Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 174 - 172: Turning the Tables

Chapter 174: Chapter 172: Turning the Tables

"Brother Shangguan, quickly, take this pill."

Xiao’er handed a medicine pill to Shangguan Xuanhao’s mouth. Her senses came back and her mind cleared. The pill she had given him was the best one she had prepared at the processing shop.

After taking one, the bleeding would definitely stop immediately.

Shangguan Xuanyi took the medicine pill from Xiao’er. He only smelled it and already felt his mind clearing up.

"There’s no rush!" He casually responded.

He hadn’t yet avenged his maid.

"Just eat it quickly! I’ll feed it to you!" Di Shaowei became anxious for him while he remained calm.

The bleeding was severe!

Shangguan Xuanyi avoided Di Shaowei’s hand, turned his head towards the Fu Yin of Shuntian Mansion, and said, "The plank."

The Fu Yin was confused at first. The plank? Was it the plank that caused his injury? What did the Sixth Prince want with the plank now?

"Quickly, bring that plank here!"

Seeing his confusion, Shangguan Xuanyi repeated, "Start with the planking!"

Di Shaowei rolled his eyes. This man was risking too much! Did he really need to be so reckless just to take revenge for his maid?

Would he die if he took the medicine before the planking? He would surely die if he didn’t take it first!

Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting! What awful words! Why do good predictions never come true, but bad ones always work? No, no, it’s the other way around. Bad predictions never come true, only the good ones.

His head wasn’t hit, right? Why was he thinking upside down?

This time, the Fu Yin of Shuntian Mansion understood perfectly. He quickly commanded his men to administer twenty severe beatings to Mrs. Shen and then lock her up in a cell.

"Beat everyone! Mrs. Shen gets an additional fifty strokes! The others get twenty!" Shangguan Xuanyi was not satisfied with the sentence. He was not going to spare anyone who had hurt his maid!

"Okay, everyone will be beaten, but you must take your medication first. The blood is flowing like a gushing spring. Are you trying to kill yourself?" Di Shaowei wished he could eat the medication for him.

Seeing that he wouldn’t take it, Xiao’er took out a different medicinal powder and sprinkled it on his wound.

If they let the blood flow any longer, there’s a chance he might go into shock.

Mrs. Shen was really heavy-handed. If that plank had hit her own arm, she suspected her bones would have shattered!

It wasn’t long before the blood stopped flowing visibly.

Shen Chengyao closed his eyes and knelt before Shangguan Xuanyi. "Sixth Prince, I sincerely request that I bear these beatings on behalf of my parents."

"Dad!" The siblings called out in unison, sounding disappointed and frustrated.

"You child’s father!" Mrs. Liu stamped her foot in irritation. However, as his wife of many years, she knew why he was doing this.

Seeing his facial expression, Shangguan Xuanyi anticipated what he was thinking and nodded his head: "Allowed, but Mrs. Shen still has to bear twenty beats, there’s no substitution for that!"

He had to repay his debts of gratitude, and he would fulfill that!

But to settle the score with the one who bullied his maid, he had to take revenge! He wouldn’t feel at peace unless he administered a beating!

After he was made aware of the maid’s plans, he decided to play along, thereby provoking Mrs. Shen through the maid’s words and causing her to lose control. Then, he used that opportunity to hurt Mrs. Shen himself!

Therefore, letting Mrs. Shen off so easily would hardly quell the hatred in his heart.

He went to all this trouble for Xiao’er. Just a false accusation, and a few hits from a plank, and it would be over.

But when it concerned his person, that was another matter altogether!

Shen Chengyao knelt before Mr. Shen and Mrs. Shen: "Father, Mother, this is my last act of filial piety towards you two. My life was given to me by you, and these seventy lashings might be its end."

Surviving seventy lashings would still leave him half-dead, wouldn’t it?

From then on, they would be utterly estranged! You would no longer be able to harm his children under the guise of familial love.

If Mrs. Shen were to really endure seventy lashings and subsequently be thrown into a cell, her life would be over. Everyone understood this, hence Shen Cheng’s assertion that he would be giving back a life was not wrong.

Seeing Shen Chengyao’s state, Mr. Shen knew that this time, he had truly lost his son.

Mr. Shen had originally disagreed with this matter, but by the time he knew of it, things had already happened. Mrs. Shen had accepted the 10,000 taels of silver and even used it all up.

His daughter, whom he had held dearly since her infancy, his only daughter. The affection and protection by several elder brothers made her grow up spoilt and naive. She had little knowledge of the ways of the world, and thus it was understandable that such a mistake was made.

This time, she’s caused trouble and cried so hard, he too felt soft, he had no other choice.

He had thought that since the matter involved Shen Chengyao’s family, Chengyao would definitely not marry Xiao’er off and would settle the matter smoothly.

He never expected it to end up in court, let alone being accused of attempting to assassinate a prince and having his entire family thrown in jail.

Would the rest of his life be spent in jail? Would he serve until his jail term was over?

Came to the Imperial Capital was clearly a mistake! He would never come again, if there was a next time.

Luckily, his oldest son’s family didn’t come. Lucky, incredibly lucky!

A few of them were taken away to be flogged.

"This settles the score? Nonsense! I’m being flogged because of you all. You wish to get even, you’re dreaming!" Mrs. Shen said, her hair disheveled, eyes bloodshot with suffused resentment across her face.

Shen Chengzong cried out to Shen Chengyao, "Third Brother, Third Brother, I’m being wronged! It’s none of my business, you must plead for me, tell the Sixth Prince not to hit me!"

"Third Brother, I realize my mistake. I don’t want to be flogged! You can take it for me, right? You even took it for our parents!" Shen Yuzhu cried out in terror, seeing her radiant face lose its color.

What an audacious request from Shen Yuzhu!

"Third Brother, this has nothing to do with our family! You can’t sit back and watch. Jingzhi and the others are still too young, how can they bear this?" Mrs. Li cried.

"Unfair! Unfair! My family didn’t harm the Sixth Prince. Why do we all have to be flogged? Unfair!" Shen Bei’er was writhing non-stop, protesting loudly.

But who would care about their words? Whether they actively participated or simply didn’t interfere, they were all in it together, weren’t they?!

Jingrui, Jinghao, and Fang Wenri also knelt before Shangguan Xuanyi, "Brother Shangguan, we will take the lashings for our father. We’ll take them!"

Hearing his children’s words, Shen Chengyao was filled with panic, "No need, no need! Get up quick, children. Their mother, quickly get them up."

Di Shaowei pulled them up, "Do you think this is some sort of joke? Taking turns to be punished? If you have nothing substantial to do, don’t stir up trouble!"

"You all stand up! Your father is repaying the debt of life he owes to your grandparents. You owe them nothing!" Mrs. Liu said indignantly.

"But with seventy lashings, father..." Will he survive?

"Stop adding to the chaos, don’t I have medicine?" Xiao’er whispered to her three brothers.

Shen Chengyao’s feelings for Mrs. Shen differed from theirs, he couldn’t just stand by and watch her be flogged without blinking an eye, but they could. Taking the punishment was one way; at least afterwards, he could be at peace!

At this moment, the imperial doctors from the Imperial Hospital were rushing over, a group of them queued up to check Shangguan Xuanhao’s pulse and tend to his injuries.

After Shangguan Xuanhao’s wound was treated, and he had taken Xiao’er’s medicine, he already felt much better, at least his head was no longer throbbing, and he wasn’t dizzy anymore.

"It’s nothing serious, just a minor injury."

Although the Sixth Prince said so, the imperial doctors didn’t dare to take it lightly, especially since there was quite a bit of blood on the prince’s clothes.

The flogging had begun, interspersed with screams of agony resounding through the air.