Cuiliu was a servant born into the household, and she had been serving Ye Jintang since childhood.
When the master was favored, even their personal servants gained a bit of standing.
Over the years, she had enjoyed a smooth and easy life in the estate. All the frights she had ever experienced in her life did not add up to what she had gone through today.
If she had known it would come to this, she should have acted like a timid quail in front of her young mistress and insisted on not coming to Sui County. Even being reprimanded by her mistress would be better than the heart-pounding terror she felt now!
If they reported this to the authorities and the news that Mother Rong had murdered the Marquis’s legitimate daughter spread through the aristocratic circles, how could her young mistress possibly go on living!
They couldn’t report it to the authorities, absolutely not!
Clenching her jaw tightly, Cuiliu squeezed a few words through her teeth.
“Are you insane? How can we report this to the authorities?!!”
Li Jinu’s face was still deathly pale. Her eyes, devoid of any emotion, were fixed on Cuiliu.
“Because Mother Rong wanted to kill me.”
Cuiliu retorted almost subconsciously, “Nonsense! What proof do you have!”
Everyone looked at the horrifying purple bruises on Li Jinu’s neck and couldn’t help but swallow hard.
Liu Momo was a managing matron in the estate. She had set out at the same time as Mother Rong’s group but had been delayed by an errand at one of the manors along the way, only just arriving.
Having been steeped in the ways of the Marquis’s estate for many years, she could guess eighty percent of what had happened.
She shot Cuiliu a warning glance before walking forward. After saying, “My apologies for the offense, Young Mistress,” to Li Jinu, she ordered the servant boys to help Mother Rong up. Grasping the corpse’s stiff hands, she measured them against the marks on Li Jinu’s neck.
When speculation became reality, everyone present gasped in unison.
This Mother Rong was truly audacious! She even dared to kill the Marquis’s own daughter.
If given the chance, wouldn’t she dare to prick a princess with a needle!
Reeling from the successive shocks, Cuiliu had long lost her usual arrogance. Her face was pale as she shrank behind the crowd.
Even so, a sliver of rationality remained. Her eyes darted around, and with a grit of her teeth, she quietly whispered a few words into a servant boy’s ear.
Nearby, Li Jinu lightly touched her neck, her expression growing distant. She turned to Liu Momo and pleaded once more.
“Someone tried to kill me while I was still in the village. Forgive my bluntness, Momo, but I don’t dare to use any of the remaining people.”
Although Liu Momo felt a degree of pity and respect for this young mistress who had appeared out of nowhere, she was ultimately a person of the Marquis’s estate and was naturally biased towards it.
She sighed and comforted her softly, “This old servant was delayed by business on the road. I have let the Young Mistress suffer.”
She lovingly placed a hand on Li Jinu’s shoulder. “Although I am but a servant, my words carry some weight. Rest assured, no one will give you any more trouble on this journey.”
She raised her head, her benevolent expression gone, and spoke in a stern voice, “Listen up, all of you. If any of you cause any more trouble on this journey, I will see to it that you die a miserable death when we return to the estate, even if it costs me my own skin!”
These were heavy words. Even Cuiliu, who had been the most restless, deflated and answered with a quiet “yes.”
Li Jinu looked at Liu Momo, understanding her concerns.
The Marquis’s estate was not an ordinary household, after all. If this matter reached the authorities, it would sound bad no matter how it was spun.
If someone were to embellish the story and it reached the Emperor’s ears, who knew how much more trouble would arise.
So, should she just do as the matron said and not report it?
How could that be possible!
What did the Marquis’s estate’s misfortune have to do with her, Li Jinu?
This Liu Momo, although she had been relatively considerate to her in her past life, still followed her own heart when it came to matters of great importance.
Just as she was about to ask the village chief’s wife for help, her sharp eyes caught sight of a figure on horseback on the official road in the distance, growing smaller and smaller.
She narrowed her eyes, surveying the people present.
One of the servant boys who had come with Mother Rong yesterday was missing.
Things were getting interesting.
If that was the case, then it wouldn’t hurt to report this to the authorities a little later.
Liu Momo looked at the pensive Li Jinu, her heart filled with complicated feelings.
Having learned about last night’s events and witnessed this scene, she would have lived all these years in vain if she couldn’t see through Mother Rong and her son’s scheme.
But this girl’s words and actions always managed to deflect a heavy blow with minimal effort.
To be honest, if she herself had been plotted against like this, she couldn’t guarantee she would have escaped unscathed.
This girl, as it stood, seemed to have only injured her neck. But how many people had died between last night and now?
Five people! A full five people!
Could something like this truly be a coincidence?
Her mind raced with calculations, but her expression remained unreadable. She personally took a luxurious cloak, swapping it for the villager’s clothes Li Jinu was wearing, and draped it over her.
Then she spoke softly, “Young Mistress, it’s getting late. If we hurry, we can still make it to the post station. What do you think?”
Li Jinu glanced lightly at Cuiliu, as if looking at a dead person.
“Although my adoptive parents were cruel to me, that is still the home I lived in for over a decade.”
Li Momo remained silent for a moment before finally nodding lightly.
“You may go. Just don’t be late. This old servant is only thinking of your well-being.”
Returning to the dilapidated courtyard, Li Jinu felt as if a lifetime had passed.
Following her memory, she rummaged through all the places Nian Cuilan was most likely to hide things, but she couldn’t find the item anywhere.
In her past life, she had lived in the Marquis’s estate as if treading on thin ice. But she knew that all the maids in the estate sought to please Ye Jintang. As long as one gained Ye Jintang’s favor, even a dog in the estate could get an extra bite of meat.
She was not a dog, but she lived a life worse than Ye Jintang’s dogs.
She, too, wanted to please Ye Jintang. She, too, wanted to live a comfortable life.
Taking the last silver hairpin she owned, she bribed the kitchen staff, personally made some pastries, and quietly went to Bright Moon Courtyard.
At the time, she had found it strange that the normally bustling courtyard was suddenly devoid of servants.
She tiptoed to the window, wanting to give Ye Jintang a surprise, but she never expected to see a palm-sized brown box placed beside Nian Cuilan’s hand.
She didn’t know when Nian Cuilan had arrived at the estate, but she was terrified of her adoptive mother, afraid she would say something to embarrass her, so she turned to leave.
But just as she took a step, she heard their voices.
She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but she was simply too curious. As if possessed, she stopped in her tracks.
She heard Nian Cuilan’s admonition.
“This is what Mother… what this servant exchanged twenty years of my lifespan for a few years ago. It can guarantee the Young Mistress a lifetime of glory and wealth in the Marquis’s estate. You must never lose it again!”
In her past life, she didn’t understand. But after becoming an assassin, she could vaguely sense the strangeness of that object.
If she could find it, this thing might become the fatal blade she could plunge into Ye Jintang.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, recalling Nian Cuilan’s daily habits and routines, imagining herself as Nian Cuilan.
Where would she put something so important, something that concerned her biological daughter’s fate?
The cellar!
Almost instantly, she rushed out of the room.
Every time Nian Cuilan was beaten by her husband, she would run to the cellar. And every time Li Tufu saw her hide in the cellar, he would turn and walk away.
The couple maintained this bizarre, unspoken understanding.
Although Li Jinu was anxious, she was meticulous, not missing a single corner.
Finally, after moving all the cabbages, she discovered a peculiar spot underneath. It was covered by a stone slab, and it seemed to be hollow below.
If she hadn’t been searching for it intentionally, she probably would never have found it in her lifetime.
When she carefully lifted the brick on top and saw what was inside, her expression couldn’t help but darken.