CHAPTER 2

"Your Highness"— a voice startled me as I just woke up from bed in the morning. "hmm..". "Your Highness , Empress Yin has asked to take you to her. " The eunuch bows a little and started to pull me ."No , you can't what have I done??" — i tried to loosen their grips but they keep on gripping harder. They pulled me in the roughest way possible. Empress Yin sat in the throne like she is the only one left on the world and everyone were under her foot. But this time I guess I am going to be under her feet. 😭 I knelt infront of her and kept my head low. "Greetings , Your Highness" —My voice so soft that it is barely audible. "What do you think you are Concubine ??" — she asked me as if I've done the worst possible thing. "I did nothing wrong Your Highness, as a concubine of His Majesty I just kissed him and nothing else ." although I sounded a bit rude and.... Anyway I like it. I'm so proud of myself. "You..." "...How dare you talk to me like that ??" . "Tie her and give her her 50 beatings". What 50 BEATINGS I would die till that. "What ?? 50 beatings??"— " Are you scared and still don't feel any guilt of what you've done??"—she asks me in a fierce tone which left me numb. "I'm sorry , you may continue the punishment Your Highness ". They let let me lay on the wooden plank and tied me up. Just by imagining what would happen next my nerves just got tightened up. The eunuchs started. And the the first strike stole my breath even before the pain gas arrived. It occured , a moment after , hot , searing and spreading like fire across my back. And all I could do was just to dig my fingers into the plank. The second strike stroke — harder , crueler . A hoarse escaped my throat not quiet a scream but a strangled gasp. By the third blow my mind began to blur. Each lash was a wave of red heat, colliding over the last until I could no longer tell where one pain ended and another began. Sweat beaded on my body, rolling down to mix with the dust beneath my face. My body burned, yet my fingertips were cold. I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out, tasting the metallic tang of blood. The humiliation cut deeper than the stick—the knowledge that I was watched, judged, reduced to nothing but a body enduring pain.The strikes paused yet I wished it hadn't. The stillness made the throbbing worse, the ache more vivid. My back pulsed with every heartbeat, each breath scraping through my throat like glass. A voice, low and cold as thunder over distant mountains, sliced through the night.

“Enough.”

The courtyard froze. The eunuchs dropped to their knees as the air itself seemed to bow. Heavy boots crossed the stone with measured authority, each step echoing through the trembling silence.

I did not dare to turn around. My vision was swimming from pain, my back slick with blood and sweat. But I knew that voice— I would know it even if I were dying. The weight of command, the undercurrent of restrained fury—it could belong to no one but him.

“Who ordered this?"

His Majesty’s tone was soft, but every syllable was laced with danger. No one answered. The eunuch’s breath came in quick, terrified gasps. “I said—who touched her?”

The stick clattered to the ground.

He moved forward, the scent of sandalwood and cold steel filling the air. He knelt beside me , and I felt the brush of his robe against my shoulder—warm, heavy, grounding.

My body trembled. “Your Majesty…” Her voice cracked, thin and hoarse.

“Do not speak.” His hand hovered over my back, hesitating when he saw the welts—raw, purple, cruel. He opened my ropes and shifted closer, taking me by the shoulders and gently drawing me against him. I winced, but he caught me before I could fall. For a long moment, he said nothing—only held me, his thumb brushing away the streak of blood at my lip.

“Fetch the imperial physician. Now, "commanded, his voice dropping low enough to make the guards flinch.

She wanted to speak, to tell him she was fine, but the words dissolved on her tongue. The pain was distant now, dulled by the warmth of his touch.

“Who gave the order? " He asked again, his voice low but sharp enough to draw blood.

The head eunuch fell to his knees, trembling. “Your Majesty… it—it was by Her Majesty the Empress’s decree.”

For a long, terrible silence, no one breathed. The Emperor’s gaze darkened. His hand, resting against the armrest, curled into a fist.

Empress Yin seated gracefully before a burning incense table.

He stopped before her, the hem of his robe brushing the polished floor. “You ordered the punishment of Concubine Yue.”

The Empress’s gaze flickered, just for a moment, before she smiled faintly. “She overstepped her place. I merely sought to remind her of it.”

“She is mine to discipline,” he said, voice steady, eyes unreadable. “Not yours.”

“Yours?” The Empress’s smile thinned. “Your Majesty forgets she humiliated the imperial bloodline.”

The silence that followed was heavier than thunder. “And you, Aunt, have forgotten your limits.”

For the first time, the Empress’s poise faltered. “You dare speak to me this way?”

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze colder than the winter river. “I dare, because I am the Emperor. And because I will not permit you to touch what belongs to me again.”

The words hung between them—icy, final.

Then, more quietly, he added, “Do not test me, Aunt. Even blood cannot shield you from consequence.”

He turned before she could answer, the long sweep of his robe trailing behind him. The fragrance of incense clung to the air, but beneath it lingered the faint scent of fear.

Beside , I was still sitting on the bench , resting my head on the wooden wall.

His Majesty returned to me.

I tried to rise but he stopped me gently. " Rest" — He said softly.

For the first time since the beating, my heart trembled not from pain, but from something far more dangerous: the warmth of being protected.And I liked it.

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