To reach the South Courtyard, Li Weiyang had to pass through the secluded back garden. She had all the servant girls and nannies hide in the shadows while she only brought Bai Zhi, slowly walking forward under an umbrella.

In the torrential rain, despite Bai Zhi’s best efforts to hold the umbrella properly, half of Li Weiyang’s shoulder still got wet.

Gao Jin hid beneath banana leaves while a servant boy behind him struggled to hold an umbrella over him.

“Young Master, Third Miss is coming!” the servant boy reminded him.

Gao Jin’s eyes were already fixed tightly on Li Weiyang. She wore a cloud brocade jacket and skirt with pink embroidery of magpies perched on plum blossoms, trimmed with wisteria-yellow incense edges. Below was a matching red brocade skirt with wide borders. As she walked, her figure swayed gracefully. Gao Jin looked her over from head to toe, growing more and more excited.

Haha, after today, this little beauty would be his!

Bai Zhi kept feeling a strange gaze watching them, her heart growing anxious. “Miss, this servant is a bit frightened.”

Li Weiyang smiled faintly. “There’s nothing to fear.”

Her voice was like an icy bell chiming in the wind, giving Gao Jin a feeling as if his heart and liver were being scratched. Unable to control himself, he pounced forward, intending to embrace her fully.

The instant he lunged, Gao Jin’s hand went numb, followed by excruciating pain.

Li Weiyang raised her brow and kicked fiercely toward Gao Jin’s vital lower region.

Just as her foot struck the critical area, Gao Jin’s hand also happened to hurt so badly it felt like it would break. He screamed once before his entire body toppled backward.

Li Weiyang pulled out the awl from Gao Jin’s palm. Bai Zhi quickly produced a cloth bag and covered his head with it, then shouted loudly, “Come quickly! There’s a thief in this courtyard! Come quickly!”

Before long, the servant girls and nannies who had been following behind rushed forward. Li Weiyang pointed at Gao Jin and said coldly, “Beat him hard, beat him to death!”

“Who dares beat me!” the person in the bag shouted. “I’m the young master cousin!”

What was going on?! Everyone was stunned.

Li Weiyang sneered coldly. “Why would the young master cousin be running around this back garden? Clearly this thief is using honeyed words trying to escape his crime! Beat him hard!”

After witnessing Third Miss’s methods with Huamei, these servant girls and nannies had all developed a hidden three parts fear of her. Hearing these words, how could they not act?

Gao Jin screamed desperately, pleading and cursing, but was held down firmly by the servant girls and nannies. They beat him indiscriminately and mercilessly, almost viciously, afraid that Third Miss would think they weren’t putting in effort.

Li Weiyang looked toward the distant banana tree and saw a figure flash and disappear quickly.

They beat him for a full half hour until everyone was exhausted and finally stopped, panting heavily. The playboy in the bag who had originally prepared to steal fragrance and jade had long since been beaten until he was breathing out more than breathing in.

Li Weiyang glanced once and ordered, “Throw this thief out!”

Four nannies clumsily hoisted the half-dead Gao Jin and threw him over the wall.

Only then did the servant boy who had been following dare to approach. Trembling, he removed the bag and saw his young master’s forehead bleeding profusely, his nose twisted to one side, his eye sockets split, both eyes rolled back white, groaning incoherently unable to speak. He knew this was bad…

After the rain, the green banana leaves outside the window bowed their heads, and a dewdrop like a pearl slid down, hitting the ground with a clear sound and shattering into pieces. For some reason, the First Madam felt irritable and restless. The prayer beads in her hand had turned for quite a while before she finally set them down. She said to Li Changle beside her, “Why do I feel so unsettled today, as if something…”

Li Changle lowered her eyes, concealing the coldness in them. Naturally something would happen, but for them, it was a very good thing.

The First Madam had only spoken half her sentence when, accompanied by the sound of the door curtain being lifted, someone rushed in quickly. Perhaps from running all the way, unable to stop his feet, he fell forward, rolling several circles on the ground before finally stopping. Not even bothering to wipe the dirt from his face, he shouted at the First Madam, “First Madam, something terrible has happened! A disaster!”

This person was Qiuzi, the servant boy who followed Gao Jin. The First Madam’s expression turned ugly. “What kind of place is this for you to barge in like this! Get out quickly!”

Qiuzi’s face was pale. “Terrible, terrible… something, something terrible has happened!” He looked as if he’d seen a ghost, his whole body trembling. “Just now the young master was in the garden, he, he…”

The First Madam’s heart jumped as she said in alarm, “What happened to him again?”

She had originally wanted to say what trouble he’d caused again, but realizing it was inappropriate, quickly changed her words. Li Changle gently curved her lips. This was also part of the prearranged play. After cousin succeeded, he would send a servant to report, saying the young master accidentally mistook Third Miss for a servant girl and took her. When Mother found out, though she would be angry, she would certainly cover for him. This way, wouldn’t they be able to eliminate that thorn in their side, Li Weiyang…

“The young master was originally in the back garden, who would have thought, who would have thought…” Qiuzi was so anxious he was sweating profusely. “Who would have thought Third Miss would suddenly bring a group of people and beat the young master severely…”

The First Madam froze, frost seeming to form in her pupils as she blurted out, “Li Weiyang? What exactly happened!”

Qiuzi stammered, unable to get out a complete sentence.

The First Madam said coldly, “He set his sights on Li Weiyang again?! Foolish! Truly foolish!” Just then, she heard a clear sound of shattering porcelain from beside her. Li Changle had accidentally broken her teacup, spilling tea all over the floor.

In that instant, the First Madam suddenly understood something. She said sternly, “Except for the Eldest Miss, everyone else get out!”

Qiuzi still wanted to say something but was forcibly dragged out by others. Li Changle’s beautiful face was deathly pale. She was shocked by cousin’s failure and didn’t know how to face Mother’s interrogation.

“How foolish you are!” The First Madam finally lost her composure. Her eyebrows shot up, her kind face becoming agitated and flustered.

“Mother!” Li Changle had a moment of panic, but then calmed down. Her small crimson mouth bit down as she said in a sharp, thin voice like a knife, “I wanted to teach that girl a lesson—”

“You’re too impatient!” The First Madam clenched her hands, pacing back and forth in the room. Li Changle watched her in shock. In her memory, she had never seen Mother lose composure like this. “Mother…”

“I’ve told you countless times that your future prospects are limitless. How can you get entangled with such a lowly person!” The First Madam suddenly stopped, turned around, her expression initially rigid, then like a blood-red sun suddenly jumping out from the dark night, becoming exceptionally vivid and cruel. “Originally I wanted to keep her for future use, but now that things have come to this, I can only make the best of a bad situation! I must eliminate that bastard child!”