Lu Tingchen’s lips twitched. “You’re a lady—how can you speak in such a crude manner?”
What was this unruly behavior—first grabbing someone’s rear, then taking their pants off?
She was acting exactly like a female hooligan!
“How am I supposed to check her wounds if I don’t take off her pants? My eyes can’t see through things,” Lu Liangwei retorted with absolute conviction.
“Fine, I’ll leave.” Lu Tingchen was totally speechless.
It was not appropriate for him to stay, anyway, so he turned and left.
Zhu Yu lay on the bed, flat on her stomach. Her initially pale face was now so red it might actually drip blood.
Really, this young Miss…
After Lu Liangwei had finished examining Zhu Yu’s body, she found that Zhu Yu’s b.u.t.tock area had suffered quite severe injuries. There were several welts that looked as if she had beaten by rods, resulting in both skin and flesh tearing. It was completely different from what Zhu Yu had said—that she had fallen and hurt herself.
After cooling ointment for alleviating pain was rubbed onto Zhu Yu’s skin, the pain lessened significantly.
Lu Liangwei helped to pull up Zhu Yu’s pants and sat beside her on the bed. “How did you end up falling, to hurt yourself like that?”
Zhu Yu bit her lips, not daring to meet Lu Liangwei’s eyes. “When I went up the hill to pick flowers, I accidentally tripped on a rock and rolled down the hillside, Miss.”
Lu Liangwei nodded. “You’ve prepared your lies very well. I could almost believe you.”
Zhu Yu became anxious and said haltingly, “I’m not lying to you, Miss.”
“I’ll give you another chance. If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll leave you here in the holiday home. You won’t need to follow me back to the mansion.” Lu Liangwei looked at her coolly.
Zhu Yu immediately panicked when she heard this. “I want to continue serving you, Miss. Don’t abandon me here…”
“You may continue serving me, but only if you tell me the truth.”
“I… I…” Zhu Yu hesitated for quite a while, but the words still would not come.
“Actually, I already know what had happened. My father had someone beat you, didn’t he?” Lu Liangwei sighed, interrupting Zhu Yu’s stammering.
Zhu Yu said frantically, “I deserve to be punished… The Grand Duke’s punishment was already very light. He only ordered ten beatings with the rod…”
Lu Liangwei inhaled sharply when she heard this.
Lu Hetian’s ten beatings were not with ordinary rods. He had ordered ten beatings with army rods, which were used to punish those in the military who had broken martial law.
Zhu Yu was a delicate young girl. How could she possibly endure that?
Yet, this girl had thought she had been punished lightly.
Apart from spoiling his daughter, Lu Hetian was never light-handed when dealing with others.
Lu Liangwei had inadvertently implicated Zhu Yu this time.
Lu Hetian must have been furious when he found out that his daughter had gone to Sacred Hillock Peak and had taken it out on Zhu Yu, deeming the girl incompetent at looking after Lu Liangwei.
Lu Liangwei felt guilty; she had not thought things through properly and had not expected him to punish Zhu Yu so heavily.
“For the next few days, you need to rest in bed. Don’t do anything and make sure your wounds heal properly,” Lu Liangwei felt both distressed and guilty.
Zhu Yu’s eyes turned red. “Thank you, Miss.”
“I’m the one who got you into trouble; why are you thanking me? I should be the one apologizing to you,” Lu Liangwei said helplessly.
Zhu Yu was startled. “Miss, please don’t think that way. I deserved to be punished. This has nothing to do with you.”
Besides, the Duke had actually shown her mercy by only beating her ten times with the rod. If he had acted according to his usual behavior towards the servants, she would have been sold off long ago. She had been able to stay on because the Duke had considered Lu Liangwei’s feelings.
Lu Liangwei had no idea what was going through Zhu Yu’s mind at the moment, but what she did know was that this was an era with a strict hierarchy. Servants had no rights, and Zhu Yu’s beliefs had been deeply ingrained within her. She did not think that her punishment was unjust at all. Lu Liangwei was powerless to change this. All she could do was to try her best to avoid implicating those around her when planning anything in the future.