Chapter 86

Chapter 86

The next day.

After classes ended, Ye Piaoling picked up her broom as usual and walked into the Library Pavilion.

Sure enough, Xiao Mei arrived right on time, surrounded by seven or eight male and female disciples. Ye Xiangxiang was among them as well.

This time, each of them was holding a gourd full of pills-props Xiao Mei had handed out to them.

“Ye Piaoling, we let you off far too easy yesterday by only spilling one bottle of pills. Today, we brought extra just for you.”

With that, she ordered the group, “Scatter them!”

Several people opened their gourds one after another and flung the pills all over the floor.

The son of an assistant minister, eager to win Xiao Mei’s favor, deliberately sprang into the air like a monkey and tossed the pills high overhead, making the others burst into laughter.

Ye Xiangxiang’s face, however, had gone pale with nerves. She truly did not want to offend Ye Piaoling, but she did not dare disobey Xiao Mei either. All she could do was carefully pour the pills onto the floor.

Xiao Mei caught sight of it from the corner of her eye and cursed her inwardly as an ungrateful little traitor.

In truth, Ye Xiangxiang was the one she looked down on the most. Yet she still insisted on bringing her along for one reason: to humiliate Ye Piaoling. See that? Even your own younger sister from the Prime Minister’s Mansion has to stand with me against you!

Thousands of pills rolled across the floor. Even if Ye Piaoling picked them up until morning, she would not be finished. Xiao Mei arched a brow and smiled. “Ye Piaoling, you can start cleaning now. Pick them up one by one. Make sure you don’t miss a single one.”

Before she had even finished speaking-

“You outrageous brats!”

With an angry shout, Gu Liuxian stormed out from behind a row of bookshelves.

Xiao Mei and the others instantly turned pale with shock.

“Grand… Grandmaster?”

Gu Liuxian pointed at them and scolded, “What are you doing? Hm? Is this how you treat a fellow cultivator?”

Xiao Mei hurriedly knelt and admitted her mistake. “This disciple knows she was wrong. This disciple should not have played such a joke on Junior Sister Ye.”

The others knelt with her as well, not daring to lift their heads, all cursing their bad luck in their hearts.

Gu Liuxian said in a heavy voice, “Since you all enjoy making a joke of the Library Pavilion so much, then from today onward, the Library Pavilion will be yours to clean!”

Xiao Mei: “…”

Xiao Mei gritted her teeth. Punishment itself did not matter much to her. She could simply order the other disciples to do the cleaning, and it would not tire her out at all… The only problem was that Ye Piaoling would be getting off for free.

Cleaning the Library Pavilion was clearly Ye Piaoling’s job, yet now it had been handed to someone else!

Just then, Ye Piaoling suddenly spoke.

With an utterly honest expression, she said, “Grandmaster, this joke was entirely Princess Xiao’s idea. Everyone else was forced into it. If you want to punish someone, please punish Princess Xiao alone. Please don’t implicate the innocent.”

Xiao Mei: “…”

Gu Liuxian snapped, “Do not keep throwing the word Princess around. This old man has said before: within Tianwen Sect, there are only disciples. There are no imperial relatives or nobles!”

Those words were the equivalent of a slap across Xiao Mei’s face.

She was a noble Princess, but unfortunately, in Gu Liuxian’s eyes, royal power and wealth had never mattered. He would not give her special treatment because of her status!

In an instant, Xiao Mei’s expression grew even darker.

“Understood! This disciple will remember!” Ye Piaoling said sincerely. “This disciple only feels that if they all clean the building together, then with Senior Sister Xiao’s personality, she will definitely assign all the work to others and do nothing herself… This disciple cannot bear to see something like that. It would be far too unfair.”

Xiao Mei heard every word, and her teeth nearly itched with fury.

In this situation, she could neither drag her lackeys down with her nor willingly shoulder the punishment herself. She was trapped between a rock and a hard place!

As for the other young ladies and young masters, after their initial shock, traces of gratitude appeared in their eyes.

They normally followed Xiao Mei’s lead only because they wanted to curry favor with power. Now that Xiao Mei had dragged them into punishment, they had never expected Ye Piaoling to be so upright as to stand up and speak for them!

Thinking back on how they had just scattered the pills, they could not help lowering their heads in shame…

Gu Liuxian knew Ye Piaoling was speaking the plain truth, so he said sternly, “Since a mistake has been made, don’t even think about escaping punishment!”

“Starting today, Xiao Mei will clean the Library Pavilion alone. No one is allowed to help her! As for the rest of you, go back and copy the sect rules ten times!”

The others let out a breath of relief.

Xiao Mei’s face had already turned as black as coal.

Thanks to Ye Piaoling, cleaning the Library Pavilion had now become her job alone, and she did not even have anyone she could order around!

On top of that, Grandmaster had only set the punishment without giving it a deadline. That meant she would have to repent properly and work hard to prove herself, or else there would be no end in sight…

After scolding the disciples, Gu Liuxian flung his sleeves in frustration and left.

His face was practically saying, “As expected, this is the worst batch I’ve ever taught.”

Ye Piaoling stuffed the broom into Xiao Mei’s hands, arched a brow, and smiled.

“Five years of cultivation, three years of janitorial work. Work hard. You’ve got a bright future ahead of you!”

Xiao Mei: “…”

Ye Piaoling laughed loudly and strode off with her head held high.

Several thousand pills were still rolling across the floor. They would keep Xiao Mei busy for quite a while.

This was what people called lifting a rock only to drop it on your own foot.

Just like that, Ye Piaoling handed off her work to someone else. In a fantastic mood, she headed to Chonghua Palace, smiling the entire way.

She walked briskly into the Regent King’s bedchamber, feeling as though she had come home. Out of habit, she took out the Silver Banknote and began counting.

“Babe, I’m here to sleep with you again… Wait, no, I’m here to sleep in your bed again!”

Di Xiulan glanced at her indifferently. “You’re in a very good mood today.”

Ye Piaoling replied, “Of course. I found my grandpa!”

Di Xiulan: ?

Ye Piaoling suddenly stopped counting the Silver Banknote and lifted her gaze to stare at the man.

A moment later, she said seriously, “Your Highness, I just realized something. You look a lot like my grandpa too!”