Chapter 52
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When Guo Shen heard that Lu Wang was personally demanding Bai Yucong, he was sitting in the east wing of the mansion, feeling quite ashamed of Li Di.
As soon as he received the news, he jumped up and hurried out.
On his way, he waved at passing palace attendants like a gust of wind and sent people to quickly inform the Minister of Personnel.
Although Guo Shen had already heard the details of the situation on his way here, he was still shocked when he arrived.
Yin Wang was being held down by the imperial guards, while Dian Nan Wang Shizi was holding a weapon to threaten Lu Wang.
How did it get to this point!
Guo Shen angrily shouted, “Release them all! Back off!”
The imperial guards released Yin Wang first and retreated to the side.
Zhao Yuan almost threw his weapon at the same time. Before everyone could see clearly, he had already reached Li Yi’s side and reached out to check if Li Yi had been injured.
Li Yi stopped Zhao Yuan from investigating his hand and didn’t speak, his gaze fixed on Zhao Yuan, staring at him from the waist down, reflecting only mottled bloodstains.
Zhao Yuan grabbed Li Yi’s hand and turned around to prevent him from looking, saying, “It’s okay, just a superficial wound.”
Lu Wang had already been helped up by someone on the other side. He was still in shock and began to cry out loudly.
Guo Shen was annoyed and stopped him with a single sentence.
“Your Highness, do you think you haven’t embarrassed yourself enough?”
At this point, the Minister of Personnel finally arrived.
Guo Shen asked the three of them to explain what had happened again. Since so many people had witnessed it, Li Di didn’t dare to say too much and just kept staring at Zhao Yuan and Li Yi.
In Guo Shen’s mind, Li Yi was always the Crown Grandson. He was still mourning the deaths of Emperor Guanghua and the Crown Prince, and now someone was trying to bully those who couldn’t protect themselves.
“Minister of Personnel, what kind of school rules have been violated by administering corporal punishment to a fellow student?”
The Minister of Personnel was taken aback. Guo Shen had jumped to the conclusion of corporal punishment right from the start, and the nature of the matter was quite different.
If they really discussed it in detail, there had never been such a thing since the opening of Pan Palace in the Qing Dynasty. There had been fights and serious injuries, and even cases of administering corporal punishment outside Pan Palace, however, no one had ever dared to administer corporal punishment to a fellow student under the noses of the teachers and elders in Pan Palace.
If such a thing really happened and the news reached the higher authorities, stripping off titles and exiling for a lifetime would be the least of the punishments.
But now the situation was particularly complex. The new emperor succeeded the throne under such circumstances. The newly appointed prince confronts the former emperor’s grandson, and there is also a Shizi in the middle.
This is not an easy situation to resolve.
After some thought, the official felt it would be best to follow the rules. It’s the responsibility of the chief official to decide the punishment for this kind of situation. It’s not his job.
“There has never been a precedent of private punishment among classmates in Pan Palace. This matter is not just a quarrel between classmates. Firstly, it involves harming classmates. Secondly, it shows disrespect towards superiors. Thirdly, it violates the laws and regulations.”
Li Di panicked when he heard this. The official’s enumeration of the rules was clearly going to prove that he had violated the first two serious rules, harming classmates and disrespecting superiors, either of which could ruin his reputation.
He kept muttering “it’s not true” and constantly looking at Guo Jijiu.
Guo Sheng stroked his beard and nodded, “Everyone heard what the official said. As for whether His Highness violated the laws and regulations, it’s more appropriate for His Majesty to decide. As a Jijiu, I only ask about the two rules of harming classmates and disrespecting superiors.”
The official wiped the sweat from his forehead and thought to himself that Guo Sheng was indeed biased towards Yin Wang. He said with an iron face, “Both of these rules violate the highest level of learning regulations in Pan Palace and should be punished with five levels of Xia Chu.”
Li Di was almost stunned by these words.
“Jijiu, I’m innocent! I only had some disagreements with the Shizi. How could I have harmed my classmates or disrespected my superiors?”
He refused to believe that Guo Sheng would actually harm the new emperor’s heir.
Guo Sheng had already guessed what Li Di was thinking and sneered at the official, “You just need to write down the events of today and submit them to the palace with the punishment of five levels of Xia Chu. If Lu Wang disagrees with my decision, let His Majesty decide the punishment.”
Li Di only just realized who Guo Shen was at this moment. He was the Jijiu of Pan Palace in the capital, the head of all the scholars in the world. If he did not respect the judgment of his teachers, he might also have difficulty obtaining a good result from the emperor.
Unfortunately, it was already too late, and Li Di still held onto a glimmer of hope. After all, if he acknowledged the punishment of Pan Palace, he would be hated by the emperor in the future.
When he returned to the palace, the emperor would always give him a chance to explain.
After dealing with Li Di, there were two left. Guo Shen did not notice any improper behavior from Yin Wang.
In his heart, the Crown Grandson suffered a great humiliation today. He was of equal status as Lu Wang, how could he be humiliated by them?
Only Dian Nan Wang Shizi was very annoying to Guo Shen. Not only was he mediocre, but he also acted improperly and caused trouble for his precious disciple.
“The Shizi also used his hands today, and according to the school rules, he should be punished…”
As Guo Shen spoke, he saw Li Yi looking at him with pleading eyes. His heart softened, and the words he was about to say were stuck in his throat. He finally said, “Since he has already been punished before, remember to keep an eye on him. If he offends again in the future, he will be punished severely without mercy.”
Li Yi quickly pulled Shizi over and respectfully paid his respects to Guo Shen.
That night, the new emperor scolded Lu Wang in the Zhonghe Palace for nearly half an hour. Afterwards, he ordered the palace attendants to give Lu Wang ten strokes of Xia Chu and made him kneel until dawn to reflect on his mistakes.
Under the same moonlight, Li Yi took the top-grade gold medicine he had brought out of the palace and intended to give it to Zhao Xi to help him treat his wounds. When he arrived, however, he saw a young eunuch busy preparing the medicine, and it was obvious that he could not do two things at once.
Without thinking much, Li Yi sneaked into Shizi’s room. The candle flame flickered inside, and Shizi was lying on the bed, holding a book and reading.
Upon seeing that it was Li Yi who came, Zhao Yuan quickly pulled the bed sheet to cover the back of his head.
Li Yi blushed immediately, as if he had caught a glimpse of the wound that had just been cleaned and saw that Zhao Yuan was lying in his own bed with no cover…
He had really made a big mistake.
However, at this point, it would be even more awkward to retreat, so Li Yi pretended not to notice and slowly approached, placing the golden wound medicine on the small table next to the bed.
He sat on the stool next to the bed and asked the person, “Does the wound hurt badly?”
Zhao Yuan had already put down his book and opened the curtain to face Li Yi, “Not really.”
Li Yi thought to himself that he was lying with his eyes open like this.
During the fierce fight during the day, he was able to find an opportunity to talk, but now that they were alone, they were both silent.
Fortunately, not long after, Zhao Xi came in, breaking the silence in the room.
Li Yi stood up and told him about the usage of the golden wound medicine. Seeing that it was getting late, he prepared to leave.
Suddenly, Zhao Yuan spoke up, “Zhao Xi, you go out first.”
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