"It's not stained with blood or injured, so don't worry."
Seeing that he was fine, Ye Sili felt relieved and didn't ask too many questions, as long as he was fine.
By the time the group of them returned home, it was already late at night.
Although Ye Zhongyao didn't allow Ye Sili to go out too late, he didn't say much as Gu Liyou was with her.
Yun An escorted Xiao Ling all the way back to the palace. When the two of them reached the palace gate, Xiao Ling was so frightened by the patrolling people that she quickly took two steps back and bumped into Yun An's arms behind her.
Yun An's ears instantly turned red visibly to the naked eye, and his hands that had instinctively caught Xiao Ling moved away helplessly.
"Princess...princess...yes, I'm sorry." Yun An apologized hesitantly.
Before Xiao Ling had time to speak, he decisively knelt down on one foot, lowered his head and said, "I have no intention of offending the princess, please punish me!"
His voice seemed particularly loud late at night.
Xiao Ling was so frightened that she quickly bent over and covered his mouth.
Xiao Ling covered his mouth, turned sideways to reveal a pair of eyes tentatively, and saw the leader of the Royal Forest Army, Xu Yang, walking towards them with a small team of men.
It's over, it's over...
Xiao Ling quickly retracted her head, lowered her head and shrank into the corner.
Yun An, who was kneeling on the ground, naturally knew that someone was coming. Seeing Xiao Ling's frightened reaction, he looked up at her with some confusion.
Xiao Ling stretched out her hand to cover him with her sleeves, and put one hand in front of her mouth as if to be silent.
There was a faint floral fragrance on her clothes, and the night breeze blew by, and the soft sleeves accidentally touched his face, making the fragrance even stronger.
Yun An quickly lowered his head to hide his panic.
Xiao Ling suddenly thought of something, put down his hand, and pulled Yun An up without saying a word.
"Go back first, they can't catch you." Xiao Ling quickly pushed Yun An.
Yun'an's skills are top-notch even among the palace's many masters. He can definitely enter the palace silently.
If I take her with me...
Xu Yang had already discovered them. If she ran away, she might alert the people in the palace.
"My duty is to protect the princess, so why should I leave first?" Yun An refused to leave no matter what.
Xu Yang arrived with his guards and shouted: "Who is sneaking around here?"
"..." It's over, don't leave.
Xiao Ling straightened her sleeves awkwardly, forced a smile and turned around to look.
"Commander Xu, what a coincidence."
Seeing that it was Xiao Ling, Xu Yang and the guards behind him immediately saluted.
"It's the Fifth Princess, and it's only the subordinate who offended me. Please forgive me, Fifth Princess."
"No problem." Xiao Ling waved her hand casually and gave Yun An a secret look, asking Yun An to follow her.
She slowly walked out as if nothing had happened, bypassed Xu Yang, and walked towards the palace gate, not forgetting to say magnanimously: "Commander Xu is so conscientious, I will definitely praise my father."
"Thank you princess."
Xu Yang clasped his fists in thanks, but when he looked up, he found that Xiao Ling and Yun An had almost reached the palace gate.
"Princess, stay!" Xu Yang shouted quickly.
Seeing that he was about to reach the palace gate, Xiao Ling refused to listen to him, lifted up his skirt slightly and ran towards the palace gate.
"Stop them." Xu Yang ordered, and the guard's spear at the palace gate tilted just enough to block her way.
Yun An immediately stepped forward to block Xiao Ling behind him, scanning the guards with cold eyes.
"Commander Xu, what do you mean?" Xiao Ling turned around and asked Xu Yang.
Xu Yang replied respectfully: "Princess, please calm down, it is the curfew period, you... when did you leave the palace?"
"Get out, get out of the palace, you don't care when I got out? Let me go quickly." Xiao Ling pretended to be serious and ordered.
However, Xu Yang didn't show any kindness or sophistication and directly sent Xiao Ling to Wende Hall himself.
Xiao Ling sat casually on a chair in the hall and tried to persuade him: "Commander Xu, you see it's almost midnight now. You just had a long night shift. Why don't you go back and rest early? I'll wait here for my father."
That’s it.”
"This is my duty, princess, please don't be embarrassed." Xu Yang said, neither humble nor arrogant.
"..." It was actually more difficult to communicate than Yun An.
Xiao Ling looked at the sky outside. Her father would be here soon. She said quickly:
"This princess is responsible for everything she does. Please let Yun An go."
Yun An, who was standing beside her politely, raised his eyes and looked at her. Xu never expected that she would say this. Hearing that she was still dealing with Xu Yang, he only said softly: "Where is the princess?
Where."
Xiao Ling, who was arguing with Xu Yang, heard this and turned to look at him helplessly.
Before she could say anything more, she heard movement coming from outside Wende Hall.
It's over, the father is here.
She quickly stood up and stepped forward to greet him.
When Emperor Zhou Yuan approached the Wende Palace, he immediately beamed with joy when he saw the precious daughter in the palace.
"Why does Xiaoling have the heart to wait for his father here?"
"Yesterday, my father specially celebrated my birthday. My father was very happy, so I came to accompany my father early this morning." Xiao Ling became more and more proficient in lying.
Yun An on the side just listened silently.
Emperor Zhou Yuan touched the head of Xiao Ling who was leaning on his shoulder and smiled very lovingly. After a while, he saw Xu Yang beside him and said doubtfully:
"Xu Yang, what are you doing here?"
"The emperor..."
Xu Yangfang was about to speak, but he saw Xiao Ling let go of Emperor Zhou Yuan's arm, took two steps forward, turned around and stopped in front of Emperor Zhou Yuan, held up his skirt and knelt down politely.
"Father, I am at fault."
Xiao Ling folded his hands in front of his forehead and bowed his head to the ground.
Emperor Zhou Yuan was about to reach out to help her up, but he looked at Xu Yang next to him, and then noticed the silent Yun An beside him. Finally, he looked down at Xiao Ling, who was bowing her head on the ground but secretly glancing at Xu Yang. Emperor Zhou Yuan understood instantly.
He asked in a deliberately reproachful tone:
"Did you sneak out of the palace again?"
Xiao Ling looked up at Emperor Zhou Yuan in surprise. When he realized what he was doing, his eyes became sore and his mouth tightened, "Father... I know I was wrong..."
"Your Majesty, the fifth princess left the palace privately with the imperial guards. They have been brought back by their humble duties."
Xu Yang's voice was so powerful that even the guards outside the palace might know that she had sneaked out.
Xiao Ling looked at Yun An without tears, with clear meaning in his eyes, "Do you have a grudge against Xu Yang?"
Otherwise, why would Xu Yang keep holding on to them...
Yun An took a few steps forward, walked to Xiao Ling's side and knelt down, "I am guilty, please don't blame the princess, Your Majesty."
Emperor Zhou Yuan looked sharply at Yun An thoughtfully.
"Xiao Ling, you get up first." Emperor Zhou Yuan said. It was cold in autumn, and kneeling for a long time was not good for her health.
Emperor Zhou Yuan bypassed Yun'an and went straight to the main hall to sit down at the throne.
Xiao Ling glanced at Yun An who was kneeling on the ground, feeling slightly uneasy, but walked to the front of the hall without changing his expression.
"Yun'an, come forward too." Emperor Zhou Yuan's voice sounded slowly, with elusive emotions of joy and anger in his words.
Yun An stood up and walked to the front of the hall, standing at the right rear of Xiao Ling, without squinting, with his back straight and his knees bent.
"Yun'an, how long have you been in the palace?" Emperor Zhou Yuan said in a lazy tone, seeming to be chatting casually.
"Back to the emperor, I have been staying in the palace since I was a child. It has been nearly twenty years now."
Emperor Zhou Yuan nodded slowly, raised his eyes to look at Yun An, and asked, "How long have you been following Xiao Ling?"
"I was ordered to protect the safety of the fifth princess, and it has been seven years now."
"Well said." Emperor Zhou Yuan's tone suddenly rose, but his eyes looked directly at Xiang Yun'an, "Let me ask you, who is your order?"
"I am frightened. Naturally, I am following the emperor's will." Yun An bowed his head.
Seeing this formation, Xiao Ling felt even more panicked, but he was worried that it would be self-defeating and did not dare to interrupt at will.
Emperor Zhou Yuan looked down at the man who bowed his highness, with a satisfied expression on his face, and said calmly:
"If that's the case, just go and get the thirty big boards and give up."
Thirty big boards!
Xiao Ling begged anxiously: "Father, it was my son who forced Yun An to leave the palace, and it is not his fault."
Emperor Zhou Yuan seemed not to have expected such a big reaction from her, and only said: "I ordered him to go and protect you, but he repeatedly allowed you to make mistakes. This is a crime of dereliction of duty. I just punished him with a few boards.
Why not? Come on, take Yun An down."
"Stop!" Xiao Ling turned around and looked at the guard who came forward and shouted immediately.
Everyone in the hall was startled.
Xiao Ling then knelt down and begged: "Father, Yun'an was ordered by you to protect your son and minister. But my son has always been naughty and naughty. How can others restrain him in the slightest? This time my son went out without regard to the palace rules."
Palace, Yun'an came out of the palace to protect my son just because of your order. My son thinks that he is not only right, but also meritorious."
"Please ask Father to spare him the punishment."
Xiao Ling burst into tears.
Yun An has followed her for many years. Although he is usually very boring and boring, he has been loyal to his duty and protected her for several years.
This was her fault, so how could she let Yun An take the responsibility for her in vain?
Those people were very aggressive. If they hit him with thirty big boards, Yun An would be peeled off even if he didn't die.
Emperor Zhou Yuan looked at his precious daughter crying and bursting into tears. How could he be cruel enough to look so aggrieved, yet he said with a stern face:
"What are you doing? Are you going to disobey your father for a mere guard?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the hall fell to their knees, and the hall was completely silent for a moment.
"I don't dare." Xiao Ling has always been the best at making eye contact, so she has never really made Emperor Zhou Yuan angry. But at this time, she refused to give in and argued with reason, "I just think that it is practical to punish Yun An like this.
It's too unfair, I beg my father to take back my life."
"Princess..." Yun An whispered, trying to stop her.
What she said was tantamount to blaming Emperor Zhou Yuan for being ignorant and ignoring rewards and punishments. How many emperors could withstand such questioning?
Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, Emperor Zhou Yuan's expression changed instantly.
"Presumptuous!" Emperor Zhou Yuan stood up angrily, pointed at Xiao Ling and scolded: "Do you still have me as your father in your eyes? Today I will let you know what Jun Wuxiyan means. Fifty big boards, no one is allowed to be missing!
"
The guards in front of the palace stepped forward one after another to take Yun An down.
Xiao Ling stood up, put his hand in front of Yun An, and scolded the guards around him: "Don't touch him!"
"Okay, it seems that I have always been too spoiled to you, so now you have no respect or dignity in your eyes!"