Hui Pin's face went deathly pale.
Her whole body began to tremble. She slid to the ground, her knees hitting the ice-cold floor. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... This concubine... this concubine didn't mean it like that..."
A coward fears both contracting the plague and incurring the Emperor's wrath.
"Then why don't you tell Us what you meant?"
The Emperor's voice was low and hoarse, a heavy rumble that betrayed no emotion.
Hui Pin stammered for a long time, unable to come up with a proper answer. Women from aristocratic families were expected to be gentle, virtuous, and obedient. She had never been assertive in front of a man before. In the past, whenever she did something wrong, people would smooth things over for her out of respect for her aunt, the Empress Dowager, and her father. Now, faced with the enraged Emperor, she had no idea how to defend herself.
"Since you have nothing to say, then We will speak."
