Hu Rui slammed the table in anger.
“The eldest young master is nowhere to be seen right now! How do you know whether he’s safe or not?!
You useless dogs completely inattentive to your master! You can’t even handle such a small matter sell them all off!”
The servants outside the courtyard all kowtowed and begged for mercy.
For a moment, the air was filled with cries of “Madam, spare us!”
“Mother…”
Yu Mu’an’s weak voice sounded.
Anxin and Ju Hong supported her on either side as she slowly walked out.
Hu Rui hurried over in concern. “Why did you come out? Go back and lie down!”
Yu Mu’an was helped to sit. She caught her breath weakly before speaking slowly “Right now, I believe the most important thing is to find my husband.
Ping An knows him best. Why not have him lead some people to search for him first? We can discuss everything else after we’ve brought him back.
What do you think, Mother?”
Nanny Zhang also persuaded, “Yes, Madam. The Eldest Young Madam makes sense. Finding the eldest young master is the priority we mustn’t let anything happen.”
Hu Rui’s face remained stern, but she finally nodded.
Yu Mu’an immediately turned to Ping An.
“Ping An, pick a few people and search the places my husband usually goes.”
Ping An promptly responded loudly, “Yes!”
“Ju Hong, go with him as well. If the eldest young master needs attending to, those boys are clumsy you’ll take better care of him.”
Ju Hong answered at once, “Yes, Eldest Young Madam.”
Ping An hesitated briefly but did not refuse. He turned and left quickly.
Yu Mu’an supported her head, looking weak.
“Mother, perhaps you should return to Wei Rui Xuan to rest for now. When my husband returns, we’ll come pay our respects. I’m feeling too unwell to sit any longer…”
Hu Rui gestured for Nanny Zhang to help her up.
“Nonsense! How can I leave when you’re this ill? And Yan’er isn’t here either an entire courtyard of servants, yet not one is reliable!
Go and rest. Leave everything else to me.”
Nanny Zhang and Anxin helped Yu Mu’an back inside, comforting her as they walked.
“Eldest Young Madam, just rest easy. Our Madam dotes on you.”
Yu Mu’an lay back on the bed. As Nanny Zhang turned away, the two exchanged a glance.
Anxin immediately supported Nanny Zhang and walked out with her.
“Nanny Zhang, since Madam is in the outer room, I’ll go check on the kitchen fire.
I need to keep an eye on those maids. I’ll leave the Eldest Young Madam to you.”
Nanny Zhang smiled. “You’re too polite, Miss Anxin. It’s my duty. Go ahead and busy yourself.”
Listening to the sounds outside, Yu Mu’an finally closed her eyes slowly.
It hurts so much!
If she had known it would hurt this badly, she would have used less of the medicine!
Now that she could finally lie down and rest and with Anxin watching over the decoction she didn’t have to worry about anything strange being added to it.
Today, the Madam of the residence was hosting the Hundred Flowers Banquet, and naturally both young madams had accompanied her.
The young master had official duties and had left early in the morning.
That night, when she eavesdropped, she discovered that Xie Jingyan had something troublesome to handle and needed to go out personally.
And today was the perfect opportunity.
Sure enough, as soon as they left, Xie Jingyan slipped out immediately.
To set things up, Yu Mu’an hadn’t even applied rouge. As soon as she got the news, she drank all the drugged tea.
Using Hongjin, she had fed Yu Lin plenty of suggestive ideas including the dancing deliberately mentioning it in front of Anxin.
In her previous life, she had already known that Hu Rui’s two maids, Hongjin and Qingyu, were close friends.
One had been sent to Yunfei Pavilion, the other to Qingchen Courtyard.
Both believed that the future of the General’s residence should belong to Madam’s biological son, so in her previous life, they had unconditionally supported her.
Now that Yu Lin had married Xie Jinghong, they naturally sided with Yu Lin instead.
When Ju Hong gathered information and reported that Yu Lin was preparing a dance, Yu Mu’an knew her move had worked.
This way, Yu Lin would steal the spotlight at the banquet, which would surely displease Hu Rui.
Then, with her sudden illness, Hu Rui would definitely take her back to the residence, leaving Yu Lin behind out of sight, out of mind.
Once Hu Rui returned, she would naturally discover that Xie Jingyan was missing.
This entire plan was meant to trap Xie Jingyan.
When Xie Jingyan was found, he was fast asleep inside a rock cave in the back garden of the General’s residence.
The place was extremely secluded, the garden barely maintained no one knew how he had even found such a spot.
What was most dangerous was that this remote area had very few guards, and one section of the courtyard wall was especially low.
Fortunately, Xie Jingyan hadn’t climbed over the wall to sneak out. If someone had recognized the young general in his foolish state, it could have led to disaster.
This time, Hu Rui was furious.
She directly ordered that every servant in Qingchen Courtyard be given twenty strokes of the board, then all be sold off.
Ju Hong had been following orders from Yu Mu’an to learn household management from the stewarding nanny, so she wasn’t in the courtyard and escaped punishment.
Anxin had gone to the flower banquet with Yu Mu’an, so this punishment had nothing to do with her either.
Ping An, however, was unlucky.
Even though he had been legitimately off duty, he was still in the courtyard and had failed to notice the young master slipping out so he was punished as well.
The servants lay in rows outside, being beaten, wailing miserably.
Xie Jingyan sat nearby, crying and howling along with them, his body covered in dirt as he rolled on the ground.
Yu Mu’an, pale-faced, stood and bowed slightly.
“Mother, I dare to plead for Ping An.”
Hu Rui’s gaze still held lingering fear and anger likely from the thought of others seeing Xie Jingyan’s foolish state.
Yu Mu’an remained calm and composed.
“I have not yet recovered, and both Anxin and Ju Hong must attend to me.
If everyone in this courtyard is dismissed, even if new servants are assigned immediately, they may not be able to properly care for my husband. It would be better to let Ping An atone through service.”
Hu Rui snorted. “I think this servant has grown arrogant, relying on the fact that he grew up with his master. Better to take this chance to teach him a proper lesson.”
Yu Mu’an’s gaze sharpened slightly.
Hu Rui looked toward Ping An, who was lying outside being punished. There was undisguised killing intent in her eyes.
“If you ask me, we might as well sell off this Ping An too. There’s no need to keep a disobedient servant there are plenty of good ones!”
Before she finished speaking, outside, Xie Jingyan’s eyes happened to fall on Hu Rui, a trace of killing intent flashing within them.
Yu Mu’an sensed it keenly and immediately stood up, just in time to block his line of sight.
“Mother, that must not be done.”
Hu Rui frowned. “Why not?”
Yu Mu’an spoke calmly and logically “My husband’s condition is rather special. Although he may lash out at Ping An at times, Ping An is still the only one who serves him relatively well.
If someone new is suddenly assigned to him, they will certainly struggle to manage, especially without experience in handling his sudden outbursts.
If something were to happen if a life were lost and someone with ill intent made an issue of it, wouldn’t that lead to serious trouble?”