Empress Dowager Zheng flew into a rage. “You still dare to quibble unreasonably? Because of you, the entire imperial family has become a laughingstock.”
She commanded, “Right now, immediately send those Yan people away. Say it was a misunderstanding, just a joke.”
Chu Yunge’s gaze fell on the only eunuch left by Empress Dowager Zheng’s side. In the face of her command, she only spat out one word:
“No.”
“Chu Yunge, you’ve rebelled against the heavens! Do you know that if your imperial brother learns of what you’ve done, he’ll be so anxious he’ll nearly spit blood? These deeds of yours will all be recorded by the historians.”
“Aren’t you afraid of being recorded in history, becoming the infamous lascivious princess who kept hundreds of male concubines, making people of later generations laugh at you and mock Great Chu, leaving your name infamous for eternity?”
When Empress Dowager Zheng said this, her anger had not subsided. The eunuch at her side hurriedly tried to soothe her and brought her tea.
Under the eunuch’s service, Empress Dowager Zheng viciously drank several mouthfuls of tea.
“In any case, you must handle this matter properly, or else the one leaving a name infamous for eternity will be you…”
“Better to be infamous for eternity than to die silently without a trace.”
The princess truly did not care. She even thought that it would be best if it dragged down the Chu Emperor and Empress Dowager Zheng as well.
Chu Yunge did not care either.
“You’ve rebelled against the heavens! Do you agree or not?”
“I don’t agree. My imperial brother has his three palaces and six courts; even if This Princess snatches a hundred or so, it’s still fewer than his…”
When Chu Yunge said this, Empress Dowager Zheng could not hold back and stood up.
“With what do you compare yourself to your imperial brother!”
As she spoke, she actually raised her hand directly and swung it toward Chu Yunge’s face.
This biased mother actually wanted to strike. Chu Yunge sneered and was just about to raise her hand when someone was even faster. He pulled her back and blocked in front of her.
Empress Dowager Zheng’s slap ultimately landed on Yan Feng’s face.
Yan Feng could have dodged it. With his skills, not only could he block Empress Dowager Zheng, but in that gap, he could even kill her. But he absolutely could not strike.
He could not obstruct the empress dowager, lest he bring trouble to the princess and the Yan people and implicate the Yan people. But he also could not watch the princess get hit.
She was the princess who had given him so much silver as reward and sheltered more than two hundred Yan people.
He had tough skin and thick flesh, he was durable. It was fine to hit him.
He could take beatings and punishments several times, but it could not land on the princess.
This was all he could do.
Yan Feng thought this and solidly took that slap without using any clever technique to avoid it.
But when the slap truly landed on his face and his head was knocked to the side, Yan Feng’s expression changed in an instant.
He abruptly turned his head back and looked toward Empress Dowager Zheng. A killing intent that nearly materialized flashed in the depths of his eyes.
He could not believe that Empress Dowager Zheng would strike her own flesh-and-blood daughter with such force.
For a pampered empress dowager, how much hatred must there be to use such strength?
If this slap had landed on the princess’s face, she probably would not even be able to stand steadily. How much it must hurt…
She struck as if she were not hitting her daughter, but an enemy.
Yet the princess and the Chu Emperor looked exactly alike; she was her flesh-and-blood daughter.
How could she bring herself to do it?
Empress Dowager Zheng’s hand hurt badly, but she had not hit her target. She already hated Yan Feng for blocking her way randomly and hurting her hand. Seeing the incredulity flashing in his eyes made her even more furious.
He, a lowly Yan person, a base thing, how dared he look at her like that?
Chu Yunge was untamable and hot-tempered; was there something wrong with her disciplining her a little?
Empress Dowager Zheng could not say if it was guilt or fury from embarrassment, but she grew even more enraged.
“Chu Yunge, you still dare to dodge, and you too.”
Empress Dowager Zheng pointed at Yan Feng. “Drag him down and gouge out his eyes!”
“What does this have to do with him?”
Chu Yunge spoke up.
After being pulled away, she heard that crisp slap. Chu Yunge froze for a moment.
From her previous experience, that slap must hurt a lot.
She had not expected Yan Feng to not stop the empress dowager, but to take the hit for her.
Of course. How could a Yan person like Yan Feng dare to strike the empress dowager? It was her fault for being brainwashed by those idol dramas and TV shows.
He was not some overbearing CEO like Tianliang Wangpo, nor some domineering lord with immense power. He was merely a guard who had lost his homeland. Facing the most noble empress dowager of Chu State, the only thing he could do was block for her.
But a slap from family was not within his guard duties.
By risking it to block, he earned the punishment of having his eyes gouged.
Fortunately, he protected her, and she would protect him too.
She could still go up herself.
Chu Yunge glanced at the slap mark already reddening on his face and wanted to pull Yan Feng behind her, but Yan Feng vigilantly watched Empress Dowager Zheng, and she could not pull him.
Yan Feng did not allow it.
Before, he had only guarded the princess and vaguely sensed that the princess’s state was off, but he had never seen the empress dowager like this.
The princess was someone who would blow on her finger in pain if she pricked it while snacking on melon seeds. How could he feel at ease, how could he step aside?
Empress Dowager Zheng laughed out of anger. “Good, very good. It must be you who bewitched the princess, making her snatch Yan people, right?”
She glanced at Yan Feng, then looked at Chu Yunge and deliberately enunciated each word. “So arrogant and disrespectful to this empress dowager—drag him out, gouge out his eyes, and beat him to death with random staffs.”
Chu Yunge saw the malice in Empress Dowager Zheng’s eyes and watched as the accompanying eunuch immediately stepped forward. She could not help but laugh.
“Mother Empress is killing the chicken to scare the monkey again. If Mother Empress wants to see This Princess scared out of my wits, just say so directly. Why go to such lengths?”
Chu Yunge held Yan Feng’s hand. “As long as there’s someone by This Princess’s side, you all want to get rid of them, and in such a cruel way too. Vicious, too vicious.”
“But This Princess will not let you have your way. He is This Princess’s person; no one can touch him.”
“You still won’t let him off? How do you speak to this empress dowager!”
Empress Dowager Zheng found it ridiculous. Hearing those words of hers, she was too lazy to say more. Anyway, everything about her was an eyesore. She raised her hand to strike again.
Chu Yunge not only did not dodge but pushed Yan Feng aside and excitedly rushed forward. She grabbed Empress Dowager Zheng’s swinging arm, rolled up her sleeve, and viciously bit down.
She was crazier? She had never been afraid.
“Ah!” Empress Dowager Zheng had not expected Chu Yunge to suddenly attack. The pain in her arm made her scream miserably as she began to struggle wildly.
But in exchange, Chu Yunge bit down even harder.
In her previous life, she had dodged blood draws and been hit by her unscrupulous mother. She had resisted just like this.
Who let her be small back then, with less strength than them? She could only resist this way.
She was the most experienced at biting people.
If they still hit her, she would go bite their precious son. After nearly biting their precious son to death and being locked in confinement for a few days, the moment she gained freedom, she rushed to the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife and chop at their precious son.
That time, the whole family was thoroughly frightened, and her good brother was so scared he lost control of his bladder.
Later, until she left, they did not dare touch a single hair on her head.
It did not matter that the Chu Emperor was not here. She would bite Empress Dowager Zheng and make her remember it for life.
Empress Dowager Zheng screamed and went to grab her hair.
No matter how noble the most esteemed empress dowager of Chu State was, when it came to fighting, she was no more noble than anyone else—just hair-pulling.
While biting, Chu Yunge accurately grabbed Empress Dowager Zheng’s hair and yanked it down viciously.
“Aaah…” Empress Dowager Zheng screamed miserably, even more wretched than when she was bitten.
Yan Feng hurriedly grabbed Empress Dowager Zheng’s hand, not allowing her to grab Chu Yunge’s hair.
The eunuch who followed Empress Dowager Zheng stood dumbfounded nearby.
Having grown accustomed to elegance in the palace, he had never imagined there would be a day like this.
After a moment of daze, he hurriedly stepped forward to pull them apart.
When the eunuch pulled her away, Chu Yunge spat on the ground. Her mouth was full of blood.
Then she blew on the hair she had yanked off her hand.
A big handful, with faint traces of scalp and blood.
Chu Yunge never held back.
She dared to hit her and Yan Feng? She would bite her to death and yank all her hair out.
Empress Dowager Zheng’s arm bore deep teeth marks, blood flowing freely, flesh torn open. It had nearly been a whole chunk of meat bitten off.
But the pain was not just in her arm; her scalp hurt too.
“Ah!” Empress Dowager Zheng screamed in pain and fright, pointing at Chu Yunge in disbelief.
“You’re mad, you, a princess of the hall!”
Chu Yunge spat out the blood and laughed heartily.
“I am mad. If This Princess doesn’t go mad, who will? A princess of the hall? You’re still an esteemed empress dowager.”
“You think I’m still that little girl you all could pinch? Let me tell you, even if I die, I’ll drag you mother and son down with me as padding!”
“The mother and children three must stay perfectly intact, hahaha.”
When it came to going mad, no one could beat her.