Chapter 73: The Fate of Those Without Protection

Su Jingluo deliberately kept the group kneeling on the ground for over half an hour, calculating that by now most of the servants in the prince’s residence would have gathered to watch. She herself was getting restless, having drunk quite a bit of tea and now badly needing to relieve herself.

“Do you know why I’ve made you kneel here?” Su Jingluo suddenly spoke, her voice not loud yet enough to startle the group into shuddering. Earlier in the morning, they had been arrogant and overbearing; now, each one resembled a lamb before a wolf, trembling with fear.

“I’m waiting for your mistress,” Su Jingluo admitted. She had indeed hoped Lin Feifei would show up so she could deal with them all at once, but unfortunately, Lin Feifei hadn’t come. The servants did not dare utter a word, only casting her pitiful glances, hoping Su Jingluo would end their ordeal. Their legs were numb from kneeling, yet none dared to move.

“I figured, after I spent so long receiving guests outside and you still didn’t return, your mistress would surely come looking for you if she cared at all. But she didn’t. That means you acted on your own, coming here to cause trouble. I brought you to Scarlet Moon Pavilion; if your mistress felt even a shred of concern for you, she would have come to intercede. Yet she didn’t.” Su Jingluo enunciated each word clearly, and the maids below her began to sniffle, tears of grievance welling up.

“Don’t blame me for being heartless. If there’s no one to shield you from the wind and rain, then you must learn to endure the storm yourselves.” Indeed, Su Jingluo had brought them here in hopes Lin Feifei would come out, so she could punish the main instigator and let the underlings off with a warning. But since Lin Feifei refused to appear, Su Jingluo had no choice but to let her suffer the consequences in another way.

“All of you who are watching, remember this well. Before you offend anyone from my courtyard, measure your own worth. Whether they are right or wrong, it is up to me to judge and handle them. If anyone dares lay a finger on my people again, there will only be death!”

Yes, Su Jingluo’s words were directed at those lurking in the shadows—and at Lin Feifei herself.

Su Jingluo then turned to Alan, whose cheeks were flushed with agitation, and asked, “What is the usual punishment for those who offend the princess consort?”

“By the rules, they are either sold off or beaten with sixty heavy strokes,” Alan replied, her voice trembling.

Sixty strokes would almost certainly mean death or permanent disability, while being sold typically meant a life of prostitution. Looking at the three young girls, still bearing traces of childish innocence, both punishments seemed cruel. Su Jingluo felt a pang of pity, yet a decision had to be made.

“Expel them from the residence,” Su Jingluo said lightly.

The faces of the three girls turned ashen. They had no family or support; their entire plan for life was to serve as maids within these walls. They would rather be beaten to death than cast out, so at once, all three broke into wailing sobs.

“Your Highness, I was wrong! Please, have mercy on your servant, let me stay and work like a beast if I must—just don’t cast me out!”

“Please, Sister Alan, plead for me! It was Lady Lin who instigated me. Your Highness, please, don’t send me away!”

“Your Highness, I entered the household at seven, I have no family, no one to rely on—if you send me out, I’ll die out there!”

In their panic, the three scrambled forward, clinging to Su Jingluo and Alan’s hems, sobbing uncontrollably. Alan, having grown up in a household where it was always her family begging others, knew all the household rules but had never witnessed such a scene. She felt a pang of compassion, yet dared not plead for them, only looking nervously at Su Jingluo.

Su Jingluo merely wondered, Isn’t freedom a good thing? She herself longed for it and did not yet have it, yet for these three, being expelled seemed a fate worse than death. Then she realized: in a world shaped by such beliefs, a servant’s mind was indeed molded by servitude.