Following Xiao Dingquan's voluntary confession to the Ballad Case, the furious and paranoid Emperor inflicts a series of physical, emotional, and political punishments:

1. Physical Torture (The Jin Jian / Imperial Mace)

• Brutal Foot Beating: The Emperor orders the Crown Prince to be taken to the Konghe Yard—ironically the exact, ominous location where his late uncle, Prince Min, was cornered and tortured until he committed suicide.

• The Weapon: He is subjected to a severe beating using a Jin Jian (Golden Mace / Rod) specifically targeting the soles of his feet.

• The Cruelty: This torture is designed not only to cause excruciating physical pain but also to humiliate him deeply, rendering him unable to stand properly, that too on his own birthday - which the Emperor never remembers .. and has forgotten.

2. Physical Bastinado (Ting Zhang / Court Caning)

• Severe Flogging: Alongside the mace, Dingquan is subjected to heavy Ting Zhang (Court Caning).

• The flogging is so severe that it leaves him physically broken, bloody, and entirely bedridden.

3. Starvation and Strict Confinement

• Palace Custody: Following the beating, the Emperor places Dingquan under strict (confinement/house arrest)

4. Psychological Cruelty: The Pointing of the Mace

• Birthday Mockery: While Dingquan is being tortured, he looks at his father in complete despair, asking why the Emperor chose this exact day—his birthday—to break him.

• Emotional Deprivation: The Emperor coldly uses the moment to mock Dingquan's longing for affection, contrasting him with his favored older brother, Prince Qi. The physical punishment only stops when his maternal uncle, General Gu Silin, physically marches into the palace, bursts into the yard, and forcibly grabs the imperial mace to shield his nephew.

This brutal punishment marks the lowest point of Xiao Dingquan's relationship with his father.