A ebony wood ruler, 50 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, and 0.8 cm thick, with a hard texture and deep color.
Carved at both ends with the character for "Chu," as the ruler fell in punishment, the character would imprint itself upon the body of the one being punished—a reminder never to forget the family name, with every stroke serving as a warning.
Chu Teng held this set of rules as an absolute dogma, carrying on the family disciplinary code passed down by his ancestors and elevating it under his own watch, weaving it into the unquestionable authority that came with being the head of the Chu family.
The strike of the ruler against flesh produced a dull, heavy thud.
Kneeling and prostrated in the expansive living room, with a giant embroidered mural of rivers and mountains hanging high before them, the punishment took place upon a pristine, flawlessly white, hand-woven woolen carpet.
Even while enduring a beating, Chu Zhao remained entirely out of place in the Chu family.
"Do you know you were wrong?"
"I did nothing wrong."
...
"I did nothing wrong."
No matter how many times she was asked, Chu Zhao always gave the exact same answer.
And so, very soon, the biting wind and cold rain gave way to a violent storm.
Chu Zhao collapsed onto the floor, her summer clothes soaked through with cold sweat.
Her spine quivered, like a butterfly trapped in a spiderweb, unable to ever flutter its wings again.
"Will you go to the Shang Family or not?"
"I. Will. Not."
The ruler fell with even greater urgency.
Chu Teng's heavy breathing, Chu Zhang's icy scrutiny, Chu Chu's helpless sigh...
And—Chu Fu's relentless, endlessly unwearied weeping.
Chu Zhao pressed her forehead against the floor, her hands bracing herself as her fingers tightened inch by inch.
——*
[I did nothing wrong, why should I confess to it?]
[They were the ones who called me an orphan first, saying I was bad luck and had cursed my parents to death. That was why I couldn't hold back and started fighting with them.]
[Why should I have to apologize?]
[Just because they all had parents coming to speak up for them, while I had none?]
[Teacher, by doing this, are you just like them—thinking that because I have no parents, I don't deserve your protection?]
From a very young age, Chu Zhao knew that being liked by others was actually a skill.
Yet she had failed to master it.
Chu Zhao was dull, clumsy, stubborn, and occasionally took things with an untimely seriousness.
She grew up by the book, remembering every single virtue she had ever been taught in her textbooks.
Terrified that if she fell short in any way, she would cause her parents—whom she had never met, but who Aunt Chun said loved her—to look at her with disappointment.
Yet the more Chu Zhao tried to learn, the worse she became.
She had turned into a freak, a madwoman, a compulsive liar, and a jinx who never should have been brought back home.
Even to this day, Chu Zhao remained unrepentant, persisting in her mistakes.
Such a person deserved the harshest punishment—
And the reason for that punishment was the price of refusing to submit.
————*
Chu Teng handed the ruler back to Uncle Wang and pointed at Chu Zhao.
"Lock her in the confinement room. Let her out only when she has thought things through."
"There is no need to turn on the lights in the confinement room, and do not send her food or water."
"None of you are allowed to go see her, either."
Chu Xu's expression showed a trace of unbearable pity: "Father, Xiaowang is still in the confinement room. Just let Xiao Zhao stay in her own room instead..."
Chu Teng did not hesitate: "Make Chu Wang come out and get back to his own room to reflect!"
"Father..." Chu Xu tried to persuade him further, but met Chu Zhang's disapproving, head-shaking gaze.
Chu Xu's body stiffened slightly, and in the end, his expression dimmed as he bit back his words.
——The Chu family confinement room——
"Young Master, you may leave now." The head bodyguard opened the door: "The Chairman says you are to go back to your room to reflect."
The figure sitting and leaning against the wall in the dim little room stirred.
Chu Wang looked toward the door, his expression holding a mix of pleasant surprise and lingering confusion: "Dad is letting me out right now?"
The trouble he had caused this time was by no means small, and his father was hardly the sort of person to go soft on a younger son...
How could it be that after only half a day, he was already being let out of this confinement room?
The bodyguard stepped back two paces to clear the doorway while replying, "Yes."
Just as Chu Wang was about to ask something else, the next instant, he saw Chu Zhao—who had previously been blocked from view by the head bodyguard and was only now revealed.
Chu Wang's eyes widened in sheer disbelief: "Chu Zhao? What are you doing here?!"
Surely she couldn't have come here deliberately to mock him.
He was about to be released anyway, so what was there to see?
Chu Zhao did not answer him. Whether soaked by water or sweat, her bangs clung wetly to her face.
Lifting his gaze, Chu Wang couldn't even find Chu Zhao's eyes.
The confinement room was pitch black, with a high window and a tiny opening that let in a pitifully meager amount of light.
Chu Zhao walked very slowly, her presence even more silent than the shadow beneath her feet.
Chu Wang watched as Chu Zhao's shadow slowly stretched out to his own feet, then gradually engulfed him—
For some reason, a nameless chill burst forth from the depths of his heart.
Chu Wang leaped up on the spot and couldn't help letting out an oath.
"Damn it, you really are starting to look more and more like a ghost. You might as well go straight to filming The Ring tomorrow!"
"I swear, none of those horror movies on the market can hold a candle to your natural-born acting!"
Ignoring him, Chu Zhao walked with slow strides until she stood directly opposite the single window in the confinement room.
A beam of light poured down from high above, landing and resting upon the face Chu Zhao raised to look at it.
At that exact moment, upon her paper-white, disheveled face, there even bloomed a touch of divinity.
The irritation froze on Chu Wang's face. His gaze lingered on Chu Zhao's face for a long time, his eyes growing somewhat dazed.
The confinement room fell abruptly silent.
The head bodyguard couldn't help reminding him, "Young Master, the Second Young Master and Miss Fu are still waiting for you. Please hurry up and come out."
"Oh, right," Chu Wang replied instinctively, then asked, "Is she not..."
Before he could finish the question, as if suddenly realizing something, Chu Wang looked back at Chu Zhao: "You got locked in here again?"
"What is it for this time? Aren't you quite capable? Using our eldest brother's hand to punish me..."
Chu Wang sneered, "How did you end up getting yourself locked in here too?"
Still ignoring him, Chu Zhao kept her eyes fixed entirely on that window, giving him her complete and utter disregard.
Chu Wang felt like a clown, and like air.
He had once despised the tame and docile way Chu Zhao used to act around him.
Yet now he realized that Chu Zhao's lack of docility only made him all the more infuriated.
Why was it that no matter when, this person could never suit his wishes?
Disregarding the bodyguard's urging, Chu Wang figured that since Chu Zhao wouldn't answer him, ignored him, and acted as though she couldn't see him—
Then he would just have to force Chu Zhao to see him!
Chu Wang strode right up to Chu Zhao and demanded, "Who punished you by throwing you in here?"
"Was it Chu Zhang as well?"
Without waiting for Chu Zhao to reply, Chu Wang continued on his own accord.
"He really is fair, isn't he? Punishing both me and you for the same matter."
"No wonder you'd actually think he abides by the rules..."
"Idiot." Lowering his voice, Chu Wang leaned in as if to press close to Chu Zhao's ear: "To let yourself be toyed with like a dog by Eldest Brother and not even..."
Before the word "know" could fully leave his lips—
The next second, Chu Zhao raised her knee and struck a heavy blow directly into his stomach.
For a moment, his stomach churned violently, and he almost threw up.
Holding his abused midsection, Chu Wang lifted his head: "You..."
"—Get lost." Chu Zhao's voice trembled slightly, her complexion frighteningly pale, and her chest heaving violently as if she had reached the absolute limit of her anger and could no longer endure it.
Looking at her, she actually seemed far more furious than he, the one who had been struck and hurt by her.
Chu Wang was practically driven insane.
Lowering his hand, before the head bodyguard could react and stop them—
Chu Wang raised his hand, grabbed a handful of Chu Zhao's collar, and slammed her hard against the wall.
"Chu Zhao, I've really been giving you too much face lately, haven't I!"