Her guards

Chapter 105 Ling Yu's Obstruction

After all, she's a girl, so it's normal for her to feel ashamed and cover her face when a man sees her in such a disheveled state.

Mo Zheng's actions went unnoticed by the others.

Everyone else is now looking at Ling Yu, who is standing in the hall.

Ling Yu was still looking at the girl who was accompanying her to school.

Although her face was pale, her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were a little messy, there was no blood from her mouth or nose, and no signs of being beaten on her face.

Compared to the palace woman next to her, whose face was covered in blood and whose buttocks were oozing blood, she was completely unharmed.

Ling Yu breathed a sigh of relief, then shook her head.

I already knew that Ah Sheng's cousin was dull and clumsy, and it turns out that his wife is just as dull and clumsy.

Why did it take you so long to find us!
He should have been called as soon as it happened!
That way, you won't have to endure these frights.

"Dr. Ling," the Empress said sternly again, "I'm asking you a question!"

Ling Yu then looked at the Empress and bowed respectfully.

“Your Majesty is mistaken,” he said, straightening up again. “I am appointed by His Majesty as a Doctor of the Five Classics and a disciple of the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. I can go anywhere in the Imperial Academy. Besides, Your Majesty is dealing with a disciple of the Imperial Academy.”

The Empress chuckled: "What kind of disciple is she from the Imperial Academy?"

“I took the entrance exam for the National Academy and attended the lectures of the Chancellor,” Ling Yu said in a deep voice. “How can that not count?”

The Empress looked at the young scholar, then at the instructors standing in the hall whose expressions were hardly respectful...

Scholars who have lived through turbulent times naturally possess an air of arrogance.

Especially since the chief priest Wang Zaitian dared to curse and swear in front of the emperor, the disciples he trained must also be no pushovers.

“Then let me put it another way,” the Queen said. “My daughter has been harmed. Can’t I hold the perpetrator accountable?”

Ling Yu looked at the palace woman on the ground, trembling and seemingly unconscious from being beaten, and then at the cane that had been taken away.

“Your Majesty, this is torture and forced confession, it’s an act of venting your anger,” he said, pointing to the Mingde plaque hanging behind him. “If Your Majesty truly wants to care for the princess, please set aside your personal grievances and investigate.”

Personal resentment.

The empress clenched her fists on her knees.

Does even this young scholar know about her past humiliation?
"Very well." The Empress stood up. "Your Imperial Academy, a sacred place, cannot tolerate such private matters. I will go to the prison to investigate."

He shouted as he spoke.

"Take people away."

The palace maids and eunuchs reacted and hurriedly tried to grab the palace maids and girls lying on the ground, but Ling Yu stopped them again.

"The incident occurred at the National Academy, and the person is a disciple of the National Academy. Before the matter is thoroughly investigated, Your Majesty cannot take the person away."

As he spoke, the instructors once again surrounded the palace women and eunuchs.

The Empress laughed in exasperation, her gaze falling on the girl who was obscured on the ground.

To say she was venting her personal anger, she hadn't even laid a single slap or a stick on the young lady of the Yang family since she came in.

Her expression was somewhat dazed, just like before, when that woman from the Yang family humiliated and cursed her, yet she couldn't even land a slap on her face, because the emperor blocked it firmly—

The Empress's face darkened.

"Imperial Guards!" she shouted.

The guards who had been surrounding the school immediately rushed in, instantly surrounding Ling Yu and the instructors, and drawing their swords.

"I must take the suspect away today," the Empress said.

Ling Yu did not retreat but instead stepped forward to stand among the guards at the very front: "Then today, the Empress will have them step over my corpse first."

The atmosphere inside and outside the schoolroom froze instantly.

Yang Luo, standing outside the school, clenched her fists, while Jiang Rui, who was still standing beside her, grabbed her arm again.

The other female companions also held their breath, and many of them shed tears again.

Are we going to see bloodshed at the Academy of Chinese Studies today?
"Mother."

A woman's voice broke the silence.

The girls who accompanied the princess instantly recognized it as Princess Heisei's voice, and they couldn't help but tiptoe to look inside.

After her face was injured and bleeding, Princess Heisei was immediately helped away by the palace maids and has not come out since. Her condition is unknown.

Unfortunately, there were too many people in the school, blocking their view, so the young ladies who accompanied the students could not see Princess Heisei.

Standing inside the school, he could see it, but Ling Yu didn't look. He only stared at the weapons of the imperial guards in front of him, and heard Princess Heisei's voice coming from behind him again. "Mother, please calm down." Princess Heisei stepped forward, her voice pleading.

Perhaps not wanting her daughter to see her mother so hysterical, the Queen's tense shoulders slumped.

Princess Heicheng quickly stepped forward to help her up: "Mother, please sit down first, I will ask."

The empress remained silent.

Princess Heisei straightened up and gestured to the guards.

"Step back first."

The guards retreated to both sides.

Princess Heisei walked over a few steps and looked at Ling Yu: "Brother Ling."

Calling them "senior brother" instead of "doctor" is a response to Ling Yu's earlier statement that they are also disciples of the National Academy.

Ling Yu then looked at her and nodded slightly: "Princess."

His gaze immediately fell on Princess Heisei's face.

When the people in the hall saw Princess Heisei enter, they immediately lowered their eyes upon seeing the bloodstain on her cheek.

I can't bear to look at the princess whose face is disfigured.

Ling Yu's actions were somewhat offensive, but Princess Heisei was neither angry nor did she try to avoid him, allowing Ling Yu to scrutinize her face.

“Princess…” Ling Yu looked at Princess Heisei’s face with surprise, “Your face…”

Princess Heisei nodded and continued his words: "My face is not injured."

No injuries?

The atmosphere inside and outside the schoolroom fell silent once again.

Yang Luo and Jiang Rui exchanged a glance, seeing the shock and joy on each other's faces.

The other companion girls also rushed forward, but unfortunately they still couldn't see what was going on inside.

The students in the school all looked up and saw Princess Heisei wipe her face, removing the smeared rouge and revealing her fair cheeks.

Princess Heisei spread out her hands, which were covered in bright red blood.

“This is paint and Miss Yang’s blood,” she said, then looked at the girl lying on the ground. “Miss Yang, please get up.”

Mo Zheng, who was on the ground with her head covered by her sleeve, responded with a "yes," slowly knelt down, and then stood up.

She kept her head down, seemingly unable to meet the gazes that were gathering around her.

Princess Heisei looked at the palace women on the ground, who were also looking at them in disbelief, trembling even more violently.

“When you handed the paintbrush to Yang Luo, she sensed something was wrong,” Princess Heicheng said. “She didn’t expose you on the spot, but instead played along, to see what you were up to, or rather, to see what you were planning to do…”

When she spoke of "you," Princess Heisei looked at a palace maid standing to the side.

The palace woman's face turned deathly pale.

She was the palace maid who had previously distributed writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. She was also the one who bumped into "Yang Luo" and fell towards Princess Heicheng together with "Yang Luo".

Unlike the palace maids who provided the paintbrushes, Wu, the palace maid, was personally selected by the Empress to take care of Princess Heisei.

Because it was Yang Luo who harmed the princess with a paintbrush that concealed a thin blade, she was not held accountable. She was filled with remorse and knelt outside the princess's door. When the empress arrived, she was called up and helped everyone with their work.

When she heard Princess Heisei say that she was not injured, she was stunned. When Princess Heisei called out "Yang Luo" and looked at her, Wu Gongfu's legs went weak and she knelt down with a thud.

……

.......
"...When she fell, Miss Yang felt the palace maid deliberately press her hand towards Princess Heisei's face..."

"...But before that, Miss Yang had already cut her palm with a paintbrush that concealed a thin blade. As she fell, she hid the paintbrush in her sleeve and then pressed her bleeding hand against the princess's face..."

"...Then, taking advantage of the chaos, they smeared the spilled paint on the princess's neck and clothes, creating the illusion that the princess was injured."

Inside the swaying carriage, the guards who had come back from gathering intelligence at the Imperial Academy spoke in hushed tones.

Upon hearing this, the emperor breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense face relaxed.

Thank goodness, Heisei's face wasn't actually injured.

The emperor's expression became complicated again.

Miss Yang did not actually cause a major disaster.

(End of this chapter)