“Nanny, this is all my fault. You can punish me however you want, but please, you must save Little Seven.”
Only Nanny Sun could get Little Seven back now. She was useless and couldn’t save Cui’er, so she couldn’t give up on Little Seven.
Even if it meant her death, she had to save Little Seven.
“The person has already been taken, how can you get them back?”
Nanny Sun was now extremely anxious. Little Seven knew quite a bit. If Little Seven couldn’t resist temptation and told Feng Jin everything, it would be terrible.
“Nanny…”
“Shut up. You go back first. Let me think about how to proceed.”
Zhen Zhu wanted to say more, but Nanny Sun glared at her fiercely. The words on her lips were swallowed back. After a moment of hesitation, she retreated.
After Zhen Zhu left, Nanny Sun’s feigned composure vanished. She threw on a cloak and hurried out.
…
Zhen Zhu returned to her room and saw Little Seven’s empty bed. A wave of bitterness washed over her, and tears welled up in her eyes, filled with self-reproach.
With a splash, a basin of ice-cold water was poured over Zhen Zhu’s head. She was drenched from head to toe, not a dry spot anywhere.
“You still have the nerve to come back? You can’t stand to see us doing well, constantly scheming and framing us. I’ve long suspected that you were the one who let out information about Cui’er and the other three. It wasn’t enough to harm Cui’er and Liu Li, and now you won’t even let Little Seven go. She’s only thirteen, how can you be so heartless?”
The woman who had poured the basin of water over Zhen Zhu pointed at her nose and scolded her fiercely. She raised her hand to strike, but someone grabbed her from behind.
“Lan Cui, what are you doing? Are you crazy!”
“Let go of me! I’m not crazy, Zhen Zhu is! I want to ask her how many people she needs to harm before she’s satisfied. Will she only be content when we are all dead?”
Lan Cui struggled forward, wanting to hit Zhen Zhu hard.
It wasn’t enough to have harmed Cui’er and the others; now she wouldn’t even let Little Seven go. Little Seven was only thirteen, still a child. She had watched Little Seven grow up, so how could she be so heartless as to harm even Little Seven?
“Zhen Zhu, you’re being foolish, hurry and leave!”
Yu Rong, who was holding Lan Cui from behind, shouted loudly, urgently urging Zhen Zhu to leave.
Seeing Zhen Zhu standing there like a fool, unmoving, the other palace maids quickly stepped forward to persuade her. “Let’s go out first.”
It was only after they pulled and dragged Zhen Zhu out that Yu Rong released Lan Cui.
“Why did you stop me just now? If you hadn’t stopped me, I would have definitely beaten Zhen Zhu soundly and asked her how many people she wanted to harm before she would stop. Would she only be satisfied when we are all dead?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? If Nanny Sun hears these words, none of us will have a good outcome!”
Yu Rong reprimanded her angrily. She had no qualms about speaking now, not knowing what should and shouldn’t be said.
If Nanny Sun found out about these matters, they would all be punished.
“I’m just indignant. We all grew up together as sisters. What did I do to offend her that she has to frame us like this? Cui’er and Liu Li’s deaths were caused by her, and today it’s Little Seven. Tomorrow, we’ll all die by her hand!”
“Shut your mouth! Don’t say any more of these baseless words!”
“You’re afraid of her, but I’m not. She’s just relying on Nanny Sun’s favor and thinks too highly of herself. Have you ever seen her look anyone in the eye properly? When I gain power, she’ll be the first one I deal with.”
When she gained power, she would definitely teach Zhen Zhu a good lesson and let her know what it means for fortunes to turn. She would have to be careful around her in the future.
“How do you know Cui’er’s matter is related to Zhen Zhu? Besides, the situation today was clearly that madam from Eastern Chu who wanted to take Little Seven. Zhen Zhu couldn’t stop it. You can’t blame her.”
Once their masters made a decision, how could they as servants stop it? They could only obey.
At that time, Zhen Zhu must have tried her best to retain her, and she must have been sad when Little Seven was taken away.
“Since you know you couldn’t stop it, why did you take Little Seven there? Wasn’t it because she took Little Seven there that this happened? Ultimately, this matter was also caused by her.”
She was punished alone, and she still had to take Little Seven. Therefore, the culprit of this matter was Zhen Zhu.
Lan Cui completely resented Zhen Zhu in her heart, believing that it was Zhen Zhu who was framing people.
“You’re just quibbling!” Yu Rong pointed out sharply. “No matter how angry you are, you must endure it when Zhen Zhu returns. Do not cause trouble again, do you understand?”
Lan Cui had an irritable temper and acted without considering the consequences. If she really got into a fight with Zhen Zhu and Nanny Sun found out, their entire room would be punished.
“As long as she behaves, I won’t bother her,” Lan Cui said reluctantly.
After getting Lan Cui’s reply, Yu Rong was finally relieved.
…
“Quickly take off your wet clothes and change into clean ones, lest you catch a cold.”
The surrounding palace maids were busy, handing clean clothes to Zhen Zhu.
Zhen Zhu’s gaze was vacant, as if she hadn’t heard the sounds around her at all. She just sat there blankly.
Suddenly, she stood up abruptly. As if she hadn’t heard the calls behind her, she directly pushed open the door and ran out like a madwoman.
She ran for an unknown amount of time until she had no strength left before stopping. Zhen Zhu collapsed on the ground, utterly weak. The tears she had held back for so long now fell like pearls from a broken string.
As she looked up, she vaguely saw a figure sneaking past.
Driven by curiosity, Zhen Zhu followed. After the person entered a room, Zhen Zhu continued to follow after a moment.
Through the slightly ajar door, she could vaguely see a man and a woman standing there. The woman’s figure was very familiar, but Zhen Zhu couldn’t quite identify her for a moment. It wasn’t until she heard a familiar voice that Zhen Zhu definitively confirmed it was Nanny Sun.
Why was Nanny Sun here, and why did she have to change her clothes and disguise herself? Who was she meeting? Zhen Zhu became even more curious and cautiously leaned in to eavesdrop.
“My lord, Little Seven was taken by Ling Mohan’s wife. Should we think of a way to get her back?”
Nanny Sun asked tentatively. Little Seven was someone she had trained personally, and she did want to get Little Seven back. However, she had no strategy for how to go about asking for her.
“Why would Ling Mohan’s wife take Little Seven away? Did she discover something, or was it because you were incompetent and leaked information that this happened?”