Chapter 176

Chapter 176

Prince Jing gave her a cold, sidelong glance. "Lock her in the dungeon for now!"

Jing Wu bowed in acknowledgment. "Yes!"

With that said, he took Ping'an away.

Concubine An, who was still waiting in the courtyard for Ping'an's return, suddenly heard the news and felt as if the world had come crashing down.

She quickly gripped the hand of the young maid beside her, trembling all over, "W-Will the Prince be angry?!"

Concubine An was so frightened that her voice was choked with tears: "The Prince already despises me and Rui'er. If this implicates us in other matters, what will happen to me and Rui'er for the rest of our lives?"

Shunxin, the maid attending to Concubine An, felt a cold dread in her heart upon hearing this.

Ever since Concubine An gave birth to the Fourth Young Master and earned Prince Jing's disdain, her life had become increasingly difficult.

Now the entire courtyard relied solely on Ping'an to run the household, and it was Ping'an who had invested tremendous effort into gradually raising the Fourth Young Master to health.

Now that Ping'an had been framed and was in trouble, Concubine An was entirely concerned only with herself and the Fourth Young Master, without asking a single word about Ping'an.

Ping'an had been utterly loyal and devoted to Concubine An.

How could Concubine An's reaction not chill the hearts of the maids like Shunxin?

After Concubine An had been muttering for a long while, Shunxin whispered a reminder, "Milady, the most urgent matter now is to rescue Sister Ping'an."

Concubine An seemed to have a sudden realization and hurriedly nodded, "You're right! First, save Ping'an!"

"She's been locked in the dungeon by the Prince—I'm afraid she's bound to suffer a great deal..."

But after agreeing to it, Concubine An felt terrified inside.

Having to go plead with Prince Jing... Just imagining the scene made her want to back out.

Concubine An asked in a low voice, "Ping'an has been dragged into the plot against the Fifth Young Master, which has infuriated the Prince... I'm afraid we'll have to beg the Prince if we want to save Ping'an."

"But the Prince already loathes me. What if seeing me makes him even angrier... What can we do then?"

Shunxin gritted her teeth, so angry she could barely contain herself, "Even if he's angry, you still have to go!"

At this moment, Shunxin could only regret not having spent a bit more silver back then to find a way into Chunsan Courtyard or Songya Courtyard as a second-class maid.

Having ended up with such a mistress, she could only inwardly sigh at her bad luck, yet still had to painstakingly coax her into coming up with ideas.

Shunxin explained to Concubine An, "Ping'an is your trusted maid. If she's accused of plotting against the Fourth Young Master, can you really stay out of it?"

"If you can't clear the suspicion, Sister Ping'an becomes the criminal, and you'd be the mastermind!"

Hearing this, Concubine An lost her composure entirely, dazed, "B-But I never told Ping'an to harm the Fifth Young Master!"

Shunxin stared at Concubine An in shock, "Milady, are you doubting Sister Ping'an too?!"

Concubine An: "Of course I trust Ping'an. But the people the Prince sent said the evidence is conclusive... I don't know, I really don't know."

It was November, and warm charcoal burned in the room, yet Shunxin felt nothing but ice in her heart.

Her mistress's words were purely self-serving, with not a single thought for Ping'an.

Shunxin suppressed her disgust and offered Concubine An advice.

She told her to go plead with the Prince, or confess everything she knew to him truthfully.

Whether she knew something or not, she had to show Prince Jing some stance.

If she was ruthless enough, she could kneel and beg—she had to fight for at least a chance for Ping'an.

After all, protecting Ping'an meant protecting herself!

But Concubine An agreed readily enough, yet when it came time to act, she couldn't even step one foot out of the courtyard gate, hiding in her room trembling with fear.

It nearly drove Shunxin to death with rage.

While Concubine An's courtyard was in chaos, Wan Linlang's Xiuyue Pavilion was shrouded in dead silence.

Upon returning to the courtyard, she dismissed all the servants, keeping only Sui Ci and Sui Yu.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Sui Ci felt her heart pounding so hard it might leap out of her chest.

Wan Linlang raised her hand and swept the cheap teacups off the table.

The loud crash startled Sui Ci so badly her face turned white as paper, and she dropped to her knees without a word.

"Milady, spare me! Milady, spare me!"

"I'm truly innocent—it was Yuezhi who falsely accused me..."

Gazing at Wan Linlang's grim face, Sui Ci trembled all over, speaking incoherently, "I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong."

"I shouldn't have hidden my affair with Zhao Wu!"

"And the matter of Yuezhi threatening me..."

"Enough!" Wan Linlang's face showed not a trace of anger, only a calm, deep stillness.

But it was precisely that which made Sui Ci, her personal maid, feel terrified.

She knew her mistress best.

Though Wan Linlang had just pleaded for her at Chunsan Courtyard, in her heart she was already itching to kill her!

Sui Ci knew that Sui Jin, who had previously served at her mistress's side, had fallen inexplicably ill simply for displeasing her.

Later, she was transferred to watch over the courtyard at Dongxue Courtyard, and her illness suddenly vanished.

Her mistress, a physician by training, was ruthless and vicious, unpredictable in mood—how could she not inspire fear?

Wan Linlang stared at Sui Ci with heavy eyes, and only after a long while spat out, "Idiot!"

At the sound of her voice, both Sui Ci and Sui Yu involuntarily shuddered.

Wan Linlang sneered, "Keeping so much from me is bad enough."

"If you had the skill, you should have hidden it well! But instead, you got caught by someone's trap and dragged me down with you—stupid and incompetent!"

"You knew you were weak and cowardly, couldn't even handle Yuezhi, yet you didn't say a single word to me—utterly foolish to the extreme!"

"If it weren't for your foolish behavior, how could I have ended up in such a passive position today?!"

"What a useless fool who only brings trouble!"

If she weren't just a concubine, and it weren't such a hassle to swap out her personal maids often, she would've gotten rid of that idiot Sui Ci a long time ago!

She never should've gone soft and kept her around this long!

Now that Sui Ci had caused trouble, with everyone watching, she couldn't easily deal with this maid.

Not only that, but she also had to follow Prince Jing's instructions and prepare a dowry for her, and send her off with a happy face.

For a moment, Shiqie Wan felt a lump of rage stuck in her chest, and a metallic taste of blood rising in her throat.

Even when she was framed at Chunshan Courtyard today, she hadn't felt this angry and miserable.

Sui Ci didn't dare talk back, just knelt there, kowtowing and begging for forgiveness over and over.

Wan Linlang shot her a disgusted look and said, "Enough, get out and kneel in the other room!"

"Stop being an eyesore here!"

"Yes!" Sui Ci, like she'd just been pardoned, scrambled on all fours to kneel in the outer room.

It was now November, and although a charcoal brazier was lit in the outer room, it was much colder than the inner chamber.

People coming and going lifted the curtain, letting in gusts of cold wind, which had Sui Ci shivering cold as she knelt on the floor.

Even the cuts from kneeling on the porcelain shards earlier had gone numb, so she couldn't feel the pain anymore.

After Wan Linlang had driven Sui Ci out, Sui Yu tactfully stepped forward, offering a cup of tea.

"Madam, have a sip of tea to moisten your throat, and then you can continue scolding Sui Ci at your leisure."