Li Shi had been so anxious lately that blisters formed on her tongue. The people had been sent out for a full ten days, yet there had been no news whatsoever. Actually, according to her thinking, dealing with a little girl like Song Chuyi should only take three or four days round trip at most. Even though Song Jue and Song Ren were there, weren’t they busy dealing with the Tartar raiders? How could they possibly spare enough time to look after Song Chuyi?

Thinking of this, the teacup she held in her hands felt scalding hot. She couldn’t help but set it down heavily on the table beside her.

It’s fine, everything must be fine, she comforted herself.

Perhaps no news was the best news. After all, Tongzhou was now full of Tartar raiders, so sending messages back and forth might be inconvenient.

After all, Mother had said she had specifically found idle beggars and ruffians—adding up to about twenty people in total. She had also procured sharp bows and arrows used by hunters for them. Most importantly, the person she had sent to deliver clothes to Song Chuyi would communicate with them. With this coordination from inside and out, even if Song Chuyi grew wings, she couldn’t possibly escape.

Thinking it through repeatedly, no matter how she tried to comfort herself, her heart still felt like it was carrying a stone, making her restless and uneasy. The door was pushed open, and sunlight poured across the floor as Nanny Yu entered.

Li Shi abruptly stood up, her expression urgent. “How is it? Is there news?”

Nanny Yu’s complexion looked rather unpleasant. As if she had made up her mind, she first let out a heavy breath, calmed herself for a long while, and tried to make her voice as steady as possible. “The First Master and First Young Master have returned with the Sixth Miss! By now they’ve probably already entered through the second gate. From the looks of it, the Sixth Miss should be unharmed…”

“How is that possible?!” Li Shi’s jaw dropped, her eyes round as saucers. She reached out to brace herself against the table to keep from collapsing, then raised her voice in fierce questioning. “How is that possible? She came back in one piece without a scratch?!”

What on earth were those thugs and ruffians doing?! They couldn’t even deal with a little girl not yet ten years old! She had already paved all the roads for them, found them an inside contact, put the knife right in their hands, yet they still failed!

Nanny Yu also hurriedly supported Li Shi with a panicked expression, sighing tremulously. “Now that things have come to this, Madam, what should we do?”

Those thugs and ruffians they had sent out hadn’t sent back a single message. Who knew whether they were alive or dead now?! If they had been captured by Song Ren and Song Jue, that would truly be a catastrophic disaster!

Li Shi fiercely shook off her hand, feeling flames rising within her entire body toward her heart. These past days of worry, vexation, and anger all surged into her mind at once. She heavily swept all the cups on the table to the floor with a clatter, the fragments scattering in all directions, making everyone involuntarily jump.

“What do you mean ‘what should we do’?!” Li Shi bit her teeth in a cold laugh, feeling her teeth grinding so hard they ached with creaking sounds. “She came back completely intact, not missing an arm or a leg—what could happen?! Even if something happened, who can prove I did it?! What does it have to do with us?!”

Those thugs and ruffians had never made direct contact with her. It was all arranged through people sent by Old Madam Li. Even if they wanted to testify, they would have no one to testify against.

Besides, they were just some small-time ruffians—how could they possibly touch a marquis or earl’s household?

“Yes, yes, yes.” Nanny Yu hurriedly patted her back soothingly to help her calm down. “It has nothing to do with us, nothing to do with us. Don’t worry, don’t worry.”

How could she not worry? Li Shi had a breath stuck in her chest, unable to go up or down, so uncomfortable she wanted to scream.

But as a loving stepmother, not only could she not do so, she had to suppress all her anger and go comfort this daughter who had experienced the ‘Tartar raider chaos.’

Her face flushed completely red from holding it in before she finally suppressed that breath in her heart. Enduring her unease and indignation, she changed clothes and headed to Ningde Court with Nanny Yu and Song Chuning.

Old Madam Song was now so shocked she couldn’t speak. She looked at the row of people kneeling below in shock and fury, reaching out to point at them several times, but ultimately couldn’t utter a single word.

The thick stack of papers in Nanny Huang’s hands clearly told her that everything Song Chuyi said was true.

But how could she believe it?

Setting aside that Li Shi had always displayed such virtue and kindness over all these years, even if Li Shi wanted to do such a thing, she didn’t have the capability. She was a marquis household’s madam who never stepped outside the inner gate—how could she hire thugs and ruffians from outside to do her bidding?

As soon as Li Shi entered, what she saw was this extremely eerie atmosphere.

The First Madam sat beside the Old Madam with an uneasy expression, her complexion worse than it had ever been.

Something has happened. Her heart sank with a thud. Forcing herself to remain composed, she first rushed forward and threw her arms around Song Chuyi, her eyes reddening. “Little Six! You’ve finally returned. Mother heard that something happened in Tongzhou and was so worried she couldn’t sit still… Thank heaven and earth, at least nothing happened to you…”

Old Madam Song looked at the mother and daughter with a strange expression, enormous waves already surging in her heart.

Such a scene had played out before her countless times, but never once had it made her want to sneer so coldly.

Song Chuyi had already struggled out of Li Shi’s embrace. With a stubborn face but a crying tone, she pointed at the group kneeling on the ground and asked her, “Thank heaven and earth? Mother, do you hope something happened to me, or do you hope nothing happened to me?”

Song Chuning’s gaze suddenly turned cold, staring straight at that group of people for a long moment, an ominous premonition rising in her heart.

Li Shi’s mind went boom—she felt her entire being go blank, looking at that group of people, unable to open her mouth for a long while.

They were actually captured—so many people were all captured completely!

Incompetent fools! She cursed viciously in her heart, then also felt resentment toward her own mother. She had said long ago to find trustworthy people, preferably picking household guards from the estate, but Mother refused to listen. These thugs and ruffians—how could they care about any sense of loyalty? They must have confessed everything.

But then she couldn’t help sneering coldly in her heart. So what if these people confessed? So what if they testified against her?! Where was the evidence? Where were the witnesses? They had never even seen her!

“Little Six!” She suddenly lunged at Song Chuyi again, clutching her arm with an incredulous expression. “What do you mean by this? Are you saying Mother did something wrong?”

The First Madam’s gaze fell on that stack of testimonies, her expression instantly turning cold.

From beginning to end, Song Ren and Song Jue knew nothing of this matter… Song Chuyi only brought it up after returning home and seeing the Old Madam… What exactly did this mean? Did she distrust the first branch, thinking the first branch was in collusion with Li Shi? Or did she think only the Old Madam could take charge in this household?

Song Chuning’s sobbing sounds rose in the room. Only then did Old Madam Song suddenly realize that besides adults, there were children present in the room. She quickly had someone take all these young ladies out.