As much as Lady Li thought so, some trace of dread lingered in in her heart. She forced out a smile and gave two dry laughs. Pretending to be ignorant of the situation, she argued, "Mother, what exactly happened? How did that maidservant murder Shuiyun? I really don"t know anything about it."

"She is your own personal servant. How could you be so ignorant of her viciousness? How are you running this house?" The Madam Dowager was infuriated at the successive mistakes Lady Li had made today. She sent Lady Tu to the guest room only a moment ago. Now Lady Tu was back again due to another incident of the same nature as the previous issue. How could she contain her wrath?

It was obvious that Nanny Qian was only a scapegoat. There were no one in this mansion, except for Lady Li and Wei Yan, who would take a move against Wei Yuewu at this moment. It seemed that they could not wait to make Wei Yuewu disappear immediately.

The Madam Dowager was really infuriated at this moment. The mother and the daughter had just promised in front of her that they would not make another mistake, that Shuiyun had only been to send a letter to Marquis Jing Yuan on the way for Wei Yan, and that Wei Yan and Wei Yuewu were sisters, they had never told Marquis Jing Yuan to kill Wei Yuewu…

In short, they claimed that they had totally no idea why Marquis Jing Yuan had actually done such a thing as murder and they really had nothing to do with it. Furthermore, they vowed that even if Wei Yan and Marquis Jing Yuan had some affectionate interactions with each other, they were definitely within the boundary of propriety despite of their affection. Besides, it was actually Marquis Jing Yuan who had been courting Wei Yan all along, while Wei Yan herself didn"t have the slightest improper thought or desire.

As for the carriage crash Wei Yuewu encountered after entering the capital, they didn"t know anything about it either. They said they were merely women in the inner courtyard and had no way to do such a thing. Besides, they also had had no idea when Wei Yuewu would arrive. They concluded that it was just an accident and they were so wronged!

Thinking their words sounded reasonable after all, the Madam Dowager first let Lady Li go back. Then she reprimanded Wei Yan to put an end to this issue.

But never had she thought that a similar issue would happen again so soon…

"Mother, is that true? But I really don"t know about it. Mother, let someone wake this woman up. Let me ask her why she did such a vicious thing despite being trusted and well-treated so much by me. Even if that maid Shuiyun is Yan"er"s maid and she had personal grudge with the maid sometimes, there"s really no need to kill the girl!"

Lady Li put on an infuriated expression and remarked in an indignant tone. She pointed at Nanny Qian who was lying on the ground unconscious.

Wei Yuewu stood at the side quietly watching Lady Li putting on the show, with a silent sneer around the corner of her lips. It didn"t matter whether Nanny Qian wake up or not, because even if she did, she would not dare to confess that Lady Li had asked her to do it. That was why she had hinted to Jin Ling to knock Nanny Qian out with one kick in the pavilion.

Since Nanny Qian was already useless to Lady Li, she thought it better to use her as a p.a.w.n when necessary in the future game.

Lady Li was both furious and agitated. She didn"t sense the pain in her face at all. The spots on her face that had been scalded by the hot water were reddening and swollen. Many faintly visible and dense blisters appeared in the skin, and the part near the ear on her left cheek was covered with dense blisters.

"Madam Dowager, the Second Lady in your mansion is really interesting. The maid serving the Second Young Lady is shameless and her own maidservant is a vicious person. Poor Second Lady and Second Young Lady, it should not be easy for them to live safely when they have such people around them every day."

Lady Tu remarked mockingly after Lady Li finished her words. However, the unspoken meaning of those words was enough to make the Madam Dowager flush.

When their servants were so evil, the mistresses were naturally not free from moral defects. To put it another way, like mistress, like servant. Even if they were given the guts ten times that of a bear or lion, no servants dared to commit this kind of crime without receiving orders from their mistresses.

However, it was impossible for the Madam Dowager to dig too deep into the matter. After all, Lady Li was a member of the family, and she was also the wife of her son. It would humiliate her son in the end if she insisted to reveal the whole truth. With this in mind, the Madam Dowager decided to make Nanny Qian a scapegoat for the whole thing.

With anger on her face, the Madam Dowager said, "Someone, send this maidservant to the yamen. Just say that she killed one of our maids."

At any rate, Nanny Qian couldn"t speak right now. It was just a matter of sending her to the yamen first and trying to kill her later!

Just as two maidservants went up to drag Nanny Qian away, Lady Tu darkened her face and spoke, "Wait, Madam Dowager, I have more to say."

"Madam Dowager, it seems that that woman won"t be able to survive. She probably won"t be able to say anything that was useful. So what"s the point of taking her to the yamen? Now your mansion is in such a state of chaos, I think it is better to let Wu"er go back with me. Just look at what happened after she entered the capital. If things continue to go on like this, her life will be at stake. Although our mansion is not very n.o.ble, it won"t be a problem for us to prepare a dowry for Wu"er."

As soon as she finished her words, Lady Tu stood up and was about to take Wei Yuewu away.

However, the Madam Dowager felt as if she was slapped in the face when she heard such a suggestion.

Wei Yuewu had lived in her maternal grandparent"s house all those years. n.o.body had offered to take her back. Now that she had been picked up and arrived at the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, if she was forced to leave, the entire mansion of Hua Yang would be humiliated.

Seeing Lady Tu was about to take Wei Yuewu away, the Madam Dowager hurriedly said, "Wait! Lady Tu." How could she maintain her dignity if Lady Tu and Wei Yuewu really left.

The Madam Dowager bellowed at Lady Li as her expression turned stern, "Li, apologize to Lady Tu." Now she must ask Lady Li to make concession. Otherwise, Lady Tu was not going to let her get away today.

"But Mother, this really has nothing to do with me…" Lady Li tried to argue. When she noticed the Madam Dowager"s gloomy face, her heart trembled out of fear of the Madam Dowager"s might that had grown year after year. Not daring to say another word, she took a cup of tea from a maid. She gritted her teeth, went to Lady Tu, and respectfully lowered her head, "Lady Tu, I"m sorry that I failed to manage the inner courtyard properly and let Yuewu suffer. I promise it won"t happen again."

Lady Li was so angry that she felt like spitting blood when she thought that she, the wife of a Minister, had to offer tea to the wife of a low-ranking official as a gesture of apology. But now under the Madam Dowager"s pressure, she had no choice but to do so.

Her grip on the teacup was so great that the blue veins on the back of her hand became visible.

Wei Yuewu perceived Lady Li"s suppressed wrath and sneered in her heart. She wondered whether Lady Li, who was already so angry now, would be able to contain her wrath when she started to make her pay the debt step by step in future…

"Lady Li, Wu"er grew up under my mother-in-law"s conscientious care. Although she is a little spoiled, she is a very kind girl. And she is too frightened to speak a word right now, because we keep our mansion in a very orderly way and she has never experienced such strange things before. If a similar case should occur again in the future, she can be really scared to death. Then how can my mother-in-law feel relieved as long as she lives here?"

Seeing Lady Li lowered her head, Lady Tu seemed to be slightly moved. She sighed and said earnestly to Lady Li, but she did not reach out to receive the tea.

"This kind of thing will never happen again. From now on, I will keep a thorough check on everything in the back courtyard. Yuewu will not be disturbed by such things anymore. Don"t worry, Lady Tu." Lady Li had no choice but to guarantee so. She forced a smile on her face even though the smile was almost stiff, not even caring about the scalded half of her face that was still faintly painful.

"Lady Li, since you"ve made the promise, I hope this kind of thing won"t happen again. Otherwise, Wu"er had better go with me. Although she grew up in a small place, at least her safety was guaranteed." Considering Wei Yuewu had to live at the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang, Lady Tu couldn"t really be too tough with Lady Li. It was good for her to leave well alone.

Lady Tu also had her own calculation in mind. Lady Li had lost both face and dignity, as well as the Madam Dowager"s favor. Besides, Wei Yuewu had hinted to her before that she could keep Nanny Qian for future use.

Therefore, Lady Tu received the tea from Lady Li and changed the subject with a smile. "Since that maidservant dared to harm Yuewu, no matter she"s dead or not, I have to take her away with me to give my mother-in-law an explanation. I wonder if Madam Dowager and Lady Li will allow me to do so?"

Seeing that Lady Tu was finally willing to let it go, both the Madam Dowager and Lady Li heaved a sigh of relief inwardly. They looked at the maidservant lying on the ground unconscious with a b.l.o.o.d.y nose and a swollen face. Although she had been brought into the house for quite a while, she hadn"t woken up yet. It seemed impossible for her to come back to life. Therefore, it made no big difference whether they gave her to Lady Tu or not.

"Sure, Lady Tu. You can take her away if you want to give an explanation to Yuewu"s granny." Lady Li hastened to agree before the Madam Dowager could say anything, as if she was afraid that Lady Tu would pursue the matter further. Anyway, in Lady Li"s heart, a person who was about to die was indeed nothing to her.

Moreover, even if Nanny Qian woke up, so what? Nanny Qian"s family was still in her hands, and therefore she would never dare to testify against her.

With this thought in mind, Lady Li had no worries at all at Lady Tu"s taking Nanny Qian away.

The Madam Dowager parted her lips and furrowed her brows tightly. But in the end, she did not utter any word. Although she felt it inappropriate, Lady Li had agreed. Lady Li was only the Second Lady in the mansion. However, she was the wife of her son, Minister of Rites. Therefore, she was actually showing due respect to her own son when she did so to Lady Li, especially in such a situation where a person outside the family was also present.

The matter could be said to have been settled so far. But Lady Li"s prestige became weaker time after time in the mansion, whereas no one in the whole mansion would dare to look down on the formidable Sixth Young Lady, even if the mistress looked so young and still had a trace of childishness.

Wei Yuewu"s maternal grandparents had in fact a house in the capital. However, they hadn"t lived there for many years and hadn"t had it cleaned up. Lady Tu had come to the capital only to back up Wei Yuewu. She had no intention to live in that house either. Therefore, the place was empty all along.

Nanny Qian was therefore sent over overnight to the house. Lady Tu wanted to let more servants there to see the Nanny Qian. In this case, even if Nanny Qian died, there would be witnesses to testify before Wei Yuewu"s granny that she, Lady Tu, had given substantial support for Wei Yuewu and thus finished the task given by her mother-in-law.