âXiaojie, that Shizi is so preposterous! You canât marry him! So shameless! How can there be such a noble lady? Sheâs not even comparable to a geisha!â Nanny Lou was furious to death as she angrily scolded.
âThereâs no need to get mad with such scum.â Zi You stood up. She felt relaxed, as if she had shaken off unwanted baggage.
Although she had gotten engaged to the slag male just to dissolve the engagement and discredit him, she still didnât want people to say that she was Duke Yongnan Shiziâs fiancée. It was great now. From now on, she would have nothing more to do with him.
She would only make him wish that he was dead to avenge the hatred from her previous life.
At Shui YouLianâs Yinlian Ju, before Zi You entered the courtyard, she heard the wails inside. âGive me my child...... Give me my child back......â
The voice was filled with endless grief. Zi You instantly thought of her child who died in her stomach.
After her rebirth, she rarely remembered her child who had tragically died, as if the child had never existed. But at this moment, Zi You remember that Shui YouLian had once said, âI donât want to follow Laoye back to take up his post and live those fearful days. Iâm pregnant now. I have to think for my childâs sake.â
A small crack couldnât help but appear in Zi Youâs stone heart. She lost a child too, so she could understand this heartbreaking pain. This child was Shui YouLianâs lifeblood.
Zi You knew that Shui YouLian had never loved Mu YingRui. Everything she did was to repay Zi You for her kindness in saving her from the fire pit.
So, after she had her child, she had no intentions of competing for favor so she could protect her child and live her life safely and peacefully.
However, these people had to even deprive her of this humble hope. They were really heartless!
When Zi You walked inside, a glimmer of light clearly flashed in Shui YouLianâs eyes, but it was soon extinguished.
She sat quietly in bed and held a pillow, as if the pillow was her precious son. She lovingly shook it and coaxed softly, âHuiâer, motherâs baby. Baby......â
Zi Youâs gaze gradually darkened. She waved her hand. Shiyun immediately drove out the two maidservants next to Shui Yiniang.
The two maidservants didnât really want to leave, but they were forcefully dragged out by Haiyun and Shuiyun. âXiaojie is going to examine Shui Yiniang. Donât disturb her.â
Zi You went over and took the pillow out of Shui YouLianâs hands. She placed it on the bed and took her into her arms. She didnât disdain her unkemptness or her unpleasant sour stench. She hugged her and whispered, âI know that youâre not crazy. Youâre waiting for me to come back and seek revenege. So, you suppressed all your tears in your heart. You can cry now.â
Shui YouLian hugged Zi You and cried silently.
She didnât make a sound, but her silent wailing was even more heartbreaking. She suppressed her voice and her whole body shook like falling leaves in the sad wind and cold rain......
After a very, very long time, she choked out, âHuiâer was smart...... Clever and cute. Even he...... He said that Huiâer...... was more talented than Qingheng Shaoye. But he...... He let that...... malicious woman kill my son!
âHe clearly knew that...... It wasnât Qingyuan Shaoyeâs fault. Itâs that malicious womanâs fault. But...... But he...... just let this matter go. Xiaojie, avenege me! Avenge your brother!â
Shui YouLianâs voice was very low so it was a little hoarse, but one could feel her boundless hatred. Especially when she mentioned the malicious woman and âhim,â she gnashed her teeth. She apparently hated them to the extreme.
Zi You nodded and said clearly, âDonât worry. I will find a way to make them pay for what they did to you, my brother, and the countless people who were killed by them! But how do you that itâs that malicious woman who harmed my brother?â
Shui YouLian wiped her tears and said angrily, âHuiâer is dead. Iâm sad, but Iâm not crazy. I secretly snuck out at night to take a look at the lotus pond. There were plants in the lotus pond where Huiâer fell in. If the plants didnât wrap around Huiâerâs leg, he might have not have drowned so quickly.
âAlso, someone had poured oil near the lotus pond. Although the oil was cleaned when I went there, I still felt soybean oil on the edges of the soil. If something didnât happen to Huiâer that day, then something might have happened to Qingyuan Shaoye.
âThey just wanted to kill two birds with one stone. It will be great if Qingyuan Shaoye drowns. If Qingyuan Shaoye doesnât drown, then...... my Huiâer will drown and Qingyuan Shaoye will take the blame.
âXiaojie, theyâre too vicious. Huiâer was his son too...... He also kissed him before. How can he bear it......â
Shui YouLianâs tears started flowing down again. She wiped them off and bent down to lift up the shabby and dirty carpet. She removed a tile and took out a booklet. She handed it to Zi You and said, âThis is a ledger of him taking bribes and bribing his superiors when he and I were in Quanzhou. At that time, he didnât have his guard up against me, so he left all the private transactions for me to manage.
âI fell out of favor afterwards and he took all the accounts away. But he doesnât know that I kept one. I know that heâs a fickle and and unjust person. He personally named this courtyard and wrote the signboard. As a result...... I donât blame him for being fickle towards me, but let that woman hurt my son. I will never forgive him!â
âWhy do you believe in me?â Zi You looked at the ledger and couldnât help but be touched.
Shui YouLian looked sympathetically at her and shook her head. âIf you werenât forced, why would you send me to him? When he was slapped by your motherâs ghost, I knew that you couldnât endure it anymore.â
Shui YouLian was smart, but she still didnât manage to escape from Wang Yipingâs scheme. There was only one explanation: Her servants were bribed by Wang Yiping.
Sure enough, before she could ask, Shui YouLian said, âThe servants in the first household knew about her scandal, so they were gradually sold. When Lao TaiYe and Second Laoye left to pacify the rebellion, she sold or beat all of them to death.
âMy original maidservants were forcibly married off. My two current maidservants are from her side. I was vigilant, but I didnât expect that she would have bribed Huiâerâs nanny too. Huiâer went out with that nanny that day. I didnât expect that she actually......â
âWhereâs that nanny now?â Zi You asked.
âDead!â Shui YouLian replied resentfully. âDid she think that that malicious woman would let her off? That malicious woman could even kill her own nanny, not to mention other people. Do you know what happened to Yenhong and Liulu? They were treated as gifts and sent by her to Imperial Tutor She as tongfangs.â
So thatâs what happened. Zi You nodded understandingly. She said, âYou have to pretend to be crazy for a bit longer. You......â
Zi You leaned over and whispered to her. Then she said to Shiyun and Moyun, âCall those two maidservants inside.â
The two maidservants were bought brainwashed by Wang Yiping, so of course they wouldnât take good care of Shui YouLian.
Zi You wanted to demonstrate her authority to these two maidservants and essentially show off to the servants whom Wang Yiping had just bought. This would also be a slap in Wang Yipingâs face. Wang Yiping would suffer, but she wouldnât be able to voice it.
The two maidservants were brought inside. They looked at Shui Yiniang leaning against the bed and ravenously eating the food that Shiyun was feeding her.
Zi You was sitting lazily on a chair. The chair wasnât very clean, so it was covered with a beautiful embroidered cushion.
The two maidservants looked at her eyes that were as deep and cold as an ancient spring, which were currently staring coldly at them. The two maidservants shivered and suddenly knelt down.
Although most of the servants in the first household were disposed of by Wang Yiping and although Wang Yiping had bribed them with kindness as soon as they entered the house, the two maidservants had still heard some things from the servants in the second household.
For example, they had heard about this Xiaojie. The servants in the second household looked awestruck when they talked about her. The two maidservants wondered how powerful a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl could possibly be?
But they saw Zi You now and they couldnât help but be scared. Those eyes seemed to be able to hook their souls out. The momentum from her body made them more fearful of her than Mu YingRui.
In fact, Zi Youâs voice was beautiful and she also spoke very gently. But the two maidservants were still nervous and scared.
âHow long have you two been serving Shui Yiniang?â Zi You slowly sipped tea and asked very leisurely.
The two maidservants stammered, âMore then twenty days.â
Zi You poured the hot water from the teacup onto their heads. She snapped, âAre you two dead? Itâs been more than twenty days, but look at how dirty this room is. Although Shui Yiniang is ill, she is still my fatherâs concubine. You two slaves cannot neglect her. Look at how dirty she is. You can smell the sour stench from far away. Do you not have noses? If so, Shuiyun, go cut off their noses.â
The four first-rank maidservants had been learning medicine with Zi You. Shuiyun was the most courageous and often followed Zi You in dissecting mice, rabbits, and other creatures.
Shuiyun heard what Zi You said and picked up her sword to go cut their noses off.
The two maidservants were so scared that they almost lost their souls! They would rather be beaten with boards than have their noses cut off. Could girls marry if they didnât have any noses? Their lives would be ruined.
âSpare us......â The two maidservants cried out in fear. âItâs not our fault. First Furen told us not to care about Shui Yiniangâs life or death. Sheâs supposed to fend for herself.â
âYes. First Furen told us to give her some rancid rice every day. If she didnât eat it, then we should starve her to death.â