Ye Jingyu furrowed his brows. Reborn from death?
He sneered, "So, that girl was betrothed to King Cheng before?"
Qian Xue's worried expression froze: "???"
Compared to something as significant as being reborn, you're more concerned about this?
Qian Xue twitched the corner of his mouth, "You could also understand it that way."
Ye Jingyu: "Heh!"
Even angrier!
Su Yunmo was also angry, and quite upset.
Ever since meeting that scoundrel Ye Jingyu, nothing had gone well for her! He was practically her nemesis.
A fated disaster!
She walked back huffily, cursing Ye Jingyu all the way.
When she reached the compound, she bumped into someone.
Chen Mingmo looked up and saw her, his anxious expression turning into joy.
"Momo, it's great you're here. I've been looking for you everywhere. Do you still have that kind of candy you gave me?"
Su Yunmo wanted to ask how he had managed to sneak past the guards to get to the East Courtyard. Then she thought that with a troublesome brother like his, it wasn't surprising he could get in. "Are you feeling unwell again?"
"It's not me, it's a little sister I met not long ago." Chen Mingmo's face was full of worry. "She's injured."
Su Yunmo thought to herself that this child really liked to find sisters for herself. "That candy doesn't work for just anyone."
Chen Mingmo's expression fell. "Is that so? I thought it could help Xiaoxiao."
Su Yunmo frowned, "Zhao Xiaoxiao?"
Chen Mingmo's eyes suddenly lit up. "You know her?"
More than know her!
"I don't know her condition yet. Bring her to me, let me take a look."
Chen Mingmo immediately agreed.
They arranged to meet at the pavilion in the small garden to the north.
Chen Mingmo was quick. By the time Su Yunmo arrived, he was already waiting with someone.
Zhao Xiaoxiao was also happy to see a familiar face.
However, she couldn't smile. Her left cheek was swollen, making it impossible to form a smile.
Su Yunmo narrowed her eyes. This was no longer just a simple injury. "Roll up your sleeve, let me see."
Zhao Xiaoxiao flinched slightly but obediently rolled up her sleeve.
Beneath the sleeve, her entire arm was covered in scars, some from being hit, some from whip marks, and some from needle pricks.
None of the scars were bleeding, but they were enough to cause excruciating pain and leave marks.
These were the result of abuse.
If her arm was like this, one could imagine what her body would be like.
Chen Mingmo had only just seen it too. He had thought there was only an injury on her face. "What exactly happened?"
Zhao Xiaoxiao pursed her lips and shook her head, trying to force a smile. "I fell accidentally."
Actually, she hadn't intended to come at first. But Momo could do magic, she was a very capable child, and perhaps she could help her wounds heal faster.
Seeing her fear, Su Yunmo gently covered her sleeve and asked directly, "When did Zhao Yanran start hitting you?"
Zhao Xiaoxiao looked at Su Yunmo in surprise, then clenched her fists, lowered her head, and whispered, "It wasn't this bad before. Since I got injured, she's been hitting me even harder."
"This is too much! Doesn't your father care?" Chen Mingmo was indignant.
How could he be so cruel to such a young sister just because he was injured? It was hateful!
Zhao Xiaoxiao bit her lower lip.
Father was too busy, and even if she said something, it wouldn't help. Father doted on his elder sister and didn't care about her or her mother.
A glint flashed in Su Yunmo's eyes. "I don't have the candy, but I have another way. Go get a basin of warm water."
She said the last sentence to Chen Mingmo.
Chen Mingmo nodded and ran out.
After he left the pavilion, Su Yunmo turned Zhao Xiaoxiao's shoulders. "Do you want to leave that home?"
She would bring down the Zhao family sooner or later. It was still possible to help them, mother and daughter, leave now.
Zhao Xiaoxiao was shocked, trying to process her suggestion. After a while, she nodded, then shook her head.
"I want to, but I can't. For mother's sake, I have to endure."
Her mother was a concubine bought by her father. She couldn't leave the Zhao residence. But if she left alone, her sister would take her anger out on her mother.
Su Yunmo looked at her and said earnestly, "Constant endurance will not lead to a good outcome."
She had learned this lesson when she was four years old.
Zhao Xiaoxiao squeezed her sleeve, trying to pull at the corners of her mouth. "It's okay, it will get better later."
Su Yunmo wanted to tell her that this kind of thinking was not advisable.
At this moment, Chen Mingmo returned, and Su Yunmo had to swallow her words.
The two of them cleaned Zhao Xiaoxiao's wounds together and then applied medicine.
This medicine was very effective; it would reduce swelling in ten to fifteen days.
After applying the medicine, Su Yunmo sent them back. Watching their retreating figures, her eyes darkened.
Several days passed without any news from Zhao Xiaoxiao.
Chen Mingmo came once and said that the injury on her face had healed.
Su Yunmo thought that perhaps Lin Yuning had grown tired of that "game."
But the next day, Chen Mingmo sent a message saying that Zhao Xiaoxiao had not attended class today.
Su Yunmo had a bad feeling.
After class that afternoon, Su Yunmo found a carriage and headed for the Zhao residence. She entered the Zhao residence and went straight to Concubine Xun's courtyard.
The courtyard was empty, overgrown with weeds, and devoid of any servants. The water缸 and other decorative items were all smashed.
It had only been a month, but the difference from Su Yunmo's last visit was stark.
Inside, there was crying. It was Zhao Xiaoxiao.
Su Yunmo hurried in. The tables and chairs inside were overturned, teacups were shattered on the floor, and the place was a mess.
Zhao Xiaoxiao was kneeling by the bed.
She must have been crying for a long time, her voice already hoarse.
On the bed lay a woman in her early thirties. Her light makeup was smudged, her hair was disheveled, and her hands rested outside the quilt, thin and pale.
There was blood on the sheets, dripping onto the floor from the bed curtains. The blood on the floor had already dried.
Su Yunmo took two steps forward and finally saw the woman's condition clearly.
She lay on her back, trembling all over, her mouth open, breathing with difficulty. She was barely clinging to life.
A chopstick was inserted into her left eye, and her other eyeball had been poked out.
Both eyes were bloody.
Su Yunmo knitted her brows fiercely.
"Momo... Momo!" Zhao Xiaoxiao turned around, saw Su Yunmo entering, and struggled to ask for help.
Her legs were numb from kneeling for too long, and before she could get up, she fell to the ground.
She crawled over on her knees, grabbed Su Yunmo's trouser leg, and sobbed uncontrollably, "Save my mother... please save her, woo woo... don't let my mother die..."
She only had her mother left. Only her mother.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I should have listened to you... listened to you... please, woo woo..."
If only she had listened to Momo and taken her mother away. If she had left, her mother wouldn't have suffered like this.
Su Yunmo didn't bother to ask for details, and in fact, it wasn't necessary.
Only Zhao Yanran could have caused such a tragic scene.
"Go get hot water," Su Yunmo said, walking to the bedside.
In this situation, there was no need to check her pulse. Her eyeballs were completely dead. To save her life, the eyeballs would have to be removed.
However, the injury had been there for too long, and she wasn't entirely confident, so she could only try.
"I'll go right now." Zhao Xiaoxiao stood up and fell again, scrambling out, her hands and feet trembling.
Su Yunmo quickly took out silver needles and a silver knife from her glazed lock.
First, she gave Concubine Xun a hemostatic pill and then sealed her acupoints with silver needles.
Su Yunmo skillfully pulled out the chopstick, and the speed was such that it didn't bring out any excess flesh.
At a time like this, she had to be completely focused and not be disturbed.
The sound of a water basin smashing onto the ground came from outside the door.
"You little slut, now you've learned to complain to your father. You're asking for death!"