After she spoke, even Su Yaoyao stopped crying.
“What!?”
……
In the wood storage of the Minister’s residence, two people were confined.
One was a young man in his prime, the other a woman well past middle age.
Anyone who didn’t know better might assume they were mother and son.
But if someone were told the truth, they probably wouldn’t believe it: just a few hours ago, these two had been… intimately entangled on someone else’s bed!
Tao Yong felt nauseated at the sight of the plump older woman.
No one could understand what it felt like for a barely-grown young man to wake up and see a woman older than his own mother lying beside him!
Even with an empty stomach, Tao Yong couldn’t stop dry heaving.
The young man still couldn’t make sense of it last night, he had seen a girl as beautiful as a spirit, and yet a single night had turned everything upside down!
When he woke earlier, all he wanted was to escape the nightmare and never let anyone know he had spent the night with this older woman.
Compared to his despair, Old Madam Zhou seemed much “calmer.”
She simply sat there blankly, wearing only thin layers, showing little reaction.
If calmness were the description, it was more like… madness.
This was the scene Su Lingqing saw as she climbed in through the window.
Outside the wood storage, the two guards assigned to watch the room had no idea the residence’s young mistress had already slipped past them.
At the sound, Tao Yong shivered and looked over, eyes widening. “Be… beautiful… lady?”
Old Madam Zhou’s body trembled slightly, but her gaze remained vacant, as if lost in a stupor.
Su Lingqing glanced at them, smiled lightly, and walked over. “Did you enjoy yourselves last night, both of you?”
Mentioning it was enough to make Tao Yong start dry heaving again, while Old Madam Zhou remained motionless, as if she couldn’t comprehend human speech.
In truth, she was pretending.
Only by doing so could she buy time to figure out how to save herself.
The figure Su Yuan had seen last night was not Tao Yong, but Old Madam Zhou sneaking out the back gate of Fusheng Courtyard.
She had finally woken up yesterday morning, seeing her entire body bruised and battered, her face swollen grotesquely like a pig’s head and her heart filled with rage!
Knowing she was awake, the madam hadn’t said a word, nor asked why she had been beaten treating her instead like some broken thing to be discarded.
So she went to Zheng Rui to beg for forgiveness, secretly hoping for some reward.
In the past, whenever Old Madam Zhou tried to scheme against Su Lingqing, no matter the outcome, she would receive some praise or reward.
But this time was different. Zheng Rui sat high, only looking at her, speaking nothing.
Old Madam Zhou realized something was wrong.
When she paused, Zheng Rui finally asked: “Why did you tell Su Lingqing that I intended to marry her off to a vile man?”
Hearing this, Old Madam Zhou’s mind exploded.
She frantically kowtowed on the ground, insisting she had never said such a thing before Su Lingqing if she had, she would have been run over by a carriage the moment she left!
But Zheng Rui didn’t believe her. Though she wasn’t punished this time, it was clear that from now on, she had no place left in the Minister’s residence.
This outcome was, of course, unacceptable to Old Madam Zhou.
But she wasn’t foolish soon she suspected Su Lingqing. How could this little schemer know such a thing?
Old Madam Zhou believed that if she could find clues from Su Lingqing proving her innocence, she could regain trust and position.
Most importantly, she had wielded power in the residence for years, but now she had fallen surely the servants would trample her!
She had a plan but finding clues seemed impossible.
After dinner, as she returned to her room, she sensed something was wrong.
Somebody had left a note under her teacup, written in a shaky hand she couldn’t recognize:
【At the Mountain Pavilion, during the fourth quarter of the hour of the Dog, you’ll find everything you wish to know】
The Mountain Pavilion? A remote place, quite far from Weirui Pavilion.
So she didn’t suspect Su Lingqing. After being beaten nearly to death, she had no idea what changes Su Lingqing had undergone in the past few days.
In her mind, Su Lingqing was still that incompetent young lady.
Once there, she searched near the Mountain Pavilion for a long time, finding no clues, and waited for a while nobody appeared.
Suddenly, fear gripped her.
Could this… be a trap left by the madam, meant to make her disappear?
After all, Zheng Rui’s cruelty and vengefulness had been clear to her for years.
Just as she tried to flee, a sharp pain hit the back of her head, everything went black and she knew nothing more.
On that bed, she was conscious but unable to wake, tormented all night, nearly driven insane.
The reason the two were unconscious last night? Naturally, Su Lingqing had a hand in it.
Old Madam Zhou slowly lifted her head, looking at the young girl. “It’s you… not the madam.”
Su Lingqing tilted her head. “Of course it’s me but soon, it will be Zheng Rui.”
Hearing this, Old Madam Zhou spat out a mouthful of clotted blood, shocking Tao Yong.
“On what grounds do you say that?” she tried to struggle.
Su Lingqing smiled. “You know what kind of person Zheng Rui is better than I do, right? By the way, I didn’t avoid anyone when I came just now. I imagine Zheng Rui already knows I was here. Guess what she’ll think?”
Tao Yong couldn’t follow the twists and turns of her words, but Old Madam Zhou’s face had gone gray, faintly looking like death.
Finally, she whispered: “After living so long, I underestimated you. I’ve never seen anyone so patient and cunning as you.”
Only then did Tao Yong understand the severity of the situation.
“What!? What are you talking about? Aunt is always kind how could she ever let us be neglected!”
Su Lingqing finally granted him a glance. “Hmm, she can manage but life or death? Not guaranteed.”
Tao Yong’s face turned ashen, regretting ever listening to Su Yaoyao.
A coward, he quickly prostrated himself before Su Lingqing. “Miss! Please save me! I dared to have thoughts of you only because my mind was clouded by lard! It was Su Yaoyao who brought me here! Aunt must have tacitly allowed it. I’ll tell you anything you want just let me live!”
Their family had no official position, and any inheritance had long been squandered they were worth less than grass!
If not for a distant tie to Zheng Rui, who knows if they’d even survive hunger!
Su Lingqing looked at Old Madam Zhou. “And you? Want to live?”
Old Madam Zhou lifted her slack eyelids. “I don’t trust you.”
“Then you’ll die at Zheng Rui’s hands. Fine. Loyal servants are hard to come by let’s hope she doesn’t utterly destroy you.”
The young girl then whispered something into Tao Yong’s ear. The boy nodded frantically. “Yes! I remember! Thank you, Miss, for saving my life!”
Seeing Tao Yong so overjoyed, Old Madam Zhou twitched her fingers.
At that moment, a familiar voice rang from outside:
“Impudent! Let me in immediately! Don’t think I don’t know Su Lingqing is inside!”