Shen Shixu had already arrived at the imperial palace, but Xiao Jinyi's punishment was not yet over. He thought splitting it into two sessions was too much trouble, so he simply had them administer all one hundred strokes across his back in one go.
He figured he was in good health, had internal energy to protect his body, and had excellent medicine on hand. Besides, the men administering the punishment were all going easy on him.
The injuries looked serious, but they were only flesh wounds. With top-quality Golden Wound Salve, he might not recover completely in two days, but they would not hinder his movements.
Besides, he wanted to appear before Shen Shixu covered in injuries and win a little sympathy.
So when Shen Shixu saw Xiao Jinyi, the injuries frightened him. He stepped forward to support him by the arm and asked, "Didn't they say you would only receive twenty strokes? How did it get this bad?"
Hearing the concern in Shen Shixu's voice, Xiao Jinyi smiled and leaned half his weight against him.
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. It only looks bad. I thought splitting the punishment into two sessions was too much trouble, so I took all one hundred strokes at once. That's why it looks so severe."
Hearing Xiao Jin Yi's explanation, Shen Shixu could not help scolding him. "Idiot!"
Xiao Jinyi was not the least bit upset at being scolded. He merely asked, "What did Father's marriage decree say?"
Shen Shixu had assumed he knew what was in the decree, but apparently he did not. So he explained, "It granted us permission to marry and allowed me to retain my current post. In addition to becoming Prince Jing's principal consort, I was bestowed the title Lord Qian'an. The decree also stated that no one