Chapter 18 Cat Abuse
The moment Lu Zhaoruo rushed into the back kitchen courtyard, her heart clenched instantly, and she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
Little Abao was hanging from a dead tree, its front paws tightly bound by rough hemp rope, and a stone tied to its tail. Its once fluffy and soft fur was now wet and clung to its thin body, its belly rising and falling slightly.
"Waaah..."
It let out a weak whimper, its eyes half-open, its pupils already dilated.
At the kitchen doorway, the old woman was pressing down hard on Dongrou's shoulders, her knees against her back...
Unable to break free, Dongrou cried until her eyes were red and swollen, pleading hoarsely, "Please, let Abao go! It'll freeze to death! Don't smash it..."
The dead tree was three zhang away.
"Watch me!"
Xing'er stood on tiptoe and slammed the snowball in her hand hard into A Bao's convulsing abdomen.
"My turn!"
Another maid, Tao'er, grinned, rolled a snowball the size of a fist, and swung her arm at A Bao's head.
The snowball hit Abao on the head with a dull "plop".
Two bright red streams suddenly gushed from A Bao's nose.
"Hahaha!"
The two lowly maids linked arms and spun around, their laughter shrill.
Xing'er suggested, "How about we bury this beast in the snow, leaving only its head sticking out?"
Lu Zhaoruo felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart, the pain making her vision go black...
She clenched her fingers, her eyes red as she looked at the woodpile beside her, grabbed a thick stick, and rushed to Xing'er in three steps.
"Click"
The firewood, accompanied by a whooshing sound in the wind, slammed hard onto Xing'er's shoulder.
Xing'er immediately screamed and knelt on the ground, her face contorted in pain: "Has the mistress gone mad?"
Lu Zhaoruo's usually elegant and refined face was now covered with frost, her brows no longer showing their usual gentleness, her eyes burning with anger. She swung the stick back and struck Xing'er hard on the back of her knees, knocking her to the ground in the snow.
Tao'er screamed and rushed forward to stop her, but Lu Zhaoruo flipped her wrist and the firewood stick whistled as it smashed down on her elbow.
"ah……"
Tao'er hugged her arms and fell into the snowdrift, crying loudly.
Seeing this, the old woman released Dongrou and rushed forward, angrily saying, "Madam is really something! She even beats us servants to death! I'll go to the old lady's place..."
The next second.
Lu Zhaoruo swung three times in succession.
The first blow landed on her knee.
The second blow struck her wrist.
The third pat was on her back.
The old woman in the kitchen knelt down with a "plop," and then fell face-first into the dirt with a "thud."
The three huddled in the snow, groaning in pain.
Lu Zhaoruo threw the firewood down beside them with a thud, and the splashing snowflakes hit the three pale faces.
She trembled as she untied the hemp rope from A Bao's paws. The flesh beneath the downy fur was raw and bleeding, with deep marks revealing the bone.
When it touched the stone tied to its tail, the tail, which should have been fluffy, drooped limply, with a section twisted unnaturally in the middle...
The tail broke off!
It was just a cat, yet it suffered such abuse. Those people had no respect for life; instead, they found excitement and enjoyment in it…
Lu Zhaoruo felt as if her heart was being torn apart, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"Waaah..."
Abao's cold body trembled slightly in her arms.
It barely managed to lift its head, touched her wrist with its wet nose, and let out a weak "meow," as if to comfort her: I'm alright.
The old woman struggled to her feet in the slush, her face contorted with rage: "Lu Shi! Who do you think you are?"
She spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and continued, "I have served three generations of the Shen family. When the old lady's mother-in-law was alive, I was the one who served her ginseng soup!"
Lu Zhaoruo raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping coldly over the three servants in the snow who had been humiliating their mistress.
In the past, she was cautious and timid, and those servants who should have been obedient to her gradually stopped taking her seriously.
Now, taking advantage of the half-day she spent at home, he tormented Abao to the point of near death.
Ah Bao's claws and broken tail stung her eyes.
Did these lowly servants know that she would still grit her teeth and swallow her anger as before?
Dongrou staggered over, half her cheek swollen and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth: "Wife, they said they're going to torture Abao to death..."
Lu Zhaoruo took a few steps forward, her embroidered shoes pressing heavily on the old woman's fingers. She looked down at the distorted old face and said, "I am the lawfully wedded mistress of the Shen family, in charge of the household affairs. How can I not punish three insolent servants who dare to defy their superiors?"
She twisted her toe forcefully again, and the old woman under the stove screamed in agony.
Lu Zhaoruo suddenly chuckled: "Would the old lady divorce me for a few dogs?"
How could Zhang Shi divorce him?
The commotion in the back kitchen naturally alerted Zhang.
Soon, Granny Zhou, who was by Zhang's side, summoned everyone to the main hall.
Lu Zhaoruo did not go directly to the main hall, but returned to her own courtyard first and carefully settled Abao in.
Just then, she saw Stone and asked him to find a veterinarian to treat Abao.
Shi Tou hesitated at first, but seeing the earnestness and anxiety in Lu Zhaoruo's eyes, he finally nodded and agreed.
After settling Abao in, Lu Zhaoruo took Dongrou to the main hall.
Zhang sat upright in the main seat, her face gloomy.
The three women—the old woman from the kitchen, her mother, and her daughters—knelt below the hall, their wailing deafening.
The old woman, with snot and tears streaming down her face, cried out, "Old Madam, please be wise! The eldest daughter-in-law is trying to beat this old servant to death! I've served the Shen family for over thirty years; even a dog deserves some dignity..."
She showed her arm, which was bruised and purple from being hit with firewood: "Although a servant born into a family is of lowly status, his life or death should still be decided by the old lady, shouldn't it?"
Lu Zhaoruo stood to the side, coughing lightly from time to time.
Dongrou knelt on the ground, half her face swollen, and cried as she explained what had happened: "I was sent by Xing'er to do laundry, thinking that you, my lady, still had a garment... But when I came back, I saw Xing'er sneaking around in your room, searching everywhere. I scolded her, and she slapped me across the face..."
"Abao saw her hitting me, so he rushed over, but he didn't hurt Xing'er, while Xing'er..."
When Dongrou recounted how Abao was hung upside down and pelted with snowballs, she was already sobbing uncontrollably.
She pointed tremblingly at the kitchen maid: "This servant went to save Abao, but the kitchen maid pinned me down in the snow... When you returned and saw this, they even spoke rudely to you, so you took action..."
Upon hearing this, Xing'er immediately kowtowed: "Madam, this servant did not do anything suspicious..."
Dongrou glared at Xing'er, her tone full of accusation: "I clearly saw you rummaging through my mistress's dressing case."
Xing'er suddenly smiled smugly, straightened her back, and retorted loudly, "You're making baseless accusations! It was clearly the old lady who sent me to the room to call the eldest mistress. I don't know where the eldest mistress went so early in the morning."
Lu Zhaoruo covered her mouth with a handkerchief and coughed. It turned out that the old rascal had sent Xing'er to steal things from the room again.
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