Song Chuning truly hadn’t expected that her meticulously calculated plan, one that could be said to be absolutely watertight, would actually fail to work—she had even released so many messenger pigeons beforehand to create confusion, precisely hoping that this fire could burn spectacularly and vigorously, ideally alarming even the Imperial Palace.

But despite the dead branches doused with lamp oil being instantly flammable, despite the northeast wind howling past, the fire ultimately couldn’t spread.

The incompetent fools of the Song family actually truly feared her presence, hanging their heads with voices as faint as mosquitoes and flies, calling out to her: “Miss, it’s time to take your medicine.”

In truth, it had only been a short month and a half since returning from Changsha, yet Song Chuning had already lost an entire ring of weight. The face that had been nourished to rosy whiteness in Changsha had also grown gaunt, her sunken cheeks making her cheekbones appear even more prominent. She looked far more haggard than she had in Changsha—not by just a little bit.

She glanced at Cuiguo, frowning at the young maid. The Song family had even specifically arranged for her to stay at Hexiang Pavilion—like Chuzhou Lodge, Hexiang Pavilion was also surrounded by water on three sides. The Song family had been fully prepared, frantically extinguishing all the flames the moment the fire started.

Song Jue had even forcibly made those palace nannies take away all the servant women she had brought back from Changsha. These were her last bargaining chips—these servant women all possessed martial arts skills, they weren’t ordinary women who did rough work. The very reason she had asked Madam Qin for these women was precisely because of this point.

Cuiguo entered the room with light, careful steps carrying the medicine bowl. Song Chuning didn’t take it, coughing several times before finally stopping that sweet fishy taste in her throat. She let out a cold laugh and asked: “What medicine is this?”

Cuiguo’s head lowered even further. She shrank back, glancing at Lushan who was concentrating on ironing clothes with her ears deaf to the outside world, then replied in a trembling voice: “It’s… it’s detoxification medicine made by Madam Sun.”

The smile vanished from Song Chuning’s face. She looked at Cuiguo with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, suddenly extending her hand and beckoning: “Cuiguo, come closer.”

Cuiguo stepped forward a few paces as instructed, feeling that even though her legs were wearing thick autumn pants, they couldn’t resist that cold intent rushing from her feet straight to her heart. She began to tremble slightly.

“This medicine is detoxification medicine made by Madam Sun?” Song Chuning curved her lips looking at her, as if in quite a good mood.

Cuiguo’s medicine bowl was taken by Song Chuning. She felt her empty hands had nowhere to rest, twisting them together behind her back, forcing out a smile while drenched in cold sweat: “Yes… yes, detoxification medicine.”

Song Chuning stopped smiling. She stared straight at Cuiguo’s face, suddenly reaching out and overturning the entire medicine bowl onto Cuiguo’s face.

Although it was already deep winter, the herbal medicine in the bowl was still frighteningly scalding hot. Cuiguo let out a piercing scream, wailing miserably while covering her face with both hands, rolling on the ground in pain.

Lushan could finally no longer pretend she hadn’t heard or seen anything. She hurried forward, but didn’t dare help Cuiguo up, standing anxiously to the side without moving.

Song Chuning braced herself against the bed post and sat up, her eyes devoid of warmth as always, not even a trace of anger visible in her expression.

But Cuiguo was frightened out of her wits, no longer caring about her face that was scalded bright red and even blistering. She scrambled up quickly and threw herself at Song Chuning’s bedside: “Miss, spare me, Miss, spare me!”

Song Chuning remained silent for a while without speaking, watching with interest as Cuiguo frantically wiped her eyes, watching the dead skin on her face that had been scalded and then rubbed raw by her sleeves. Finally, she felt the resentment in her heart lessen somewhat.

But it was only somewhat. She reached out to grip Cuiguo’s jaw, forcing the girl’s eyes to meet her own, asking through gritted teeth, word by word: “Why did you betray me?!”

Why use the very tactic she had once used against Song Chuyi to use against herself?! Why make her commit the same mistake Song Chuyi had committed?! Why, when she had prepared so thoroughly, did she still lose?!

She increased the pressure of her grip, coldly watching as Cuiguo wanted to scratch her face but couldn’t, coldly asking again: “I’m asking you, why did you betray me?! Why did you go out beforehand to notify those people guarding outside the courtyard that there would be a fire? Why did you lie to me that this bowl of medicine was detoxification medicine made by Madam Sun?!”

Lushan was so frightened she clutched her hem tightly, watching Cuiguo’s miserable state and nearly fainting, biting her lip hard to keep from crying out.

Cuiguo struggled to open her mouth, pleading continuously through her tears: “I had no choice, Miss, I had no choice… My father was in Changsha before, but now that Second Master has had an incident, he has to come back… First Young Master… First Young Master said if I didn’t do this, he would sell my father to the mines.”

Song Chuning used all her strength to kick her into a somersault, bracing herself on the bed with both hands, prostrate and panting heavily.

Cuiguo knelt on the ground trembling continuously, the pain on her face combined with her extreme fear nearly making her faint immediately.

The room fell into chaos for a moment.

Finally, there was movement outside the door. A nanny with a rigid, flat face frowned as she entered and looked around, then glanced at Cuiguo whose face was bright red and scalded beyond recognition. She bent down to help Cuiguo up and walked her outside.

“Wait!” Song Chuning called out loudly to stop her. Her eyes swept over them in a circle before she lowered her voice: “Tell First Young Master to come see me.”

The rigid nanny turned back to look at her once more, still expressionless as she continued leading Cuiguo out the door.

The door slammed shut with a clang. Song Chuning leaned wearily against the pillow, exhaustion and powerlessness surging over her like ocean waves, drowning her.

“Go close the window.” Only after a good while did she have the strength to speak again. Watching Lushan close the window, she leaned against the pillow and slid down onto the bed, slowly closing her eyes.

Lushan came forward to tuck in her quilt. After struggling internally for a moment, she nervously asked: “Miss, Cuiguo won’t… because of her parents’ situation, again…”

Song Chuning didn’t open her eyes. She turned to lie on her side facing inward, easing the pain in her chest. After a long pause, she finally opened her mouth to utter one sentence: “If she doesn’t want her younger brother’s life, she’s welcome to try again.”

Lushan shuddered—Song Chuning had placed all their parents under Song Yi to work, but their younger siblings were all studying elsewhere in places that, besides Song Chuning herself, no one knew about.

Song Jue was startled by Cuiguo’s miserable condition. Although he had heard of Song Chuning’s vicious nature before, he had never witnessed it with his own eyes. Now seeing it firsthand, he realized that everyone’s fear of her was not without reason.

The young maid before his eyes had been scalded by the boiling hot soup until her face was unrecognizable, with blisters even rising on her neck. He thought it over and ultimately felt somewhat unable to bear it, sighing as he ordered someone to fetch a physician for Cuiguo.