Every time he thought about it, Ling Xiao felt it was a great pity.
Fortunately, Ling Qingwan encouraged him and Shen Chengzhou told him not to take it too seriously, so Ling Xiao felt better. In addition, he was busy with the betrothal these days, so he had no time for anything else.
The next day, Ling Chuchu returned to the Ling Mansion.
Just as Ling Qingwan expected, this time, she escaped unscathed again.
"I'm so angry, so angry!"
Since Ling Chuchu came back, Qiao'er has been walking around in the yard for almost half an hour.
"What on earth was Zhiqin thinking? Helping Ling Chuchu take the blame? She might as well feed this kindness to the dog. Even dogs know how to repay a favor. Ling Chuchu must be blaming Zhiqin for not being careful enough and letting you catch her."
After accompanying Ling Qingwan and Ling Chuchu in battle for such a long time, Qiao'er already had a thorough understanding of Ling Chuchu.
"Miss, are you really not angry at all?"
Seeing that Ling Qingwan never lost her temper from beginning to end and even drank tea leisurely, Qiao'er couldn't help but ask about it.
"What are you angry about?" Ling Qingwan looked up with a smile and met Qiao'er's eyes.
"I'm angry that Ling Chuchu stole Madam's things and came back without any punishment!" Qiao'er was also wondering why Ling Qingwan looked so open-minded.
"I answered this question a few days ago." Ling Qingwan smiled.
"It was her own skill that allowed her to get away with this, but now that she has used up all the people around her, there is no one left to take the blame for her crimes. I also want to see how she will handle it when the ugly things she did are exposed again."
"What does Miss mean?" Qiao'er was a little confused.
She seemed to understand, but also seemed not to understand.
"I won't let her go."
Ling Qingwan's eyes were slightly dimmed, and a sharp look suddenly flashed across her eyes.
Big prison.
It was dark and silent all around.
The woman in prison clothes huddled in the corner with her head buried in her arms. It was unclear whether she was awake or asleep.
The walls were covered in dust, and the woman's prison uniform had turned gray.
"You can only watch for a stick of incense at most."
The jailer spoke in an impatient tone.
"I know." Zhishu said meekly. Then she took out a silver ingot from her sleeve and gave it to the prison guard.
The prison soldier weighed it, nodded with satisfaction, and then left with a swagger.
"Zhishu?"
When Zhiqin heard Zhishu's voice, she thought she was hallucinating, but when she looked up, Zhishu was actually in front of her.
Zhishu walked up to Zhiqin, put down the food box in his hand, opened it, and there were several cakes inside.
"I remember these are your favorite foods, come and try them." Zhishu said.
Zhiqin choked up and her eyes turned red.
"Look at you, you've lost a lot of weight." Zhishu felt heartbroken.
She picked up a piece of cake and handed it to Zhiqin.
"I've only been locked up for a few days, how could I have lost weight? You're exaggerating." Zhiqin smiled and lowered her head, secretly wiping away tears.
"I mean, from the time I left Meiyuan until now, not just the few days you were in jail." Zhishu explained.
The more he looked at it, the more distressed he felt, and Zhishu sighed again.
"How have you been these past six months?" Zhiqin asked Zhishu.
Zhishu looked much better.
"The young lady is very nice to me. She doesn't have any prejudice against me just because I have been with the eldest lady." Zhishu said with a smile.
Zhiqin knew that the young lady Zhishu was referring to was the second young lady.
"What about you? Why do you want to take the blame for the young lady?" Zhishu couldn't help asking Zhiqin. "I can understand that Zhiqi took the blame for her before. After all, the young lady threatened Zhiqi's family. You don't have these concerns, so why do you want to help the young lady?"
The four of them, who were good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, were assigned to Meiyuan since they were young and had been serving Ling Chuchu. They had a deep affection for each other and knew each other well.
Zhiqin came to Ling's house because she could not afford the funeral after her mother passed away, so she sold herself. She has no father or mother, and Ling Chuchu cannot threaten her. Zhishu really can't understand why Zhiqin wants to help Ling Chuchu.
"Because I don't want to stay with the eldest lady anymore." Zhiqin's mouth corners slightly raised.
Zhishu actually saw a hint of relief on Zhiqin's face.
"I would rather stay here. At least I don't have to worry about being punished by the eldest lady all day long." Zhiqin told Zhishu.
"Zhishu, do you know what it feels like to have a needle prick your body?"
Zhishu’s heart trembled.
It turns out that Zhiqin helped Ling Chuchu take the blame, not because she had feelings for Ling Chuchu. Moreover, for her, being locked up in this cell without daylight was more comfortable than staying with Ling Chuchu.
After Zhishu returned, he told Ling Qingwan about this.
Qiao'er and Mingyue lamented Zhishu's hard work while scolding Ling Chuchu.
Ling Qingwan actually found it interesting to hear the two little girls chattering about Ling Chuchu, and before she knew it, an entire afternoon had passed.
In the evening, Ling Qingwan and Ling Xiao went to Ling Shen's courtyard, and the three of them sat together to have dinner.
After dinner, Ling Qingwan and Ling Xiao chatted with Ling Shen for a while. Only when she felt sleepy did they leave.
The moon was high in the sky, reflecting the sparkling light on the lake. The two walked side by side along the lake to the backyard.
"The moon is so beautiful today."
Ling Xiao raised his head and looked at the moon in the sky.
Ling Qingwan was reminded of someone when she saw the object, and the figure of Wei Xun flashed through her mind.
She hadn't seen Wei Xun for several days.
"I don't know what the Seventh Prince's current situation is, but what happened?"
"Whatever happens to him," Ling Xiao said indifferently. "If anything happened to him, the news would have spread long ago."
After saying this, Ling Xiao realized something was wrong.
I keep saying that something bad is going to happen to me. I wonder if Ling Qingwan will worry about Wei Xun.
He turned his head and looked at Ling Qingwan.
Just then, Ling Qingwan's eyes met his, and a worried look appeared on her face.
"I'll go to the palace to see you in the next two days, okay?" Ling Xiao comforted.
After confirming that Wei Xun was safe and sound, Ling Qingwan could finally feel relieved.
"Today's moon is really beautiful."
Ling Qingwan looked up, pretended to sigh like Ling Xiao just now, and then returned to Orchid Garden.
Ling Xiao was stunned.
After a while, he came to his senses.
"Have I been tricked by Wanwan?" Ling Xiao asked Qingfeng.
"Well... I don't know. You have to ask the Second Miss yourself." Qingfeng tried hard to hold back his laughter.
How could Ling Xiao ask Ling Qingwan? Even if he was really tricked, he couldn't win the argument with Ling Qingwan.
Besides, helping my sister to meet her future brother-in-law is not a big deal.
After Zhishu went to the prison, Ling Qingwan called someone to secretly protect her. Fortunately, after two or three days, everything was back to normal.
Ling Qingwan felt relieved and told Hongshang to come back.
"Miss, you say, Zhiqin follows Ling Chuchu every day, will she know the secret of Ling Chuchu's uncle and aunt?" Mingyue suddenly thought of this.
"It's possible." Ling Qingwan nodded after thinking about it carefully.
That night in the hall, Ling Chuchu threw the pot to Zhiqin, and Ling Qingwan pretended to drag Zhiqin to be punished. Ling Chuchu was so anxious to protect Zhiqin, probably because Zhiqin knew too much about her and she was afraid that it would all be revealed.