Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 541 - 541 542 The day of reckoning_1

Chapter 541: Chapter 542 The day of reckoning_1 Chapter 541: Chapter 542 The day of reckoning_1 Muniang sneered, “Who knew they were more cunning than you, finding a scapegoat? If I hadn’t intervened today, would you have continued to use your various means from the deep courtyards of the past to fight one another? Pretending to be clever, did you really think I was a fool?!”

Nanny Li’s body trembled, and she quickly said, “This old servant knows her crime.”

“Who gave you the courage to poison at will in my territory? You told me you wanted to deal with those two girls; was this vile stuff how you intended to poison them to death?”

This small courtyard was her and Yu Ze’s home, where they hoped their children would grow happily, not a place where blood could be casually spilled. Nanny Li’s biggest mistake was that, thinking Muniang’s methods were even harsher than those of the women in the deep courtyards, she assumed Muniang’s heart was as black as theirs.

Nanny Li hastily said, “Although it was this old servant’s idea, in truth, it wasn’t just my own boldness.”

Muniang looked at her coldly, “What?”

From her sleeve, Nanny Li produced a small porcelain vial, her voice grave, “This thing was given to this old servant by the Marquise before she left. The Marquise had instructed this old servant that if Caiyun and those other girls failed to keep their proper place, or did something excessively outrageous, then this old servant should show no mercy.”

Muniang’s smile stalled, her heart numbing at the thought of that gentle woman.

Nanny Li said coldly, “The Marquise regards the Prince Heir as extremely important, absolutely intolerant of him being swayed by women. This holds true for the Princess, and even more so for other women. Those women were brought in to divide the Princess’s affection, not to monopolize the Prince Heir’s favor. Those three girls were elevated, being made concubines was enough; if they dared to harbor higher foolish fantasies, coveting the Princess or the place of a concubine, they naturally couldn’t be allowed to remain.”

Muniang tightened the handkerchief in her sleeve and said, “It seems mother still showed some mercy towards me.”

Nanny Li earnestly said, “The Marquise did not wish to harm the Princess, knowing she is the Prince Heir’s treasure. The Marquise treated the Princess differently from other women; after all, you are the Marquise’s officially recognized daughter-in-law.”

Nanny Li’s words weren’t false; if Jian Yue truly had a heart of stone towards Muniang, she would have simply taken advantage of Yu Ze’s unawareness to have someone secretly kill Muniang. However, she did not, perhaps because she still held some affection for her daughter-in-law.

Nanny Li continued coldly, “Apart from Caiyun, neither Bingyu nor Kelan is of any good sort; they all came with great ambitions in their hearts. How could they be content to be menial maids in the mansion? Their silence these days is but a wait for the storm to pass. Eventually, they will surely cause great chaos! The Princess, remaining in the mansion, is also a disaster. This old servant thus wished to eliminate these two calamities for the Prince Heir in advance, as a demonstration of loyalty.”

“Even if the Marquise blames me, this old servant will tell the Marquise that those two girls committed acts of defiance, and the Marquise cannot blame the Princess.”

Nanny Li said, “The Princess must not have a woman’s compassion at this moment. Those two girls are not easy to deal with, full of crafty ideas. If we do not swiftly cut the tangle now and deal with them, there will be endless troubles later!”

Muniang glared at her coldly, her tone biting, “And now? What’s to be done now?!”

Nanny Li lowered her head, “This old servant has been negligent.”

Muniang closed her eyes for a moment before saying, “Let this not happen again.”

Nanny Li quickly responded, “Yes.” Muniang saying so meant she would be forgiven.

Muniang called Qingya in and instructed, “Take those two girls out and send them back to their respective homes. Give each family one hundred taels of Silver and have them properly buried with due respect.”

“Yes.”

“As for the matter of today, just send the stewardess away, give her some retirement silver, and let her go; there’s no need to cause too much of a stir with the other matters,”

Qingya acknowledged with a response and then withdrew.

This matter passed without a whisper, but Kelan and Bingyu were sweating buckets.

“It seems that the Lady really intends to make a deadly move against us. Thankfully, you were clever enough to notice something wrong with that porridge and deliberately had Yun Xue and Bi Tao eat it. Otherwise, we would have been the ones to die today!” Bingyu exhaled in relief before speaking.

A flash of shrewdness crossed Kelan’s eyes, and she quickly added, “Yes, yes, I just happened to see the stewardess adding poison to the porridge by accident. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have guessed she would resort to such extreme measures.”

Bingyu gave her a sidelong glance but believed her; Kelan was naive and lacked schemes, how could she have suspected poison in the porridge? It must have been an accident, surely.

Unfortunately, Bingyu was unaware that the true poisoner was not the stewardess. How could Kelan have possibly seen the stewardess poisoning the meal?

Bingyu snorted coldly, “The Lady can’t wait to lay her hands on us. It seems we really can’t wait any longer. If today it’s poison, what will be tomorrow?”

With a timid voice, Kelan said, “What do you think we should do, Bingyu? We are but lowly maids now, without the Lady’s permission, we can’t even see the Prince Heir. We are like insignificant ants; it would be too easy for the Lady to crush us.”

Bingyu’s eyes flashed coldly as she slapped the table and declared, “Unacceptable! We can’t just sit here waiting for death. We must win the Prince Heir’s heart and stand on the same level as her. That’s the only way we’ll have the capital to fight back; otherwise, in our current state, we’re simply courting death.”

“What do you want to do?”

Bingyu laughed softly, taking Kelan’s hand and said, “Dear sister, ever since we were chosen to enter the Marquis Chen Mansion, I have regarded you as my own sister. Now, I need your help with something. If it succeeds, I will naturally take care of you. Right now, we are tied to the same fate. If I can gain favor with the Prince Heir, I will naturally pull you up with me. If we continue to sit idle, neither of us will have a good ending.”

With a fleeting look in her eyes, Kelan replied, “Whatever you say, Bingyu. Now that Caiyun has left, I have no one to rely on but you. Whatever help you need, I’ll certainly give it!”

Bingyu smiled with satisfaction and then leaned close to Kelan’s ear, whispering conspiratorially, “Tonight, you just need to sweet-talk the Laundry Workshop stewardess and draw away the eyes watching us. If I can slip out successfully without being noticed, then it’s a success.”

“Is it that simple?”

With confident delight in her smile, Bingyu boasted, “Why do you think the Lady dares not let me appear before the Prince Heir? Isn’t it because she fears he’d lose his way at just one glance at me?”

Bingyu’s self-confidence wasn’t unfounded; her demeanor bore a resemblance to Muniang, which, if static, could indeed fool someone. She didn’t believe for a second that the Prince Heir could remain unmoved by her!

Now that the mansion had no other woman but Qiao Muniang, this was the greatest opportunity. Every man likes novelty, and since she was just the type the Prince Heir fancied, how could she not have a chance?

What hope was there for promotion just minding the Laundry Workshop?

(Madame He’s story isn’t done, whether she is friend or foe is still uncertain, the real drama is yet to come~)