Li Roulan shook her head and pointed at the guards, "No! I order you to stop!"
They did not obey. These powers Li Roulan once held was not permanent. She always knew that one day it will be all taken away. Once the true master was rightfully put back in her place.
"What are you doing? Go stop them!" Li Roulan yelled at the servants she took along with her and stormed Xiong Jingfei"s courtyard.
None of them moved. More like Li Roulan"s servants refused to move in the slightest. They weren"t expecting to meet up with Xiong Guozhi, and worst, he was the one handing out the punishment.
"Hurry! Did you not hear me!"
Those servants of hers moved back farther than the one that was being dragged away to be punished. How can they not hear Li Roulan"s order… Being as loud as she was, screaming her head off. But does she not see who is the one she is going against right now! It is no longer just the Eldest Miss!
Li Roulan cursed the servants loudly on the inside. Useless servants! Wait until she goes back to her courtyard with them. She will love to see if any single one of them dares to disobey her again.
Unconsciously, she clutched onto Xiong Changchang"s shoulders tightly. She didn"t lessen the pressure until Xiong Changchang winced out in pain.
Li Roulan was angry, but that wasn"t even the right word to describe it either. All these years, she was nothing more than a tool for Xiong Guozhi!
She was used in order to keep the household from falling apart. Then she was forced to hand everything over to her stepdaughter. Everything she did for Xiong Guozhi. Everything she did for the Xiong manor. It ended up falling into the hands of the daughter she despises! Her husband was never going to give her any source of influence in the Xiong manor.
At the very least, what he could do for her is to treat her daughters well. Just like how he does with Xiong Jingfei, but he doesn"t! It is all because of her!
She coldly stared down at Xiong Jingfei. As long as Xiong Jingfei is alive, she will never have any say in this household! Her daughters will always be second by their father! She thought she could be patience till the day Xiong Jingfei was married off, but her patience could only last for so long.
Did Xiong Guozhi treat Xiong Jingfei better because she has no mother? Because she is engaged to Yang Zheyan? Li Roulan shut her eyes, thinking about Xiong Jingfei marrying into the Right Prime Minister"s family was vexing!
"Four!" Xiong Guozhi stated his last judgment.
"No!" Li Roulan cried with wide eyes. She backed away with her daughters, and refused to let any guards touch them. "Please, I am begging you now! I won"t go against you again!"
"Take them out. Now!" Xiong Guozhi shouted before flipping his long sleeves and walked out of the courtyard. Then turned back around to make one last statement for a certain someone, "Do not make a bigger issue of this or else I would gladly teach you the military law as well."
Li Roulan closed her mouth and collapsed onto the ground. Unable to make another sound. He was serious. He will do it if she continued to say or do anything else. Even when the guards tore her two daughters from her clasp, she couldn"t cry out in protest.
"Mommy! Help me!" Xiong Jiayi screamed, it was louder than before and excruciating. Instead of being torn from the sister she had no connection with. This was her mother, the one she thought that will protect and s.h.i.+eld her from all harm.
"Mother!" Xiong Changchang cried, being forcefully taken by the arm to the punishment ground.
Xiong Jingfei bit the side of her mouth. She could only watch her younger sisters and their maids being dragged away. Even with Li Roulan death glare at her, there was nothing more she can do for them. She did her best to appease her father"s anger.
Yet, it was all ruined by their own mother. At least, she was able to lessen the number of whiplashes.
The only person she felt pity for was Xiong Jiayi and those maids. Someone who follows their older sister and innocent maids who are about to get four whiplashes.
"Do you think it will leave a scar?" One of Xiong Jingfei"s maid whispered to another one nearby.
"Of course!"
"How terrible..."
As a female, there is nothing worse than to have a whip or sword scars on your body. It goes to show you were either a slave or someone from a low-cla.s.s family. If you want to get married off into a good family. The best you will be is a concubine.
Sadly, all these unmarried girls who just got dragged out will have a forever unfading scar as a reminder of today.
"Yes, but what can we do?"
"Yes, we are nothing more than servants..." A childlike voice was heard among Xiong Jingfei"s maid. "We will be under the oppression of our master."
An older maid immediately slapped her hand against that maid"s mouth to cover it. She looked over to the kneeling Eldest Miss that hasn"t moved from her spot.
"Seems like you also need some teaching!" Xu Song hissed, glaring daggers at that young maid.
"Quiet."
Xiong Jingfei"s voice was finally heard ever since the entrance of Li Roulan. "If you do not want to experience what it means to have the military law punishment. Remember to watch what you say. I may let you slide this time, but the next person might not."
"Yes..." All the maids said guilty in unison.
Xiong Jingfei got up from the ground and patted her dusty robe. Not too far away, she noticed an occasion light reflection on the ground. Walking up to the object, she picked it up and wiped away the dust with her hands.
"Every person here is under the oppression of someone else." Xiong Jingfei muttered, holding Xiong Jiayi"s pendant against her chest. "There was no such thing called freedom."