The Garden Pavilion.
Lu Zhu watched as dawn broke. Her young lady had not yet returned. Following her young lady's instructions before she left, Lu Zhu had a trustworthy and tight-lipped maid put on her young lady's clothes, wear a veil, and disguise herself as her young lady, lying on the bed.
Lu Zhu stood guard outside.
"Eldest Sister, Second Sister is here to see you. Are you not awake yet?"
Gu Mingyue, feigning concern, claimed to be visiting Gu Qianying, but she brought several maids and old women with her.
Accompanying her were Gu Ziran and Gu Yumei.
Gu Ziran had not wanted to come initially, but Gu Yumei insisted that more people made for a livelier spectacle.
Lu Zhu blocked the doorway and said, "Second Miss, my young lady has a headache today and is still resting. If the three young ladies wish to see my young lady, please come again tomorrow."
"A headache, still resting? Who are you trying to fool? Everyone knows that Gu Qianying did not return all night yesterday, and this morning, your maid claims your young lady has not yet risen. Hmph, I don't think she's just resting; I suspect she's been out meeting some unknown wild man and hasn't returned."
Gu Yumei, who usually endured and never engaged in verbal disputes, now spoke with a sharp tongue, her words laced with sarcasm and slander.
Beside her, Gu Mingyue feigned surprise and said, "Oh, I see. I was wondering, normally, when going to pay respects to Grandfather, Eldest Sister is always the first to arrive. Although Eldest Sister hasn't been visiting Grandfather often these past few days due to feeling unwell, how could her habit of waking early suddenly change?"
At this point, Gu Mingyue dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, deliberately raising her voice. "Oh, so it turns out she didn't return all night because she was secretly meeting a wild man. Eldest Sister acting like this is truly a juicy piece of gossip!"
"Don't you dare speak nonsense. My young lady did not meet any wild men."
How could Lu Zhu allow others to slander her young lady and ruin her reputation?
"If she didn't meet a wild man, then why didn't she return all night?" Gu Yumei sneered.
"My young lady did not stay out all night; she was resting in her room and never left." Lu Zhu retorted.
"Oh, never left? Then why won't she come out to see us?"
"My young lady is feeling unwell and cannot receive visitors," Lu Zhu said.
"She cannot receive visitors, or she is simply not inside? We'll know once we go in."
Gu Yumei pressed on aggressively.
After speaking, she turned to Gu Mingyue and said, "Eldest Sister must have secretly gone out yesterday. And knowing Eldest Sister's style, she would definitely have a maid disguise herself inside to fool everyone. Second Sister, although it might seem improper for me to bring people into Eldest Sister's chambers, for the sake of the Gu family's future reputation, Fourth Sister cannot worry about that now. After all, you and I will be married in the future, and we cannot have our reputations tarnished by Eldest Sister's actions. Today, once Fourth Sister apprehends the maid disguised as Eldest Sister and brings her before Father, Father can properly discipline Eldest Sister for such shameless behavior."
"Yes, go ahead, Fourth Sister," Gu Mingyue nodded.
Gu Mingyue and Gu Yumei, singing in unison, not only accused Gu Qianying of the shameless crime of meeting a wild man but also spoke with such righteous indignation, as if Gu Qianying were truly a depraved woman.
As Gu Yumei finished speaking, she addressed the maids and old women behind her, "Did you hear what Second Miss ordered? Quickly pull Lu Zhu aside and drag out the maid inside for me!"
"Yes!"
Several maids and old women moved towards Lu Zhu.
The maid hiding in the room, disguised as Gu Qianying, trembled on the bed, too scared to make a sound.
Lu Zhu firmly guarded the door, glaring at the approaching maids and old women. "If any of you disturb my young lady's peace, don't blame me for biting you!"
Although Lu Zhu was simple-minded, she understood how important reputation was for a woman.
Moreover, Second Miss and her companions clearly meant trouble. By guarding this door, she was protecting her young lady's reputation!
Three old women and two maids lunged at Lu Zhu. Lu Zhu used both her feet, pushing away two maids and kicking an old woman.
The remaining two old women, seeing how difficult Lu Zhu was to handle, changed their tactics. They suddenly grabbed Lu Zhu's hair and yanked it backward.
"Ah!"
A scream echoed.
One of the old women covered her ear, having been bitten by Lu Zhu.
At this moment, Lu Zhu's hair was disheveled, her face was covered in scratches, and her clothes were torn beyond recognition.
Even so, she still fiercely guarded the door.
Gu Mingyue, seeing how useless her maids and old women were, angrily exclaimed, "You can't even deal with a mere servant; you're all useless! Listen to me, Lu Zhu is obstructing me, which is insubordination. Now she's even attacking my people. Such a bold servant deserves to die if she does. Do you understand?"
As soon as she said this, the old women and maids instantly understood Gu Mingyue's true intention.
"Yes, Second Miss."
"You little slut, don't get out of the way, you're asking for death!"
One of the old women pulled out a hairpin she carried and fiercely jabbed it towards Lu Zhu's hand.
Lu Zhu's forehead beaded with sweat from the pain, but she did not cry out.
She understood perfectly that if she cried out in pain, Ah Xiang, who was impersonating her young lady in the room, would be startled and run out.
Thus, everything would be exposed.
Seeing that Lu Zhu didn't even cry out, the old woman thought this maid was tough and needed some other methods.
"Hold her hands for me; I'm going to pull out her fingernails."
After suffering losses at Lu Zhu's hands, the three old women cooperated with great synergy.
Two of them held Lu Zhu's waist to prevent her from struggling, while the remaining two each held one of Lu Zhu's hands, exposing her five fingers.
The other two maids pried open Lu Zhu's fingers one by one to allow the old women to torture Lu Zhu.
At this point, Lu Zhu's hands had already let go of the door. It would be easy for the maids and old women to rush in together.
However, they seemed more intent on torturing Lu Zhu severely before dealing with other matters.
Gu Ziran, standing beside Gu Mingyue and witnessing all this, finally couldn't bear it and said, "Why don't we just drop it?"
Gu Mingyue was clearly prepared for this today; how could she not see it?
"Drop it? Hmph, Third Sister, what nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean, drop it or not? Today, we came to see Eldest Sister, but Eldest Sister's maid refused to let us in. Such an insubordinate servant deserves to be executed. But Second Miss is kind and is only punishing her lightly. Third Sister, don't you think Second Sister is being too cruel?"
Gu Yumei stepped on Gu Ziran's words to flatter Gu Mingyue.
Gu Ziran's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, while Gu Mingyue's mood improved significantly.
Since her mother became pregnant, her status in the rear courtyard had risen considerably.
After all, Father still doted on her mother the most.
"Third Sister, if you can't bear to watch, feel free to go back. However, I'll say this upfront: Eldest Sister has committed a grave offense that disgraces our Gu family. If you go back now, you'll be considered an accomplice. If Father finds out, guess how he'll punish you?"
Gu Ziran's face turned pale.
Her mother's methods were no match for Second Concubine. If her brother hadn't protected her mother last time, she might have had to spend the rest of her life in a temple.
"Second Sister, please don't blame me; I misspoke."
Gu Ziran chose to turn a blind eye to the situation before her.
After the first fingernail was forcibly removed, Lu Zhu fainted from the pain. Then, the old women used needles to revive her.
"What are you doing? Stop, stop it!"