The rooster’s crow echoed.
Wen Xueling had already risen, but she did not see Granny Xu or Mingyue in the courtyard.
She went to her mother’s room first and asked softly, “Mother, did you rest well last night?”
After several days of recovery, Mu Qingyu’s complexion looked better.
The mother and daughter chatted for a while, and the smile on Wen Xueling’s face grew more frequent. However, her expression shifted when she saw the empty small kitchen.
She immediately went to the room shared by Granny Xu and Mingyue.
“Cough, cough… Miss Wen, the old woman and Mingyue have been looking after your mother day and night. We’ve caught a chill and won’t be able to serve you today.”
Wen Xueling had grown up following her mother to identify herbs and learn medical principles; how could she not see that these two were not suffering from a chill at all?
Hearing this, Wen Xueling feigned a lack of funds and said, “Then give the money to me. I will go out and buy provisions myself.”
Mingyue glanced at Granny Xu. “Miss Wen, we have no money. All the silver the Fourth Young Master gave us has been spent.”
Wen Xueling smiled, showing no anger at these words.
She was glad she had asked Liang Jue for a few Shadow Guards last night to protect and assist them from the shadows.
The Shadow Guards purchased lunch, and Wen Xueling finished it with her mother inside the room.
Hearing footsteps outside the window, Wen Xueling opened the package of Peach Blossom Crisps from the day before.
Seeing her pick one up, Mu Qingyu asked in confusion, “Ling’er, don’t you dislike those?”
“Mother, I’m not eating them. I’m only putting on a show for them,” Wen Xueling responded in a low voice.
To Mu Qingyu, her daughter seemed to have grown up overnight since waking up that evening.
Ever since the mother and daughter left the Northern Frontier, Mu Qingyu would do whatever Wen Xueling said.
Outside the door, Wen Jinli watched her eat the Peach Blossom Crisps and slowly curled his lips into a smirk.
She said she wouldn’t eat them before, but doesn’t she eat anything when she’s hungry enough? How pretentious. A couple of missed meals cured her right up.
“Have someone from the Golden Feather Pavilion deliver dinner.”
He did not enter the room. The Golden Feather Pavilion was the finest restaurant in Jingcheng; as a son and a brother, he felt he had done quite well by reaching this point.
Wen Xueling planned to refine the design of the arrows she had created for her eldest brother in her past life and use them as a trade with Liang Jue.
No matter what, she determinedly refused to be as passive as she had been in her previous life.
When Wen Xueling emerged with the completed drawings and passed by Granny Xu and Mingyue’s room, she smelled the aroma of food and heard the sound of their whispered discussion.
“Granny Xu, this is the dinner the Fourth Young Master arranged for them. If it’s discovered that we ate it…”
“Heh! Everything in the Prime Minister’s Mansion is under the Madam’s control. Just eat in peace. You’ll need your strength to send that mother and daughter on their way.”
“They are just wretched things who ruined the Madam’s family. It’s no big deal if they die, let alone if we eat a bit of their dinner.”
In the corner outside the house, Wen Xueling’s expression was cold and dark, yet a smirk played on her lips as she turned back to her room.
Just as darkness fell, rustling sounds came from outside.
“Be quick about it. Kill these two vile wenches fast so we can report back to the Madam at the mansion early.”
“What’s there to fear? Everyone inside and out is one of us. Strangling two pathetic women is a simple matter.”
“Once we’re done, have someone bring over Wang Mazi, that man with consumption from Spark Alley. The Madam doesn’t want this wench to leave even a shred of a trace in the Prime Minister’s heart after she’s dead.”
Wen Xueling sat by the bedside. Hearing them call her a “vile wench” over and over, her heart remained untroubled.
Thinking her daughter was afraid, Mu Qingyu held a poison capable of dissolving a person’s very bones and comforted her, “Ling’er, don’t be afraid. You know your mother is skilled with toxins. This powder can make a person collapse instantly upon inhalation.”
Wen Xueling shook her head and whispered to Mu Qingyu, “Mother, I’m not afraid. Our lives are about to begin anew.”
Together with Granny Xu and Mingyue, a total of five maids and hags pushed the door open grandly, not fearing any resistance from the people inside.
Wen Xueling recognized several of them as the old women who had served her stepmother in her past life. Each was more arrogant than the last; in her previous life, they had treated themselves as masters of the Prime Minister’s Mansion in front of her, bullying her repeatedly.
Very well.
She could finally begin her revenge.
Early the next morning.
In a flower-filled courtyard of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, a woman smilingly pushed open her window, only to come face-to-face with the eyes of Granny Xu and the other four, who had died without peace. Their skin had already begun to rot, and their bodies were bloated several times over.
“Ah—!”
At the exact moment of her piercing scream, the corpses before the window suddenly exploded, spraying the woman’s face with fragments of flesh and debris. Her mouth was filled with the stench of rot.
The sound of the woman retching echoed.
In Fragrant Blossom Courtyard, having finished punishing the evil slaves, peace was restored.
“Mother, the medicine is a bit hot. Drink carefully.”
Wen Xueling sat by the bed, cautiously feeding Mu Qingyu the medicine.
At that moment, the door was kicked open from the outside.
“Wen Xueling!” Wen Jinli’s roar thundered.
“Li’er, have you gone mad!”
Mu Qingyu hastily shielded her daughter behind her and said sharply, “She is your sister! Whatever you have to say, say it properly!”
He shouted in a rage, “What sister? She puts on a good act, but unfortunately, I don’t have such a cold-blooded and vicious sister!”
“Do you know that Wen Xueling killed people last night? How dare she!”
“Don’t stop me! Even if she is my sister, she must be sent to the authorities! I cannot feel at ease with such a ruthless person by your side. As her elder brother, I must teach her a proper lesson!”