Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Slap

The next day, when Yun Si woke up, the memories of last night gradually returned, and she was still a little dazed.

What exactly had Tan Yuanchu come to do yesterday?

Just to tell her that Qi Guipin would be moving out of the main hall of the Changchun Palace?

Yun Si felt puzzled, especially when she thought of what Tan Yuanchu had done at the end of last night. She bit her teeth in annoyance and, facing Qiu Yuan’s curious look, asked, “When did His Majesty come yesterday?”

Since Qiu Yuan hadn’t been on night duty last night, she knew nothing about His Majesty’s late-night visit. When she saw the Emperor today, she had been stunned for a moment.

Yun Si was momentarily choked for words and didn’t answer right away.

Seeing this, Qiu Yuan tactfully didn’t press the question further.

After paying her morning respects, Yun Si learned that people from the Central Province Hall had already gone to the Changchun Palace. The Changchun Palace wasn’t far from the Imperial Garden, and by the time her entourage reached the garden, Yun Si could see a group of concubines standing there, speaking in low voices in the direction of the Changchun Palace.

Yun Si also stepped down from her sedan, not missing out on this commotion.

Qiu Baolin was there as well. She bowed to Yun Si, who told her to rise, slightly lifting her brows in puzzlement. “What’s going on here?”

The two stood side by side not far from the scene. When they drew closer, they heard a voice from inside the Changchun Palace exclaim in disbelief.

“Impossible—!”

Both Yun Si and Qiu Baolin recognized it as Qi Guipin’s voice.

Qiu Baolin shot Yun Jieyu a discreet glance. She knew that yesterday the Emperor had gone to Panju Hall, and today the Central Province Hall had come to the Changchun Palace, no one would believe there was no connection between the two events.

Retracting her gaze, Qiu Baolin, who had arrived earlier than Yun Si because Yun Si had been delayed at Kunning Palace, had already found out the situation.

She leaned in to explain softly, “Qi Guipin doesn’t believe His Majesty would make her move out of the main hall of the Changchun Palace, so she’s scolding the people from the Central Province Hall for their outrageous boldness.”

But what was bold about following palace rules?

Yun Si lifted her eyes slightly and said slowly, “She has a little princess under her care, of course she has confidence.”

Even after being demoted to fourth-rank Guipin, she could still live in the main hall with righteous assurance, convinced His Majesty would never make her move.

Inside the Changchun Palace, other concubines also resided. One had been watching the commotion, which in turn drew more and more people.

Yun Si made no effort to avoid the scene and walked straight to the doorway. The surrounding concubines, seeing her, hurriedly made way for her. As soon as she arrived, she saw Qi Guipin angrily slap Xiao Rongzi across the face.

A crisp sound rang out.

A red mark immediately appeared on Xiao Rongzi’s cheek.
His head was knocked to the side, and he raised a hand to cover his face.

Yun Si’s expression chilled slightly between her brows and eyes.

She wasn’t actually surprised to see Xiao Rongzi here.
Eunuch Liu had been deliberately training him, and most matters were now handled by Xiao Rongzi personally.

Moreover, Xiao Rongzi was entirely on her side. Knowing that Qi Guipin was at odds with her, he would naturally want to personally cause her trouble.

Qiu Baolin’s gaze flickered, she recognized Xiao Rongzi. Back when they were in the Heyi Hall, she had seen him several times.

Qi Guipin also saw Yun Si. She felt a little embarrassed but had no time to care about her. She said coldly to Xiao Rongzi, “Now. Immediately. Get out!”

Xiao Rongzi kept one hand over his face, his head lowered. His tone remained neither servile nor overbearing, and he didn’t give an inch. “Qi Guipin, please don’t make things difficult for us. We are carrying out orders, and I must beg to be excused from obeying yours.”

It was rare for Qi Guipin to taste the feeling of being driven to fury.

There was no way she could move out of the main hall. She knew very well what it would mean once she did.

The little princess would at least not return to her side in the short term.

The little princess was still young, if she was away from her for too long, would she grow distant from her?

Qi Guipin didn’t dare imagine such an outcome.

She could only point forcefully toward the palace gate again, her teeth clenched. “Out!”

Tong Yun tried to pull Qi Guipin back to calm her down, but was pushed aside. Not listening to her, Tong Yun called out anxiously in a low voice,

“Mistress!”

Qi Guipin turned a cold gaze on her. Normally she might listen to Tong Yun’s advice to stay calm, but in a situation like today’s, she absolutely could not take a step back.

Xiao Rongzi watched this exchange between master and servant without being moved in the least, but when his peripheral vision caught sight of Yun Si at the palace doorway, he stepped back and bowed toward her.

“Greetings to Yun Jieyu.”

The attendants from the Central Province Hall hurriedly saluted.

Yun Si saw Qi Guipin glance over at her, as if afraid she might stir up trouble, and spoke to her coldly,

“The affairs of Changchun Palace seem to have nothing to do with Yun Jieyu. Someone, escort them out!”

Yun Si had always liked to make things difficult for her.
Hearing this, she arched a brow and replied in an innocent tone, “Listen to what Qi Guipjn is saying. The Central Province Hall is simply following palace rules. You may block them for a while, but can you block them for a lifetime?”

Qi Guipin’s eyes turned icy cold. Yun Si was that certain she would be moved out of the main hall?

She snapped angrily, “Even so, it’s not your place to kick me when I’m down!”

Yun Si let out a light laugh. Half-reclining against Qiu Yuan, she spoke lazily, “I can’t be bothered with you. I only have some matters I need the Central Province Hall to handle for me. If you keep making a scene here, aren’t you just delaying their time to do my work?”

Xiao Rongzi quietly waited for his “sister” Yun Si to clash with Qi Guipin.
Then he heard her say to him, “What are you still dawdling for? If you wait any longer, it will be midday.”

Xiao Rongzi understood immediately. He turned his gaze to Qi Guipin. “Please forgive us, Mistress, for our discourtesy.”

Qi Guipin suddenly realized something.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Xiao Rongzi didn’t even look at her and instead ordered the attendants from the Central Province Hall. “Hurry up and move everything out. Any later and Qi Guipin will have nowhere to rest for the night.”

A simple sentence, yet it carried an unspoken and cutting mockery.

Qi Guipin caught the meaning in his words. If she kept blocking them, the only one wasting time would be herself, and the palace, she knew, she would have to move out of no matter what!

No matter how much she wanted to resist, she was powerless. The attendants of Changchun Palace were silenced under the phrase “acting under imperial orders” and could only watch helplessly as the people from the Central Province Hall carried out everything from the hall, not daring to utter a sound.

Seeing that there was no turning back, Qi Guipin staggered a step backward, her body unsteady. In a daze, she murmured,

“How could this be…”

“Insolent… outrageous!”

No one was listening to her. The surrounding concubines looked on with a trace of unease. When you are in favor, the servants are endlessly respectful; but once you fall from grace, they are the first to let you taste the coldness of the world.

Qi Guipin suddenly turned to Yun Si, her eyes bloodshot. Thinking of how the Emperor had gone to Panju Hall the night before, she became convinced it was all Yun Si’s instigation.

“It’s all you!”

“All your fault! You’re the one who urged His Majesty!”

She rushed straight at Yun Si, impulsively forgetting the difference in their ranks, raising her arm high as if to strike her.

Xiao Rongzi caught sight of this from the corner of his eye, his face changing drastically.

But before he could step forward to stop her, everything suddenly froze, around them, startled cries rang out.

Someone screamed miserably and fell to the ground in disarray. Yun Si’s hand, still outstretched, had not yet withdrawn.
She hadn’t let Qiu Yuan block for her, nor had she dodged at all. She had met Qi Guipin head-on, and the force had been so great that there was still a trace of redness at her fingertips.

Qi Guipin covered her burning cheek, looking up at Yun Si in disbelief.

“You… you actually dared to hit me?!”

She had been married into the Prince’s Mansion for nearly eight years, and never before had anyone dared to humiliate her like this!

Yun Si looked down at her from above, a thin, icy chill in her gaze. She seemed to find it amusing, the corners of her lips curling in a faint sneer.

“I hit you, and so what? What’s there not to dare?”

Back when she was just a servant in the Yangxin Hall, she had dared to touch Rong Zhaoyi’s precious lotus flower, now that she was a Jieyu, how could she not dare to slap a Guipin?

Qi Guipin stared in shock at the coldness in Yun Si’s eyes, and in that instant she finally realized, their positions had long since reversed.

Once, she and Yun Si had argued over rank and status.

Now, in terms of position, Yun Si was the exalted one, and she was the lowly.

Forced into this awareness, Qi Guipin’s eyes grew bloodshot. Tong Yun rushed over to stand in front of her, while the surrounding concubines and attendants were all startled. Qiu Baolin also looked at Yun Jieyu in shock, since she had entered the palace, she had never seen Qi Guipin in such a wretched state.

But it was not over yet. Yun Si lowered her gaze to the fallen Qi Guipin and gave a cold order,

“Qi Guipin disregards rank and dares to strike upward in status. Someone, slap her.”

Qi Guipin never expected Yun Si would not only dare to hit her, but would push things even further. She lifted her head sharply, voice rising,

“Yun Si, how dare you!”

Yun Si’s expression did not shift in the slightest. Her voice was cold. “Slap her.”

Qiu Yuan released Yun Si, stepped forward, and with perfect propriety gave a slight bow:

“Forgive me, Qi Guipin.”

Before Qi Guipin could speak, her hand swung out and landed a slap directly across the consort’s face, cutting off her shouting.

The slap rang out crisply.

Qiu Yuan did not hesitate for a moment.

This slap wasn’t even as hard as the one Yun Si had given earlier, but it made the onlookers shiver. They watched, hearts pounding, as Qi Guipin tried to struggle, only to be pinned down by attendants. Qiu Yuan’s slaps fell, one after another, at a steady pace.

The onlookers swallowed hard and glanced at Yun Jieyu, only to see her calmly watching Qi Guipin being punished.

In that moment, the assembled concubines suddenly realized that from the day Yun Si had gained her rank, the balance of power in the palace had already begun to shift in subtle ways, only today did they truly see it clearly.

Qi Guipin was held down by the attendants, kneeling on the floor in utter disarray. Provoked past her limits, she seemed to lose all reason, still cursing Yun Si without recognizing the reality of the situation.
But when she saw Tong Yun kneeling and repeatedly kowtowing to Yun Si in pleading, her tear ducts could no longer hold back; her insults faltered and fell silent.

No one knew how many slaps Qi Guipin had received by the time Yun Si finally called a halt.

Yun Si stepped forward until she stood right before Qi Guipin. The punishment had been harsh, there was blood at the corner of her mouth. Meeting the hatred in Qi Guipin’s eyes, Yun Si was not the least bit surprised.

It would be strange if Qi Guipin didn’t hate her.

She thought of the day Lu Cairen had died, when she had pulled her from the bottom of the lake, no one knew what she had truly been thinking.

Even Yun Si herself could no longer remember clearly.

But she still remembered that after being rescued, when she had regained consciousness, she had knelt on the ground, knocking her head against the cobblestones over and over, begging Tan Yuanchu to give justice to Lu Pin, the pain in her forehead, and the sensation of warm blood trickling down her cheek, she remembered to this day.

Was Qi Guipin’s wretchedness now worse than hers had been then?

Qi Guipin had been far too eager to eliminate her.

Otherwise, on the day Yang Jieyu had been burned to death, Yun Si would never have caught the telltale signs in Qi Guipin’s behavior, and learned who had truly been scheming against her.

Qi Guipin had once wanted to expose that it was Yun Si who had killed Lu Pin, but had she forgotten that it was she herself who had forced Yun Si to kill her former mistress?