Hai Ling's hatred surged. Since they wanted this effect, she might as well give them that effect and let them slap themselves hard in the face. With that thought, she quickly ordered Rouge behind her: "Knock them unconscious."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Rouge was already excited when she heard about beating these lowly servants, and quickly raised a wooden stick and smashed it at the maids.
Kexin and the others couldn't help but cry out, "Miss, spare us?"
Unfortunately, before they could speak, they were knocked unconscious by several thuds from being hit with a club.
They all fell to the ground in the courtyard. Hailing led Yanzhi to the injured men in black. With a wave of her hand, Yanzhi swung her wooden stick without saying a word, knocking one of them unconscious with each blow. In the end, everyone in the courtyard was knocked unconscious.
"Hurry, let's hide these people right now, then find some cloth to gag them and tie them up."
"Yes, Miss."
Rouge casually tossed the wooden stick aside, and together with Hailing, they dragged the group to a secluded spot and hid them. They gagged each of them with a cloth and then bound their hands and feet.
After everything was tidied up, Rouge finally had a chance to ask, "Miss, now that Kexin and the others have confessed that they were acting on the orders of the First Madam and the Eldest Miss, we only need to take them to the First Madam and the Eldest Miss to settle accounts. Why go through all this trouble?"
Hai Ling shook her head after hearing Yan Zhi's words: "Since they want to watch a show, I'll give them one. Besides, you're making a big mistake if you expect these girls to do anything. They're Liu's people. They're scared by us right now, so they'll naturally say something. But if they really go to the First Madam, they might turn around and accuse us of deliberately slandering her. Then we'll be the ones who suffer. So we'd better find a safe way ourselves."
"Yes, Miss."
Rouge nodded admiringly, "Miss is so clever."
"What do we do now?"
"Go quietly to the bamboo grove behind and see if my mother is alright. I'll go to the main hall in the front and bring someone over. Aren't they trying to embarrass me? I'll show them who's making a fool of themselves."
After Hailing finished speaking, Yanzhi, though not quite understanding what kind of situation it was, didn't ask any more questions, simply responded, and the two of them went their separate ways.
Rouge went to the bamboo grove behind to check on the Fourth Madam, while Hailing went to the front to find someone. She summoned the Fire Cloud Wheel, her movements elusive, as if treading on floating clouds. Ordinary people had no way to deal with her unless they encountered a powerful master.
In the bamboo grove behind, the Fourth Madam was indeed unharmed, being watched over by several old women. Seeing that the Fourth Madam was alright, Rouge turned back.
Hai Ling also returned and captured Hong Yun, the personal maid of the First Madam, who had already been knocked unconscious.
Hailing instructed Yanzhi to drag in an injured man in black, while she herself grabbed Hongyun. The two of them swiftly brought the two men into the room, stripped them of their clothes, scattered them on the floor, and quietly left the room.
“Miss, the matter has been completed, but we still need someone to inform them. Otherwise, the Madam and the Eldest Miss probably wouldn’t have brought people here so rashly.”
Hai Ling frowned and thought for a moment, then bent down and picked up some mud from the ground, shaping it into small balls: "Go, give this to Xiu Ying, and say it's poison. You take her to find the First Madam and the Eldest Miss. You hide in the shadows and keep an eye on her, making her secretly make a move to remind the First Madam. If she dares to do something wrong, she'll be the first to die, and the second will be her younger brother Xiu Ding. If she succeeds, we'll spare her."
"Yes, this servant will take care of it right away."
Rouge quickly slipped away to attend to her business. Hailing, worried about her mother in the bamboo grove behind her, also slipped away into the grove. These old hags dared to bully her mother; they were courting death. Her eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
On the other side, Yan Zhi did as Hai Ling said. Xiu Ying was indeed scared half to death and dared not disobey them. What happened tonight made her realize that the Third Miss was not so easy to bully. She had only pretended before. If she did not do as they said, she was afraid she would die a terrible death. It was fine if she died herself, but she could not implicate her younger brother Xiu Ding.
In the inner hall, Madam Liu and Miss Jiang Feixue were both waiting for news. The time seemed to be quite long, and the two of them were extremely anxious. Could it be that things had not gone well? Surely not. It was hard to believe that several burly men could not handle Jiang Hailing and her servant.
As they were lost in thought, they saw Xiuying standing in the dim light at the doorway, nodding at them before quietly slipping out.
The First Madam immediately breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across her face. She then looked up at the maid beside her and noticed that Hongyun was missing. However, she didn't think much of it and looked at her other personal maid, Anxin. Anxin understood what was going on and quietly went out. A moment later, she rushed back in, pretending to be panicked, and then whispered something in the First Madam's ear.
This action startled everyone at the banquet, and for a moment everyone fell silent, except for the First Madam's cry.
How could she do that?
He didn't say anything more, but abruptly stopped, as if he had something difficult to say.
Seeing her mother's expression, Jiang Feixue, who was at another table, pretended to be anxious and asked, "Mother, what's wrong?"
"Your third sister?"
The First Madam spoke hastily, then suddenly stopped as if remembering something, leaving the rest of her words unsaid…
Chapter 21: A Good Show Unfolds
However, the First Madam's hesitation and her ambiguous words had already reached everyone's ears. These women were good at thinking, and as soon as they heard the First Madam and the Eldest Miss's conversation, they started discussing it among themselves. Finally, Princess Ning was the first to stand up.
"Madam, this is a matter concerning the face of the royal family. Don't hide it. If the Third Miss has really done something that harms the royal family, and you know about it but don't report it, then you are guilty of deceiving the emperor."
"Yes, yes, Madam Jiang, although you love your daughter dearly, this is no small matter."
“Yes, the Crown Prince is still an outstanding person. He has already wronged himself. If the Third Miss does anything inappropriate now, the Jiang family will find it difficult to shirk responsibility if the matter comes to light in the future.”
Everyone chimed in with their opinions, and Madam Liu looked troubled. Jiang Feixue spoke up, "Mother, if Third Sister really did something inappropriate, how can we be biased? It's her indiscretion, how can we implicate the Jiang family?"
"Yes, Miss is truly wise and understanding."
Princess Ning nodded in approval, and many of the ladies and young women around her, eager to watch the spectacle, nodded in agreement, some even standing up and heading outside.
Madam Liu sighed heavily, her face full of self-reproach, and said helplessly, "It's all my fault for not teaching her properly. Let's go and see. If the Third Miss really does something inappropriate, don't blame me for reporting it to the authorities."
"Yes, Madam Jiang is right to do it this way."
"Yeah yeah."
The banquet was interrupted as all the ladies and young women walked out in a great commotion, which even alerted the guests at the front. Jiang Batian sent someone to inquire, and upon hearing the news, his face turned extremely ugly.
Some of the men with sharp ears also heard about this. While the others remained calm and composed, the Seventh Prince, Feng Zihe, was the first to react. His face was filled with disbelief. He recalled the scene when he met Hai Ling that day. He had seen that woman before, and she was definitely not the kind of shameless, promiscuous person. Could she have been framed? Thinking this, the Seventh Prince could no longer sit still and rushed out. He thought to himself, "No, I must help her."
The seventh prince had already rushed out, so how could the others remain seated? In a short time, several more people stood up and followed him out.
The banquet in the main hall was also interrupted, and Jiang Batian led his people to the back with a grim expression.
However, some people were concerned about Jiang Batian's reputation, so they did not come; only a small number of people came with him.