Who does she think she is?
As the guards left to carry out their orders, Su Qing looked out the window at the crabapple tree her mother had planted before her death, a chill surging in her eyes—in her previous life, after her mother passed away, Yin Mo moved into the Prince's mansion under the guise of "taking care of her niece." On the surface, she was all smiles and concern for her, but behind her back, she did all sorts of insidious things: withholding her winter clothes, leaving her shivering in the cold winter.
He told Yin Yi that she was "mischievous and impulsive," which made her father gradually misunderstand her; even after she escaped from the sacrificial cave, he spread rumors that she was "possessed by evil spirits," causing the servants in the mansion to avoid her and making it difficult for them to even get a hot meal.
In this life, she wanted Yinmo to experience firsthand what it felt like to be isolated, helpless, and trampled underfoot. The next morning, Su Qing deliberately had her personal maid, Wanwan, carry her mother's most cherished "blue-glazed white plum blossom tea set" past Yinmo's courtyard.
Sure enough, Yinmo's personal maid, Chuntao, suddenly rushed out, pretending to "fetch some snacks for Madam," and deliberately bumped into Wanwan—the tea set crashed onto the bluestone slab with a "bang," shards flying everywhere, one of which even cut Wanwan's hand. "Oh dear! This is Madam's precious tea set, how could you be so careless!"
Yinmo came out upon hearing the noise, her face full of "regret," but her eyes concealed a hint of smugness. "Wanwan, your maid is too impetuous. I'll have to talk to the Prince about this and have him discipline her properly." Wanwan's eyes immediately reddened, and she knelt on the ground, crying, "It wasn't me! It was Sister Chuntao who bumped into me!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Chun Tao hurriedly tried to explain, but Yin Mo stopped her with a look. Yin Mo stepped forward and pretended to help Wan Wan up, "Alright, alright, maybe your hand slipped."
"But the tea set is broken, Ah Li will definitely be sad. I need to go and tell the Prince, and ask him to comfort Ah Li and tell her not to take it too hard."
She thought she had handled things perfectly, but little did she know that it was all a trap set by Su Qing—in the shadows of the corridor, the guards had already seen everything clearly, even Chun Tao's bumping into someone and Yin Mo's gaze. That evening, Yin Yi summoned all the servants in the mansion to his study, and Yin Mo was indeed the first to step forward, her tone tinged with "worry": "Your Highness, today A Li's maid broke the old lady's tea set, and A Li will probably blame her."
"I think Wanwan is really reckless. Why don't we punish her by making her stay in the woodshed for a few days? It will also help A-Li calm down." Su Qing sat to the side, her hand holding the teacup paused slightly, and she looked up at Yin Mo. Her voice was calm but penetrating: "Aunt Mo is quite good at making decisions for me."
"I just don't understand why Aunt Mo didn't stop Chun Tao when she broke the tea set? Instead, she thought of punishing my maid?" Yin Mo's expression changed slightly, and she forced a smile, "What do you mean by this, A Li? I was just afraid you would be sad..." "Sad?" Su Qing put down her teacup, stood up and walked to Yin Mo. She took out a silver hairpin from her sleeve—the very one that Chun Tao had dropped next to the broken tea set during the day. There was still a little bit of celadon glaze powder on the hairpin. "This is Chun Tao's hairpin. It fell next to the broken porcelain."
"If she hadn't deliberately bumped into someone, how could the hairpin have fallen there? Or did Aunt Mo already know she was going to do this and deliberately condone it?" Yin Mo's face turned completely pale, and she hurriedly looked at Chun Tao: "You... how did your hairpin end up there?" Chun Tao's legs went weak with fright, and she knelt on the ground: "It wasn't me! It was... it was Madam who made me do it!"
The lady said, "If the young lady's tea set is broken, the young lady will definitely be angry. Then the prince will think the young lady is immature and will praise the lady for being sensible!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Yin Mo shouted sharply, but couldn't hide the panic in her voice. Su Qing sneered, then took out another secret letter and threw it in front of Yin Mo: "Whether it's nonsense or not, just look at this and you'll know."
This is the letter you wrote to Jingcong, in which you said, 'Once I distract the guards of the Prince's mansion, you can take the opportunity to imprison Yinyi and bring Yinli back to Qinglang Mountain'—Aunt Mo, you colluded with outsiders to harm my father and me, and you still dare to pretend to be a good person in front of Father?"
The handwriting on the secret letter was Yinmo's own. Looking at the familiar handwriting, she trembled all over and could no longer utter a word of explanation.
Yin Yi picked up the secret letter, his hands trembling with rage. He pointed at Yin Mo: "I treated you well because you're my wife's sister, but you...you colluded with outsiders to harm me! How can you face A-Li's mother? How can you face the Yin Royal Mansion?" "I...I was just confused for a moment!"
Yinmo cried and begged for mercy, "Jingcong forced me to do this! He said that as long as I help him, he will make me the wife of Qinglang Mountain! I don't want to stay in the Silver Prince's Mansion as an insignificant aunt anymore!"
"Unremarkable?" Su Qing walked up to Yin Mo, squatted down, and looked coldly. "In my previous life, you withheld my winter clothes, making me freeze and get a fever in the cold winter; you spread rumors that I was possessed by evil spirits, making me suffer all kinds of contempt in the mansion."
I escaped from the sacrificial cave, and you wouldn't even give me a hot meal—have you forgotten all of that? You think you're insignificant, but every single thing you did to me, I remember it to this day!
Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing. Yin Mo turned pale and collapsed to the ground, all traces of her former arrogance gone. In the end, following the rules of the Prince's mansion, Yin Yi ordered Yin Mo to be confined to the Cold Courtyard, never to leave again.
The cold courtyard was perpetually dark, damp, and chilly, containing only a dilapidated hut without even a proper bed or bedding—just like the drafty side room Yinmo had made her live in in her previous life. Chun Tao, for her involvement, was flogged fifty times and expelled from the palace, never to set foot in the capital again.
After dealing with the silver dust, Su Qing stood before her mother's memorial tablet, gently wiping away the dust. The flickering candlelight reflected the determination in her eyes: "Mother, I have made the first person who bullied me pay the price."
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