Li Weiyang had made up her mind. Her face showed a trace of hesitation and worry as she deliberately stammered, “Seventh Concubine… what’s wrong with Seventh Concubine?”

Seeing her interest, Huamei quickly said, “Third Miss, Seventh Concubine’s illness gets worse every winter. I’m afraid she won’t make it past this New Year…” As she spoke, she carefully observed Li Weiyang with her eyes, not letting a single expression on her face slip by unnoticed.

Li Weiyang’s smile slowly disappeared, and then she seemed somewhat dejected: “Seventh Concubine is my birth mother, yet I can only watch her suffer. Alas.”

Huamei reminded her: “Third Miss, now that your days are better, shouldn’t you help Seventh Concubine? At least go see her.”

Li Weiyang blinked her eyes: “But Seventh Concubine is sick now. I heard Father gave orders that to prevent spreading the illness, no one is permitted to visit her.”

Huamei smiled: “Third Miss, just go see her secretly at night, wouldn’t that work? At that time, this servant will keep watch for you. As soon as someone comes, I’ll notify you. That way, no one will discover it, right?”

Li Weiyang sneered inwardly, but her mouth still hesitated: “If Father knows I’ve disobeyed his orders, he’ll definitely fly into a rage.”

Huamei said: “This servant dares not urge you, but think about it yourself—Seventh Concubine is your birth mother! Even if the Master gets angry when he finds out, he won’t do anything to you!”

So Huamei wanted her to anger Father by going to visit her birth mother? No, this matter wasn’t so simple. Li Weiyang smiled, looking as if suddenly enlightened: “Huamei, you’re so clever! Let me think about it more. Once I’ve decided on the time, I’ll tell you!”

Watching Huamei leave, Li Weiyang’s gaze suddenly turned cold. From behind the curtain beside her, Bai Zhi quietly emerged: “Third Miss, you absolutely must not listen to that girl’s words!”

Li Weiyang glanced at Bai Zhi, raised her eyebrows, and said, “Why?”

Bai Zhi paused, but ultimately didn’t want to see her mistress fall into a trap. She said, “Miss, don’t blame this servant for speaking out of turn, but guarding against thieves day and night, it’s probably family traitors that are hardest to guard against. What Huamei said today can’t help but arouse suspicion.”

Bai Zhi’s thoughts were actually this clever too! Li Weiyang smiled slightly and said, “When greed exceeds satisfaction, the snake tries to swallow the elephant. Some people just can’t stand to see me living well!” As she spoke, she tossed those brand new embroidered shoes aside.

Bai Zhi was startled, then said: “Third Miss, since you know this, you absolutely cannot go.”

Li Weiyang’s index finger gently curved, tapping on the tabletop, her smile growing even brighter: “No, I must go!”

That very afternoon, Li Weiyang arranged with Huamei to go see Seventh Concubine together at the hour of the dog. However, as soon as the sun set—at most the hour of the rooster—Li Weiyang quietly pulled Bai Zhi along, and the two of them left the courtyard through the back door.

“Third Miss, didn’t you agree with Huamei to go at the hour of the dog? It’s still early—”

Li Weiyang smiled slightly, her eyes bright and shining, full of cunning: “If we wait until then to go, we’ll walk right into the trap!” She certainly had to visit her birth mother, but this timing wasn’t randomly chosen. She needed to catch the Grand Madam off guard while also leaving herself some buffer time, making the conspirators think their scheme could succeed!

Carefully avoiding people along the way, Li Weiyang and Bai Zhi arrived at the South Courtyard. This courtyard was extremely desolate, with grass growing long in the cracks between the blue bricks at the entrance. At the very back of the courtyard were three rows of rooms, and there was no one visible serving in the yard.

Just reaching the entrance, they smelled a heavy medicinal odor. Li Weiyang had already changed into a maid’s clothing and deliberately kept her head lowered, walking behind Bai Zhi. As Bai Zhi entered the courtyard, she saw a young maid come forward. This little maid wore a blue cotton jacket and skirt that had faded, giving off an air of poverty. Seeing Bai Zhi, she opened her eyes wide in surprise: “You are—”

Bai Zhi smiled and showed her the jar in her hands: “This servant follows Third Miss’s orders to bring some chicken soup for the concubine.”

The little maid was startled. Someone had just come, so why were they sending things again? She quickly said: “Sisters, Nanny Zhao also said she came on Third Miss’s orders to see the concubine and is talking with her inside right now!”

Nanny Zhao? The rough servant woman from her own courtyard? Li Weiyang’s breathing stopped, and an odd premonition immediately surged in her heart. She pushed ahead of the two others and lifted the curtain, quickly walking inside. The room contained only two or three camphor wood chests, with a worn flower vase on the table. The windows and doors were tightly closed, and the air was very stale. However, when she looked closely, the scene inside made her heart suddenly shake. Nanny Zhao was holding a bowl of soup, feeding the frail woman on the bed. Without thinking, Li Weiyang took two or three steps forward and fiercely knocked the bowl over!

Nanny Zhao was drenched by the soup and flew into a rage, immediately cursing: “Where did this dead girl come from!”

Li Weiyang laughed coldly: “Nanny Zhao, are your old eyes so dim that you don’t even recognize me!”

When Nanny Zhao saw clearly who this person was, she was immediately startled. Hadn’t Huamei said Third Miss would come an hour later? How was she here now!

“Who told you to bring soup to Seventh Concubine!” Li Weiyang’s voice was unusually stern, completely unlike that of a weak thirteen-year-old girl. Nanny Zhao was shaken by her imposing manner, and her words immediately became three parts weaker: “It was… it was…”

“Weiyang? Are you Weiyang?!” The woman on the bed was stunned for a moment, then reacted, eagerly grasping Li Weiyang’s hand!

Seventh Concubine was born quite delicate and was still young, but her appearance was already withered. There wasn’t a bit of flesh on her cheeks, and a jade bracelet of very poor quality on her wrist pitifully dangled, as if it could fall off at any moment.

Seeing her birth mother for the first time, Li Weiyang’s eyes involuntarily reddened. However, she blinked and didn’t answer Seventh Concubine’s words. Instead, she pointed at the floor: “Nanny Zhao, who gave you the audacity to try to murder Seventh Concubine?!”

Nanny Zhao was about to make excuses when she saw several ants lying dead on the ground—obviously from eating that soup. Her expression changed, and she immediately stopped speaking, twisting around to run outside.

Li Weiyang said coldly: “You two, grab her!”

Bai Zhi and the little maid exchanged glances, then immediately went forward, one on each side, restraining Nanny Zhao! Nanny Zhao struggled desperately. Li Weiyang suddenly rushed to her side, raised her hand, swung her arm in a full circle, and fiercely gave her a resounding slap.

“This slap is for trying to murder Seventh Concubine!”

Nanny Zhao angrily opened her mouth to say: “Third Miss, this old servant was given to you by the Madam. You can’t hit me…”

Not only will I hit you, I’ll eliminate you too! In a flash of lightning, Li Weiyang’s thoughts raced. She reached back and grabbed the flower vase, raising it high toward Nanny Zhao. Nanny Zhao looked at her in terror. Li Weiyang’s hand was raised high, but facing those eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to strike down. Reason told her that what she needed to do now was cut through the tangled mess swiftly, but from the depths of her heart, to personally extinguish a person’s life—this was truly too terrifying!

“Third Miss, if you touch me, you’ll suffer the consequences—” Seeing her hesitate, Nanny Zhao immediately shrieked.

However, it was precisely these two sentences that made Li Weiyang determined!

She used all her strength, and the vase smashed violently on Nanny Zhao’s head. Nanny Zhao immediately had her head broken and bleeding, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed limply!

The little maid was startled and immediately released her grip. Nanny Zhao fell to the ground like a dead pig, blood flowing everywhere.

“What are you afraid of! She came to murder Seventh Concubine. Now this is merely her just deserts!” Li Weiyang’s face was deathly pale as she threw down the vase, but instead became calm, leaving the other three people in the room stunned.

Bai Zhi was relatively composed. She bent down and felt for her breath, then said trembling: “It seems… it seems she’s not breathing!”

Li Weiyang coldly looked at Nanny Zhao. This old servant had received orders from the Grand Madam to kill Seventh Concubine. If she had come at the agreed time, by then her birth mother would probably already be dead. And if she had just shown mercy and spared this old servant, once Nanny Zhao turned around and told the Grand Madam about this matter, she and her mother would both be on a dead-end path! She absolutely had not done wrong!

“Miss, what should we do now?” A drop of sweat fell from Bai Zhi’s forehead, landing right on her eyelashes. Third Miss’s character was extraordinarily resilient. Since she had committed herself to following this young miss, she could never betray her mistress again!

Li Weiyang was about to speak when Seventh Concubine on the bed had already understood everything. She quickly said: “Cui’er, go find a sack, then stuff the person inside, tie on stones, and sink her into the lotus pond behind our window. You must move quickly, understand?!”