The Hou Manor had sent people again.
Qu Sheng, filled with resentment, kicked a servant as soon as he entered.
Seeing Qu Ling, his dissatisfaction grew. “Grandmother misses you day and night, yet you need to be urged repeatedly. What is the meaning of this?”
Qu Ling glanced at him indifferently and asked, “Mama Fang killed my wet nurse. Has Father decided how to deal with her?”
“That old woman? Just beat her to death,” Qu Sheng said carelessly, urging, “When will you set off, sister?”
He couldn’t bear to be away from the capital’s prosperity for even a day.
“Bring Mama Fang here,” Qu Ling ordered.
Mama Fang, bound tightly and disheveled, was thrown to the ground, emitting a foul odor.
“The Hou Manor wants you dead,” Qu Ling said with a smile. “What should we do about this?”
Mama Fang, gagged, grunted muffled sounds.
Qu Sheng, impatient, turned to leave.
But then he heard Qu Ling ask, “Was it the Marquise who ordered you to kill me?”
Tingqin stepped forward and removed the gag from Mama Fang’s mouth.
“It… it was the Marquise,” Mama Fang sobbed. “The Marquise said that the young lady dared to stab her six years ago, and with the Princess as your backing, you would become even more arrogant.”
Qu Sheng halted in his tracks, disbelief washing over him.
The elegant aunt he had always admired was actually so ruthless.
“Then why did you kill Mama Zhou?” Qu Ling asked.
Mama Fang continued, “She had long been bribed by the Marquise. All these years, she incited you to resent the Marquis and the Old Madam, and even poisoned you…”
Qu Sheng stared at Qu Ling in horror.
He saw tears fall from Qu Ling’s eyes. “She still refuses to let me go.”
She looked utterly pitiful.
Tingqin swiftly gagged Mama Fang again.
“Kill her here. Let everyone see the fate of those who harm the bloodline of the Hou Manor,” Qu Ling said coldly, her gaze icy.
Mama Fang was pressed to the ground. Struggling, she lifted her head, her eyes filled with terror and despair.
How could this happen?
Last night, Qu Ling had visited her.
She told her that if she claimed everything was the Marquise’s doing, she would spare her life.
Qu Ling had even stuffed three thousand taels of silver notes into her arms.
“Jiangzhou is my territory. I will let you go. Change your identity, and the Hou Manor will assume you are dead.”
The silver notes in her arms burned, making Mama Fang’s blood boil with hope.
She did exactly as Qu Ling instructed.
The heavy wooden club was raised and slammed mercilessly into Mama Fang’s spine.
Blood soaked through the gag in her mouth.
Mama Fang struggled, her nails nearly breaking.
She had been deceived.
Her eyes, filled with venomous hatred, fixed on Qu Ling.
Qu Ling looked down at Mama Fang, a cold smile curling at the corner of her lips, her eyes devoid of any emotion.
Mama Fang’s agonized groans gradually weakened, eventually turning into a feeble whimper.
Her body went limp and collapsed to the ground. Blood gushed from her mouth, nose, and body, staining the floor tiles and spreading into a glaring pool of red.
Qu Sheng stood nearby, his face as pale as paper, his legs trembling so badly he could barely stand.
Clutching a nearby pillar, he stammered, his voice trembling with fear, “Sister… isn’t this… too cruel?”
As a spoiled young master who indulged in pleasure, this was the first time he had witnessed such a bloody execution.
All the contempt he had felt for Qu Ling now turned into sheer terror.
His sister killed without batting an eye!
Qu Ling cast a cold glance at him, her voice like ice. “Cruel? Did you not hear her say that the Marquise wanted me dead?”
Qu Sheng opened his mouth but could utter nothing.
Qu Ling’s words lingered in his mind.
The servants in the room all turned pale as death.
The bloody impact was nauseating, yet everyone unanimously remembered Mama Fang’s dying words.
The Lady not only bribed the Eldest Young Lady’s wet nurse but also poisoned the Eldest Young Lady.
So when the Eldest Young Lady stabbed the Lady six years ago, was it a self-injury scheme?
Mama Fang’s corpse was rolled in a mat and discarded in the mass burial ground.
Tingqin presented three thousand taels of silver notes to Qu Ling, “The silver has been retrieved.”
The banknotes were stained with blood, emitting an eerie crimson glow.
Qu Ling sat cross-legged before a Buddha statue, eyes slightly closed, fingering Buddhist beads, “Donate it to Jisheng Hall.”
Tingqin respectfully withdrew.
In her previous life, it was also Mama Fang who came to fetch Qu Ling. During the journey back to the capital, she made Qu Ling suffer greatly.
The first thing Qu Ling did upon returning to the manor was to complain, asking the Marquis and Old Madam to uphold justice for her.
Yet Song Shi dismissed it with a few casual words, even burdening Qu Ling with a reputation for being picky and uncivilized.
She no longer placed hope in anyone from the Hou Manor.
Those who deserved to die—she would kill them herself.
When the carriage departed from Jiangzhou, it was a bright, sunny day.
Chi Yuan stood on a distant mountain pavilion, watching the carriage gradually fade into the distance.
“Sir, it is time for us to return to the capital as well,” his attendant softly reminded.
Chi Yuan recalled the girl before the Buddha, radiating murderous intent.
She seemed to recognize him.
“After returning to the capital, send someone to keep an eye on Dingxiang Marquis Manor.”
He was curious about what had filled that girl with such fierce resentment.
As soon as Qu Ling arrived in the capital, Dingxiang Marquis Manor received the news.
Yet no one paid it any mind, and no one went to welcome her.
The main gate of the Hou Manor remained tightly shut.
Qu Sheng glanced at Qu Ling, “Sister, wait a moment. I will knock on the door.”
“No need,” Qu Ling said, “I am not going in.”
Qu Sheng did not understand—if not home, where would she go?
“Tingqin, to the Princess Manor.”
In her previous life, faced with the same situation, she had angrily smashed the main gate of the Hou Manor.
The commotion drew many onlookers.
In the end, she was punished with three days of kneeling in the ancestral hall.
Having been away from home for six years, she was despised the moment she returned. The servants in the manor were quick to sense the shifting winds, and as the legitimate eldest daughter, she lost all dignity and respect.
The Princess, upon receiving the news, personally came to the Hou Manor.
She berated the Old Madam vehemently and found fault with Dingxiang Marquis in court.
Yet Qu Ling’s life did not improve.
“What fault does the Marquis have? Clearly, it was the Eldest Young Lady who caused trouble as soon as she returned, bringing disgrace upon the Hou Manor,” Song Shi said to Dingxiang Marquis.
Enraged, Dingxiang Marquis took a whip and struck Qu Ling.
Qu Ling, in excruciating pain, sent a message to the Princess, asking her to take her away.
Song Shi’s daughter, Qu Lianzhi, whispered in the Old Madam’s ear, “Elder Sister relies on the Princess’s influence and does not even regard you, Grandmother, with respect.”
He Shi, the wife of the Second Branch, chimed in, “She did not grow up in the Hou Manor and is not close to us. If she goes out, who knows what reckless things she might say? It would tarnish the Hou Manor’s reputation, and the Marquis and Second Master might even be impeached by the Censor for failing to maintain household discipline.”
The Old Madam complained to Empress Song, accusing the Princess of interfering in the Hou Manor’s affairs and forcibly taking the Qu family’s daughter.
The Crown Prince’s faction seized the opportunity to impeach the Princess.
In the end, Qu Ling was unable to leave. Guanqi, who had been sent to deliver the message, was drowned in the Lianchi pond in the Hou Manor’s rear garden over a month later.
She cried and raged like a madwoman.
Mama Zhou stirred trouble, “If the Princess truly cared for you, she would have taken you away at all costs. At the very least, she should have secured a title of Princess of the Commandery for your support. In the end, she did not have your best interests at heart.”
She even grew to resent the Princess.
“Miss, we’ve arrived at the Princess Manor.” Tingqin’s voice pulled Qu Ling back to the present.
She leaped down from the carriage, tilting her head to gaze at the towering vermilion gates, her fingers rapidly counting the Buddhist beads.
I’m back. So, who should I kill first?