Seeing Ding Yuqin cowed by the Ding Family Head's reaction, Meng Zhao remained perfectly calm and merely gave Ding Zhanyun a meaningful look.
Ding Zhanyun was very clever and immediately understood Meng Zhao's intent. Wiping away tears that did not exist, she took the initiative and said,
"Father, forget it. Sister Yuqin was only confused for a moment, and things reaching that point had something to do with me as well. If you want to punish someone, punish me along with her!"
This was truly killing someone and then stabbing them in the heart. It was like putting a drop of poison in Ding Yuqin's eye. Clearly, she had been airing her grievances and lodging a complaint—how had it turned around so that everything was her fault, and her opponent was even pleading on her behalf?
And that could hardly be called pleading for mercy. It was more like adding fuel to the fire.
The Ding Family Head had not even mentioned punishment yet, and she had brought it up first. Now, there was no way he could avoid punishing them.
The Ding Family Head also saw through Ding Zhanyun's tactic of retreating to advance and fanning the flames. Helplessly, he said,
"You two, go back and copy our Ding Family precepts one hundred times. Let this matter pass at that. Do not let the same thing happen again in the future, or I will not spare either of you."
This punishment was practically no punishment at all. For copying, they could casually find a servant who could read and write to muddle through it. Having someone write on their behalf was common enough; it was merely a symbolic punishment anyway.
Had it been any other daughter, he would have punished her properly.
But Ding Yuqin could not swallow this