"KNEEL!"
Lily obediently complied. She knelt down and raised both her hands. It had been a while since she had been punished this way.
Tianrui followed suit. His head hung low, and he was on the verge of crying.
Seeing him like an abandoned duck, Lily sighed and said, "We took Tianrui because we didn't want him to tattle."
Tianrui looked at her with wide eyes.
"Do you think I will believe your nonsense?" Lord Pei was truly angry this time. It was one thing for these kids to sneak out and join the envoy, but sneaking out again and putting their lives in danger...
He slammed his palm on the table, glaring at the two.
Tianrui shivered.
Lily looked into her father's eyes and said, "Do you think Sixth Brother is willing to go against Concubine Su?"
This kid would do everything his concubine mother asked because he wanted her to be proud of him. If their father still failed to notice that, then she would say he was falling short as a father.
It was fine to let the concubine mothers raise their own children. Lord Pei had his own responsibilities as the Clan Head. In this clan, he was the head first before being a father.
Regardless, he shouldn't be absent from his children's lives. He should still check on them from time to time.
Unfortunately, Lord Pei still saw Concubine Su as an innocent, gentle, and kind lady, while Tianrui was merely a childish boy.
"Your Concubine Mother Su must have had a hard time raising Tianrui," he said, massaging his forehead. He still felt somewhat guilty for saying those words to Concubine Su when he confronted her. But at that time, Tianrui had gone missing without her even noticing.
Lily pursed her lips.
Then, she stood up.
"Did I tell you to stand up?"
Lily ignored her father, grabbed Tianrui by the collar, and dragged him out of the room. Tianrui was so startled that he failed to stand up in time and ended up being dragged across the floor on his butt.
"Lily!"
"Father, we haven't gone far. No need to shout."
His voice was so loud it probably startled even the birds flying overhead.
"Get back here!" Lord Pei ordered, the veins on his forehead beginning to bulge.
"Better yet, follow us," said Lily, not stopping as she dragged Tianrui. She moved so quickly that Tianrui couldn't break free or even stand up. Lord Pei had no choice but to stride after them.
Lily passed all the curious servants—even the concubines—until she reached Concubine Su's courtyard.
As soon as they stopped, Tianrui instinctively rubbed his butt.
It hurt!
Lily hadn't held back at all. She had dragged him as though they were running away from someone—which they technically were. Their father was about to enter the courtyard as well but was stopped by Butler Chen.
"My Lord, how about we watch what the Seventh Young Miss wants to do?"
Lord Pei hesitated but ultimately followed Butler Chen's suggestion.
When Concubine Su heard that the girl had dragged her son to her courtyard, her first thought was to ignore her.
But when the commotion continued to grow, she finally became irritated and stepped outside.
"It took you quite some time to come out, Concubine Su. Are you so busy that you don't even have time to receive your own son?" said Lily, nonchalantly looking at the concubine who was said to be as gentle and beautiful as the peonies.
"Seventh Young Miss, to what do I owe this visit?" Concubine Su asked calmly.
"When we returned, I didn't see you welcome Sixth Brother. So, I brought him here to meet you."
"His Lordship will mete out your punishment," replied Concubine Su. "It is not this concubine's place to intervene."
"Of course," Lily nodded. "But when the children were punished, I saw the concubines try to intervene. And even if they couldn't change Father's decision, they would still wait beside their children until the punishment was over," she blinked innocently and curiously. "I do not have my mother here, but I have seen such affection between a mother and child that I thought it was what mothers normally do."
Concubine Su stiffened.
"Tianrui had done something wrong," she reasoned. "He is childish and does not follow the rules most of the time. This is a good opportunity to teach him a lesson."
"But Sixth Brother was kidnapped by the Bai Clan's Young Heir," Lily informed, not feeling guilty about using Bai Yichen's name once again. "He didn't do anything wrong. He was simply taken away by Young Heir Bai because he happened to be with me. I don't think Sixth Brother should be blamed."
Concubine Su took a deep breath.
"Then, you should've informed His Lordship about it."
"I did. But he wouldn't believe me. He also thinks that Sixth Brother is childish and a source of headaches, just like you do, Concubine Su."
"If that is the case, then I will petition His Lordship about it."
Lily smiled. "That would be for the best. But Concubine Su, how long did it take you to notice that Sixth Brother was missing?"
Concubine Su forced a smile. "I was not feeling well and didn't notice that your brother was missing. It was my negligence."
Lily frowned and reprimanded the maidservants. "You should take good care of Concubine Su!" The maidservants lowered their heads, but Lily quickly returned her attention to Concubine Su. "But still, there should have been someone taking care of Sixth Brother. From my elder siblings down to my youngest siblings, everyone has at least one servant attending to them. My Sixth Brother had none."
He would always follow her around, yet she had never seen any of the servants under Concubine Su attend to him. Even when he went to the lake just to curse her name, there was no one with him.
"You also have no one attending to you."
Concubine Su wanted this abomination to leave. Why was she interrogating her? She was about to lose her temper!
"My personal attendant is Butler Chen, as I requested from Father," Lily said. "He is busy managing the household, so he cannot stay by my side all the time. Besides..." she glanced at Tianrui, "I chose that myself. Sixth Brother did not. That aside, do you not care about Sixth Brother?"
"Seventh Young Miss, you have already asked too many questions. Please leave my courtyard," Concubine Su said, her expression darkening.
Lily smiled. "But I don't want to."
"I said leave!"
Lily's smile disappeared. "I said I don't want to," she said, her aura beginning to intensify. "You haven't answered my question yet. You always meet Second Brother at the gate whenever he returns. You greet him with the sweetest smile, speak to him gently, and ask Father to look after his well-being. Yet none of that was ever given to Sixth Brother. Concubine Su, your favoritism is too obvious, but someone was still ignorant—-
"—- When Sixth Brother returned from the Kingdom of Liang, why didn't you ask whether he was injured?
"—- You didn't ask whether he had eaten.
"—- You didn't ask whether he was frightened.
"—- You didn't ask whether he was hurt.
"—- You only spoke about punishment."
"So? What is it that you want, Seventh Young Miss?" said Concubine Su coldly. She was done being polite to this child.
Lily blinked. "Nothing. I am just stating the facts." Turning her head to look behind her, she added, "What do you think, Father?"