“Aunt Liu, speak clearly.” Li Yaoqin pressed.
Aunt Liu smiled, exquisitely charming. “Eldest Miss, don’t you feel that ever since Suoxin became a concubine, your relationship with Father has plummeted? Not to mention your relationship with Madam. Yes, I was a bit arrogant before, but I never intended to replace anyone. But Suoxin? In less than a month, she’s already been taken in as a favored concubine by Father.
Eldest Miss, doesn’t this prove that Suoxin actually came for the Prime Minister’s manor with ulterior motives?”
Li Yaoqin could hardly believe it and wanted to retort, but for a moment she found herself unable to.
Aunt Liu was not wrong. Ever since Suoxin was taken as a concubine by her father, her relationship with her father had indeed plummeted, falling to freezing point.
“It seems Eldest Miss is beginning to understand. I have no other intentions, I just don’t want Eldest Miss to be led around by the nose.” Aunt Liu sneered.
Li Yaoqin looked at her and sneered back, “But I don’t think Aunt Liu is that kind either. Speak, what exactly do you want?”
Aunt Liu chuckled, covering her mouth. “Eldest Miss is indeed clever. It’s much easier talking to smart people.”
“So, what exactly do you want to say?” Li Yaoqin’s gaze turned cold.
“Instead of questioning me here, Eldest Miss should go ask Suoxin, when exactly did she betray Eldest Miss, and to whom did she pledge her loyalty?”
Li Yaoqin frowned, looking at Aunt Liu. After a long while, she turned to Lianxin beside her and said, “Go call Suoxin.”
When Lianxin went to call Suoxin, Li Sinian had just taken her away.
Looking at Suoxin, who was pitifully delicate, Li Yaoqin felt that she had truly misjudged her in the past. How could she have thought Suoxin was someone she could control?
Suoxin was as respectful to her as ever. If Aunt Liu hadn’t analyzed things for her, she might still have been kept in the dark by Suoxin.
“Suoxin, I haven’t treated you badly, have I?” Li Yaoqin said slowly, word by word.
Suoxin was startled and immediately knelt down, saying, “Eldest Miss has not treated this servant badly. This servant will not forget Eldest Miss’s kindness.”
“Kindness?” Li Yaoqin sneered. “So this is how you repay me?”
Suoxin looked at Li Yaoqin, confused, and asked, “Eldest Miss, what is wrong with you today?”
Li Yaoqin sneered at Suoxin. “Stop pretending. Tell me, who is behind you?”
Suoxin froze completely, then suddenly said, “Did Aunt Liu say something to Eldest Miss?”
“Suoxin, I am asking you now, who is the person behind you?” Li Yaoqin said loudly.
Suoxin quickly shook her head. “Eldest Miss, this servant is wronged, this servant is wronged! This servant has never done anything to let Eldest Miss down. Eldest Miss, please don’t listen to Aunt Liu’s one-sided words. She absolutely does not want to see Eldest Miss and this servant join forces.”
“I naturally know Aunt Liu is not a good person, but you, Suoxin, are also a traitor. Suoxin, if you tell me who is behind you now, I will spare your life considering you have served me for so many years. Otherwise…”
“Eldest Miss, this servant truly hasn’t done anything. Why don’t you believe this servant?”
“Believe you? It’s precisely because I believed you that my relationship with Father is so strained now. Suoxin, if you don’t confess truthfully now, I will not show mercy.”
Suoxin pleaded, “Eldest Miss, this servant truly doesn’t know who this person behind me is that you speak of, nor have I betrayed you.”
“Lianxin, bring the family law.” Li Yaoqin said coldly.
“Eldest Miss, please don’t…” Suoxin shook her head.
Li Yaoqin sneered. “Suoxin, I’m giving you one last chance. Tell me, who is the person behind you?”
“I truly don’t know what Eldest Miss is talking about. Eldest Miss, why don’t you believe this servant?”
Li Yaoqin turned her face away. “I’ve believed you too many times, so you’ve naturally come to assume that I should believe you. Are you deceiving me like this?”
“No, Eldest Miss, no, this servant is truly not deceiving you, truly not.”
“Eldest Miss, the family law is here.” Lianxin handed over the whip.
Li Yaoqin took the whip and said coldly, “Now that you are my father’s concubine, ordinary punishment is no longer enough. Therefore, I can only resort to the family law. Suoxin, I’m asking you one last time, will you speak?”
“This servant truly doesn’t know what to say.” Suoxin looked at her.
Li Yaoqin’s gaze sharpened, and she lashed out the whip at Suoxin. Suoxin cried out in pain. “Speak or not?”
Suoxin shook her head. “This servant has not betrayed Eldest Miss.”
Li Yaoqin lashed out the second whip, but there was no cry of pain from Suoxin as expected.
Lianxin beside them, terrified, knelt down with a thud. “Mas… Master…”
Li Yaoqin looked up and saw Li Sinian’s face contorted with rage. Li Sinian laughed hysterically, “Good, very good. I never knew my Prime Minister’s manor was so full of hidden talent. An unmarried legitimate daughter can whip her father’s concubine? You are very good.”
Upon hearing this, Li Yaoqin put down the family law and said, “Father, your daughter suspects Suoxin is colluding with outsiders to harm your daughter.”
Li Sinian laughed in exasperation. “Harm you? Who wants to harm you? Suoxin?”
“Father, listen to me, Suoxin…”
“Master, Eldest Miss suspects this servant. This servant dare not say more, but this servant truly has not betrayed Eldest Miss, nor has she betrayed Master. This servant knows her status is humble, but this servant knows one thing: it was the Prime Minister’s manor that gave this servant a way to live. This servant will not be an ungrateful person.” Suoxin said, kowtowing several times with great force. When she raised her head again, her forehead was already red and swollen.
Li Sinian quickly stepped forward, took Suoxin’s hand, and said, “I don’t suspect you, and no one is allowed to suspect you. I am still in charge of this household. You, as a favored concubine, still have to kowtow to the legitimate daughter of the manor. What will people say if this gets out? Li Yaoqin, you dare accept this?”
“Father, don’t you think that ever since you took Suoxin as your concubine, your relationship with your daughter has been very poor?”
Li Sinian looked at her and sneered, “Didn’t you introduce Suoxin to me?”
“I…” Li Yaoqin was rendered speechless.
“Now that you see me doting on Suoxin, you regret it?”
Li Yaoqin stopped talking. Li Sinian sneered, “Yao’er, you are an adult now. Don’t be used by others anymore.”
Li Yaoqin lowered her head and said, “Yes, Father. Yao’er knows her mistake.”
Li Sinian embraced Suoxin and left.
Li Yaoqin looked up, her eyes dimming considerably. Lianxin walked up and asked, “Eldest Miss, did we mistake Suoxin?”
Li Yaoqin shook her head. “I don’t know. Although Aunt Liu said these things to me with a purpose, it’s not without basis. At least I now know that Suoxin’s objective is not me, but Father.”