Pang Zihuang nervously paced back and forth in the royal study. His eyes frequently flicked towards the door as anxiety crept over his handsome face.
Sh*t! He thought. Why has that little brat yet to return? It has been so long. We are going to give his ass a good whooping once he gets back…
At that moment, the door swung open. Aside from Her Imperial Majesty the Empress, only one other person was allowed to meet him without prior notice. Pang Zihuang, filled with rage, let out an angry roar and rushed towards the door. Before Pang Ran could even react, a strong arm grabbed and smacked him — right on the buttocks.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"You brat!" Pang Zihuang yelled. "When did you return? Do you have any idea how long We have waited for you? Sh*t! You snuck out to eat red roast pork again, did you not? We are going to strike your bottom until it bleeds or We are not fit to be Your Imperial Father!"
To Pang Zihuang, the journey from the palace to the Sixth Prince’s mansion would normally take around half an hour, but this guy took three whole hours to get home! He must have given in to temptation and snuck into a restaurant for a snack. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time. All it takes is a whiff of meat and the brat would lose himself completely.
Pang Ran, however, had no idea why his Imperial Father went ballistic. To him, he did not do anything wrong! Before he could even begin to make sense of the situation, another hard smack landed on him. Pang Ran jumped in pain and ran for cover, shouting, "Imperial Father! What could I have possibly done to enrage you? Your punishment is not justified – ow! Imperial Father, please stop hitting me! My buttocks are going to split open! Save me, Goddess! My Imperial Father is going to beat me to death!"
Unable to hide from Pang Zihuang’s hand, Pang Ran ignored everything else and dashed towards Gu Ruoyun.
In his eyes, once he hid behind her no harm would come to him.
It was only when Pang Ran called out to Gu Ruoyun that Pang Zihuang realized that she was in the room. He quickly put his hands behind his back. With his handsome face showing clear signs of awkwardness, he said, "You must be Lady Gu Ruoyun, the owner of the Hundred Herb Hall? This brat almost angered Us to death… You must have had a good laugh at the sight of Us."
"Uhm… Well…" Gu Ruoyun said in embarrassment. "Actually… the reason why we arrived so late was not because of His Royal Highness the Sixth Prince’s naughtiness… It was my fault. I bumped into an old friend along the way, which caused our delay. His Royal Highness had absolutely nothing to do with it."
"You hear that?" said Pang Ran angrily as he peeked out from behind the young girl, but he quickly hid in fear again when Pang Zihuang shot him a deadly glare.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmSuddenly, a booming voice came from outside the royal study: "Your Imperial Majesty, the Imperial Advisor requests an audience!"
The Imperial Advisor? Pang Zihuang thought, creasing his eyebrows.
"Send him in," came his unenthusiastic reply.
Almost instantly, a hand pushed open the door and a white robed Lin Yue entered the room. His gaze swept past Gu Ruoyun and Pang Ran before landing on Pang Zihuang. He stepped forward and joined his fists in a salute before bowing deeply, saying, "Your Imperial Majesty, I, your humble minister, have come before You to request for a fair decision."
The Imperial Advisor held a considerably high position in Black Tortoise Country. He was one of the few who did not need to kneel and kowtow when meeting the Emperor. His privilege could go to such extent not only because he was a clairvoyant, but also because his younger sister had become a small concubine of a relative of the Xia family in Heaven City! Even though the man was only a distant relative, and Lin Yue’s sister was merely a concubine – no better than a mistress; so long as one had any connections with the Xia household, even if they were a simple household sweeper, no one would dare to cross them.
Therefore Pang Zihuang had no choice but to show respect to the Imperial Advisor despite his personal disgust towards the man.