Chapter 835 The Plan in Progress
Lady Li, also in her thirties, walked in, swaying her hips as she wore a gorgeous and decadent palace dress.
As soon as she entered, she said with a coquettish smile, "This is the first time the Queen has invited me to the Queen's palace. It is indeed much bigger than my palace. It must be very comfortable to stay here."
After she finished speaking, she sat down directly.
She looked around, her gaze unrestrained, practically screaming on her face that she wanted to move here.
"At the palace banquet that night, Lady Li even said that the Queen was impolite. I think Lady Li was the one who was impolite, wasn't she?" Cheng Wanwan raised her eyes, her voice laced with sarcasm. "In my Great Yu Kingdom, when a concubine sees the Queen Mother of the Nation, she must perform a grand ceremony and wait for the Queen to offer her a seat before she is allowed to sit down. Do you think the Western Rong Kingdom doesn't have these courtesies?"
Madam Li's face suddenly turned cold: "You, a person from the Great Yu Kingdom, dare to criticize me? Who do you think you are?"
Cheng Wanwan smiled: "I am a distinguished guest invited by your Xirong King, and also a fellow villager and old friend of the Queen. In our Dayu Kingdom, my status as a second-rank lady is not much lower than that of a palace concubine. What does Lady Li think I am?"
Her smile carried a hint of provocation.
As expected, Mrs. Li was enraged.
Her family was powerful, and after marrying the king, she gave birth to children one after another, making her position extremely secure. No one had ever dared to be so presumptuous towards her.
She's just a peasant woman who got her official position through farming. She hasn't even washed the mud off her legs yet, and she dares to challenge my manners. Who gave her the guts?
Madam Li suddenly stood up and slapped him.
"stop."
As Princess Taiping spoke, she raised her hand and grasped Lady Li's wrist.
Over the years, she often took her daughter outside to bask in the sun by herself, and she had long since developed the strength to be no match for Mrs. Li.
"Is the Queen protecting her?" Lady Li pulled her hand away, gritting her teeth. "What if I insist on teaching this arrogant peasant woman a lesson?"
Princess Taiping stood in front of Cheng Wanwan, her voice calm: "As long as I am here, Madam Li must not be rude."
"Good, very good." Lady Li smiled. "The Queen doesn't think that the King needs Lady Sui's help because he has family backing him up, does she? I'm not afraid of a princess like you, let alone this mere peasant woman. We'll see."
She flicked her sleeve, turned around, and left.
Princess Taiping looked at the extremely calm Cheng Wanwan and said slowly, "She has always been ruthless. If you mess things up, I can't save you."
Cheng Wanwan returned to the small courtyard with Lan Yingyun's seeds, by which time it was already getting dark.
Zhao Sanniu and Ruan Mingzhu had just returned, both covered in mud, and immediately went to the bathhouse to take a shower.
Before long, someone from the palace brought over dinner.
Compared to the food in the Queen's palace, what they ate was naturally much more meager, but people who had worked all day would not complain about it and immediately sat down to eat.
"I've already eaten, you two eat more." Cheng Wanwan put food on the children's plates. "If nothing unexpected happens, something should happen tonight. You all remember what I told you before, right?"
Ruan Mingzhu's eyes lit up immediately. She had been brought here, forced to work in the fields every day, and monitored by so many people. She had had enough and couldn't wait to leave...
Zhao Sanniu made a shushing gesture: "You need to eat well to have the energy to do serious work, eat quickly."
The meal had just ended, and the maid hadn't even had time to clean up the mess, when the sound of a guard bowing came from the courtyard gate: "Greetings, Madam Li."
The three exchanged a glance, then immediately stood up and went out to greet them.
"Oh dear, it's quite a waste for a Lady Sui, a second-rank official, to live in such a small courtyard." Lady Li walked in with a large group of people, a mocking smile on her lips. "How about I speak with the King and have Lady Sui move to the Begonia Palace?"
Cheng Wanwan was about to speak.
Madam Li suddenly swept her sleeve, knocking all the teacups off the table to the ground with a clattering sound.
Her face turned ruthless, and she said, word by word, "Lady Sui, do you really think you're so great? Do you really think I'd give you face? The Queen protected you during the day, so I didn't hold it against you. If you apologize to me afterwards, this matter will be over. Who told you to be so arrogant? You're practically courting death!"
Zhao Sanniu immediately rushed in front of Cheng Wanwan: "What are you going to do to my mother?!"
He spoke in Daewoo Mandarin, which Mrs. Li couldn't understand, but that didn't stop her from knowing about their relationship.
She smiled gently: "The king still values you as a peasant woman, so it would be difficult to explain to him if I were to lay a hand on you. In that case, the son will have to pay for the mother's sins. Guards!"
She brought eight strong and powerful guards who stepped forward and pressed down on Zhao Sanniu's shoulders.
Cheng Wanwan's expression changed: "I am a guest invited by the King of Xirong. If Madam Ruoli lays a hand on my son, I will definitely demand an explanation from the King of Xirong."
"Ha! Let's see if Wang is on my side or helping an outsider like you! Make your move!"
At Madam Li's command, the guard raised his hand and slapped Zhao San Niu across the face.
Ruan Mingzhu grabbed a stool and used it as a weapon, rushing over and fighting with the guards. Zhao Sanniu was not to be outdone, and the two of them faced off against eight guards.
"This is outrageous!" Lady Li exclaimed in disbelief. "They dare to wage war in the palace of the Western Rong Kingdom! They have no respect for us, the Western Rong! Guards, bring them here!"
She screamed angrily, and a dozen guards patrolling the courtyard rushed in upon hearing the noise. Twenty-odd people could easily deal with Zhao Sanniu and Ruan Mingzhu.
In less than fifteen minutes, Zhao Sanniu and Ruan Mingzhu were covered in bruises and forced to kneel on the ground.
"Madam Sui's son is quite skilled, and this guard is also capable." Madam Li stepped on Zhao Sanniu's back with one foot and Ruan Mingzhu's hand with the other. "Hold them both down and give each of them fifty strokes of the cane. Let's see if their bones are harder or my cane is harder!"
"yes!"
The guards brought over thick wooden boards and began to inflict the torture, one on each side.
Cheng Wanwan looked flustered: "Madam Li, I was wrong. Please, please let my son go. I'll have him kowtow to you and apologize."
"It's too late to apologize now." Mrs. Li arrogantly raised her chin. "You should be glad I didn't take their lives."
"Clap clap clap!"
The sound of the cane being struck echoed in the room, which greatly relieved Madam Li's anger.
When Zhao Sanniu had been given thirty strokes of the cane, he coughed up blood and fainted. Ruan Mingzhu fainted immediately afterward.
"Oh dear, she's really too fragile." Madam Li shook her head regretfully. "Alright, alright, let's just let the remaining twenty strokes go. How about that? Aren't I very forgiving and magnanimous?"
Cheng Wanwan lowered her head, looking angry but unable to speak out: "Madam Xie Li, please show mercy."
Lady Li reached out and patted Cheng Wanwan's face, then smiled and said, "Remember, I am the mistress of the Western Rong Kingdom. Instead of trying to please the Queen, you should focus your attention on me. I can guarantee you wealth and happiness."
After saying that, she laughed and left.
Cheng Wanwan's expression changed immediately. She walked to the door and saw the two maids serving her trembling under the eaves. She reached out and closed the door.
The moment the door closed, Zhao Sanniu and Ruan Mingzhu got up from the ground.
The two pulled out a thick pad from their lower backs; it was this pad that had protected them, which was why they hadn't actually fainted.
However, the injuries sustained during their previous fights were real, and his mouth would twitch whenever he spoke.
Cheng Wanwan asked worriedly, "Are you all still capable?"
"Of course!" Nguyen Minh Chau answered quickly. "Have the arrangements been made with Princess Taiping?"
Cheng Wanwan nodded.
She went into the inner room and took out two bundles: "There is silver and dry food in here. After you leave the city, immediately buy horses and head north... These are the weapons I have prepared for you. This is a homemade bomb. In an emergency, bite off the fuse and throw it... This is a smoke bomb. Throw one if you are surrounded to escape quickly..."
She had mentioned these things once before, and this time she reminded him again, and Zhao Sanniu remembered them well.
He tied the bundle to his body and solemnly said, "Mother, don't worry, I will definitely bring reinforcements to save you. Ruan Cheng, let's go!"
Nguyen Minh Chu clasped her hands in a fist salute to Cheng Wanwan, and the two left through the back door of the courtyard.
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