Cui Xi was sneaking back from the study. Actually, it wasn't that secretive. After all, as long as the eldest mistress didn't find out, no one in the mansion would dare to make a fuss about it since it concerned their master.
In the past, even if she had a falling out with the people in the eldest mistress's courtyard, no one would pay much attention to her. Her entire attire was that of an ordinary little maid in the mansion.
Little did she know that after she had run into Biyun and Bizhu, the maids who accompanied the eldest mistress, she was about to give way to them when the two of them grabbed her from both sides and dragged her toward the eldest mistress's courtyard.
"Don't make a sound." Biyun quickly covered her mouth and threatened, "Do you think the eldest madam doesn't know what you've done? If you know what's good for you, you'll come with us obediently."
Cui Xi's heart was pounding wildly.
Could it be that the eldest mistress knew about everything she had done? In other words, the eldest mistress already knew about Xu Hui's existence?
This path was the quietest, which was why she chose to walk this way. The two maids who had accompanied the eldest mistress were clearly prepared, as they immediately revealed her greatest fear—that the eldest mistress had discovered that she had been helping the eldest master and Xu Hui deliver the letter.
She was from the madam's courtyard. Even if the eldest mistress knew what she had done, she wouldn't make things too ugly, would she? Cui Xi held onto a sliver of hope and obediently followed the two of them.
Cui Xi had hoped to run into someone who used to serve in the Chen family in the courtyard of the eldest mistress, but for some reason today, all she saw were the eldest mistress's dowry maids, and none of the old servants in the mansion had been seen.
Only now did her bad premonition begin to grow; she feared that her grandmother was not simple.
Sixth Sister was sitting upright on the black lacquered mica Luohan bed, where she usually rested, with a sweet white porcelain teacup beside her, from which wisps of steam rose.
Seeing Cuixi stumble in, Liu Niang didn't even glance at her, instead continuing to prepare the tea with elegant and refined movements, as if she didn't even notice Cuixi. After a long while, Liu Niang parted her lips slightly, took a sip of tea, and then asked unhurriedly, "Who is the person downstairs?"
“Madam, this is Cuixi,” Biyun explained from the side. “She does the sweeping and cleaning in Madam’s courtyard.”
Cui Xi hurriedly stepped forward with a beaming smile and bowed, saying, "Greetings to Madam. May I ask what Madam has instructed me to do?"
When Cuixi first met Liu Niang, she was filled with trepidation. Whether to kill or punish her, she needed Liu Niang's answer before she could feel at ease.
"Look what you've done." Sixth Sister finally turned her gaze to her, her expression indifferent. "And now you're asking me? Tell me, why did I come to you?"
Cui Xi's heart pounded, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to say, "This servant doesn't know. As that lady just said, this servant is just a little maid in the Madam's courtyard who is responsible for sweeping and cleaning. I am ignorant and do not understand what the eldest mistress meant."
She bet that Sixth Sister would be mindful of Ding Shi and wouldn't pursue the matter too much.
"From Madam's courtyard?" Sixth Sister looked up at her, sneered, and said, "How dare you! Are you trying to use Madam's name to intimidate me?"
Time was of the essence, and Sixth Sister was too lazy to beat around the bush with her.
"When you were helping Huiniang and the master deliver letters, why didn't you think of the fact that you were from Madam's courtyard?" Sixth Sister looked coldly at Cuixi and said bluntly, "Now you suddenly remember Madam. Could it be that Madam instructed you to do this?"
Before Sixth Sister could finish speaking, Cui Xi was terrified, and her knees buckled, causing her to kneel on the ground. At that moment, she had no time to think about how the eldest mistress had discovered her.
"This servant...this servant...this servant didn't!" Cui Xi tried to grit her teeth and not give in, after all, Sixth Sister had no evidence. Even if Sixth Sister had seen her pass the message with her own eyes, she couldn't frame her. She stubbornly said, "Even if this servant is of lowly status, you can't frame this servant so arbitrarily!"
A hint of mockery flashed in Liu Niang's eyes.
The young maid kneeling before him was only twelve or thirteen years old, still quite inexperienced. If he wasn't sure he had any leverage over her that would make her obey, wouldn't doing this be like alerting her?
That Hui Niang is so unscrupulous; she dares to use just anyone.
"Biyun." Since she wouldn't shed tears until she saw the coffin, Liu Niang waved her hand, instructing Biyun to unfold the crumpled paper in front of Hui Niang.
Although Cuixi was illiterate, the note looked remarkably like the one she had passed for Xu Hui. And that paper was one she had secretly obtained for Hui's mother. The edges were cut, indicating it was paper she had gotten from a fellow villager's accountant; the quality wasn't very good.
How did the note end up in the hands of the eldest grandmother?
“Cuixi, if you were a smart person, you would know that this whole thing doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, and you can’t escape responsibility.” Seeing her stunned expression, Liu Niang knew that her plan was more than halfway done. She said in a threatening tone, “If I take this note to Madam, and she orders an investigation, do you think they won’t find you?”
"Don't think that just because Hui Niang wrote it, it has nothing to do with you." Sixth Sister cut off Cui Xi's last straw. "You need to understand, so what if Hui Niang is hiding in the Madam's backyard? How did her note get out?"
"When a whole bunch of people are implicated, they'll probably be grateful to you." Although Sixth Sister's tone was light, it terrified Cui Xi.
If the other women in the courtyard were also implicated, even if the madam didn't want her dead, those women would hate her to death. Then she would truly have no way to survive in the Chen household!
Cui Xi was finally terrified. She knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Sixth Madam. "Madam, I was blinded by greed and did such a foolish thing. Please forgive me!"
Sixth Sister simply looked down at her.
"Madam, it was Xu Hui who threatened me and forced me to deliver a message to the master for her!" Cui Xi quickly tried to exonerate herself, saying, "I had no choice—"
Sixth Sister only wanted to use Cuixi to get things done, not to investigate Cuixi's mistakes. She asked indifferently, "What exactly happened between Xu Hui and Master?"
A conflicted look flashed in Cui Xi's eyes. She was worried that not only would Ding Shi find out, but if the master found out that she had leaked the secret, she would still have no good days.
"Don't worry, if you tell the whole truth, I will spare your life." Sixth Sister was disgusted by Chen Qian's actions, but in order to expose him, she had to patiently investigate. "But if you dare to lie, you will not get away with it, whether it's with the Madam or the Master."
Cui Xi gritted her teeth and nodded.
She stammered out what she knew about Xu Hui and Chen Qian. When Liu Niang heard that Chen Qian was still fooling around with Xu Hui just days before his marriage to her, her eyes immediately turned deep and cold.
Regardless, Chen Qian never took her seriously, even though she married him as a daughter of a marquis!
No wonder I overheard that adulterous couple whispering outside the wall. Chen Qian was saying he wanted Xu Hui to have a child soon so he could make her his concubine… Turns out they had been having an affair for a long time before her! I wonder if that woman has fathered Chen Qian's bastard child…
However, this was partly due to Ding's indulgence.
Liu Niang's heart sank inch by inch. Her guess was right. She had only been married for a short time and had not even left the capital yet. Ding Shi was already trying to deceive her. She was even keeping such a big matter from her. Was she planning to catch her off guard?
If she were to return to Yangzhou one day, where would she find a way to survive?
What kind of miserable family did she marry into? Liu Niang felt extremely regretful. Even marrying Fang Yu would have been a hundred times better than marrying Chen Qian!
Her immediate priority is to expose Chen Qian and Xu Hui's scandalous affair to the public.
"Cuixi, I have a task for you." Liu Niang suppressed her anger and said in a tempting tone, "If you obediently do as I say, I will naturally not hold you accountable for your mistakes after it is done."
Upon hearing this, Cui Xi, who was kneeling on the ground, nodded vigorously. "Please give your orders, Madam, and I will certainly do my best!"