This Killer Is Easy To Deceive - 24

Chapter 24 – Punishment

Hua Qianqian watched as her Junior Sister left and shook her head with a smile.  “She’s really impatient.  She’s already a mother and still behaves like a child.”

Yeqing came up to her and standing beside her, he asked.  “Does she truly have an idea?”

“My Junior Sister is a smart woman.  There are a lot of wicked ideas swimming in her head and if she says there’s a way to do this, then there should be a way.  Let’s just wait for her.”

She turned around and holding Yeqing’s hand, she pulled him to the stone table.  “Come, eat a piece of cold melon.”

“Alright.”

“This cold melon is a gift from my admirer, Lin Yuanwai.  You must eat more.”

“……”

Yeqing stared silently at her charming smiling face and his eyes fell on the red flesh of the cold melon that she had in her mouth and without a word, he leaned forward to suck on her lips.  He snatched the piece of cold melon from the inside of her mouth and savored the delicious taste of her clove-like little tongue.

***☆☆☆***

Bai Yuxiao quietly returned to the royal mansion and entered through the door with familiarity.  As soon as she entered her courtyard, she saw all the servants kneeling in front of the house, filling the whole courtyard.

On seeing the battle parade, she was dumbstruck for a long while and then sighed deeply.

Needless to ask, who else can make all the servants in her courtyard kneel except for Si Liujing?   He must have found out about her sneaking out of the royal mansion but did he not accompany the Emperor on the journey to the south?   He just left this morning, but why is he back now?

She was really unfortunate.  She had been behaving obediently for such a long time and now she had gotten caught after sneaking out just this once.

Bai Yuxiao hid behind the tree and pondered.  After thinking for a while, she came to a decision.  Hiding for a while is possible but she cannot continue hiding for the rest of her life.  Anyway, this must be faced sooner or later, so she came out of hiding.  She did not enter the house nor did she ask what was going on but found a space to kneel and joined the rest of the servants in the fun.

The next instant, the group of kneeling servants took fright and the Chief Steward who was watching over the servants as ordered by the Wangye was startled.

Not only is Ling Wangfei their mistress, but also the Wangye‘s’ precious treasure.  The Wangfei is kneeling in front of them, so how can the Chief Steward and the Courtyard Supervisor keep their composure?

“Wangfei Niangniang, please don’t put this servant in a difficult position.  Quick, stand up!”

The Chief Steward gestured for the maids kneeling at the side to quickly help their mistress stand up.

“Don’t touch me!”  Bai Yuxiao shouted at the maids then stared at the Chief Steward and threatened.  “I like to kneel.  When did you have the authority to order me?”

This Chief Steward is in charge of the Wangye’s main courtyard.  For Bai Yuxiao to kneel, it was just to let Si Liujing understand that if he punished all the servants in her courtyard to kneel, then she as their mistress should also be jointly responsible.

One should be responsible for one’s actions, therefore, she should also kneel.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw the Courtyard Supervisor rushing off to report to the Wangye.  She knew that sneaking out of the royal mansion would make him extremely furious but she being the Wangfei was not all for naught as she already understood Si Liujing’s temper.

His purpose in letting the group of servants kneel was just to show her and to make her beg for mercy.  If begging for mercy was useful, she would not hesitate to beg and admit her mistake.  However, doing that would surely not quell Si Liujing’s fury, so the best way is to punish herself first.  As the Wangfei, she could even put down her status and face, and kneel to him in public, so how can he remain indifferent?

Sure enough, without using much effort, someone had stepped into the courtyard.  Even without the need to look up, she could feel the oppressive suffocation.

A pair of black boots with gold-threaded embroidery strode towards her and came to a stop in front of her.  Bai Yuxiao who had her eyes lowered slowly looked up and her gaze traveled from the boots up to his head.  Her eyes rested on a cold face that was full of anger and gloom.  Although he had an angry expression, he was still as handsome.

When she saw her husband’s angry expression and his eyes were almost bursting with flames, Bai Yuxiao immediately put on a guilty and regretful look.  Her body was also trembling with sincerity and her eyes were swirling with tears…….the indispensable tool to show her weakness.

“Wangye, this concubine is guilty.”  She cried pitifully.

“So you’re also aware that you’re guilty?”

“Yes, that’s why this concubine is kneeling.  This concubine deserves death.”

Si Liujing knew she did this deliberately and the corners of his eyes twitched.

Initially, he had decided that this time, no matter how much she begged for mercy, he would not let her off easily.  However, he could not bear to punish her, so he punished the servants around her to make her feel distressed and scared.

Unexpectedly this little cunning woman made the first move and knelt with the servants, forcing him to come over in person.

“Good, very good!  You’re willing to lower your face as Wangfei and kneel shamefully in front of everyone.”

Every word was spoken through his gritted teeth and his hands were clenched into fists with his knuckles emitting crackling sounds as if he was strangling her to death

Of course, this was just a show and no one believed that the Wangye could bear to strangle the Wangfei.

No matter how mischievous Bai Yuxiao is, she was aware that Si Liujing is truly furious this time.  Usually, she could play around within the boundaries of his tolerance.  It is alright for her to be a little willful because he spoils her but he also has his bottom line.  Once his bottom line is breached, it is afraid that matters would not be so simple.  He would not hurt her but would use the people around her to deal with her.

Fortunately, Bai Yuxiao could read into his words and expressions and was able to deal with the situation accordingly.  Immediately with tears in her eyes, she said with guilt.  “Wangye’s birthday is coming soon.  This concubine thought of secretly preparing a birthday gift, without telling Wangye, to give Wangye a surprise.  But unexpectedly, this concubine was wrong and had made Wangye angry and annoyed.  This concubine deserves to die!”

Si Liujing was stunned.  Initially, he had decided not to yield to her this time regardless of what reason she gives, but when he heard the words ‘birthday gift’ he froze.

Give him a surprise birthday gift?  What birthday gift?

He had the feeling it was a trap and should not probe further but he could not hold back the curiosity in his heart.   This bizarre woman has a lot of ideas and she never lacked surprises.

It is normal for people to be like this.  Once his curiosity is stirred, his heart would feel numb and itchy due to his thoughts.  If he does not ask, the urge to know becomes stronger and even his breath seems to block up, unable to be released.

However, she just stared at him with a pitiful look and did not continue to speak.

A great war waged in Si Liujing’s heart.  In the presence of all the servants, he could not lose face but he wanted to know what mischief she was up to this time.  In the end, he still lost to the intolerable itchy curiosity in his heart.

“Come in with me!”  He commanded in a deep voice and walked past her into the house.  Although the servants were not ordered to rise, at least the servants knew that the Wangye had wavered.

A bright light flashed across Bai Yuxiao’s eyes but she still lowered her head acting like a little wife who had done something wrong and stood up to follow her husband into the house cautiously.

After their master and mistress had entered the house, regardless of whether the servants were kneeling or not kneeling, all of them looked left and right.  From each other’s eyes, they saw the rays of hope.

“I bet five silver taels on Niangniang winning.”

“I bet ten silver taels that His Highness wins.”

“I bet ten taels on Niangniang.”

“Three taels…….His Highness.”

“Four taels……Niangniang.”

“Hey, hey, hey…….Are you all misbehaving gambling brazenly like this?  Aren’t you afraid that the Wangye will punish all of you?’

“Chief Steward, are you betting or not?”

The Chief Steward pulled a taut face and after a slight hesitation, he turned around to look at the house.   Then he squatted down and pulled out a money pouch.

“I bet twenty taels Niangniang will win.”

While the servants were placing their bets outside the house, Wangfei Niangniang who garnered the higher stakes stood in front of her husband.  Her head and eyes were lowered showing a guilty and pitiful look while Si Liujing was sitting in the wooden armchair staring at her with his pair of piercing eyes.

Bai Yuxiao glanced at Si Liujing and saw that he was just staring at her without speaking while putting on an air of arrogance.  It looked like she had to start the topic, so she stepped forward and picked up the white jade pot on the table.  After pouring a cup of water, she held up the cup in front of the Wangye trying to please him.

“Husband, drink this.”  She showed a flattering smile without hiding her intention to fawn over him.  She did not try to hide her intention and even deliberately acted in exaggeration.

The more obvious she is, the better it will be and it shows she cares for him, and then he will feel happy.

He glared at her for a long time before he reached out his hand to take the cup from her.  After finishing it all, he set the cup back heavily on the side table.

“You’d better explain it clearly to me.  If you deliberately use the excuse of preparing for my birthday gift to deceive me, I won’t let off that group of servants outside and all of them will be sent away!’

Bai Yuxiao instantly knelt down to hug his thigh and raising her a small face she exclaimed in terror.  “Husband, Shui’er is telling the truth!  I did prepare a surprise birthday gift for you!”

In private, she called herself Shui’er and called him her husband because Si Liujing likes and accepts it.

Si Liujing still maintained a sullen expression.  “If this is the case, where’s the birthday gift?”

“It’s not Husband’s birthday yet.”

“Take it out!  If you can’t take out the gift, I’ll change the whole group of damn servants outside!”  His piercing eyes became even sharper.

In actual fact, Si Liujing did not believe her but was curious about what tricks she had up her sleeve.  He wanted to see what explanation she was going to give him this time.

“Alright, alright…….whatever husband says goes, Shui’er will just do it.  Don’t be angry and drink a cup of water to calm down.”  Bai Yuxiao stood up and served him attentively again.

Although Si Liujing was angry, he had never refused her service.  Speaking of this, it was only after he had a hold against her that he gets to see her serve him attentively like a little woman.  In fact, he actually enjoyed this look of hers.

While he was drinking the cup of water, she was kneading his leg as an atonement for her wrongs.  It made his anger subsided a little more and honestly, her skills in massaging the legs and shoulders did make one feel comfortable.  He could not help but close his eyes to enjoy the feeling for a while but he still muttered a warning to her.

“Don’t think that you can just massage my legs and get away with it.  You’d better give me a clear explanation.”

Bai Yuxiao hurriedly responded.  “Alright, alright…….Husband, the matter is like this………I have a close senior sister……..”

Si Liujing was stunned and opened his eyes to look at her.  “Aren’t you going to give me my birthday gift?  Why is your Senior Sister drawn into this?”

“This Senior Sister of mine is related to the birthday gift.”

He stared at her flattering smile and narrowed his eyes slightly.  He wanted to see what story she was going to cook up.

“Speak!”

“My Senior Sister is called Hua Qianqian and she is the chief dancer of Yu Gui Fang in the imperial capital.”