Chapter 5 – Why did you lie?
"Yue Qing Ying! You"ve got such a big nerve!"
A pampered voice reprimanded, Yao Ying Xue had already walked by giving me a heavy slap on my face. A scorching pain rose in my cheek, "How dare you behave that way when Eunuch Yu is right here!"
The slap befuddled me.
Although on usual days, she would always be strutting around and often made things difficult for me, but being slapped in front of the public was, however, a first. A wave of humiliation and resentment washed over me but as I raised my head to argue back, I saw Eunuch Yu standing in the front. In the end, I clenched my teeth and restrained myself with my head lowered "Eunuch Yu, Auntie, please forgive this servant."
At this moment, Eunuch Yu slowly walked over. "You are Yue Qing Ying?"
"Yes sir."
"Yesterday night, did you see the Third Prince?"
My heart stopped. I hastily shook my head and said. "This servant did not."
"Oh? Then where were you yesterday night? What were you doing?"
"This servant.., this servant was not at her duty yesterday night but was resting in her room and did not set even half a foot outside."
After I stammeringly said these words, Yu Er who was standing at the side gave me a strange look.
"Oh." Eunuch Yu"s eyes slowly narrowed, remaining calm and collected looking at me. After a while, he opened his mouth. "Since you don"t know, then nevermind. What happened today will be treated as you being absent-minded, Scholar Yao also doesn"t need to punish her."
Yao Ying Xue seemed to still be angry but since Eunuch Yu had already opened his mouth, she wouldn"t talk back and only gave me an evil eye. "Since Eunuch has already said so. Yue Qing Ying, I"ll let you off. Are you not going to thank Eunuch Yu for it?"
"Yes. Thanks to Eunuch Yu. Thanks to Aunt."
After doing my salutations to them, I scooped up the coins on the floor in a flurry and quickly walked away. Eunuch Yu who stood behind silently looked at my retreating figure for a long time, not uttering a single word.
Once I walked into the inner storehouse, my heart slowly calmed down.
Fortunately, Eunuch Yu didn"t ask a lot, or else I wouldn"t even be able to tell if I was scared or depressed but just recalling the nightmare-like memory, I couldn"t hold my tears back and one by one they dripped down.
I was standing there silently for a long time not knowing how many tears were spilled until the sound of a knock was heard. I quickly wiped my tears and saw Yu Er standing by the doorway. As her eyes landed on me, her eyes grew bigger. "Qing Ying, you, are you crying?"
"I, I"m not"
I rubbed my eyes and turned around to walk inside the room. Yu Er quickly following me from behind. "Don"t hide it from me. That Yao Ying Xue always bosses and bullies people and especially targets you. I can"t believe that she went so far as to hit you. But Qing Ying, tell me honestly, what"s going on with you?"
"Nothing…" I said in a low voice.
"Then earlier you, why did you lie to Eunuch Yu?" Yu Er looked at me: "Yesterday night, you obviously weren"t in your room."
My heart sank.
A definite silence surrounded the storage room. After a long time, I finally found my voice. "Ying Er, Don’t let your imagination run wild. I don"t want to stir up trouble. Yesterday night, I did certainly go out but the place I went to can never be known to Eunuch Yu and them."
Yu Er"s eyes widened as she looked at me. "Then where on earth did you go?"