Hearing this, Qingyue, who had been trying her best to minimize her presence on the ground, knew she was doomed. But she was afraid of death, so she hurried forward, trying to grab Qiao Rongjin’s trousers to beg for mercy. However, Qiao Rongjin dodged quickly—there was no way she could catch it. In her panic, she could only keep kowtowing and admitting fault.
“Master! Master! This servant was momentarily bewitched! Please, please spare me for the years I’ve served you! Please…!”
In just a few seconds, her forehead was already covered in blood.
Qiao Rongjin was glad she had dodged in time; otherwise her trouser hem would have been stained today.
This Qingyue was truly shameless! She had just slandered her like that, and now she still dared to beg her for help—what was she thinking? Was she dreaming?
Did she look like someone who repays resentment with kindness?
Calming herself, Qiao Rongjin turned and bowed to the Princess Consort.
“Your Highness, there are no such traitors in my Haitang Courtyard. Since this servant in the manor has done wrong, it should be for Your Highness to decide her punishment.”
Upon hearing this, the Princess Consort glanced at Qiao Rongjin indifferently, then turned her gaze to Qingyue. No master would like a traitor; her eyes were filled with disgust.
She then instructed an elderly maid beside her, “Drag these two away and execute them. This matter today must not be spread. If I hear even the slightest rumor, everyone present today will bear the consequences.”
With that, she swept a cold glance over everyone present, then left with a group of maids and old matrons.
“Respectfully see off the Princess Consort!” everyone bowed in unison.
Now that both masters of the manor had left and there was no more drama involving Qiao Rongjin to watch, the other concubines naturally lost interest. After throwing a few sarcastic remarks at her, they all left as well.
Once everyone had gone, Qiao Rongjin could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground.
She had just transmigrated and absorbed a wave of memories, leaving her already dizzy. On top of that, the original body was injured, and after everything that had just happened, she was completely exhausted.
Now that her life had finally been temporarily saved, she could at last relax.
“Master! Master!”
Hearing the voice, Qiao Rongjin turned around and saw a thin maid, pale-faced and limping in a hurry toward her.
With the original body’s memories, she immediately recognized her—this was Qinglian, one of the original host’s two head maids. The other, of course, was Qingyue, the traitor.
There were very few servants in Haitang Courtyard: only two head maids, one cleaning maid, and the mistress herself—just four people in total.
“Master, I’m sorry! Qinglian is useless! If I hadn’t accidentally fallen into the pond and fallen ill, I would have been by your side sooner, and you wouldn’t have had to face all this alone… I—”
Tears kept falling from Qinglian’s eyes. Seeing her young mistress reduced to such a miserable state, she felt she had failed Madam’s trust.
If a former close friend in the manor hadn’t informed her, she would still have been kept in the dark. Thinking of this, Qinglian hated Consort Ye to the core.
“Alright, help me up first,” Qiao Rongjin interrupted, afraid that if she let her continue, the crying would never stop.
Only then did Qinglian realize her mistress was still sitting on the ground.
“Master, I’ll help you up!”
She quickly supported Qiao Rongjin.
Seeing the wound on her mistress’s forehead, Qinglian felt a wave of heartache. If not for her mistress being quick-witted, no one knew what the outcome would have been. Consort Ye truly had a vicious heart.
“Master, I’ll go and fetch the manor physician to treat your wound.”
Thinking that her injury did need attention, Qiao Rongjin nodded. “Go.”
When she was left alone, Qiao Rongjin carefully examined the small courtyard.
This small courtyard was originally called Qingfeng Courtyard. It was where the female lead first lived after entering the estate. Because she liked hibiscus flowers, the male lead later personally planted a large grove of them and renamed it Haitang Courtyard. Now that the female lead had risen to the position of consort, she naturally moved to a larger, better residence.
The entire Haitang Courtyard had only four rooms: a main hall, east and west side rooms, and a servant’s room in the back. Qiao Rongjin lived in the east wing.
For someone from her previous life—just a corporate worker drowning in mortgage and car loan payments—having a small courtyard of her own already felt like a blessing. She was quite satisfied.
More importantly, she had likely already fallen out of favor with the male lead. He probably would never step into Haitang Courtyard again.
As for rising in rank—before the Crown Prince ascended the throne, that was impossible. After his coronation, as long as she behaved herself and didn’t provoke his beloved woman, then considering she was an “old servant” of sorts, her status after the ascension probably wouldn’t be too low.
Yes—this was that kind of novel. Midway through the story, the male lead, Prince Rui, defeated the other princes and became emperor. A ruthless man.
The book was still ongoing at this point, stopping right after his ascension. But as a seasoned reader of such novels, Qiao Rongjin knew the usual pattern all too well: a happy ending where the male and female leads end up together, she rises to the top, and eventually becomes empress.
So for survival’s sake, neither the male nor female leads could be offended. As for everyone else, there was no need to worry.
Right now it was the 28th year of Jingyuan, fourth month. In three years, Prince Rui would ascend the throne. She just needed to lie low in the manor for those three years. After entering the palace, with three thousand consorts, he would never think of her again. She already had a child to rely on—she could just live her own quiet life.
Thinking of the original host’s son, Qi You, Qiao Rongjin felt complicated.
When the original host gave birth, she suffered severe hemorrhaging and nearly died. Doctors also said she would likely never conceive again. From then on, she resented the child and never showed him affection, leaving his upbringing to servants.
Later, after repeated reckless behavior, the child was placed under the Princess Consort’s care. But the Princess Consort had her own children and did not truly care for him. The boy ended up neglected, living with a nanny, barely speaking at four and a half years old, disliked by the Prince, bullied by other children in the manor. After the original host’s death, his situation worsened.
Having a disgraced mother only made things worse for him.
As the saying goes: if one does not erupt in silence, one perishes in silence—or mutates in silence. And between eruption and mutation, Qi You chose to… mutate.