Chapter 239: Addressing the Issue with Lady Bishuo

Chapter 239: Addressing the Issue with Lady Bishuo

"Commander Li."

Cheng Yunshuo greeted his immediate superior, Commander Li.

Commander Li was Lady Wang's husband. It was he who had recruited Cheng Yunshuo into the Imperial Guards.

"Yunshuo, there's something I need to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

Cheng Yunshuo asked, puzzled, as Commander Li handed him a document.

"Take some time off for now. I'll hold your position open for now, and we'll see what happens after the situation cools down."

Feeling strange, Cheng Yunshuo opened the document to find it stated his temporary removal from all duties in the Imperial Guards, pending reassignment.

"Why is this happening?!"

Commander Li looked at him with deep eyes. "Yunshuo, do you need me to spell it out? Do you not know what you've been doing recently?"

"Commander Li, please enlighten me!"

"You've been getting too close with a palace maid these past few days, and it's causing a lot of gossip. It looks bad, very bad."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yunshuo immediately understood. He hurriedly said, "Lady Bishuo and I have done nothing wrong! There's absolutely nothing between us!"

"Yunshuo, I believe you, but the rumors are here," Commander Li said with a heavy sigh. "In the palace, it's forbidden for maids and guards to have private relations. With these rumors going around, do you want to risk losing your head?"

Cheng Yunshuo, eager to defend himself, found himself speechless.

He had indeed done those things. From the moment he first saw Lady Bishuo, there was almost a major incident, and afterwards, they had been very close.

These facts were clear for everyone to see.

After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Commander Li, please help me. I don't want to leave the palace."

Commander Li looked at him. "Yunshuo, what I'm doing is helping you! Do you know how many people are watching you right now? Every move you make is under thousands of eyes. A single mistake, and your entire Marquis's Mansion could be implicated! You still want to stay in the palace? Have you really been bewitched by someone?"

Hearing this, Cheng Yunshuo fell silent.

"Go back and rest for a while. Once this blows over, I'll transfer you back," Commander Li said decisively.

Cheng Yunshuo had no more to say and handed over his token with a frustrated look.

As he handed it over, Commander Li spoke to him in a low voice, "Yunshuo, you're good at everything, but you let your emotions get the better of you too easily. You had a bright future ahead of you, and I knew you had ambitions to make a big impact. I always wanted to promote you, but now you're being held back by trivial matters—specifically, about your relationship with Lady Bishuo. You really need to think carefully about whether some people are dragging you down."

Hearing this, Cheng Yunshuo furrowed his brows. He wanted to say something in Lady Bishuo's defense but was met with Commander Li's stern gaze.

Among men, talking about women didn't usually resonate much. Especially at their level, power and money were far more important than women.

In the Imperial Guards, it was embarrassing when someone lost their job over a woman.

Everyone would find it laughable.

Everyone could distinguish between benefit and harm. When it came to career and family honor, a woman wasn't worth risking everything over.

At that time, Cheng Yunshuo had been full of fighting spirit and eager to make achievements, but now, he had been suspended from his duties for this reason, which felt like a betrayal of the trust others had placed in him.

Even more, he didn’t know how to face the former self who had wanted to prove something.

An indescribable sense of frustration welled up inside Cheng Yunshuo.

Without his duties, he felt like a useless layabout again.

He was troubled and anxious, but he couldn't afford to dwell on it, because as soon as he did, he would be reminded that the reason he lost his position was because of Bishuo.

This thought was like a thorn wedged into the budding relationship he had just formed with Bishuo.

If their bond were as strong as when he had been head-over-heels in love with Xing Dairong, he wouldn’t have cared about such things at all, and he would have thought everything he did for her was worth it.

But unfortunately, Bishuo had only just entered his life, and they were already facing this major issue, which was like a sharp thorn between them.

Lu Lingyun understood men like Cheng Yunshuo very well. He was extremely afraid of trouble. This thorn might not be enough to immediately break their relationship, but as time went on, if something similar happened again, it would make Cheng Yunshuo increasingly dissatisfied.

Men hated trouble the most; too many complications would make them turn against themselves.

Worse still, Cheng Yunshuo faced an even bigger problem: he couldn’t see Bishuo anymore!

Right now, Bishuo meant more to Cheng Yunshuo than his job or even the Marquis’s Mansion.

But he couldn’t see her!

Cheng Yunshuo was truly both agitated and anxious.

Lu Lingyun intended to let him suffer like this.

After handing over his token, Cheng Yunshuo was barred from appearing near the palace. He couldn’t even find someone to talk to Bishuo, and he left helplessly.

Not long after he left, some commoners were seen loitering near the western gate. When Li, the Imperial Guards leader, sent people to disperse them, they overheard the gossip.

Some said they had seen a palace maid being beaten in the street while she was out shopping, her clothes torn, leaving her in a miserable state. Everyone came to see which maid it was.

The guards quickly moved to disperse the crowd. The people gathered there were just ordinary commoners, and as soon as they saw the guards coming, they quickly scattered.

The people dispersed, but the rumors did not.

The guards listened to the circulating gossip with great interest.

It didn’t take long for everyone to figure out who it was.

Wasn’t it Lady Bishuo, who had been frequently leaving the palace recently!

Although at that time her clothes had only been torn at the sleeve and didn’t attract much attention, people clearly preferred the gossip version. In no time, the rumor that Bishuo had been beaten in the street and her clothes torn off spread among the guards.

In the afternoon, when the Imperial Guards were patrolling the streets near the inner palace gates, they saw one of the gates wide open. Several eunuchs were carrying miscellaneous items, and a senior female official wearing green clothes appeared before everyone.

She was instantly recognized.

“It’s her.”

“That’s Lady Bishuo.”

“Was her clothes really torn?”

"Do you think it’s true, or is it just a rumor?"

Bishuo was standing at the palace gate, waiting for Cheng Yunshuo to come. A group of guards walked past her, but none of them was Cheng Yunshuo.

What made her even more uneasy were their glances—each person seemed to be looking at her almost unintentionally.

This made her extremely uncomfortable.

As time was running out and Cheng Yunshuo still hadn’t shown up, she sadly closed the palace gate.

She had originally intended to tell Cheng Yunshuo today when she would be released from the palace, hinting that she had nowhere to go afterward.

But for some reason, Cheng Yunshuo didn’t show up.

Disappointed, she ordered the palace gate to be closed and prepared to leave when a palace attendant came to find her.

"Bishuo, Head Matron is asking for you!"