Qiuyun was kneeling in front of Hua Mengshi in a small rundown pavilion in the back garden.
Hua Mengshi gave the girl such a frosty stare, even Surou had to suppress a shiver.
"Speak! Did you put the drug into the soup?"
"Yes! Madame, I did not betray you! I placed the laxative into the soup! I don't know why it didn't work!" Qiuyun said with a look of terror.
"Oh, you did, did you? That was the strongest laxative the doctor had." Hua Mengshi smiled evilly. "I heard that Hua Qiyue is giving out cash to her servants like there's no tomorrow. Tell me, Qiuyun… how much did it cost for you to betray me?"
Qiuyun bowed so low her head was resting on the floor. "No! Please, believe me... I never even saw a copper coin!"
Hua Mengshi narrowed her eyes. She'd had Qiuyun monitored constantly, and it didn't appear that she had been bribed by Hua Qiyue.
But if Qiuyun had, indeed, drugged the soup, and had watched Hua Qiyue drink it, how could the laxative not have worked? Had the doctor lied to her?
Hua Mengshi believed Qiuyun, but the job had somehow been botched, and someone needed to be punished. She raised her hand.
Surou's face went pale. Beside her, Nanny Zhou snorted, pulling a long thing needle from an embroidered bag!
Qiuyun was visibly shaking with fear. "No... Madame, please! Have mercy!"
Nanny Zhou stepped toward the kneeling girl and kicked her forcefully in the stomach.
Qiuyun cried out and fell to her side, but she didn't dare resist. She gave Surou a pleading look, but the other woman turned away, staring silently at the ground while trying to control the trembling in her fingers.
Nanny Zhou held Qiuyun with one hand before piercing her waist with the needle. Before Qiuyun could scream, the older woman covered the girl's mouth with her hand.
Nanny Zhou's hand began moving in a steady rhythm, stabbing Qiuyun both quickly and carefully. Surou screwed her eyes shut, unable to bear the inhumanity of the scene.
It was only once Qiuyun had passed out from the pain that Nanny Zhou let go of her quietly cleaned and put the needle back into its little bag.
"Wake her up and see her returned to Cuihua Court!" Hua Mengshi commanded impatiently before leaving the pavilion.
Nanny Zhou waved another servant over and kicked the unconscious girl in an attempt to rouse her. When that didn't work, one of them fetched a bucket of water and dumped it on her face.
Qiuyun woke with a start to see the two women glaring at her and began whimpering. "No… please… no more… please, Madame…
"Madame is gone. Go back to Cuihua Court," Nanny Zhou ordered. "You know what to say if anyone asks you about what happened."
Without another word, the women walked away, leaving Qiuyun alone.
Now soaked, Qiuyun could feel the cold creeping into her bones. Despite being summer, she found herself shivering in the chilly night air as she slowly and painfully made her way back to Cuihua Court.
Upon her return, Qiuyun was first seen by Youshui who asked her what had happened. Qiuyun said that she had fallen into the pond and Youshui urged her to have a shower and rest.
Morning arrived, and Youshui and Lvxin approached Hua Qiyue as she was washing Tianci's face, stepping forward to help.
Hua Qiyue politely refused. "A mother should be able to bathe her own child. But you didn't come here to bathe Tianci. What is it?"
Youshui informed Hua Qiyue of Qiuyun's odd behavior the previous night.
Hua Qiyue remained silent as she listened to Youshui's tale, and for a short while after, until she seemed to come to a decision.
"Youshui, please check on Qiuyun. If she appears to be ill or in pain, let her rest properly. Also, please give her this." She pulled out a hefty bag of coins and handed it to the maid.
Youshui looked confused, but nodded obediently. She knew that Qiuyun served Hua Mengshi and was actively trying to harm Hua Qiyue, so why would she give her a cash reward?
But Youshui knew better than to question Lady Qiyue, and did as she was asked. She went to the side yard and knocked on Qiuyun's door. Qiuyun's weak voice barely made it through the door.
"Come in..."
Youshui pushed the door open and saw Qiuyun lying on the bed, pale-faced. "Oh, Qiuyun! Are you sick?"
"Just... sore. I'm sorry, I didn't know it was daytime, already!" Qiuyun tried to sit upright, but gasped in pain and fell back onto the bed.
"Lady Qiyue said that if you are feeling unwell, you should rest. She also asked me to give you this," she said, placing the bag of coins on Qiuyun's bed.
Qiuyun was too tired to hide her look of confusion, and Youshui gave her a knowing smile.
"I would recommend not questioning Lady Qiyue's decisions."
She couldn't be sure without counting, but Qiuyun guessed there must be 500 taels of silver in that bag — more than she could ever hope to make in a lifetime as a servant.
Tears formed in her eyes as she looked up at Youshui. "Please… thank Lady Qiyue for me!"
"I will, but you can thank her yourself when you're feeling better," the other maid replied. "Now, get some rest."
Qiuyun lay back down, unable to take her eyes off the bag on the bed. She opened it and spilled a few coins on the bed, not quite believing it to be real.
She'd served Hua Mengshi since she was seven years old, and in five years, she'd received maybe 10 taels of silver. A kick to the stomach or a snide remark was far more likely than any kind of reward.
She'd heard that Lady Qiyue been very generous towards her servants after acquiring her newfound wealth, but hadn't really believed it.
To Lady Qiyue's credit, though, she'd tamed Butler Wang, whom everyone knew was under the heel of the Second Madame. Could Lady Qiyue really be the new power in Hua Mansion?
Qiuyun lay in bed, thinking about her future.
* * *
"Lady Qiyue," Youshui said," Tianci wanted me to help him find you, yesterday, but I was worried that he would be naughty and I might lose him out in the crowd, so we stayed home. Will he be staying home today, or going with you to the tournament?"
Tianci, eating rice balls, tugged excitedly on Hua Qiyue's sleeve.
Hua Qiyue smiled and nodded. "Alright. Finish your food, Tianci, then we'll go out shopping. We'll even get you some snacks, okay?"
Tianci's eyes lit up, but the truth was that she was just as excited as him. In her past life, she'd always been so busy managing the restaurant that she'd rarely had time to spend with her son.
Once Tianci had finished his meal, the maids made preparations to leave.
After bringing Tianci to pay respects to Madame Hua and gift her some rice balls boiled in Long Red soup, Hua Qiyue headed for the entrance of Hua Mansion.
As they passed by the garden, they heard Hua Xiaoyi's angry screams. "Fuck off! Why are you here if you can't treat me?"
Hua Qiyue looked at Wangyue Pavillion beside her. She saw a doctor kneeling respectfully in front of Hua Xiaoyi, banging his head vigorously on the ground.
Hua Xiaoyi was raging, kicking the doctor down. "You disfigured me, you bastard! I'll kill you!"
The Third Madame was standing nearby, attempting to calm her down. "Xiaoyi, don't be like this... I heard that Prince Nan has excellent medical skills. Perhaps we can go to him..."
Hua Qiyue turned away and boarded the carriage with Tianci. Once they left Hua Mansion, he looked at the outside world with excitement. They hadn't gone far before a luxurious carriage with the Ji family's symbol pulled up beside them.
Lvxin squinted at the other carriage. "Lady Qiyue… is that Miss Ji?"
Hua Qiyue pulled open the curtain and saw Ji Feng, who signaled for his carriage to stop. "Qiyue, where are you going?"
"We were going to walk around with Tianci. Would you care to join us, Brother Ji?"
Ji Jing laughed. "Sister Qiyue, we heard you won a lot of silver, and thought you might treat us to a meal at Wangyue Restaurant!"