"Girl, aren't you afraid of Liu Shushu's revenge for what you did today?" Tong Xia asked worriedly.

She hadn't forgotten how many times her daughter had suffered at Liu Shushu's hands.

"Don't worry, she's probably too busy to pay attention to me right now," Qingying said calmly as she sipped her tea.

Meanwhile, Liu Shushu had no time to pay attention to Qingying, because she had just woken Rong'er up when she received news that Aunt Liu had been taken away.

Liu Yan was extremely anxious. "How could this be? What exactly happened?"

Liu Shushu's first suspect was Liu Qingying, but Rong'er said, "I've seen that person at the Prince An's residence."

Rong'er was someone arranged by Wei Huaixu to be by her side, and she had served in the Eastern Palace.

“Prince An…” Liu Yan murmured, then suddenly knelt down before her with a thud, crying out, “Shushu, please save my mother.”

Liu Shushu quickly helped her up, saying, "Don't worry, this matter started because of me, so I naturally won't let it go."

"So what should we do next?"

"Why don't we tell His Highness the Crown Prince about this?" Rong'er suggested.

Liu Shushu glanced at her, knowing that although she worked by her side, she truly obeyed Wei Huaixu. So she nodded and said, "Go and deliver a message to His Highness, telling him everything that happened today."

"Yes." Rong'er curtsied and left.

No sooner had she left than Prince An's men arrived.

"Miss Liu, our Highness invites you to the Prince An's residence for a chat before 7 PM." As he spoke, a servant presented a wooden box.

"What is this?" Liu Shushu stared at the box, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

"His Highness said that you will understand once you see it."

She gestured to Liu Yan, who then took the wooden box.

Liu Yan then opened the wooden box, and the two looked inside at the same time. When they saw what was inside, their hearts skipped a beat almost simultaneously. Liu Yan almost dropped the box and burst into tears.

"mother……"

Inside the wooden box was a small severed finger, its blood already congealed, appearing pale and horrifying, with a small silver ring around its neck.

Liu Yan recognized it immediately as her mother's pinky finger.

Liu Shushu forced herself to remain composed, but her face inevitably turned pale. She gritted her teeth, not daring to lash out at the servants, and could only reply, "Report back to His Highness Prince An that I will keep the appointment on time."

The attendant bowed expressionlessly and then withdrew.

Liu Yan collapsed to the ground in tears. Liu Shushu tried to help her up but couldn't. Seeing her so grief-stricken, she couldn't help but shed two lines of tears herself.

"Ayan, I'm sorry..." If it weren't for me, Aunt Liu wouldn't have suffered this calamity.

She felt incredibly guilty.

Liu Yan cried so hard she almost fainted, unable to bring herself to say that she didn't blame her. Although she knew in her heart that the blame couldn't be placed entirely on Liu Shushu, she knew that without her, her mother wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state.

The Liu family had been farmers for generations, and they would never have been able to get involved with a powerful noble like Prince An.

"My mother is in poor health and blind. How can she endure such torture..." she cried until her voice was hoarse.

Liu Shushu was also very sad, but she couldn't say any more words of comfort. She was filled with regret and remorse.

The closer one is to the emperor's doorstep, the more unfathomable the world becomes. The relationships in this capital city are complex. She was ultimately too arrogant and too prominent, forgetting the saying that the taller the tree, the more the wind will blow against it.

Having witnessed things unfold to this point, she understood that it was no longer something that Liu Qingying, a mere concubine's daughter, could control.

When Rong'er returned and learned of this, she frowned and said, "It's obvious that Prince An's target is you, young lady. If you go to the appointment today, it will be tantamount to walking into a trap."

“How could I not know this?” Liu Shushu said, rubbing her forehead in distress. “But Aunt Liu is in his hands, so I have no choice but to save her.”

Rong'er pursed her lips, looking somewhat troubled: "His Highness the Crown Prince said that he is afraid he cannot interfere in this matter."

Wei Huaixu had to pretend he knew nothing about it, because he still needed Liu Chengfeng's help, so he absolutely could not get involved in Liu Yan's matter.

Liu Shushu understood this principle well. "Now is a critical time. I can understand his fear of complications."

Rong'er said, "Your Highness is thinking of everything for you, Miss. He will remember your kindness."

She closed her eyes in despair. "But... we can't leave Aunt Liu unsaved. She's innocent. They shouldn't have been involved in these things in the first place."

Rong'er understood her worries, thought for a moment, and said, "Then why don't we ask the Liu family for help..."

"No!" Before she could finish speaking, Liu Shushu interrupted her sharply: "The fewer people who know about this, the better."

Moreover, she knew very well that if Madam Pan found out about this, she would probably not only not help them, but would also take the opportunity to kill Liu's mother and daughter.

After all, she almost died at the hands of the Pan family back then...

"It seems I have no choice but to keep this appointment."

Seeing her resolute attitude, Rong'er did not try to persuade her further, only saying, "This servant will report this to Your Highness."

...

As darkness fell, the early spring air was still bitterly cold, especially after nightfall. Everything looked desolate, and the trees that had just sprouted new buds still appeared quite forlorn.

Liu Shushu, dressed in her finest attire, arrived as promised in a horse-drawn carriage.

The two large stone lions in front of the vermilion gate of the Prince An's Mansion look very majestic. Neat and orderly guards stand on both sides of the gate, which is wide open, like a huge cage waiting for prey to enter.

Liu Shushu was helped over by Rong'er. The steward of the Prince An's mansion was already waiting by the door. He didn't even smile when he saw her, and said in a flat tone, "Please come in, Miss."

The composure she tried so hard to maintain on her face cracked for a moment.

She didn't miss the fleeting contempt in the butler's eyes, which made her feel like a prostitute being lured to the door by a distinguished guest.

Wei Huaichong did it on purpose, just to embarrass her.

Liu Shushu silently encouraged herself and walked steadily inside.

The Prince's mansion was enormous, comparable in size to three generals' mansions. With Consort Yan's favor and the Yan family wielding considerable power in the court, the Prince An's mansion was naturally extraordinary. She had previously visited the Prince Xuan's mansion with Wei Huaixu, but it was less than half the size of this one.

"Prince An, Wei Huaichong, Prince An, Wei Huaichong..." she murmured to herself.

The image of that exquisite face, with porcelain-like skin, alluring and cunning fox eyes, and a smile that could captivate anyone.

In fact, if we only consider appearance, Wei Huaichong is superior to Wei Huaixu, after all, Consort Yan was once a renowned beauty in the Eastern Lin Kingdom.

However, in terms of talent, character, and political acumen, he was no match for Wei Huaixu.

Oh, and that's not all...

Liu Shushu smiled, realizing that in terms of ambition, he was no match for Wei Huaixu.

Those are people who crawled out of purgatory to collect debts...

She, Liu Shushu, is destined to be matched with the most distinguished man in the world.