Chapter 42
Chapter 42 – Receiving Punishment
Hua Qiyue reached out her hand to hold Tianci’s small hand. The hand was soft like a flower in spring, filling Hua Qiyue’s heart with softness.
"Tianci…. Mum will definitely heal your throat and make you strong again!"
Hua Qiyue thought silently. Holding his son’s hand, she fell into a strange dream.
At this moment.
Qiuyun was kneeling in a small rundown pavilion at the back garden, in front of Hua Mengshi. She was shivering profusely.
"Speak! Did you put the drug into the soup?" Hua Mengshi stared coldly at the scared little girl in front of her eyes, and the chilly glaze made Surou shiver as well.
"No, no! Madame, I did not betray you! I placed the laxative into the soup but to no avail!" Qiuyun shook her head like a rattle, with a look of horror on her face.
"You did place the laxatives? Funny, that was the strongest laxative given by the doctor. Will she be alright if you did drug her?" Hua Mengshi smiled evilly. "I head that Hua Qiyue is wealthy now and that she gave a lot of cash to her servants. Qiuyun, did you betray me for her money?"
Qiuyun bowed her head on the floor so hard it was as if she was smashing garlic. "No, no… Please believe in me… I had bullied First Miss before, how could she treat me nicely? I didn’t even see a copper coin?!"
Hua Mengshi squinted her watery eyes. Qiuyun was right. Even though she gifted Qiuyun to Hua Qiyue, she had someone monitoring Qiuyun.
Qiuyun did drug Hua Qiyue, but perhaps the doctor lied to her.
However, Hua Mengshi still raised her hand. "Firstly, let’s teach her a small lesson. If she did well next time, I’ll then reward her!"
Surou heard that and her face went pale. Nanny Zhou beside her snorted, taking a small embroidered bag from her pockets before pulling a long thin needle out!
Qiuyun was so scared that she was shivering profusely. "No… Madame, Save me! Save me!"
She was so scared that she could not even complete her sentence. Even though she knew the cruel nature of Hua Mengshi, she was still frightened when she was the recipient. Nanny Zhou took a long needle and went to Qiuyun, kicking her forcefully.
Qiuyun was kicked down onto the ground but she dared not to resist. She looked at Surou with a pleading look but Surou dared not to look at her. She kept silent and stared at the ground. However, her fingers kept trembling.
Nanny Zhou held Qiuyun with one hand before piercing her waist. The pain was intense and Qiuyun was about to scream when her mouth was forced shut by Nanny Zhao.
Nanny Zhou pulled out the needle and pierced it in again. Normal people could not endure this type of pain, and Surou turned away to save herself the agony.
Qiuyun had been pierced for a few times and had fainted out of pain. Only then, Nanny Zhou and Nanny Zhao let go of her.
"Madame, what do we do now?"
"Wake her up and let her return to Cuihua Court!" Hua Mengshi replied impatiently and walked out.
The two nannies dared not to talk and merely kicked Qiuyun instead. However, she still refused to wake up and thus they splashed some cold water on her face.
Qiuyun woke up and saw the two nannies staring at her harshly. She was then scared beyond her darkest nightmares, crying while trembling. "Madame, no, no…"
"Madam had left. You will go back alone. You know what to answer if anyone asked you about what happened.
Nanny Zhou ordered coldly before leaving with Nanny Zhao. Qiuyun could only feel the coldness soaked in her entire body. Even though it was still summer, she felt as if she had been submerged in freezing water! It was truly freezing!
Returning to Cuihua Court, Qiuyun was seen by Youshui who asked her what had happened. Qiuyun lied and replied that she had fallen into the pond and Youshui urged her to have a shower and rest.
On the morning of the second day, while Hua Qiyue
Hua Qiyue smiled faintly and refused. Thus, Youshui told Qiuyun’s abnormality last night to Hua Qiyue.
Hua Qiyue kept quiet for a while before speaking. "Youshui, look at her yourself. If she is uncomfortable, let her rest properly. Right, give this cash worth 500 taels of silver to her as a reward."
Youshui agreed as she was shocked by Hua Qiyue’s decision. They knew that Qiuyun was malicious and wanted to harm her, however, she did not pursue the matter but instead rewarded her, making the situation incomprehensible.
However, the master had her own considerations and Youshui did not bother to ask. Holding the cash in one hand, she went to the side yard and knocked Qiuyun’s door with the other. She then heard the tired response of Qiuyun.
"Come in…"
Youshui pushed the door open and saw Qiuyun lying on the bed with a sickly face. "Why, Qiuyun? Are you sick?"
"Somewhat… uncomfortable. Sorry, I didn’t know it was daytime already!" Qiuyun wanted to sit upright but she felt a sharp pain on her waist. She was extremely tired and did not sleep for an entire night, pondering how she could flatter Second Miss.
She then fell asleep until Youshui knocked.
"First Miss said that if you are sick, you should rest first. Right, this is 500 taels, rewarded to you by Miss. Tsk tsk! This month, Miss had rewarded us up about 1,000 taels this month already because she won the bet yesterday!" Youshui smiled and place 500 taels on Qiuyun’s bed.
Qiuyun was shocked and surprised! She didn’t expect to have a 500-taels-of-silver reward just as she became Hua Qiyue’s servant!
Such generosity!
She could barely earn 500 taels in her lifetime as a servant!
"Help me… to thank First Miss!" Qiuyun was not sure if she was overly surprised as she cried.
"Alright, just rest properly and wait until you become better," Youshui replied and left quietly. Qiuyun took the money and had a look at it, exactly 500 taels!
Staring at the cash, she had full complex feelings in her heart. She had followed Second Miss for five to six years but had barely received more than 10 taels of silver.
But now, First Miss had just given her 500 taels.
It looked like the legend amongst the servants of Hua’s Mansion was true. Now that First Miss was wealthy, she was generous towards her servants, even taming Butler Wang. However, Second Madame, Second Miss, and Third Miss were losing control of the household. Perhaps the true master of Hua’s Mansion today was indeed First Miss?
Her heart moved as she thought of the crimson Long Red inside the garden.
Hua Qiyue had treated her completely differently from Hua Mengshi even though they were both masters. Hua Qiyue had rewarded her 500 taels while Hua Mengshi pierced her waist with needles, causing painfulness that would last for a few days.
Glimmers flashed across Qiuyun’s eyes.
"Miss, where did y’all go yesterday? Tianci wanted me to bring him out to find you. However, I was worried that he would be naughty and I might lose him out in the crowd. Thus, I didn’t bring him out," Standing aside, Youshui asked smiling.
Tianci was eating rice balls. Hearing that they were going out, he pulled Hua Qiyue’s sleeves, full of anticipation and excitement in her eyes.
Hua Qiyue smiled and nodded profusely. "Alright, Tianci, eat first. Today, mum will bring you out to shop. We will buy all that you want to eat, alright?"
In her previous life, Hua Qiyue did not spend much time with Tianci. Thus, she wanted to compensate for him now.
Tianci’s eyes lit up as he heard that. Hua Qiyue felt a bit sour as she stroked her head gently, all while sipping on the sweet rice ball soup.
The little kid ate a whole bowl of rice ball obediently. He wanted to eat more even though he was full and thus was stopped by Hua Qiyue.
"Tianci, don’t eat any further. Perhaps you could still eat more when you see any delicious food on the streets. You would not be able to eat them if you are too full now!" Hua Qiyue smiled as Tianci nodded profusely, showing a bright smile.
The little kid was extremely cute, making Lv Xin and Youshui extremely protective of him.
"First Miss, let’s bring an umbrella out. Or it would be too hot."
"First Miss, do you want to bring some water out?"
"Just bring an umbrella! Water is unnecessary! There should be water outside? There will be all kinds of food!" Hua Qiyue smiled and interrupted Lv Xin.
Like this, the two servants prepared for a while before finding two umbrellas. Actually, they were sitting on the carriages the entire way, getting off only when they saw delicious food. Thus, they required no umbrella.
After bringing Tianci to pay respects to Old Madame and to gift her the rice balls boiled in Long Red soup, Hua Qiyue left Old Madame’s Fu Xin Hall.
While they passed by the garden, they heard Hua Xiaoyi’s angry screams. "F*ck off! Why are you here if you can’t treat me? F*ck!"
Hearing her voice, Hua Qiyue looked at the Wangyue Pavillion beside her. She saw a doctor kneeling respectfully in front of Second Miss Hua Xiaoyi, banging his head vigorously on the ground. It seemed that the doctor had been bullied.
Hua Xiaoyi was raging, kicking the doctor down. "B*tch, you should die! How do I go out now that I am disfigured?"
Third Madame was comforting her by her side. "Xiaoyi, don’t be like this… I heard that Prince Nan had excellent medical skills. Let’s beg him…"
She could barely hear the conversation afterward. Hua Qiyue lifted her glance. Hua Xiaoyi deserved to die. She would reobtain all that they had snatched away from the owner of this body!
Tianci was sitting on the carriage, looking at the outside world with excitement. They only walked for a few steps before a luxurious carriage came. The symbol on it was that of the Ji family.
Even though the road was wide, Lv Xin was sharp and caught Ji Jing.
"Miss, is that Miss Ji?"
Hua Qiyue pulled open the curtain and saw Ji Feng. Seeing her, Ji Feng signaled for the carriage to stop. "Qiyue, where are you going?"
"Not much, we were walking around with Tianci. Do you want to walk together, Brother Ji?" Hua Qiyue smiled faintly while Ji Jing laughed. "Sister Qiyue, we heard that you had won a lot of silver, and thus wanted you to treat us at Wangyue Restaurant!"
Hua Qiyue was smart and knew that she need not pretend in front of them. After all, Ji Feng was an incredible figure. If he could not see through her pretense, he would not be called medicine saint.