Hearing this, Caiyu was silent for a moment.
From Song Yinghuai's words, it seemed that he had recognized her disguise. If she tried to defend herself further at this moment, it would only anger him more.
So she might as well just keep silent!
Seeing her silent and unwilling to defend herself, Song Yinghuai just felt that the pent - up anger in his heart was hard to let out.
"If everyone were like you, solving things privately whenever something happened, easily hurting others or even harming themselves, where would the rules of the Prince Yan's Mansion be?"
"If someone were to follow your example in the future, beating others or even killing them when they thought something was unfair, wouldn't my mansion be in complete chaos?"
"If such a trend spread in Yanjing and even the whole Daye, the law would no longer be the law, and how could the country still be a country?"
This was going too far!
Caiyu quickly looked up, wanting to say something, but then she noticed that Song Yinghuai's face was as cold as frost and snow on the mountaintop, exuding a bone - chilling coldness.
Although Song Yinghuai usually had a cold face, rarely showing his emotions, this was the first time he had shown such cold severity in front of Caiyu.
It made Caiyu's heart skip a beat.
Although he didn't clearly point out what she had done, his words made it quite obvious.
He had guessed her little tricks!
Caiyu took a deep breath and thought to herself: Maybe it was better to admit her mistake than to argue stubbornly at this moment.
She silently lowered her head and said, "Your Highness is right. It's our maids who are short - sighted. We shouldn't have fought privately and annoyed our master. Please punish us, Your Highness."
Hearing Song Yinghuai speak so seriously, Bailu and the others showed ecstatic expressions on their faces.
It seemed that the master was going to expel this lawless maid from the mansion!
The old princess had long told them to keep an eye on Caiyu at all times and find a way to make Caiyu anger the master so that she could be sold off!
Could it be that they were going to succeed so easily?
Song Yinghuai saw the expressions on Bailu and the others' faces and calmly twirled the Buddhist beads in his hand.
"It's good that you know your mistake. According to the rules, you should be beaten with a cane and sold off. But I've always been lenient towards the people in the mansion. Considering that this is your first mistake, I'll punish you to copy the Heart Sutra of the Prajna Paramita a hundred times to get rid of the hostility in your heart."
Caiyu felt a slight sense of relief in her heart.
This punishment was much easier than kneeling.
Caiyu lowered her eyelids, secretly delighted, and quickly kowtowed. "Yes, I'll go right away, maid."
"Wait." Song Yinghuai called her back.
Caiyu turned around and looked at him in confusion.
Song Yinghuai tightened his grip on the Buddhist beads in his hand and sneered inwardly.
Don't think he didn't see the fleeting look of delight on this girl's face just now. Maybe the punishment was too light for her?
With a sneer on his lips, he slowly said, "Is there writing brush, ink, paper, inkstone and a desk in your back room?"
Caiyu replied blankly, "No."
How could there be the Four Treasures of the Study and a writing desk in a servant's room?
"Go and copy it in the side hall of the bedroom," Song Yinghuai ordered. "Kneel and copy! Don't get up until you've copied it a hundred times. Start tonight!"
Kneeling and copying...
And not allowed to sleep until it was finished...
Caiyu immediately felt a faint pain in her knees.
But the next moment, she got excited again. Did he mean that she would stay in the side hall until she finished copying?
She had been thinking about how to pester him and find a chance to be with Song Yinghuai in the side hall. Unexpectedly, it was so easy!
Caiyu quickly responded again, "Yes!"
This time, the joy in her voice was obvious to anyone.
Song Yinghuai's eyebrows twitched. He always felt that he had made a wrong decision.
Bailu stared at Caiyu's departing back in shock. Anger and jealousy welled up in her heart. "Your Highness, is this all the punishment for her? Maid, maid..."
If this could be considered a punishment, she would rather be punished herself!
She also wanted to stay in the side hall tonight!
"Hmm?"
Song Yinghuai was in a bad mood. He let out a soft grunt from his nose and raised his eyebrows.
Bailu gritted her teeth. "Your Highness, I also made a mistake today. I relied on my sore legs and asked Caiyu to give up her room. It's my fault. Please punish me too, Your Highness!"
"Or... can I go and copy the scriptures with Caiyu?"
Bailu looked at Song Yinghuai shyly, her heart pounding.
He was like a noble jade tree, with a cold and imposing demeanor, and a face as red as cinnabar.
Song Yinghuai lowered his head slightly and met Bailu's shy eyes. Then a cold smile appeared on his lips.
"Rarely do you take the initiative to admit your mistake and ask for punishment. I saw that you girls got cold tonight, so I didn't plan to punish you originally..."
"Your Highness, we beg for punishment," Bailu and the others were eager to show themselves.
"I'm also willing to copy the scriptures," Bailu said shyly.
Han Fen twitched the corner of his mouth and rubbed his forehead.
He was 25 years old, and this was the first time he had ever seen such a stupid woman who rushed to ask for punishment.
Did she think the master was equally kind to every woman?
Sure enough, Song Yinghuai nodded with a smile. "There's no need to copy the scriptures. Since you girls want to be punished, go and clean up all the dirt in the covered corridor. Also, remove all the traps and wires set up by Caiyu."
"Ah?" Bailu was stunned. "Clean... clean the yard..."
Why wasn't it to copy the scriptures?
Song Yinghuai nodded. His aura suddenly became cold and severe. All his gentleness disappeared, and his face was stern.
"You must restore everything to its original state. If there's the slightest difference, I'll hold you accountable."
Song Yinghuai's appearance made Bailu and the others shiver with cold. They trembled and quickly agreed.
It was a long time after he left that Bailu and the others slowly got up and looked at each other.
Huaping blinked her eyes and said with a mournful face, "Sister Bailu, won't we be able to sleep tonight..."
Bailu was furious. "Sleep? The master wants us to clean the yard. Hurry up and get to work!"
She was almost crazy.
She hadn't managed to defeat Caiyu, but instead got covered in dirty water. Now she even had to clean up Caiyu's mess!
Caiyu couldn't sleep, and it turned out they couldn't either!
Aaaaah!
She was so angry!
After Song Yinghuai returned from the Pure Spring, Han Fen stepped forward and presented the Buddhist robe on the tray. "Your Highness."
Song Yinghuai took the Buddhist robe and loosely put it on, revealing a strong chest with a wheat - colored complexion. "Have the traps been repaired?"
"General Zhu has gone to repair them," Han Fen replied. "It's all that Miss Caiyu's fault. She pulled General Zhu out of bed in the middle of the night."
Zhu Xiao was one of the five fierce generals under Song Yinghuai. The other four had already gotten married, but only Zhu Xiao was still single.
So he lived in the Prince Yan's Mansion. During the day, he went to the Five Armies Camp to drill the troops, and at night he came back to the mansion to have dinner.
When Han Fen mentioned Caiyu, he wanted to complain a bit.
Song Yinghuai gave him a cold look. "Where's Caiyu?"
Han Fen was startled by Song Yinghuai's cold look. He didn't dare to complain anymore and respectfully replied, "When I left the bedroom, I saw her still kneeling in front of the desk copying the scriptures."
Only then did Song Yinghuai's expression soften a bit. "She's quite obedient."
"Who's obedient?" Just as he was speaking, Zhu Xiao swaggered over. Seeing the pot of Yu Ye Chang Qing tea in Han Fen's hand, he immediately reached out for a cup.
Han Fen quickly dodged. "General Zhu, this is for the master. Don't be presumptuous!"
Zhu Xiao said indifferently, "You kid, don't you see that the master asked you to prepare two teacups? One is clearly for me... You're so unobservant. No wonder the master gave you a cold look just now!"
Han Fen was angry. "You..."
Zhu Xiao looked like a big bear, but his movements were not clumsy at all. He nimbly snatched the cup from Han Fen's hand. "Give it to me!"
Han Fen was in a hurry and almost dropped the tray in his hand.
"Let him drink," Song Yinghuai said and told Han Fen to put the tea back on the stone table.