Qin Ying’s blade was pressed against Auntie Li San’s throat, applying slight force. Auntie Li San immediately felt dizzy and disoriented. Struggling desperately, she shook her head. Her eyes widened, but Nanny Xu had grabbed her hair so she couldn’t move, leaving her utterly devastated. She was a house-born servant of the Song family, but her parents had long since died, leaving her alone. The Old Madam, seeing how pitiful she was, had long ago instructed the Great Madam to give her back her contract. They registered her case at the magistrate’s office to cancel her slave status, allowing her to go wherever she wished. But she truly had nowhere to go. After all these years, she had continued working at the Song family residence. The Song family treated their servants well, rarely beating or scolding them. She had also thought she would just muddle through her whole life this way and be done with it.
But from the moment she received this assignment to go to Jinzhong, her life seemed to take a turn for the better. Her husband went out with the young masters, but having no connections and not knowing how to handle things, he had long been pushed aside. He idled at home doing nothing, constantly either hitting or cursing her. But recently, somehow, he suddenly started treating her well—so well he obeyed her every wish. He even specially went to buy flowered cloth to make her clothes—something she wouldn’t have dared to even dream of in the past. When she asked, she learned that her husband also wanted to come along to Jinzhong. This presented a difficulty—countless people were watching this assignment with wide eyes, all knowing that the Cui family was a prestigious noble clan. Going with them would certainly fill their purses with tips—at the very least, they’d make a small fortune. But her husband unhesitatingly took out fifty taels of silver and told her to beg a certain nanny who worked under Steward Lin Hai. She had never seen so much money in her entire life. This much money was enough to buy a small house outside the city. She was originally reluctant, but later, after hearing where the money came from, she developed malicious intent.
Thinking that her contract was in her own hands anyway, and her slave status had already been canceled so she was now a free household, after ruthlessly making this fortune, she would simply never return to the capital or enter the Song household again. Anyway, according to what her husband said, water bandits killed people regardless of who they were. When the time came, whether you were Sixth Miss of the Song family or a princess of the imperial family, you would all alike be carried off and killed. With the dead unable to testify, never mind that finding two people in this vast world would be difficult—even if they were found, with no one alive to testify, no one could do anything to them.
But she never expected that though the plan was perfect and everything had been going quite smoothly, it would now be exposed by Song Chuyi. Her heart was in turmoil, as if fifteen buckets were hanging inside her, up and down. She sobbed and wept bitterly.
Song Chuyi extended her exceptionally beautiful, clean, slender fingers with well-proportioned bones and flesh, lightly waving them: “Auntie San, my temper has never been very good. You’ve worked at home—I don’t know if you’ve heard or not. If you keep crying like this, I won’t have much patience left.” She held up three fingers and began counting: “One, two—”
Auntie Li San struggled to swallow a hiccup. She didn’t dare cry anymore and didn’t make another sound. Only then did Song Chuyi nod to Nanny Xu, indicating she should pull the handkerchief from her mouth.
“Sister-in-law is a sensible person, and I’ve already said everything that needed to be said. Now I’ll ask you questions. You tell me honestly and suffer less. Don’t you agree?” Seeing her hair all disheveled and her eyes vacant as she lay on the ground, Song Chuyi laughed: “Sister-in-law needn’t be so utterly devastated. Although betraying one’s master is a grave crime requiring being drowned in a pig cage or rolled on a nail bed—” She watched Auntie Li San tremble all over before continuing her previous words: “However, if I don’t say anything, no one on this boat will know. At that time, I’ll give Auntie Li San a sum of silver, and you can still go live a comfortable life.”
Auntie Li San’s mind couldn’t process this for a moment. She didn’t understand what Song Chuyi meant. Just moments ago she was calling for her death, and now she was saying she would conceal everything and not say anything, and even give her silver?
Song Chuyi gestured for Qing Ying and Ziyun to help her up from left and right, the corners of her mouth holding a faint smile: “I won’t hide it from you. I knew about you and your husband from the moment we boarded the boat. The reason I didn’t immediately move against you was to wait for you to expose yourselves so people could catch the evidence. Now the evidence is already in hand. If you still persist obstinately, I have plenty of methods waiting for you.”
Just as her voice fell, the cabin door was knocked on with thump, thump, thump sounds. Peirong, another servant from Song Yan’s side, slipped inside, honestly hanging his head without daring to raise it, standing to one side respectfully reporting to Song Chuyi: “Reporting to Sixth Miss, Li San on that side has already been captured by Fourth Young Master and Maternal Uncle’s wife.”
Song Chuyi’s gaze toward Auntie Li San became increasingly gentle, and the smile on her face grew deeper. Her voice seemed to carry a magical quality that made Auntie Li San’s entire body feel as if it were immersed in ice water, making her shiver with cold.
“Auntie San, come tell me how you originally planned to coordinate from inside and outside. I’ll see whether what you and Li San say matches up.”
Matches up! The last trace of hope in Auntie Li San’s heart flew beyond the heavens. This Sixth Miss of theirs had always been said to be formidable, but she had never dealt with Sixth Miss before and had never known exactly how formidable she was. Only now did she truly witness this Sixth Miss’s scheming mind—she had separately captured her and her husband without warning, interrogating them in separate locations about their plans. If one of them lied—
She didn’t dare lie anymore, but thinking of those water bandits made her somewhat fearful. Looking pitifully at Song Chuyi, she was so frightened that even her words became somewhat incoherent: “Sixth Miss, that gang of bandits—they kill without batting an eye—”
While replacing Song Chuyi’s medicinal patches, Qing Ying turned back and sneered at her: “If you tell the truth, Sixth Miss naturally has ways to preserve your life. But if you play even the slightest trick, don’t expect to leave through that door today. In any case, there are only four people on this boat right now at most. Our people all know where they are respectively. At worst, we’ll deal with this gang first, then worry about the water bandits later!”
Auntie Li San was frightened into trembling like a sieve, her face devoid of color as she lay on the ground stammering “yes, yes, yes” continuously. Thinking about the pros and cons, then thinking about the current situation and the future, she gritted her teeth. Like beans pouring from a bamboo tube, she told Song Chuyi all the plans. If she didn’t speak now, she would immediately die with her husband on this boat. But if she spoke, there was still a possibility of redeeming herself through merit.
Nanny Xu looked at her coldly, the fury in her heart surging up whoosh after whoosh. Unable to bear it any longer, she spat at Auntie Li San. The Song family had treated Auntie Li San so generously, yet she still thought to collude with outsiders to coordinate from inside and outside to harm her masters—it was simply unforgivable.