Chapter 114: Aunt Zhao must have killed my aunt, not me.
Seeing that the matter was a foregone conclusion, the servant carried the unconscious Aunt Zhao out and covered her mouth with a piece of cloth.
Liu Mingyue followed him out, and Zhao Yinlian's eyes flickered. She wondered if she had changed her mind and wanted to let Aunt Zhao go. Soon she found out that she was wrong.
"Guihua, move the chair out. I want to watch her being tortured with my own eyes. Help her count, and make sure she doesn't make the wrong number."
She glanced at the people standing behind with a fake smile: "Everyone, come out and watch carefully!"
Her words and actions today were not at all like those of a normal person. The Zhou Mansion no longer had a master, and there were only women and maids in the mansion. They had lost their former aura and were easily controlled by Liu Mingyue.
Zhou Junyuan's death was unclear. Even if Liu Mingyue demolished the Zhou Mansion, I'm afraid the emperor would just punish both of them and no one would get away with it. Zhao Yinlian and others were even less confident because of this.
Aunt Zhao's mouth was blocked, and she realized that she had become an abandoned child, so she felt hopeless. Until the board hit her body, her eyes widened, the whites of her eyes were covered with red bloodshot, and her pupils were trembling with pain.
The servants hit her so hard that the woman couldn't struggle free and could only be held down and beaten.
The dull sound of the board hitting the body and the whimpering of Aunt Zhao with her mouth blocked were not much different from the horror of a hundred ghosts parading in the middle of the night.
"Old lady! Please save my aunt! You can't beat her like that. After fifty lashes, she won't be able to survive!" Zhou Qianqian watched her biological mother suffer and knelt down in front of the old lady to beg for mercy.
Old Madam Zhou looked at her unmarried granddaughter with pity and shook her head helplessly.
If Zhou Junyuan had not died, it would not be Liu Mingyue's turn to make a scene today, but the Zhou family today is no longer the prosperous Zhou family of the past.
Zhou Qianqian understood what the old lady meant, but she was still unwilling to give in, so she knelt down in front of Zhao Yinlian.
Zhao Yinlian was terrified when she saw Aunt Zhao being beaten to a bloody mess. Suddenly, someone grabbed her dress and she stepped aside in horror. When she saw it was Zhou Qianqian, a hint of embarrassment flashed in her eyes.
"Madam, Aunt Liu's matter has absolutely nothing to do with you. Please ask the Crown Prince's wife to forgive her. If she is beaten with fifty boards, how can she survive?"
Zhou Qianqian usually prides herself on being well behaved and she still manages to keep her face in front of the mistress.
When something really happened, Zhou Qianqian realized that no matter how she begged, it was useless.
It is of no use to please them and get a word of praise. You have no ability and cannot even decide your own life or death.
Aunt Zhao's body couldn't bear it, and she fainted after only thirty strokes. Zhao Yinlian took a breath of cold air and glanced at Liu Mingyue quietly. Liu Mingyue didn't say anything, and no one dared to stop.
Since Aunt Zhao has already taken the blame for this crime, she can only let people continue to beat her. After all, the child in Zhou Baili's belly is of great significance not only to Zhao Yinlian, but also to the entire Zhou family.
As for Aunt Zhao, as a concubine, she could not help the Zhou family in any way, and her status and position certainly could not be compared with that of the pregnant Zhou Baili.
In front of the small hall door, apart from Zhou Qianqian's initial pleading and later crying, the only sound was the beating of a stick.
Everyone watching was silent, no one spoke, and they even held their breath at the same time. The beating of Aunt Zhao that day left an indelible shadow on everyone in the Zhou Mansion, causing them to tremble at the sound of similar noises.
After being beaten with fifty sticks, Aunt Zhao turned into a bloody mess, with her back covered in blood and flesh, and it was impossible to tell the original color of her clothes.
Zhou Qianqian watched her biological mother suffer so much. After the servant took away the stick, she ran to Aunt Zhao and cried her heart out.
"Aunt! Open your eyes and look at Qianqian, don't scare me!" Zhou Qianqian held Aunt Zhao's hand that was hanging beside the bench. When she touched Aunt Zhao's hand, it was stained with hot and wet blood, which was still warm.
Zhou Qianqian knelt down, pressed her face against Aunt Zhao's, and cried. She was as sad as Liu Mingyue just now.
However, Liu Mingyue was just acting, while Zhou Qianqian's grief was real. Liu Mingyue sat and watched the scene of the deep affection between mother and daughter, her heart was as calm as an ancient well, and what she had experienced was much more tragic than this mother and son.
The difference between them is that Aunt Zhao brought this upon herself! Liu Mingyue recalled that in her previous life, Aunt Zhao stole the jade pendant, and later, knowing that it was the item that proved Aunt Liu's identity, she maliciously replaced it, and thus, she became the daughter of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Aunt Zhao and her daughter Zhou Qianqian took away everything that belonged to her and her mother, and enjoyed all the wealth and glory and lived a very happy life.
Liu Mingyue had no sympathy for the mother and daughter. The servant put away the stick, stepped forward to feel Aunt Zhao's breath, and bowed to Liu Mingyue and said, "My dear Princess, she is still alive, but her breathing is so weak that it is almost inaudible."
What the servant meant was that fifty strokes of the cane did not take Aunt Zhao's life, but she only had one breath left, like a candle that was about to burn out, and death was a matter of time, and she would not be able to hold out for long.
"Well, leave now." Liu Mingyue's expression did not change, and she did not even move her eyelids, and asked the servant to leave.
When Zhou Qianqian, who was extremely grief-stricken, heard that her biological mother was only breathing her last breath, she paused for a moment and then hugged Aunt Zhao and burst into tears.
"Aunt! You are so miserable. This matter has nothing to do with you. There is no evidence at all. She wants you dead!"
Zhou Qianqian cried sadly. She was sad, but Liu Mingyue could tell that she wanted to blame more than one person in her words.
As the mistress, Zhao Yinlian, who had ordered the punishment of Aunt Zhao, looked unhappy, but it was she who gave the order for the fifty lashes. In order to protect her daughter, she had no choice but to abandon Aunt Zhao. If she wanted to blame someone, she should blame her own bad luck.
After Zhou Qianqian finished crying, she raised her sleeve to wipe away her tears and happened to see the mocking look on Liu Mingyue's face.
"Liu Mingyue! You are so cruel and ruthless. You lost your biological mother, so you want my biological mother to be buried with her! This matter has not been investigated thoroughly. Even if you want to use your power to pressure others, at least investigate the matter thoroughly. People like you have a heart as ugly as your face!"
The man was filled with grief and anger, and spoke without restraint. When others heard what he said, they all looked at Liu Mingyue at the same time.
Just when everyone thought that Liu Mingyue would order someone to hold Zhou Qianqian down and punish her like she had punished Zhao Yinlian, she shrugged and spread her hands: "Miss Zhou, did you misunderstand something?"
Zhou Qianqian had no idea what tricks she was playing and glared at her angrily.
"From the beginning to the end, I never insisted that Aunt Zhao was the murderer. What I said was that I wanted the Zhou family to give me an explanation. Aunt Zhao was the explanation given to me by the Zhou family. They said that Aunt Zhao must have killed my aunt, not me."
Liu Mingyue curled her lips innocently, she had never thought that she could take Aunt Zhao's life so easily, but the assistance from Zhao Yinlian and Old Madam Zhou was so powerful that her plan not only went smoothly, but also brought an "unexpected surprise".
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