When they arrived at the rear gate of the Marquis Manor, Wang Yutong got off the carriage. She waved her hand, signaling Hong Shan to leave. The fewer people who knew about today’s events, the better—lest it bring trouble upon the Old Marquis and others.
Familiar with the place, she passed through the back gate and made her way to the courtyard where she had once lived.
The Spring Banquet had only just begun—Nanny Jiang would not have made her move yet. With patience, Wang Yutong sat quietly in the courtyard and waited.
At first, she had planned to interrogate them in Concubine Tian’s room. But after some thought, she decided against it.
No matter what, that was still Concubine Tian’s residence. If she conducted the interrogation there and Madam Cui brought people over, even if Concubine Tian were innocent, the mere fact that a stableman had entered would stain her reputation.
So she instructed Awu to bring the captured people directly here.
As for repaying in kind and taking revenge on Madam Cui, Wang Yutong had no such intention.
Doing so would implicate the entire Marquis Manor, damaging its reputation—which would not benefit her in the slightest.
She would never do something that harmed others without benefiting herself. What she wanted was to maximize her gains. With such a major piece of leverage against Madam Cui, she had to make the key figures of the侯府 “bleed” a little—otherwise, they might keep pulling tricks like this, and she would grow increasingly irritated.
Time passed slowly.
Finally, after noon, Awu brought Nanny Jiang and the stableman Jiang.
The two were tightly bound, their mouths stuffed with cloth.
When they saw Wang Yutong sitting in the courtyard, they were both stunned, unable to understand why they had been captured and brought here.
Sitting calmly in her chair, Wang Yutong looked at them coldly.“Speak. Nanny Jiang—who ordered you to do this?”
Seeing that it was just a young “boy” questioning her, Nanny Jiang’s earlier fear faded, replaced by arrogance.“Ordered? Ordered to do what? Let me tell you—I am the wet nurse of the Marchioness, and he is the steward in charge of the Marquis’s horses.
You dare to capture us for no reason and bring us here—aren’t you afraid of angering the Madam and the Marquis?”
Seeing her stubborn denial and shameless deflection, Wang Yutong let out a low, cold laugh.“Jiang, you really are stubborn. Caught red-handed, yet still refusing to admit it.”
Nanny Jiang’s heart skipped a beat. She looked carefully at Wang Yutong—the face seemed familiar, yet she couldn’t be sure.
“What do you mean caught red-handed? Who are you? Why are you in the侯府? What are you trying to do?” she demanded sharply.
But unease continued to grow within her.
“Who am I? The master of this courtyard. Who do you think I am?” Wang Yutong said coldly.“Jiang, it seems you won’t give up until you see the coffin.
In that case, I suppose you’d enjoy drinking the ‘special’ water you prepared, wouldn’t you? And your little brother-in-law—clearly, you must like him quite a bit. Otherwise, why think of him first for such a ‘good opportunity’?
I imagine plenty of people would enjoy watching your little spring performance—especially your husband and his wife.”
At these words, Nanny Jiang shook her head frantically.“No—you can’t do this to me!”
“Why not?” Wang Yutong smiled faintly. “You don’t like such a ‘good thing’? And I haven’t even used torture.”
Her smile didn’t reach her eyes—it was filled with chilling ruthlessness.
Both Nanny Jiang and the stableman trembled.
Who exactly had they provoked?
The master of this courtyard… wasn’t this the Sixth Young Lady’s courtyard?
Sixth… Sixth Young Lady…
The image in her memory slowly overlapped with the “young boy” before her.
“Six… Sixth Young Lady, spare me!” Nanny Jiang cried out in fear.
Concubine Tian was the Sixth Young Lady’s birth mother—so the people who captured them must be hers.
There was no way it was a coincidence. They had been caught the moment they acted—this had clearly been planned long in advance.
Realizing this, Nanny Jiang collapsed to the ground.
It was over. Completely over.
How much did the Sixth Young Lady know? Surely everything—her and Madam Cui’s entire scheme.
“Awu, knock that stableman out and put him to sleep. I’ll interrogate them separately—no collusion. If their stories don’t match, don’t blame me for using harsher methods,” Wang Yutong ordered coldly.
“Y-Young Miss… I can knock him out, but… I don’t know how to seal his acupoints,” Awu replied awkwardly.
Wang Yutong paused. She had assumed that, as a former shadow guard, Awu would know such techniques.
Fine—if he didn’t, she’d do it herself.
And it would be a good chance to show him her abilities—so he wouldn’t think he was serving a useless young lady.
“Sigh, Awu—watch carefully. You need to learn this. Why bother stuffing mouths when you can just seal a mute point? Instant silence—much more efficient.”
Her casual explanation made Awu practically drool with excitement.
Thus, the unfortunate stableman became her demonstration subject.
Wang Yutong taught Awu various acupoints on the spot—sleep, immobilization, muting, numbness, even those that induced laughter or crying. Then she had him practice them himself.
Their “lesson” terrified Nanny Jiang so much she nearly fainted.
Heavens—this Sixth Young Lady was terrifying!
Meanwhile, Awu was thrilled beyond words.
He had never expected his young mistress to possess such skills—and to teach them so freely.
Among the twenty shadow guards, they had trained for ten years, yet only one had learned acupoint techniques. Not because the others couldn’t, but because each specialized differently.
Awu himself specialized in swordsmanship and lightness skills. Acupoint techniques had always been something they envied—but were never allowed to learn.
Watching Awu’s excitement, Wang Yutong felt slightly puzzled.
Wasn’t this basic knowledge for shadow guards?
Apparently not—the侯府’s training wasn’t as comprehensive as she had thought.
She made a mental note to consider teaching him more later.
For now, she refocused on the matter at hand.
After putting the stableman into a deep sleep again, she turned to Nanny Jiang.
“Nanny Jiang, no one can help you now. Speak honestly—what exactly were you and Cui planning?” Wang Yutong’s gaze was sharp as a blade.
Nanny Jiang trembled violently.“Spare me, Sixth Young Lady! It was Madam—she ordered me to drug Concubine Tian’s tea during the Spring Banquet. Then the stableman would enter her room and… violate her. After that, Madam would bring the other ladies to witness it, ruin Concubine Tian’s reputation, and use it as an excuse to have her executed.”
Wang Yutong let out a cold snort.“That’s all? What about me—what does Cui plan to do with me?”
Nanny Jiang hesitated.
Wang Yutong’s eyes turned cold.“You’d better tell the truth. Otherwise, I’ll show you exactly what I’m capable of.”
Terrified, Nanny Jiang quickly spoke:“Madam also plans to use this incident to persuade the Marquis to remove you from the侯府… and make the Old Marquis despise you.”