"Do you admit your mistake?"
Song Lianhe hadn't even finished her internal sigh when the man on the high seat suddenly spoke. His voice was ice-cold, the ends of his words rising in a lazy drawl, radiating an authority that required no anger—as if she had drawn a sovereign's wrath.
It was almost a conditioned reflex. Song Lianhe dropped to her knees with a thud. "I-I admit my mistake!"
The Shadow Guard: "…"
He quickly gestured to Shuang Ye with his eyes.
Shuang Ye, slow on the uptake, awkwardly went over to help her up. "Second Miss," she whispered, "he wasn't talking to you…"
Only then did Song Lianhe snap out of it and see the steward kneeling on one knee behind her, awaiting punishment.
Pang Jiliang spoke first. "This was my failure. I ask for punishment, my Lord."
Zhou Cangyan didn't even lift an eyelid. "Go receive your punishment."
"Thank you, my Lord."
Pang Jiliang turned and left. A moment later, the sound of a whip cracking echoed from the courtyard.
