The moment Su Jiu entered the laundry wing, a woman who worked under Mrs. Qin knew trouble would come. Hidden by the dark of the night, the woman slipped out the laundry wing and ran to Lotus Pavilion to call for help.
Xie Ying came with a group of servant girls and nurses. She walked in haughtily, did not stop to pay her respects to Su Jiu, and looked around the laundry wing.
"What happened here?" she asked coldly.
Mrs. Qin immediately rushed over and knelt down by Xie Ying's feet. "Second Young Mistress, you must defend me!" she sobbed loudly. "A new servant girl stole my food. I only beat her a few times, and Young Mistress punished me severely for it. She spilled an entire pot of hot porridge on me, and kicked out some of my teeth!"
She shrieked as she cried, looking quite innocent, almost as if she really were an unjustly bullied woman.
