With her delicate face and slender waist, the royal uncle lost control.

Yun Chengming was straightforward and didn't bother with any unnecessary words.

Yun Nian raised her head, her expression calm: "I am incompetent. Prince Ningxiang is very wary, and his study is heavily guarded. I cannot get close to him for the time being."

"I don't think you're incompetent; you just haven't tried at all!"

Yun Chengming slammed his hand on the armrest, his voice suddenly rising, "You have no regard for the Yun family, no regard for me as your father!"

Yun Nian found these words utterly absurd.

When did the Yun family ever have a daughter named Yun Nian?

She was neglected and used since childhood, and now she is expected to be grateful and work for the Yun family's ambitions?

But she remained calm: "Father, please calm down. I have indeed tried my best. However, Prince Ningxiang is a cautious man, and this matter needs to be considered carefully."

"Should we take a longer-term view?"

Yun Tao sneered from the side, "Yun Nian, don't be ungrateful. Without the Prime Minister's mansion, how could you have grown up? You don't even have a heart of gratitude, do you even deserve the surname Yun?"

He turned to Yun Chengming, adding fuel to the fire: "Father, I think she should be punished properly so she knows who she should serve."

Yun Chengming looked at his daughter kneeling on the ground, his eyes filled with no pity, only calculation and resentment.

He knew that Yun Nian was about to marry into the Ningxiang Prince's Mansion, and that she was a pawn he had been planning for a long time.

If we don't tame this brat now, wouldn't all these years of planning be for nothing?

What's the use of keeping a disobedient pawn?

"Someone come here."

Yun Chengming coldly said, "Have her treated according to the family rules. Give her twenty strokes of the cane until she recognizes her own identity and understands who she should serve."

Yun Nian's heart sank.

That old scoundrel Yun Chengming is so vicious.

She had hoped to stall for as long as possible, but she hadn't expected this person to be so impatient, giving her no chance to catch her breath.

Twenty strokes of the rod would take away half your life, even if you didn't die.

Moreover, she is only just recovering from her injuries and her body has not yet fully recovered...

Several burly female servants entered the ancestral hall with canes in hand and stood expressionless on either side of Yun Nian.

"Father!"

Yun Nian raised her head, her voice earnest, "Please give your daughter another chance. I will do my utmost to share your burdens!"

Yun Chengming snorted coldly: "It's too late to say all this now. That person has already found a way to get the list himself. I've already lost the initiative over him, and I have to swallow this!"

He was already furious, and today in the palace, that person's words implied that he was incompetent and couldn't even control his own daughter.

He was the prime minister of the country; how could he have ever suffered such humiliation?

"Useless people have no right to plead for mercy."

A ruthless glint flashed in Yun Chengming's eyes. "Beat them! Give them a good beating!"

Two maids immediately stepped forward, one on each side, and pressed Yun Nian's shoulders down to the ground.

The third maidservant raised the heavy rod and swung it down without hesitation.

She gritted her teeth, not fully prepared, when the heavy rod, accompanied by a whooshing sound, struck her waist and hips hard.

"Snapped!"

A dull thud rang out, followed by a tearing pain that shot through the entire body.

Like molten iron suddenly splashed onto the skin and flesh, it then seeps deep into the bone marrow.

Yun Nian's vision went black, and she almost fainted. A short, painful groan escaped her throat.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

The cane struck relentlessly, one blow after another, solid and brutal, on the same area.

Yun Nian felt as if her lower body was being roasted on a raging fire, or as if it were being repeatedly pounded by a heavy hammer.

She gripped the crack in the ground tightly, barely managing to stifle more screams deep in her throat.

Yun Duantao strolled over leisurely, squatted down, and spoke slowly and sarcasticly: "Sister Nian'er, are you still feeling the effects of this beating? You must remember every word of Father's words, so that you won't suffer such physical pain again next time."

It was clearly a feigned expression of regret, and his eyes were full of mockery and glee.

Yun Nian's ears were ringing, her vision was going black, and her consciousness was being tossed about by waves of excruciating pain.

After an unknown amount of time, the execution finally ended.

Yun Nian collapsed to the ground.

Her lower back was numb and covered in blood and gore, followed by a sharper pain that made her tremble uncontrollably and breathe weakly.

Yun Chengming sat high above, coldly looking down at the dying Yun Nian, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

"Think carefully about what you should do in the future. I hope this punishment will teach you a lesson."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Once Yun Chengming left, Yun Duantao stopped bothering to feign concern.

He crouched down, extended two fingers, and flippantly lifted Yun Nian's sweaty chin, forcing her to look at him.

The slippery touch from his fingertips darkened his eyes.

"Sister Nian'er,"

He leaned closer, his voice carrying a nauseating intimacy, "Look at you, so beautiful, and now you look like this, it breaks my heart."

Yun Nian was in excruciating pain and her mind was scattered, yet she was still chilled by the sticky, cloying tone in his words.

Yun Duantao's fingers slid from her chin to her pale cheek.

"This ancestral hall is cold and damp, and the ground is hard. It's not a good place to recover from injuries. Why don't you come to my room to recover? It's warm there, and I have all the medicine. I'll take good care of you."

Yun Nian stared in surprise.

Yun Duantao's once handsome face was now filled with undisguised greed and evil thoughts.

Her heart clenched, and she used all her strength to turn her head away from his touch. "No...no need, brother. Qiluo...will take care of me."

"Qiluo?"

Yun Duantao scoffed, "What good is a clumsy girl?"

Ignoring Yun Nian's weak refusal, he stood up and loudly ordered, "Someone! Invite the young lady to my courtyard. Be careful, she is seriously injured and I will take care of her personally."

"No……"

Alarm bells rang loudly in Yun Nian's heart.

The intense panic overwhelmed the physical pain.

In her previous life, although she was always uncomfortable with the way Yun Duantao looked at her, she vaguely felt that something was off.

However, she married into the Ningxiang Prince's mansion shortly after her coming-of-age ceremony, and had little contact with her elder brother, so she did not think much of it.

Could it be... that Yun Duantao harbors such vile and despicable thoughts towards her?!