Chapter Forty-Six: The Two Maids Who Called for Help One After Another

“What is that you’re holding, Qingcui?” Qin Wanru set aside her medical book, her gaze clear as she asked.

This was by no means a routine inquiry. Qingcui, caught off guard for a moment, hastily replied, “Second Miss, surely the real question is whose letter this is! I picked up a letter—could it be yours? I saw you writing a letter earlier.”

“I don’t recall asking anyone to fetch snacks, did I?” Qin Wanru ignored her and instead questioned Qingyue.

“Miss never takes snacks after lunch. This is usually Miss’s nap time,” Qingyue replied, glancing up at Qingcui without courtesy. “Qingcui, you’re the senior maid at Miss’s side. Surely you know her habits. Why would you go fetch snacks at this hour—unless it was never about snacks, but rather about the letter?”

“What are you implying, Qingyue? Are you saying I just wanted snacks and made up this errand?” Qingcui’s face flushed with anger as she snapped at Qingyue.

“Whether you wanted snacks or not, I don’t know. What I do know is that Miss didn’t ask for any,” Qingyue replied, calm and unhurried.

“I only worried Miss might be hungry, so I went to the kitchen and found they’d just made fresh pastries. I brought some for Miss. Isn’t it a maid’s duty to notice things that Miss overlooks?” Qingcui stammered slightly, her eyes darting with defiance.

“Notice what I overlook? Does that extend to this letter as well?” Qin Wanru asked coolly, her gaze indifferent. “Since you returned, I haven’t had you attend me in the room. How could you have seen me writing a letter?”

“Miss, there are no other mistresses nearby. If it’s not your letter, whose could it be?” Qingcui faltered, but recalling Lady Di’s instructions, she gritted her teeth and pressed on.

“Just because there are no other mistresses, it must be mine? If someone died right now, would you also say, since there’s no one else, it must have been me?” Qin Wanru gave a cold laugh, her eyes icy as they fell on Qingcui. “What a sharp-witted maid you are, always ready to cast blame on me for anything!”

“Miss, I—” Qingcui had never seen Qin Wanru like this before. Though small in stature, the fierceness in her eyes unsettled Qingcui, making her instinctively avert her gaze. Those eyes were like blades, nothing like the innocent, wide eyes of the Second Miss she once knew.

“Kneel!” Qingyue strode over and kicked Qingcui sharply on the leg. Qingcui staggered and fell to her knees with a thud.

“How dare you kick me!” Qingcui was furious, glaring as she tried to rise, reaching out to grab Qingyue.

Both senior maids in the Second Miss’s service, Qingcui had always enjoyed more favor than Qingyue, especially in the days when Madam Fang was in charge and Qingcui was her most trusted hand.

“Why shouldn’t I kick you? You dare use a random letter to slander Miss!” Qingyue nimbly darted behind Qingcui and delivered another hard kick, forcing the barely-risen Qingcui back to her knees with greater force.

This time, the impact was even heavier, the sound of her knees hitting the floor echoing through the room. Qingcui cried out in pain.

“Yumomo, go fetch my mother!” Qin Wanru commanded, her voice cold and steady.

Yumomo, who had been standing by, was already prepared. She stepped forward, summoned a maid, and sent her to invite Lady Di. Once the first maid had left, she called another, more timid-looking maid and instructed her to seek out Qin Huaiyong in the study.

The two maids left one after the other, the first unaware that another had been sent behind her.

“Qingcui, do you feel terribly wronged?” Inside, Qin Wanru watched the furious Qingcui and spoke slowly.

“Miss, what does that wretch Qingyue intend? I’ll kill her!” Qingcui dared not face Qin Wanru directly, so she shifted her fury to Qingyue, gritting her teeth and glaring, struggling to rise again.

“Kneel!” Qin Wanru ordered coldly, showing clear partiality.

Between their exchanges, Qingcui was beside herself with rage, her eyes nearly aflame. She protested, “Second Miss, why must I kneel?”

“Because I am your mistress,” Qin Wanru replied icily, her gaze falling on the letter Qingcui had dropped—its envelope identical to the one sent to the Heir of Yongkang.

Exactly the same.

Her lips curled into a mocking smile. Lady Di was panicking, it seemed, resorting to old tricks to shift the blame onto her again.

“Miss, you are truly a biased mistress. Clearly, Qingyue struck me, yet she doesn’t have to kneel—why only me?” Qingcui’s eyes reddened with anger, her voice rising.

Outside the door, several maids and matrons, drawn by the commotion, put aside their tasks and inched toward the door and windows, eager for gossip. Some gathered in small groups, pointing and whispering, making the courtyard seem less like that of a noble lady and more like a common marketplace crowd.

“I am biased?” Qin Wanru withdrew her gaze from the window and smiled faintly, her eyes suddenly turning cold. “If you think I’m partial, then let me be even more so. Qingyue, teach her a lesson and show her who truly rules this courtyard!”

“Yes, Miss!” Qingyue answered crisply, pressing down hard on Qingcui’s head. “Apologize to Miss at once!”

Qingcui hadn’t expected Qingyue to act so boldly. She struggled furiously, reaching out to grab Qingyue, but Qingyue, standing at a cunning angle behind her, remained out of reach. After several forceful pushes downward, Qingcui’s head spun with dizziness.

Her hands flailed blindly in the air, unable to catch Qingyue, her frustration boiling over as she shrieked, “Qingyue, you wretch, how dare you!”

“Why wouldn’t I dare? For a maid who dares frame Miss, what wouldn’t I do?” Qingyue sneered from behind her.

“You wretch, I’ll tear you apart!” Qingcui’s vision swam with stars from the blows, and she could barely distinguish anyone before her. She pointed with a trembling hand, shouting.

But the direction of her finger was not toward Qingyue, but rather diagonally toward Qin Wanru.

“Defying your mistress—slap her!” Qin Wanru had been waiting for this moment and immediately barked her order.

Yumomo stepped forward and delivered four sharp slaps to Qingcui’s face.

“You wretch—” Qingcui, still dazed, took several more blows, a metallic taste rising in her throat.

Outside, the servants were abuzz. Qingcui’s audacity to curse her mistress shocked them all.

“What’s going on here?” An annoyed voice cut through the crowd. The servants hurriedly parted, and Lady Di appeared at the doorway, her face serene and smiling. She had arrived swiftly.

“Madam, save me! Second Miss will beat me to death—please save me!” At the sound of Lady Di’s voice, Qingcui shrieked all the louder, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed and pleaded.

“Wanru, how did a perfectly good maid end up like this?” Lady Di’s gaze landed on the disheveled Qingcui, whose hair was in disarray, cheeks swollen and red. Seeing the marks, Lady Di felt a sympathetic sting on her own face.

They hadn’t held back!

“Madam, all I did was find a letter belonging to Second Miss, and now she wants to beat me to death! Please, madam, save me!” Emboldened by Lady Di’s presence, Qingcui wailed even louder, scrubbing tears from her face as she cried.

“Is this true? Wanru, what letter is this?” Lady Di feigned shock, turning to Qin Wanru.

“Mother, this maid cursed me, and yet you believe her?” Qin Wanru replied coolly.

“Madam, don’t listen to Second Miss. I was cursing that wretch Qingyue, not Second Miss. She’s only siding with Qingyue!” Qingcui protested loudly.

“Wanru, why would a maid ever curse you?” Lady Di laughed softly, her tone gentle. “Are you being mischievous again? You’re not a child anymore. Even if it’s a small matter, a maid’s life is still a life—you can’t treat her as you please! In a family like ours, we’d never do something so cruel!”

Her words seemed kindly on the surface, as if she were chiding Qin Wanru affectionately, but anyone listening closely would hear the malice behind them. She was shifting all blame onto Qin Wanru, painting her as vicious for punishing a maid, and siding with the favored one.

The servants outside exchanged knowing glances, smirking. It was clear Second Miss would be scolded by the Madam again.

There had been plenty of occasions when the Madam used an excuse to reprimand Second Miss—why hadn’t she learned by now?

How could an egg fight against a stone?

“Mother thinks I am in the wrong?” Qin Wanru raised her head unhurriedly, her gaze cool and steady as it landed on Lady Di’s face, her brows lifting slightly.

“You’re always so willful…” Lady Di smiled. “Enough nonsense—let me see the letter you wrote.”

She intended to let the matter drop, then redirect attention to the letter.

“And what does Mother mean by that? Are you saying my word counts for less than that of a maid you trust?” Qin Wanru’s laugh was cold, her tone suddenly turning sharp.

Lady Di’s smile froze, then her expression darkened. She might not be able to handle Shui Ruolan for now, but surely this slip of a girl was within her grasp. For Qin Wanru to challenge her in front of so many servants left her feeling rather humiliated.

“Wanru, I am your mother—would I ever harm my own daughter?” Lady Di frowned, her displeasure slipping out. The words came out reflexively, and she felt a flash of embarrassment as she spoke.

In the past, she had always claimed to be Qin Wanru’s birth mother. No matter the situation, she would open with these words, and Qin Wanru would be left speechless.

But these were not ordinary times. Now, everyone knew she was not Qin Wanru’s real mother!

Beneath her long lashes, Qin Wanru’s eyes shimmered with a deep, unfathomable light. In her previous life, it was these seemingly heartfelt words from Lady Di that had deceived her, step by step, down the path to ruin.

“A real mother would never harm her own daughter. Mother, I know you would never harm my elder sister! But me? Am I truly your daughter?” A trace of sorrow flickered in Qin Wanru’s eyes, and she spoke each word softly but clearly enough for everyone present to hear.