwan’s eyes darted as she analyzed the severity of the situation. She immediately knelt and began to cry.

“I beg the Empress Dowager and the Empress to judge fairly! Your servant summoned Miss Song for a talk, but she was disrespectful to me! Your servant intended to punish her with a brief kneeling as a reminder of palace rules, but Yan’an vehemently obstructed and even pulled Miss Song, attempting to leave. They showed no regard for your servant at all!” Liu Wanwan was the first to lodge a complaint, and her seductive eyes were now brimming only with grievance. An uninformed passerby would surely believe her lies.

Ji Yan’an was close to fainting from the pain, but hearing Liu Wanwan’s shameless excuse angrily jolted her back to alertness: “How can Her Ladyship the Consort say such a thing! Since Miss Song and I entered Yong’an Palace, we have been respectful and dared not show you the slightest discourtesy! You insisted on making things difficult for Miss Song and refused to let her rise, and then you even ordered those eunuchs to arrest us and beat us with the plank! Where in the world is there such justice!”

Ji Yan’an’s words were sharp, leaving Liu Wanwan speechless. The Empress Dowager and Ji Yan’an’s mother naturally sided with Ji Yan’an, and the Empress, who wished she could flay Liu Wanwan alive, certainly wouldn’t speak on her behalf.

Liu Wanwan recognized the situation. She glanced at the maid beside her. The maid nodded and quietly slipped out the back door, heading who knows where.

The Empress Dowager noticed this series of small movements and knew they were going to summon the Emperor to settle the matter. This needed to be resolved quickly.

“What Yan’an said is the absolute truth,” Song Yi added.

The Empress Dowager saw the bloodstains on Ji Yan’an and Song Yi’s arms, and the faint smell of blood in the air. Her heart was filled with profound sorrow.

“My good girls, it is my fault. I shouldn’t have allowed you into this palace full of wolves and tigers…” The Empress Dowager’s words carried a hidden meaning, making the implied ‘wolf and tiger,’ Liu Wanwan, kneel on the ground with an utterly awkward expression.

“Deliver my imperial decree… Consort Liu, for punishing people without cause, you are fined a month’s stipend, demoted to the rank of Concubine, and confined to your palace for one month, forbidden to step outside the gates! The eunuchs who carried out the punishment shall each receive one hundred strikes of the plank. If anyone wishes to amend this, they must step over my coffin!” The Empress Dowager spoke these words just as the Emperor entered through the palace gate.

“Mother Empress…” The Emperor’s expression was complex as he looked at his beautiful, alluring concubine kneeling on the ground, her face streaked with tears.

The Empress Dowager glanced at him, uncaring: “I said, if anyone wishes to amend this imperial decree, they must step over my coffin. What? Does the Emperor wish to try?”

With the concept of filial piety paramount, if the Emperor were to defy the Empress Dowager for the sake of a concubine, the spittle of the civil and military officials would likely drown him.

“Your son would not dare.” The Emperor sighed. He was about to console Liu Wanwan, but then turned his head and saw Ji Yan’an and the other girl huddled in the corner.

Ji Yan’an had been watched by the Emperor since she was a child. She was often brought into the palace, and even when very young, she would tug at the Emperor’s beard and hair, often causing outbursts of laughter. Yet, who would have thought that their reunion would be with Ji Yan’an beaten near death by his beloved concubine?

“Concubine, you have gone too far this time.” The Emperor, also slightly angered, did not help Liu Wanwan up. Instead, he muttered this sentence and helped the Empress Dowager leave.

Hearing these words, the ferocity in Liu Wanwan’s beautiful eyes could not be concealed. She watched their retreating figures, her long fingernails digging deeply into her palms.

The Empress didn’t want to look at Liu Wanwan at all. She warmly invited Ji Yan’an and Song Yi to rest in her palace and summoned a physician to examine them.

In an instant, half the people in Yong’an Palace were gone. Liu Wanwan remained kneeling on the ground. She asked the eunuch whose hand was still bleeding, “Do you hate her?”

Pain pulsed through the eunuch’s palm. The hairpin was still embedded in his hand. Enduring the immense pain, he pulled it out, gritted his teeth, and said, “I hate her!”

Receiving a satisfactory answer, Liu Wanwan curled her lips. She looked at Ji Yan’an’s hairpin and muttered to herself, “Hatred is good. We have a long time, Song Yi, Ji Yan’an… we’ll take it slowly.”

Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and the wind began to blow again…