However, considering his advanced age, if she had truly ordered him to be beaten, he likely would not have survived ten strokes. Therefore, Princess Zhaoyang had simply docked three months of his salary and ordered him to resign and return to his hometown.
Even after punishing so many people, Princess Zhaoyang still felt deeply unsatisfied. She was jealous of Xie Zhixue’s eyes, resented that the girl was allowed to serve by her imperial brother’s side, and was even more disgusted by the importance Yuwenzhang placed on this maid. As she had said in the Empress's palace, she had beaten people to death before; this was hardly the first time. Why had Yuwenzhang never reacted so violently in the past, yet now insisted on punishing her?
If Yuwenzhang had not suddenly arrived, the Empress would surely have dismissed the matter with a light reprimand, sparing her any real punishment. But she was often scolded by the Empress, so such words had long since become meaningless to her; she never took them to heart.
Chapter 53