Yao Ling thought that she could become cruel if she kept going to choose this path, but she felt an ache in her heart also guilt... But she also remembered how they became an easy target by these people. If she gave Qiu Qiu a way out and let her stay by her side, would she become loyal to her? She didn"t think so. Qiu Qiu was different from Liu Li who had a twisted mind, so there was no guarantee that she wouldn"t betray her once again. Yao Ling decided to harden her heart and in her heart, she already made an important decision.
She chose to protect herself and the people that she loved. Even if Heaven punished her, she didn"t mind. Besides, there was no way out for Qiu Qiu --- her reputation was ruined and a lot of people already saw her disheveled state.
"Qiu Qiu ah~ How do you explain the fact that several servants saw you jump on him?" Yao Ling asked. A few servants already told Xiao Yu that they witnessed everything and what the man said was the truth. Yao Ling knew that all of this was prepared by Liu Li --- even the witnesses, seeing how the witnesses appear at the same time and they had a detailed explanation of everything.
"This... this servant..." Qiu Qiu couldn"t refute anything when there were a lot of eyewitnesses! She really couldn"t remember anything about last night matter. She thought back... but nothing seemed to be wrong last night, besides, she also didn"t do anything out of her character. So, where did it go wrong?
How could she behave so wantonly? Then something came up inside her mind. Did someone drug her? Her eyes lit up because she found an explanation. "Young Mistress, someone must have been playing trick. Someone... someone... must have drugged me!"
"Oh... who do you think that someone is? Do you have an enemy?" Yao Ling asked.
Qiu Qiu couldn"t answer this. Who would target her? In this courtyard, even though she wasn"t the most trusted person but at least she was serving in the inner courtyard. It meant that she held a quite high rank. She believed no one would dare to mess with her. Her eyes glanced at Xiao Yu, but she also knew last night Xiao Yu was busy attending Young Mistress and giving her ma.s.sage. She also didn"t have any grudge with Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu furrowed her eyebrows and raised one of her eyebrows. "What?" She wanted to ask that. Did Qiu Qiu want to throw the blame at her? When Qiu Qiu retracted her gaze, Xiao Yu sneered for a little bit. She would throttle her if she dared to frame her.
Then, who? Liu... Li? Her thought went to that girl. However, she was crippled and it seemed she wasn"t able to get out of bed. However, she was pretty sure it was her. This vicious method --- it was only her who would be able to do it without batting eyelashes. Her heart turned cold when she came to this realization. They served the same master, but she even dared to lay a hand on her!
"Liu Li! It must be her! No one else will be bold enough to do this," Qiu Qiu quickly said her speculation. She had nothing to lose, so she bravely said Liu Li"s name.
Yao Ling furrowed her eyebrows. "Isn"t she crippled now? Why does she have the time to frame you?"
Qiu Qiu couldn"t refute that statement. If Liu Li pretended that she couldn"t get out of bed, then she could do nothing. "Then... then what should this servant do?" Qiu Qiu asked weakly. Every evidence pointed at her and she knew that she wouldn"t be able to survive this problem.
Yao Ling gave her a suggestion, "Why don"t you marry him? After all, both of you have done it." What Yao Ling suggested was the best result for Qiu Qiu. She had been tainted by the man and a lot of people already knew about that! It was hard for her to get married.
Qiu Qiu looked at the ugly man beside her and she felt like vomiting each time she saw him. How could Young Mistress suggest her to marry him? But she also knew that the suggestion for her own good. If the man was at least good enough to look at, she would be fine with it. However, he wasn"t only ugly. But the way he looked at her... it was full of l.u.s.t and it disgusted her!
"Young Mistress... this servant doesn"t need to get married. This servant will wholeheartedly serve Young Mistress until death," Qiu Qiu gritted her teeth and decided to pledge her life. At least, she could avoid the calamity for now. She could just go back to her real master and stay there.
Suddenly, the matriarch appeared in the courtyard along with Madam w.a.n.g and the concubines. "What happened here? Who dares to make a ruckus this early in the morning?" The matriarch asked. She had heard about what happened and she came here because of her curiosity. After all, she was pretty bored because there were not many things happened in the household that could spark her amus.e.m.e.nt.
Yao Ling stood up to greet the matriarch and Madam w.a.n.g, while the concubines paid her respect to her. "Grandmother, why are you here?" Yao Ling asked curiously.
"I heard something happened in your courtyard, so I come," The matriarch said. "What happened?"
Yao Ling gave a signal to Xiao Yu and Xiao Yu quickly explained everything to the matriarch and Madam w.a.n.g. "So... what"s your solution?" The matriarch asked Yao Ling curiously. She wanted to see how Yao Ling dealt with Qiu Qiu.
Yao Ling told the matriarch that she at least wanted to give Qiu Qiu the chance to get married --- to save her reputation. "Good!" The matriarch smiled. That was the best outcome that could happen. If Yao Ling was softhearted and let her stay to serve her, it would affect Yao Ling"s reputation too. Whether Qiu Qiu fell into a trap or not, it was another matter altogether.
After listening to how the matriarch agreed to Yao Ling"s suggestion, Qiu Qiu felt despair. Her eyes flickered to her real master who stood behind the matriarch, asking for help. However, she could only see the disdain in her master"s eyes and she even turned her head away. The meaning was clear... her master had abandoned her. She wasn"t going to help her! Qiu Qiu felt her heart turn cold, however, she could only look down sadly.
Qiu Qiu"s real master pretty much knew that she couldn"t interfere in this matter. Qiu Qiu made a big mistake. How stupid of her to get into a trap so easily? She also didn"t feel like this Qiu Qiu worth that much anyway. Losing a p.a.w.n like her wouldn"t make a big difference to her. Haiyah~ However, she felt a bit sad for losing two p.a.w.ns at once --- Liu Li and Qiu Qiu. She should think of a way to plant another spy near Yao Ling, after all, she needed to know whether Yao Ling would become a danger to her position in w.a.n.g Fu or not. She knew that the four women who stood behind the matriarch were afraid of the same thing.
When Qiu Qiu looked at the man beside her, she once again tried her luck and begged the matriarch. Zhang Mo Mo said on the behalf of the matriarch, "Without a pure body and conduct, how do you want to serve Young Mistress?" It killed all the arguments that Qiu Qiu had.
The man smiled happily when he heard that and knew that he definitely could marry her. Qiu Qiu didn"t say anything because as a maidservant, her life was on her master"s hand. Would her life be different if she gave her loyalty to Yao Ling? She knew that if it was Young Mistress, she at least would try to find a way to maintain her dignity. At this moment, she isn"t in a good relations.h.i.+p with Young Mistress -- unlike Xiao Yu, so she doesn"t have enough face to ask for her help. Besides, she had a gut feeling that Young Mistress was actually feeling suspicious of her.
"What are you waiting for?" Zhang Mo Mo asked.
Qiu Qiu s.h.i.+vered in fear when she saw Zhang Mo Mo"s gaze. She could only kowtow and said, "Thank you for Young Mistress" grace." The man beside her smiled happily, then he kowtowed said the same thing.
"You will be given money and you should live with your husband from now on. We will help you arrange your marriage. You can still work at w.a.n.g Fu by helping your husband, but you are not allowed to serve Young Mistress again." Zhang Mo Mo took charge of punis.h.i.+ng Qiu Qiu when she saw the matriarch"s signal. Yao Ling saw the matriarch"s signal too, so she could only stay quiet.
And just like that, Qiu Qiu"s life had been decided. She wasn"t allowed to serve Yao Ling anymore and should live outside of w.a.n.g Fu with her new husband. Yao Ling heard that she refused to get married and decided to kill herself. Yao Ling"s heart ached because she felt that she was also partly responsible for Qiu Qiu"s ending, but in the end... she could only harden herself more. She knew that sooner or later there would be a lot of things to do that needed her to be cruel.