Chapter 47: Loyalty_1

These three gossipmongers spilled everything cleanly. However, they knew nothing crucial. If it were important, King Liang and Chun Yan wouldn’t have let these three relay it. At most, they were paid to help Chun Yan meet someone at the corner gate.

“Besides them, who else helped you pass messages?” Bai Qingyan turned her head to ask Chun Yan, who was kneeling and shivering at her feet.

Chun Yan bit her lower lip, tears streaming down her face.

She put down the hand warmer, picked up the hot tea cup, and blew on it slowly: “This is a chance for atonement. If you don’t speak, even if Chun Tao kneels down and begs me, I can’t forgive you.”

The elderly woman tied and kneeling in the courtyard hurriedly said, “There’s also Madam Liu! I saw Madam Liu passing messages too!”

Madam Liu, who was named, immediately knelt down: “Madam, Eldest Miss, please show mercy! I… I only passed a message that one time! Just that one time! I was tempted by seeing Madam Wang take the silver!”

Pulling out the radish brings out the mud, yet another one.

Madam Wang hurriedly knelt on the ground, shaking like a leaf.

Mrs. Dong heavily placed her teacup on the small table: “Our Duke’s household has never mistreated its servants. I never thought there would still be those blinded by money! Whoever else is involved, stand up. I might spare you! If someone else points you out, you will be beaten to death without mercy!”

Mrs. Dong had always governed her household with both kindness and strictness. The Duke’s household was well-managed; otherwise, when Mrs. Dong had strictly forbidden any news about Second Miss Bai Jinxiu returning home from being spread, how could nothing have leaked?

King Liang indeed put in great effort for Bai Qingyan, but in the end, he only managed to bribe a gatekeeping servant and four gatekeeping women.

Chun Yan’s tears fell even more fiercely. With a desperate look, she crawled to Mrs. Dong’s feet: “Madam! Prince Liang has genuine feelings for our miss. This maid did it for the miss’s good! Prince Liang heard that the lady of Dengzhou wants to match our Eldest Miss with the young master. Even with such heavy injuries, he came personally… just to see the Eldest Miss. Such deep affection, which man in the entire Dadu City could be so wholehearted to our Eldest Miss?”

Nanny Qin clasped her hands before her stomach, her face stern: “Miss Chun Yan’s words make no sense! If Prince Liang holds such deep affection, he could easily have had a lady visit our household… to probe or to speak on his behalf. Why bribe servants to act in secrecy? How is such behavior different from ruining our miss’s reputation?! You are a personal maid to the Eldest Miss, yet you had close dealings with King Liang’s servant. If the Eldest Miss hadn’t been astute enough to have Yingshuang follow you and been discovered by others… your life as a maid doesn’t matter, but what about our miss’s reputation?!”

“Madam! Prince Liang truly cherishes our Eldest Miss…”

“It seems Chun Yan eats the Duke’s household’s food but works for the Liang household’s interests!” Mrs. Dong let out a low laugh, then said slowly, “Nanny Qin, take Chun Yan’s deed of sale and send her to King Liang’s manor. If King Liang doesn’t accept her, leave her outside the manor, break her legs, and sell her to a brothel.”

Chun Yan’s face changed drastically. She crawled back to Bai Qingyan’s feet in desperation, tears and snot running: “Eldest Miss! Please save me! I don’t want to go anywhere; I only wish to stay with the Eldest Miss! I… I will never dare again!”

Though Chun Yan was foolish, she understood that King Liang only saw her because she was the Eldest Miss’s personal maid. If the Eldest Miss despised her, of what use would she be to King Liang? He surely wouldn’t want her, and she would meet the same fate as Mingyu.

Thinking of Mingyu, Chun Yan shivered and cried even more miserably.

Bai Qingyan looked at the terrified Chun Yan and said lightly, “What did you tell King Liang about me? Today… you must confess everything, or even the gods can’t save you!”

“This maid, this maid… just told King Liang about the Eldest Miss’s preferences and some childhood things of the Eldest Miss,” Chun Yan cried with a guilty conscience, her voice lowered.

“Speak clearly, what exactly did you say! Don’t leave out a single detail!” She casually picked up her teacup.

It wasn’t that she was petty, but in her previous life, King Liang knew everything about her, even where she had scars and which ones itched when it rained. If in this life, King Liang used what Chun Yan told him to destroy her innocence, she couldn’t clear her name no matter what.

Better to deal with it openly now so that if King Liang ever had any despicable thoughts, Bai Qingyan would have no worries.

Chun Yan was truly intimidated, sobbing as she divulged everything she told King Liang or Tongji during this period.

Nanny Qin, upon hearing Chun Yan had told even about Bai Qingyan’s injuries on the battlefield and how her shoulder itched in rainy weather, was so angry she could barely contain herself. Rushing forward, she slapped Chun Yan: “Someone! Drag this vile maid out and beat her to death! Right now! How dare you disclose such private matters of the Eldest Miss?!”

Always composed, Mrs. Dong was so enraged that her vision darkened, almost fainting.

“Eldest Miss! Eldest Miss!” Chun Yan clung to Bai Qingyan’s leg, “Eldest Miss, save me! I’ve confessed everything! Save me!”

“Pull this vile maid away! Don’t dirty the Eldest Miss’s clothes!” Mrs. Dong gritted her teeth, wishing she could tear Chun Yan apart.

“Mother…” She shook her head at Mrs. Dong, then looked down at Chun Yan, “What else did you tell King Liang?”

“Nothing else! Really, nothing else…” Chun Yan shook her head, crying.@@novelbin@@

After a while, Bai Qingyan put down her teacup and called Chun Tao: “Chun Tao…”

Knowing that Chun Yan had divulged so much about the Eldest Miss to King Liang, Chun Tao trembled with anger, pale-faced. She immediately knelt down: “Chun Tao is here!”

“That day you knelt before me to plead for Chun Yan. Today, I spare Chun Yan’s life, considering you’ve repaid her lifesaving grace! However, Chun Yan can escape death but not punishment. Beat her fifty times and demote her to a third-class maid! Your monthly allowance will be halved for six months. Do you accept?” she asked Chun Tao.

Chun Tao kowtowed heavily, ashamed, tears streaming down: “Miss, punish me too! I shouldn’t have pleaded for this despicable wretch!”

She lifted Chun Tao and grasped her hand: “You are loyal and just; such qualities make you a person of our Duke’s household!”

Her cold gaze turned to Chun Yan: “Chun Yan, do you accept your punishment?!”

Shivering, Chun Yan hurriedly expressed her gratitude: “Thank you, Eldest Miss, for sparing my life! Thank you, Eldest Miss, for sparing my life!”

Chun Yan was dragged away and punished before everyone. The thick paddle struck her buttocks with dull thuds, her screams filled with agony. Before long, blood stained her clothes, and Chun Yan fainted from the pain.