In the inn.
Zhao Ying knelt there, trembling all over.
Although his mouth was full of blood, he dared not utter a sound.
He didn't even dare to wipe the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth.
Ye Li finished her bath and, attended by her maid, changed into a magnificent princess court dress, then slowly ordered, "Bring him in!"
"Yes!"
Soon, Zhao Ying was brought into the room.
Looking at the luxuriously dressed Ye Li, Zhao Ying had no time to admire her beauty; he only felt an intense sense of suffocation that almost made him dizzy.
Princess!
This is the princess's court dress!
But he had never even seen this princess before!
Why did she have him arrested?
Could it be that she was avenging the Su Family?
While Zhao Ying was scared out of his wits, Ye Li was also dumbfounded.
This…
This wasn't the scoundrel from the alley!
Could it be that Xue Yun arrested the wrong person?
Ye Li was bewildered, and Zhao Ying was also terrified, even forgetting to bow.
For a moment, the room fell into an eerie silence.
After a long while, Ye Li was the first to recover, gesturing to her maid and whispering in her ear.
The maid nodded gently and quickly walked to the door, pulling Xue Yun aside to question him.
A moment later, the maid re-entered the room and whispered in Ye Li's ear.
Ye Li's pupils suddenly constricted.
Not the wrong person!
This person was brought directly from Zhao Mansion!
Confirmed, this person is Zhao Ying!
That shameless scoundrel gave a false name!
Ye Li was a little frantic and a little embarrassed.
What to do now?
Zhao Ying was, after all, a Titled Scholar, and the son of a court official.
To inexplicably arrest Zhao Ying, and judging by his appearance, he must have been beaten quite a bit on the way here.
She couldn't possibly just say that she was tricked and sent people to arrest the wrong person, could she?
If this got out, her losing face would be a minor matter; the key was that it would damage the royal reputation.
If her Imperial Father knew about this, he would definitely scold her!
She had to think of a suitable reason to gloss over this matter!
Ye Li racked her brains, wishing she could flay that damned scoundrel alive!
It was all that shameless scoundrel's fault!
"Zhao Ying… greets the Princess!"
Just then, Zhao Ying, who had recovered his senses, quickly knelt properly and saluted.
"You are Zhao Ying?"
Ye Li couldn't pretend not to hear, suppressing the embarrassment in her heart, and raised an eyebrow to ask, "Do you know why this Princess ordered your arrest?"
…
Zhao Ying's face turned pale, and he secretly cursed his misfortune.
How could he know why this Princess wanted to arrest him?
He had never even seen this Princess before!
Besides avenging the Su Family, he really couldn't think of any other reason.
But the problem was, if it was to avenge the Su Family, she shouldn't just arrest him, right?
After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Ying decided to observe the situation first, lest he say the wrong thing without knowing anything.
This was a Princess!
He didn't even know which Princess it was.
But a Princess who could carry an imperial golden plaque must be extremely favored!
One wrong word, and he might lose his head.
At this thought, Zhao Ying quickly shook his head in fear, "This humble one does not know."
Don't know?
Ye Li frowned and then said indifferently, "Think carefully if you've done anything wrong, and when you've thought it through, tell this Princess! If you really can't remember, this Princess can have someone torture you to help you remember slowly!"
Zhao Ying had to think, and she also had to think.
If Zhao Ying really couldn't answer, she would have to come up with a plausible reason herself.
Hearing about torture, Zhao Ying immediately shivered in fear.
After hesitating for a long time, Zhao Ying bowed his head in terror and replied with a trembling voice, "This humble one remembers. This humble one was blind and inadvertently offended Madam Su, Grand Tutor Su's wife, before. This humble one begs the Princess to punish him!"
Hmm?
Ye Li's eyes suddenly lit up.
He actually offended Madam Su?
This makes things easy!
Finally, she could smooth over this mess!
"This Princess thought you wouldn't remember!"
Ye Li let out a long sigh of relief, "Grand Tutor Su is Imperial Father's mentor. Even Imperial Father and this Princess treat Madam Su with great respect. How dare you offend Madam Su? Who gave you such audacity?"
"This humble one admits his guilt!"
Zhao Ying pressed his body low, trembling constantly.
Ye Li bit her lip lightly, originally wanting to ask how he offended Madam Su, but then feared exposing her secret.
Never mind, she was going to visit Madam Su and You Rong anyway.
She would ask them later!
"It's good that you admit your guilt!"
Ye Li's gaze returned to its cold sharpness, "Madam Su is magnanimous and doesn't bother to quibble with you, but this Princess will never allow anyone to offend her! Men, drag this person out and give him… twenty heavy blows!"
She had originally intended to say fifty heavy blows.
But thinking that she was tricked into arresting Zhao Ying, she felt quite embarrassed, so she changed it to twenty heavy blows.
"Princess, spare me! This humble one will never dare again!"
Zhao Ying wailed, repeatedly kowtowing for mercy.
"Drag him out!"
Ye Li waved impatiently and then gave Xue Yun a look, signaling him not to be too harsh.
Xue Yun understood and immediately entered with a guard, directly dragging Zhao Ying out of the room.
"Ah…"
Soon, Zhao Ying's desperate screams came from outside.
Although Xue Yun and the others didn't strike too harshly, the twenty heavy blows landed squarely on Zhao Ying's backside.
By the time they finished, Zhao Ying had already fainted from the pain.
"Send him back!"
Ye Li ordered, then tightly clenched her pink fists.
That damned scoundrel!
To trifle with her, and then dare to use someone else's name!
It was also fortunate that Zhao Ying had indeed done something wrong; otherwise, she wouldn't know how to smooth over today's matter.
If she ever caught that scoundrel, she would definitely castrate him!
Ye Li thought angrily, then ordered her maid, "Have someone find a painter!"
She refused to believe that she couldn't find that scoundrel!
Two quarters of an hour later, a painter was brought before Ye Li.
"This humble commoner greets the Princess!"
The painter knelt carefully and saluted.
"Dispense with the formalities!"
Ye Li said indifferently, "Draw a person for this Princess. As long as you draw him well, this Princess will not be stingy with rewards!"
"Yes!"
The painter quickly agreed.
Ye Li recalled Shen Jing's appearance in her mind and slowly said, "This person is about twenty years old, looks like a pale-faced scholar, and is quite handsome, but when he smiles, he looks very… punchable…"
Ye Li briefly described Shen Jing's appearance to the painter, asking the painter to draw based on her description.
The painter was a bit troubled and carefully asked, "Princess, does this person have any other features? For example, large or small eyes, a long or short face…"
With the limited information she provided, it was really difficult to draw!
"This…"
Ye Li was also a bit stumped.
The alley was already quite dim, and she was almost driven mad with anger at the time, so she hadn't specifically observed that scoundrel's appearance.
If that scoundrel stood in front of her, she would definitely recognize him.
But as for specific features, she really didn't know how to describe them.
"Just draw him and let me see!"
Ye Li ordered, "If you don't draw him well, this Princess will not blame you!"
The painter was greatly relieved, as if granted amnesty, and immediately began to paint.
However, when Ye Li saw the person the painter drew, she stomped her feet in anger.
It didn't look like that scoundrel at all!
Instead, it looked more like Zhao Ying!
It made her almost think she hadn't arrested the wrong person!
"Reward him five taels of silver!"
Ye Li waved her hand irritably.
Never mind!
She would go find You Rong!
You Rong was proficient in all four arts of qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting. With her help and her own corrections, they should be able to draw a rough likeness of that scoundrel.
At this thought, Ye Li immediately ordered, "To the Su Family!"
She had originally planned to spend some time exploring Luochuan Prefecture and picking out some satisfactory gifts before going to the Su Family.
But now, her good mood was completely ruined.
She only wanted to catch that shameless scoundrel as soon as possible!
She must severely punish that scoundrel!
