Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Shiqie Lu was carried back to Qingfeng Courtyard after taking twenty strokes.

Once the courtyard gate was closed, her two maids, Cuiniao and Ying'er, were crying their eyes out.

"Lady, you scared us to death!"

Despite her pale face from the pain, Shiqie Lu felt relieved. "Why cry? Both problems are taken care of. You should be happy for me."

Cuiniao and Ying'er wiped their tears, didn't know what to say for a moment.

These two were friends Shiqie Lu had made when she was a maid.

As soon as she became a concubine, she promoted them to Senior Maids.

Thus, their conversations were less formal.

Cuiniao, hot-headed, was rather angry: "You're still happy? Guess they didn't hit you hard enough!"

Ying'er said softly, "Lady, you don't know. When Nanny Li brought people to search the room, I was nearly scared to death!"

Shiqie Lu was still in pain, groaning now and then as she answered.

"I didn't harm anyone, so why should I be afraid?"

Cuiniao gritted her teeth, "You're not afraid, after all, you've taken the beating."

Shiqie Lu glared at her, "You've got some nerve talking to me that way!"

Cuiniao snorted, then suddenly tears fell. She patted Shiqie Lu, "If you had told us earlier that you'd be beaten, we would have gone with you to take some of the strokes for you."

Ying'er nodded in agreement, looking at her and saying, "Your bottom is beaten like this. Not to mention the prince, even we servants find it a bit gross."

Shiqie Lu & Cuiniao: "..."

After sending away that naive and sweet Ying'er, Shiqie Lu finally had time to have a heart-to-heart talk with Cuiniao.

Cuiniao sighed, "Being caught for theft is better. At least I won't have to worry day and night that one day it all comes out and you'll suffer, dragging me down."

Shiqie Lu rolled her eyes and didn't want to respond.

Cuiniao said scornfully, "I told you from the start not to do this despicable thing. If you had stolen from anyone else, you wouldn't have been punished so severely."

"A maid who slept her way up and then stole from her own mistress—how awful would that sound if it got out?!"

Shiqie Lu closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, and wouldn't say anything.

Cuiniao suddenly leaned in, "By the way, why did you have to get involved in Shiqie Li and Shiqie Han's business?"

Shiqie Lu was silent for a long while before saying, "She gave me two thousand taels."

Cuiniao angrily poked her between the eyebrows, "You good-for-nothing!"

"Since she could afford two thousand taels, why didn't you up the price and ask for four thousand?!"

Shiqie Lu: "..."

Xie Run and Shiqie Li had speculated over and over about why Shiqie Lu was helping Shiqie Han.

The reason was simple.

Shiqie Lu was greedy for money, and Shiqie Han had money to burn.

They struck a deal without any fuss.

"What did you do with that thing?" Cuiniao asked. "I was scared out of my wits today, afraid you had left traces behind."

Shiqie Lu rolled her eyes again, "I never intended to harm her! How could there be any evidence?"

Cuiniao's eyes widened in surprise: "But didn't you accept two thousand taels from Shiqie Han?"

"I did take her money. She didn't ask me to harm Shiqie Li, just to wear a sachet with the scent of Musk and visit Qingzhu Courtyard every day."

"Didn't I do exactly as she said?"

Shiqie Lu argued confidently: "Now that I've been falsely accused by Shiqie Li, those two thousand taels are rightfully mine."

She knew that her frequent visits to Qingzhu Courtyard got people secretly calling her shameless.

So what if she was shameless?

She had to stay alive first!

Shamelessness could earn money, and with money she could eat well, dress well, sleep well, and never lack for charcoal.

So why shouldn't she be shameless?!

She called to Cuiniao, "Take down the sachet hanging at the head of my bed."

Cuiniao was all talk but soft inside, always saying things that sounded disdainful of Shiqie Lu, but she worked very efficiently.

She immediately took down the sachet and, smelling its scent, was startled. "Are you looking for death?! You still haven't thrown this thing away?!"

Thinking that the item in her hand could make a woman unable to have kids, Cuiniao nearly dropped it.

After a moment, she suddenly said, "Wait! This sachet is hanging so conspicuously. How could Nanny Li not have found it?"

Shiqie Lu said calmly, "Because it can't harm anyone!"

"The sachet Shiqie Han gave me was disposed of long ago. I had someone make a sachet with similar-smelling scents to wear."

"I just wanted to make money. If I had truly harmed the prince's offspring, I'd have lost my own head."

She was money-hungry, not suicidal.

After all, Shiqie Han only asked her to wear the sachet every day while visiting Shiqie Li; she never said to make her miscarry, right?

Shiqie Lu had played the loophole in Shiqie Han's instructions.

She completed Shiqie Han's task, got the money, and bore no responsibility.

Shiqie Han would never find out anyway—after all, who says smelling musk necessarily leads to a miscarriage or hurts the baby?

Cuiniao breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. "Good grief! Why didn't you let me know?"

Shiqie Lu: "You're a bad actor."

"If I had told you, how would Concubine Li and her maid see how guilty you looked and then suspect me?"

Concubine Lu, however, did not know that it was someone close to Xie Run who had smelled the musk on her.

She simply assumed that Concubine Li had a capable person by her side who had discovered it on her own.

Cuiniao, silenced by her retort, didn't know what to say.

"No!"

Cuiniao noticed something was off, "Didn't Concubine Li say that every time we left, she felt really nauseous?"

Concubine Lu snorted lightly, "Who knows if it's just her own mind playing tricks on her?"

After a moment, she added, "You don't actually think that Concubine Han is relying solely on me to deal with Concubine Li, do you?"

Cuiniao: "..."

Concubine Lu mocked her, "You're really dumb!"

"She and I are not related; we just made a deal for two thousand taels of silver. If I took the money and didn't do the job, or even turned on her, what do you think she'd do?"

Cuiniao: "What would she do?"

Concubine Lu: "..."

"She definitely kept something in reserve!"

"I'm afraid that the moment I even think of turning on her, she'd instantly pin everything on me. Do you believe that?"

Cuiniao nodded, "Of course I do!"

Concubine Lu gave a light snort, "I'm worried those two thousand taels she spent were just a smoke screen. The real reason Concubine Li felt sick is something else."

Cuiniao shuddered violently.

"This inner courtyard is truly dangerous."

Concubine Lu sighed, didn't say another word, and told Cuiniao, "Later, toss the sachet into the brazier and burn it."

"This thing that brings disaster must not be kept at all."

Leaning back on the bed, Concubine Lu slowly closed her eyes.

"Enough. I'll only do this wicked thing once."

Cuiniao tucked the blanket around her and laughed, "Making two thousand taels in one shot is enough to last you half your life."