"Xiu'er, Xiu'er, are you okay?" Zhao Lanzhi quickly walked up to Xie Nanjia and asked with concern.
"It's okay." Xie Nanjia shook her head.
The fourth concubine reached out to pull Zhao Lanzhi, indicating that she should greet the lady first.
After greeting, Qin asked calmly, "Why are you here?"
Of course, the Fourth Aunt couldn't say that she came to rescue her because she heard that the Madam was going to harm Xiu'er, so she made up an excuse: "The Fourth Miss and I are choosing the pattern of the wedding dress. We can't make up our minds for the moment. We want to ask Xiu'er to go back and help with the discussion. I wonder if the Madam has finished talking to Xiu'er?"
"You are smart and have a good excuse, but I'm afraid you can't go back today." Qin smiled kindly, but she gritted her teeth when she spoke, "Do you know how much I hate seeing your faces? I'm really tired of you jumping around under my nose all day long. I've been thinking about how to make you disappear day and night. I'm almost going crazy!"
Fourth Aunt and Zhao Lanzhi's faces changed drastically, and they subconsciously leaned closer to Xie Nanjia. Zhao Lanzhi summoned up the courage to ask, "Does mother want to kill us all?"
"Why do you need to ask? We have come to this point." Fourth Aunt said, "But Madam, don't forget that Fourth Miss is now engaged to Mr. Zhou. She is no longer the punching bag you used to be. If you want to kill her, you have to think about whether you can get past Princess Anping and Mr. Zhou."
"Why should I think so much?" Qin took a sip of tea and said leisurely, "You guys were making wedding dresses in Yilan Courtyard. During the lunch break, the doors and windows were closed too tightly and you died of carbon monoxide poisoning. What can Princess Anping do to me? Besides, there is more than one young lady in the Marquis' Mansion. If a legitimate daughter is married there, Princess Anping will be happier!"
"You... you have such a vicious heart!" The fourth aunt said with a pale face, "If the drug you gave us didn't kill us, you simply tricked us here and killed us, and then pretended that we died of carbon monoxide poisoning. You are so cruel, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"
"So you really found out that the food is poisonous. I was wondering why there was no action these days. It seems you are not stupid." Qin clapped her hands and stood up. She walked down the wooden steps in front of the square couch and walked in front of the three people. She sighed and said, "It's a pity that such smart people cannot be used by me."
If you can't be used by me, I will kill you! This is her life motto.
"Go ahead!" she said slowly, turning and walking away.
A group of guards emerged from behind the screen, ready to attack.
"Mother!" Zhao Lanzhi suddenly called out to her, "Before I came here, I had someone send a letter to Master Zhou. I told him that if anything happened to me, it must be someone's murder. I asked him to report it to the authorities and redress my grievances. If you're not afraid of the authorities investigating, go ahead!"
Qin suddenly stopped and turned back, his sharp eyes fell on her face like a knife.
Zhao Lanlao straightened his chest and looked at her bravely.
After a while, Qin sneered: "If I remember correctly, Xiu'er used this method last time. Even if the King of Hell comes to investigate the case today, I will kill him first. Even if I risk my life, I will never let you block the happiness of my daughter and son again!"
"It's a pity that your son is destined to be unhappy in this life." Xie Nanjia said quietly beside him.
"What did you say?" Qin suddenly turned to her with a ferocious expression.
Xie Nanjia said calmly, "Madam, you may not know yet. The Nuanyu Pavilion was haunted on our wedding night. The prince and his wife were frightened at the most critical moment. They have been unable to function since then. Didn't the prince's wife tell you?"
Qin's head buzzed and her face suddenly lost all color.
Nanny Cao and Yun Yan looked at each other, unable to believe the shocking news.
Zhao Lanzhi already had some knowledge of matters between men and women, and her little face was flushed.
The group of guards had different expressions.
The fourth concubine completely forgot about her own situation and giggled, covering her mouth: "Oh my, what should we do? Our romantic and amorous prince, what should we do in the future? Fortunately, God has a good eye and let the former prince's wife leave a descendant for the prince. Poor our little prince, he will not even have a brother or sister in the future..."
"Bitch, shut up and don't slander the prince..." Qin was furious.
"Madam, you will know whether it is slanderous or not if you ask." Xie Nanjia said, "Madam, do you know why the prince has been staying at Green Willow and refused to go to the Warm Jade Pavilion? It is because he is afraid that the prince's wife will dislike him and spread the news to others."
"Impossible, impossible, don't even think about lying to me..." Qin was so angry that she was completely confused.
"How could I lie to you? I had someone pretend to be the ghost that night." Xie Nanjia said with a smile, "In fact, the prince was not just frightened, but I had someone poison the wedding wine in advance. If this poison is not removed, the prince will never be a man again in this life."
"Little bitch... you have such a cruel heart!" Qin pointed at her, her fingers trembling.
The fourth concubine laughed and said, "Madam, why are you imitating others' speech?"
Qin glared at her fiercely: "Shut up!"
The Fourth Aunt was not annoyed and continued to laugh with her hand covering her mouth.
Xie Nanjia continued, "Madam, do you know why I dared to come to the meeting alone even though I knew you had set up a trap?"
"You want to threaten me with the prince?" Qin said angrily, the knuckles of her hands turning white as she clutched the rosary.
"I am just a humble, pitiful, helpless little girl. How dare I threaten Madam?" Xie Nanjia smiled innocently. "I just want to make a deal with Madam, exchanging the antidote for the antidote. If Madam disagrees, just kill me."
"You..." Qin rushed over and grabbed her neck, "Give me the antidote, give it to me quickly!"
"If you give it to me, Madam, I will." Xie Nanjia let her pinch him without any intention of struggling.
Madam Cao reminded her, "Madam, calm down. If you strangle her to death, what will happen to the prince?"
As a mother who regards her son as her heaven, her son is her biggest weakness. Qin let go of his hand in frustration and took two steps back. Anger and frustration intertwined, making her whole body tremble.
She had spent so much effort to set up this scheme, even going so far as to deceive the old lady. How could she be willing to end it in such a hasty manner
Why
Why is it always like this
Why can this damn girl escape at the last moment every time
Why can't I always beat her
"Give her the antidote!" For the sake of her son's happiness, she finally compromised and reluctantly ordered Yun Yan.
Yun Yan was still a little unwilling: "Madam, we have been planning for so long, is this the end..."
"What else can we do? Are you asking me to ignore the prince?" Qin interrupted her impatiently.
Yun Yan shrank back in her anger, silently went to the room to get a small bottle, and handed it to Xie Nanjia: "Aren't we going to exchange? Bring yours here!"
Xie Nanjia took it, put it in his arms, and took out a paper bag from his arms.
Before she could hand it over, Qin stepped forward and snatched it away, then ordered the guard in a deep voice: "Take it!"
The guards responded and rushed forward.
The Fourth Aunt suddenly stopped laughing and held Zhao Lanzhi tightly in her arms.
"Wait a minute!" Xie Nanjia said loudly, "Madam, don't you want to check first to see if the antidote is real or not?"
Qin was startled and quickly opened the paper bag. She sneezed because of the powder inside. It turned out to be just pepper powder.
"How dare you lie to me!" Qin's anger had reached its peak, and she wished she could grind Xie Nanjia into ashes.
"If I'm not lying to you, I'll be the one dying in the next moment." Xie Nanjia said calmly, "I had expected Madam to do this, so I didn't bring the real antidote with me. Madam wants the antidote, so she let the three of us go. When the Marquis comes back in the evening, I'll send someone to deliver the antidote. Otherwise, please kill me now!"
“…” Qin found that no matter how she planned, she still couldn’t beat this damn girl. She was so angry that her heart ached, but she had to do what she said and let her go with a humiliated look.
Xie Nanjia achieved his goal. He walked out slowly, holding Fourth Aunt's arm in one hand and Zhao Lanzhi's arm in the other.
The three people escaped death, their clasped hands were shaking slightly, and their palms were wet with sweat.
"Madam, are you really going to let them go like this?" Yun Yan asked unwillingly.
Qin's face turned as black as ash at the bottom of a pot. She suppressed her anger and said, "When I get the antidote, I will tear them into pieces!"
"But do we still have such an opportunity?" Yun Yan said, "When the old lady goes to Qingyang and finds out she's been fooled, she will definitely be furious when she comes back. Who knows how the Marquis will punish us then!"
Qin could of course imagine the consequences, and gritted her teeth and said, "If that's the case, don't let her come back!"
"Ah?" Yun Yan was startled and her eyes widened immediately, "Madam, are you saying..."
"Madam, you can't do this. The Second Young Master is following us. This is too risky." Madam Cao's face also changed, and she hurriedly tried to dissuade her.
"Then send him away too!" Qin was completely furious and tore the rosary in her hand apart. "Now that things have come to this, I might as well go all out and get rid of all these things that are in the way, so that I don't have to worry about them every day!"
The rosary beads clattered to the ground, and everyone was stunned by her determination.
"What are you still standing there for? Tell them to hurry up and chase after him!" Qin ordered the dazed leader of the guards, "There are many cliffs in Qingyang. Find a steep one and do it. If you fail, don't come back to see me!"
"Yes!" The leader of the guards did not dare to delay and strode away with a few guards.
Just as she walked out of the door, Qin suddenly thought of something and shouted excitedly: "Quick, hurry up and get that little bitch back to me, I was fooled by her!"
It is sheer nonsense to say that the prince was frightened or poisoned and couldn't behave properly. If that were true, why would Lvliu go to so much trouble to keep the prince in her room
Why didn’t Xiu’er come to exchange the antidote with her earlier? Why did she have to wait until she was about to die to tell her
So, the little girl was simply lying, taking advantage of her nervousness about her son to deceive her.
Damn it! It's really damned!
In the yard, Xie Nanjia was also pulling Fourth Aunt and Zhao Lanzhi to quicken their pace towards the gate. Her lie was full of loopholes, and Qin would soon realize it, so they had to escape from Yixin Courtyard before Qin could react.
I never felt how big Yixin Courtyard was before, but now it seemed exceptionally spacious. The main gate was clearly right in front of me, but I could never reach the end no matter how hard I walked.
Xie Nanjia was anxious, so she simply pulled Fourth Aunt and Zhao Lanzhi and ran away.
Fourth Aunt couldn't run fast, and panted, "Walk slowly, you have the antidote anyway, so why worry about what she might do."
Xie Nanjia smiled bitterly: "Do you really believe it?"
Before he finished speaking, hurried footsteps were heard from behind, and the leader of the guards and his men caught up.
"What's going on?" Fourth Aunt exclaimed.
Xie Nanjia had no time to explain, and dragged the two men to run for their lives, shouting, "Huangfu, why don't you come quickly!"
Following the call, Huangfu appeared from nowhere, blocked the guards' way, and shouted to Xie Nanjia, "Run, go out to the front yard!"
The front yard belongs to the Marquis and is guarded by guards. Even the lady’s people are not allowed to enter.
Xie Nanjia has a badge given by the Marquis, so he can pass freely.
With Huangfu's help, Xie Nanjia felt much more relieved and quickly ran towards the door with Fourth Aunt and Zhao Lanzhi.
Finally she ran to the door and opened it impatiently, thinking that she could finally go out. Unexpectedly, a cold light flashed outside the door, and a knife reached out silently and was placed on her neck.
“Ah…” Just as the Fourth Aunt screamed, another knife was pressed against her throat.
Zhao Lanzhi was not spared either.
The three people were forced back into the door, which creaked shut again, blocking their only way out.
The sudden change left Huangfu helpless. For the sake of Xie Nanjia's safety, he had to surrender under the coercion of the other party.
The four men were tied up and taken back to Qin.
Qin let out a long sigh and raised her hand to slap Xie Nanjia.
Slutty slave, because of her, I almost became the sinner who murdered my mother-in-law and illegitimate son!
Killing a maid or a concubine is a minor matter, but killing the mother-in-law and his offspring is a serious crime that cannot be forgiven by heaven.
Xie Nanjia was slapped, but her expression was still calm. She discussed with Qin, "Let's release the fourth aunt and the fourth young lady. They are not a threat to you at all."
"What a joke!" Qin sneered, "They witnessed everything that happened today, how could I let them go?"
After saying this, he didn't want to say anything more and directly ordered the guards to take action.
The guards came forward with handkerchiefs soaked in medicine and covered the mouths and noses of the four people.
In a matter of minutes, they would suffocate to death.
Qin lowered her eyes, chanted "Amitabha", and walked behind the screen with her hands folded.
She is a vegetarian and a Buddhist, and cannot stand killing.
Turning around the screen, she whispered to Yun Yan who was following her, "Tell Yang San that those guards must not be left alive. After a lavish burial, give their families a sum of money to settle down."
Yun Yan nodded in agreement, but felt a chill in her heart.
Madam is afraid that the news will leak out, so she wants to kill people to silence them. After all, am I not also an insider? Will Madam want to silence me in the end
She looked anxiously at Madam Cao who was following her on the other side, and Madam Cao also had an abnormal expression on her face.
The lady is so obsessed with killing that she cannot be persuaded anymore. Who knows what will happen in the future!
The two were thinking about their own things when they suddenly heard a loud "bang" outside, as if someone had kicked down the door of the upper room and rushed in.
The master and his servant were all startled, and then they heard a woman's majestic voice shouting, "Let my daughter go!"
What followed was the sound of fighting and the screams of the guards.
Qin was shocked and hurriedly took Yunyan and Madam Cao to see what was happening. She saw a group of guards in brocade clothes who appeared out of nowhere and beat their own guards to pieces. There was also a tall woman wearing a gold crown with oriental pearls and a first-class dragon robe. She was picking up Xiu'er from the ground, holding him in her arms and calling him "my son".
Her son? Who is she? How did Xiu'er become her son
Qin walked forward with doubt, and the woman happened to look up at her.
When their eyes met, Qin was stunned.
The person who came was actually the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo, Sheng Qingyun.
(End of this chapter)