"It's just sending you to the family temple, not taking your life, how can you call that going too far!" Su Lie glanced at Ruan Chuqing, a cold glint flashing in his eyes: "The affairs of the inner courtyard of the Duke of Wen's mansion will be temporarily handled by Concubine Bai!"
As the legal wife, what she cares about most is the power to manage the household. Su Lie handed over the power to Aunt Bai in front of Ruan Chuqing, which was a deliberate attempt to provoke her, humiliate her, and belittle her to the lowest depths of hell.
"Thank you, sir!" The heartbroken Aunt Bai instantly snapped out of her daze and happily agreed. The master's decision to put her in charge of the household showed his respect and affection for her, and she knew her future days would be much easier.
Ruan Chuqing glared hatefully at Aunt Bai. She and Shen Lixue were in cahoots. Ruan Chuqing was in a bad situation because of Shen Lixue. Ha! She harmed Yuting and now she's trying to harm her. She's really overestimating herself and courting death.
"What are you standing there for? Take Ruan Chuqing away!" Su Lie felt annoyed and irritated by Ruan Chuqing's face, finding it extremely irritating, and he gave the order in a stern voice.
"Yes!" the guards replied and quickly escorted Ruan Chuqing to the family temple.
The ancestral temple had been uninhabited for a long time, and the room was full of dust and cobwebs, making it impossible to step inside. Pushing open the door, a damp and musty smell hit you, making you cough repeatedly.
After the guards brought Ruan Chuqing here, they couldn't stand the filth and quickly left. Ruan Chuqing stood outside the door, looking at the dilapidated house, her face gloomy, gritting her teeth: Su Lie, you did well, you did very well!
Looking up at the sky, night had fallen, and all the lights in the houses were lit. Laughter and cheerful voices could be heard from afar. Ruan Chuqing looked at the pitch-black ancestral temple, her anger surging: "Someone, bring me candles!"
A guard pushed open the door and came in: "Madam, the master has ordered that you are not allowed to take anything from the mansion. If you want light, please find a way to do it yourself."
Ruan Chuqing was furious: "It's pitch black here, there are no candles, no tinderboxes, how am I supposed to get out of here?"
The guard secretly curled his lip, sneering inwardly. This was a family temple, not a comfortable bedroom. They wanted to light candles? Lighting a stick for illumination would be a huge favor.
Seeing that the guard remained silent, Ruan Chuqing assumed he didn't know how to light the lamp either, and waved her hand impatiently: "Tell the kitchen to send me dinner!"
"Reporting to Madam, the Master has ordered that you are not allowed to eat anything from the manor. If you want to eat, you must find a way to do it yourself at the family temple!" The guard looked at Ruan Chuqing with disdain. She had made a serious mistake and was demoted to the family temple to reflect on her actions. She was not here to enjoy herself. She actually wanted to order the kitchen to serve her a feast. Did she not understand her situation and status?
"There's nothing in the ancestral temple. What am I supposed to eat? Spiders, bedbugs, flies, or mosquitoes?" Ruan Chuqing exclaimed in alarm.
"This humble servant was unaware!" The guard could tell that Ruan Chuqing hadn't realized her situation and still thought she was the high and mighty Lady Wen, expecting the servants to always put her first. He was disdainful and too lazy to reason with her anymore, so he simply brushed her off.
"Does Su Lie want to starve me to death?" Ruan Chuqing's beautiful eyes burned with anger, her pretty face slightly distorted, which looked particularly eerie against the darkening sky.
"This humble servant is unaware!" The guard lowered his head and continued to give a perfunctory answer.
"Besides saying you don't know, what else can you say?" Faced with the mechanical guard who knew nothing, Ruan Chuqing's anger intensified.
"This humble servant is unaware!" The guard ignored her anger and gave her another perfunctory reply.
"Get out!" Ruan Chuqing could no longer suppress her anger, and it blazed fiercely.
"Yes!" The guard took a step back and slammed the door shut, locking Ruan Chuqing in the gloomy, ominous, and dusty ancestral temple.
"Su Lie!" Ruan Chuqing's angry roar pierced through the clouds and echoed through the sky, shocking the nearby guards.
The guards rubbed their slaps, gripped their longswords, and continued to stand, pretending not to have heard.
Inside the ancestral temple, Ruan Chuqing looked at the dilapidated, filthy room that was uninhabitable. Her anger burned fiercely, and her small hands clenched into fists. Besides Su Lie, the person who had brought her to this point was Shen Lixue, the daughter of that slut Lin Qingzhu. She was just as despicable as Lin Qingzhu, and she would never let her go.
Looking up at the dark night sky, Ruan Chuqing smiled coldly. With a light step, her slender figure flew out of the temple and headed straight in one direction. The guards standing outside the gate stared wide-eyed and were very alert, but they did not notice that the person inside had already left.
Ruan Chuqing's slender figure flew swiftly through the night, soon arriving at a small courtyard in the suburbs. A dim kerosene lamp hung from the eaves in the center of the courtyard, and a middle-aged man sat on a small stool, carefully picking through various herbs in a small basket with a focused expression.
"The dignified Prime Minister Qingyan has fallen to such a state. Aren't you resentful?" Ruan Chuqing walked slowly into the courtyard and asked the man in a cold voice.
Shen Minghui looked up at Ruan Chuqing. His smooth chin was covered with a bluish beard, his white face was tinged with yellow, his brows were filled with a deep sorrow, and his eyes were filled with boundless weariness.
“You…” Ruan Chuqing was suddenly stunned. She never expected that in just a few days, Shen Minghui would be like a completely different person, looking twenty years older all at once.
"I am afflicted with Gu poison, and my fame will soon be gone. Even if I manage to win it, how long can I enjoy it?" Shen Minghui sighed, lowered his head, and continued picking herbs.
Ruan Chuqing stepped forward and saw that the herbs in the basket were very fresh, some still covered in damp soil, obviously dug up that day: "You actually gathered the herbs yourself?"
"The herbs are too expensive, I can't afford them, so I have to gather them myself!" Shen Minghui said in a low voice.
Ruan Chuqing pouted: "You have a good daughter who is the adopted daughter of the War King. If you go to her, you will have a steady stream of medicinal herbs. You don't need to go through all this trouble."
Shen Minghui paused for a moment, then resumed fiddling with the medicinal herbs: "We have severed our father-daughter relationship!"
“You are father and daughter, and the blood relationship cannot be severed. You have the grace of giving birth to her. If she sits by and does nothing when you are in trouble, she is disloyal, unfilial, and unjust!” Ruan Chuqing spoke righteously and sternly, standing up for Shen Minghui.
"The War King is not to be trifled with!" Shen Minghui was already a powerless commoner, so how could he dare to go to the War King's mansion to cause trouble for Shen Lixue?
"So that's what you were worried about!" Ruan Chuqing raised an eyebrow, a half-smile playing on her lips. "The War King of sixteen years ago was no pushover either. We both provoked him, and we both lived peacefully for sixteen years. You were the biggest beneficiary of that incident. I didn't get any benefit at all!"
"What are you going to do now?" Shen Minghui stopped what he was doing and looked at Ruan Chuqing.
"I have a plan. If it succeeds, you will benefit greatly. You can be cured of the poison and live a life free from worries about food and clothing. You won't have to work so hard every day to dig for herbs like you do now. Would you like to cooperate with me again?" Ruan Chuqing smiled eerily, her calm voice carrying a strong seductive flavor.
"Is there an antidote for the Gu poison I've been afflicted with?" Shen Minghui frowned.
“As long as the person is not dead, there is hope for the cure of the Gu poison. Almost everyone in the Southern Border knows about Gu poison. What are you despairing about?” Ruan Chuqing glared at Shen Minghui and cursed him inwardly for being a useless man who was afraid of death and only knew how to enjoy comfort. He was incapable of achieving anything great.
Shen Minghui's hands tightened suddenly. Yes, he had been taking medicine every day, and the Gu hadn't harmed him too much. If he had the means, he could find a powerful person to force the Gu out. He had benefited greatly from the cooperation sixteen years ago, and he should be able to gain something good this time as well: "What plan?"
Ruan Chuqing's lips curled into a cold smile: "With Prime Minister Shen agreeing to cooperate, our plan is half successful!"
In the Shuntian Prefecture prison, Duke Wen carried a food box and entered a cell. At the far end of the cell, there was a small bed simply made of wooden planks, with a small table next to it. Although it was very simple, it was much more comfortable than the other cells.
"Yuting!" Duke Wen called softly as he looked at Su Yuting sitting at the table, casually combing her hair with a wooden comb.
Su Yuting turned her head, her face covered in whip marks, her expression ferocious, her eyes lifeless, and she mechanically greeted, "Father, you've come!"
"I brought your favorite dishes, eat them while they're hot!" Duke Wen smiled as he opened the food box, releasing a fragrant aroma that made one's mouth water.
Su Yuting looked at the food, but didn't have much of an appetite. She picked up her chopsticks and ate a few bites here and there, saying, "What time is it outside? I'm about to be executed!"
"Yuting, don't say such discouraging things!" Duke Wen scolded, lowering his voice, "Father will find a way to get you out of prison!"