"Is everyone here?"
"Reporting to the princess, except for a stable boy who accidentally had a rib broken by a horse while feeding it a few days ago and is really unable to get out of bed. The rest have all arrived." After Wei Ju counted the number of people, he replied in a low voice.
"Then tell him to recuperate well. There's no need to deduct his monthly pay."
"This old servant thanks the princess on behalf of that boy."
...
"Princess, it's a busy time now. Please give your instructions quickly, princess. This old servant still has a lot of work to do."
Before Chu Qing could speak, an old woman suddenly said loudly. However, there was not the slightest bit of respect in her words.
Chu Qing cast a glance at Wei Ju. Wei Ju was startled by the coldness in Chu Qing's eyes. This kind of coldness that could cut through flesh and bone, he had only seen in their prince.
"Reporting to the princess, that old servant is the younger sister of the prince's former wet - nurse. Out of consideration for the wet - nurse, the prince took her younger sister in after her death. Usually, she does some light work."
Chu Qing nodded in understanding, then turned to tell Green Vine, "Green Vine, slap her ten times."
Green Vine was stunned at first, but quickly took the order and walked down.
Her mistress was also helping her establish authority among the servants, so as to prevent her from being underestimated on weekdays.
Green Vine understood Chu Qing's intention well. She held her head high and walked up to the old woman. With a wave of her hand, she slapped the old woman.
This slap left the originally arrogant old woman stunned.
Green Vine said coldly, "The princess hasn't said anything yet, but you dared to urge the princess. It's really disrespectful."
After saying that, Green Vine slapped the old woman several more times in succession.
After being slapped several times, the old woman finally came to her senses and started scolding, "You little bitch, you dare to beat me! Do you know who I am? I'm the prince's wet - nurse's younger sister!"
Green Vine looked back at Chu Qing, and Chu Qing motioned for her to continue.
With permission, Green Vine continued to slap the woman on both sides of her face.
The woman began to struggle, but unfortunately, she was old and had been lazy on weekdays. How could her strength compare to that of the young Green Vine?
Soon, ten slaps were done, and Green Vine walked back to Chu Qing's side.
Those who had been muttering with a bit of complaint before didn't even dare to breathe loudly now, for fear that Chu Qing would notice them.
Seeing that everyone in the courtyard was finally truly quiet, Chu Qing then slowly said, "Although you're the younger sister of the prince's wet - nurse, you're just a younger sister. It wasn't you who made contributions to the Ning Prince's Mansion. What right do you have to be so rude in front of this princess? The Ning Prince's Mansion doesn't keep idle people. If you think you can't do anything, you'd better leave the mansion earlier."
On weekdays, this old woman was used to throwing her weight around, and there were not a few people who had been bullied by her. Therefore, when Chu Qing ordered her to be slapped, some people were silently cheering in their hearts.
The old woman herself felt guilty. With a swollen face, she kept shouting that she would never dare again.
Her shrill voice annoyed Chu Qing, so she ordered the old woman to be pulled to one side and forbidden to shout anymore.
Chu Qing looked at everyone expressionlessly and continued calmly, "That was just a small episode. You don't need to take it to heart."
What followed was her real show!
Chu Qing looked at Wei Ju, and the latter understood. He had the few people who had been chatting in the garden earlier pulled out.
These people didn't know that Chu Qing had heard what they said, but due to their guilt, they lowered their heads and didn't dare to say a word.
Xu Xin, who had been standing on one side watching, was already stunned by Chu Qing's actions. Suddenly seeing that among the people pulled out, there was a rough maid from her own courtyard, she immediately said anxiously:
"Sister, what do you mean? They didn't speak out against you, did they?"
Chu Qing curled her lips and said indifferently:
"No, they didn't speak out against this princess. But what they did, why don't you let them tell it themselves."
Among the few people, the maid who had talked the most looked up when she heard this and seemed a bit aggrieved as she said:
"This servant doesn't know where she offended the princess! This servant has always been respectful to the princess and has never done anything disrespectful to the princess. This servant is wronged!"
Chu Qing casually glanced at the person who had spoken. She was indeed quite pretty.
However, she was too stupid. She even thought of leading everyone to think that Chu Qing was abusing her power.
Wei Ju's face looked very bad at this time. He said sternly:
"At Shenshi today, you gathered in the garden and gossiped about your masters behind their backs, ignoring the rules of the mansion. Do you know your crime?"
Those who had been trying to muddle through looked up in shock. After seeing Chu Qing's expression, they knew that she already knew everything. Immediately, they knelt down on the ground in a flurry and didn't dare to say a word.
The maid who had said she was wronged also knelt on the ground, but her eyes glanced at Green Vine. Seeing the latter looking at them with disgust, she thought it was Green Vine who had passed by, heard them, and then told Chu Qing. Gritting her teeth, she straightened her body and said loudly:
"This servant is wronged! I don't know which villain slandered this servant in front of the princess. She framed this servant! This servant requests the princess to name that person so that this servant can confront her face - to - face!"
Seeing that the other party was still being stubborn, Chu Qing couldn't help but laugh.
"Do you mean that I slandered you in front of the princess?" Wei Ju looked at the other party's refusal to admit and laughed out of anger.
The maid was completely stunned. She never thought that it was the steward himself who had heard them.
Knowing that she couldn't say any more, she could only lower her head with a look of regret.
She thought that it was just being slapped, and she could bear it.
But in the future! She couldn't let go of the humiliation she had suffered like this!
Seeing the venom in the other party's eyes before she lowered her head, Chu Qing raised her eyebrows and said calmly:
"Steward, according to the rules of the mansion, how should servants who gossip about their masters behind their backs and then refuse to admit it be punished?"
"Reporting to the princess, they should be punished with twenty strokes of the rod and then driven out of the mansion."
Chu Qing lowered her eyes and smiled. This smile stunned everyone.
Their princess was truly extremely beautiful.
"This princess is talking about the rules of the Ning Prince's Mansion, not the rules of other mansions."
Chu Qing stopped smiling. She had heard about the prince of Ning's methods, so the rules of this mansion must be different from those of other mansions. It seemed that everyone, including the steward, had almost forgotten the real rules of the Ning Prince's Mansion.
Wei Ju was stunned and looked at Chu Qing in surprise.
He originally thought that the princess would think that driving the people out of the mansion was enough.
However, when he saw Chu Qing's expression, he saw the shadow of the prince again.
It was even colder than before. This time, it was a sharp killing intent.
He was wrong. He shouldn't have thought that his own princess was as soft - hearted as other women.
Immediately afterwards, Wei Ju's aura suddenly changed. He stood even more upright than before, and his voice was several degrees colder.
"Anyone who dares to gossip about their masters behind their backs will, at the least, be punished with fifty strokes of the rod and driven out of the mansion. In serious cases..."
If the least serious cases were punished with fifty strokes of the rod, then would the serious cases be punished with double?
Everyone trembled and didn't dare to make a sound, but their ears were all pricked up, listening carefully to the punishment for the serious cases.
Wei Ju couldn't help but curl his lips along with Chu Qing. He thought that the people in the mansion really needed to see some blood.
"In serious cases, they will be beaten to death with a rod, and their bodies will be disposed of in the mass grave."