Fouled 33 times

  The girls were beaten down by ten sticks, although they could still stay awake, but also cried out in pain, rolling on the ground, unable to move.

  Yu's family was anxious and hurriedly asked his mother-in-law to take the girls down to apply medicine.

  Inside the hall, two old women and a young maid were also kneeling. Only then did Ruoqing realize that they were actually Zhou Mama, He Mama who was Yu Shi's dowry servant, and the dowry maid. And another one was Youyun, which made Ruoqing shocked as well.

  She took a deep breath, never expecting that because of her alone, so many people would be implicated.

  She looked helplessly at Yu Shi, and Yu Shi also shook her head in love but couldn't help.

  Zhī yì yòu lěng yǎn miào xiàng fú zài dì shàng de zhōu māma, “zhōu māma.”

  Translation:

  Zhiyi gave a cold glance at Zhou Mama who was kowtowing on the ground, "Zhou Mama."

  Mother Zhou's body shook, and she knelt forward two steps, her voice steady. "I couldn't control the young lady well, it was my fault as a servant. Whatever punishment Master wants to give, I will accept."

  "Zhiyi's voice was calm and flat. 'Aunt Zhou is a reliable companion to her mother-in-law, she has been devoted to the Fang family for many years, serving her mother-in-law with all her heart and soul. To me, she is also considered half an elder. I have always respected her. But now, under my own eyes, you let Fourth Sister do such an immoral thing. Even if I were to consider it in the name of my grandmother's kindness, it would be impossible for me to let you off lightly.'"

  "Mother Zhou's voice remained unchanged, and she knocked her head again. 'I have disobeyed the old lady's entrustment, and I am ashamed to face her. Master can punish me as he sees fit, and this old servant will not complain.'"

  Zhi Yi nodded, "Very good, you're indeed worthy of being by your grandmother's side, quite magnanimous. I was going to give you twenty slaps, but considering your age is already advanced and your body might not be able to withstand it, I'll let you off lightly. Deduct three months' worth of silver allowance. Punish with a month of hard labor. Will you obey or not?"

  "Old Master handles matters decisively and rewards and punishes clearly. Old Madame is convinced and obedient."

  "Alright, you can go now."

  Mrs. Zhou bowed her head again, got up, and presumably because she had been kneeling for a long time, her body swayed slightly, looking like she was about to collapse, her voice weakly said: "Mrs. Zhou..."

  Mother Zhou still looked at Ru Xing with the same kindness as before, "I couldn't take good care of my daughter, and I should be punished for it. I just hope that after this incident, you will never be so reckless again in the future. I'll go receive my punishment now. Take care, Miss." Then she sighed, limped out of the hall on her two legs.

  At this point, only Mrs. He and Yu Shi's accompanying maidservant were left in the hall. Zhiyi took a sip of tea, glanced over, and hastily said: "Brother, sister-in-law has only these two maidservants to attend to her. Now that she is pregnant, it's extremely inconvenient for her to move around. Brother shouldn't punish them, or else who will take care of sister-in-law?"

  Zhī yì sì xiào fēi xiào: "nǐ dào shì tǐng guān xīn bié rén de."

  Translation:

  "Seems like you're quite concerned about others."

  Yu Qing saw him with a gentle tone, busy hitting the snake stick and said, "For the sake of the child in sister-in-law's belly, brother will spare them."

  "Stop worrying about them for now, it's your turn."

  She swallowed her saliva and looked at Zhiyi with a pitiful expression, wondering how he would punish her.

  He had given the nun a good scolding, and now he felt relieved. He spoke as usual again, "I wanted to beat you, but I couldn't bear to do it; if I didn't beat you, my heart would be uncomfortable. Let's just go and have her kneel in front of the Buddha as punishment."

  It was originally just a punishment of kneeling, and as soon as he secretly let out a sigh of relief, as long as it wasn't a beating with a board, everything would be fine.

  But as if it were too simple, Zhiyi was really furious this time. The futon in the Buddhist hall had been taken away by someone, and she knelt on the smooth floor tiles, which made her feel particularly uncomfortable. She knelt for a while, but soon couldn't hold on anymore. However, she didn't dare to slack off this time, as Zhiyi was really showing his authority today. She was almost scared out of her wits and didn't dare take it lightly again because of his affection for her. She gritted her teeth and knelt all night, but by midnight, she couldn't hold on anymore and fell asleep heavily after collapsing to one side.

  On the second day, just as the sky was breaking dawn, Yu Shi, who had been worried all night and couldn't sleep, got out of bed as soon as it was light and hurried to the Buddha Hall.

  This time, being forced to kneel as punishment can be considered a taste of cruel torture. Both legs are swollen so high that even touching them lightly causes severe pain. Even with the help of two servants, it's hard to get up, and both legs feel numb and swollen, making it impossible to stand steadily.

  Yu's family looked at him with aching hearts, and they also had complaints about Zhiyi Sheng's anger. But as an inner housewife, she didn't dare to question him, so she could only speak for him as much as possible. "Sister, don't blame your brother for being so angry. The truth is, what you did was indeed wrong. Because that mountain forest had already been bought by someone else. I also heard that because they found out you were playing in the water in the mountains and saw the sign you put up at the foot of the mountain, on the one hand, they were considering your brother's identity and didn't dare to act rashly. On the other hand, they made a few indirect attacks in front of your brother, which is why he got so angry."

  As if she was in a trance, and even more regretful, her reputation being ruined was secondary. What's worse was that the good name of Know-Righteousness had been destroyed by her. No wonder Know-Righteousness would be so angry.

  Softly said to Yu Shi: "Sister, it's all my fault, and brother is implicated." Also let the innocent maids suffer punishment.

  Yu comforted her with a smile: "Sister, don't take it to heart. Your brother has always been fond of you. Even if he really scolded you, look at the state you're in now. Who knows, maybe he'll be even more heartbroken later on. Alright, lie down quickly, I'll go get some medicine. After taking the medicine and having dinner, sleep well for a while. Look at you, just one night's effort and you've lost weight. Your brother is really...such a lovely and delicate sister, yet he still dares to punish you."

  It's not that she doesn't know the meaning of ruthlessness, but after all, this was something she had brought upon herself. She was just very distressed, and the maid below, Zhou Mama, was also implicated, and she really felt guilty about it.

  Yu's warm words said: "Sister, don't be sad, those few maids of yours have all been given good medicine, and in three to five days, they will be lively again. It's you, sister, who needs to rest your legs for a few more days."

  After Yu left, I only felt that my whole body was heavy, sour and soft, and I couldn't muster up the energy. But I didn't pay attention to it, probably because I had been kneeling for too long. A good sleep would be fine.

  Digression

  Everyone can guess, who will be the owner of that mountain forest?