Chapter 50: Rebellion
Jiang Rufei chuckled, "That's all? She's really not good enough."
Yunxiang bit her lip and suddenly kowtowed heavily, "Second Miss, please understand! Although I accepted the money, I have no intention of harming you! I have already thrown away the powder."
"Of course I know." Jiang Fei said, "Otherwise, do you think you can still kneel here and talk to me? In this case, then I will give you a chance. First, tell me why you didn't do what Jiang Rulin said."
Yunxiang said, "Miss Third is a traitor. If she does it once, she'll do it again. If I really do what she says, and she puts all the blame on me, then I will..."
Jiang Fei nodded slowly, "You're not stupid, but what if I need you to do something?"
Yunxiang raised her head and said, "I am willing to serve the Second Young Lady."
Jiang Fei asked Yunxiang to stand up, but as soon as she finished telling her plan, Yunxiang knelt down again.
"No, I will be beaten to death."
Jiang Fei said, "For what you did tonight, I would beat you to death and no one would say no. I give you two choices. Either you do as I say and I will keep your life, or I will tell the old lady that you poisoned me."
"Miss!"
"Think it over." Jiang Fei said, "If you choose the latter path, no one in this mansion can protect you. Do you think Jiang Rulin can protect you? If you work for her, she will only put all the blame on you so that she can get away with it. But if you work for me, although I can't guarantee that you will be unharmed, I can save your life."
"A beating is inevitable. After the job is done, I'll give you another two hundred silver coins. Whether you get married or start your own business, it's better than kneeling down and being a slave."
Yunxiang thought about it.
Her monthly salary was less than one silver tael, and two hundred taels of silver was an unimaginable amount of money for her. She would have to work in the Jiang family for twenty years to earn enough money.
"Have you thought about it?" Jiang Fei asked, "Are you going to do it?"
Yunxiang raised her head and said, "I will follow the Second Young Lady's instructions."
…
When the maid in the old lady's courtyard went to invite Yao to go to the west wing, Yao was still a little reluctant.
After the maid left first, Yao took Nanny Wang and the maid and complained as they walked.
"I've already asked the doctor, and the old lady has also gone. Why did you ask me to come all the way here in such hot weather? Why does the whole family have to revolve around Jiang Rufei? She's not dying."
Nanny Wang comforted her, "Madam, please don't get angry over that little hoof. It's not worth it."
There were several maids standing in the west wing, and the housekeeper Liu Chang was also standing at the door.
"Oh," Yao said, "What kind of illness is this, with all this fuss?"
The housekeeper's face was stiff, "Madam, you should go in and take a look first."
Yao walked up the stairs, but her steps slowed down before she even entered the door.
An old lady with a sullen face sat in the hall, while Jiang Rulin and two maids knelt on the ground.
As she crossed the threshold, Jiang Rulin crawled towards her on her knees, hugged her legs and cried, "Mother, mother, help me."
The old lady slammed the teacup in her hand onto the table. "How dare you ask your mother for help!"
Yao had no idea what was going on and asked in confusion, "Mother, what happened? Rulin is young and naive. If she offended you, your daughter-in-law will apologize on her behalf."
The old lady sneered, "How young? She's sixteen years old, and yet she ordered her maid to poison her sisters' water! I think she's got something up her sleeve!"
Yao's heart skipped a beat, thinking she had misheard. "What? Is there some misunderstanding? Mother, Rulin is such a well-behaved girl, how could she..."
"What misunderstanding?!" The old lady slammed the table. "Yunxiang confessed everything! She admitted with her own mouth that it was Rulin who ordered her to put lime powder in the water tank! She even gave her ten taels of silver as a reward."
Yao's eyes went dark and she was saved from falling by the support of Nanny Wang.
"How is this possible?"
She looked at Jiang Rulin, whose face was covered in tears. Jiang Rulin shook her head and said, "I didn't. I didn't poison my second sister."
The old lady swept her sleeves and the teacup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. She stood up and pointed at Jiang Rulin, but before she could say a word of curse she sat down again in anger.
Nanny Zhang fanned the old lady and helped her calm down. She also advised, "Now that things have come to this, we should do what needs to be done. Even if you get sick from anger, this matter won't go away on its own."
The old lady held her forehead with her hand and looked at Yao. She was so tired that her voice was a little softer. "You are the mistress of the house. You decide how to deal with this matter."
Yao said "eh". She came late and didn't know the ins and outs of many things, so she asked Butler Liu to explain it briefly.
After hearing this, Yao broke out in a cold sweat.
Rulin was caught red-handed by Aunt Zhang, who was beside the old lady. Yunxiang insisted that it was Jiang Rulin who ordered it. It was impossible for her to get away with it.
Yao paused, a gleam in her eyes. "Mother, I think there's something fishy going on here. Yunxiang is Rufei's maid, so why would she suddenly obey Rulin's orders? I suspect someone is deliberately setting up a trap to frame Rulin."
The old lady frowned, "What do you mean by that?"
Yao stepped forward and said earnestly, "Mother, think about it, Rulin is such a timid child. She wouldn't even dare to step on an ant. How could she do such a vicious thing? And if she really wanted to harm someone, why didn't she just put it in the tea instead of the water tank?"
She turned to Jiang Rufei and said with a hint of meaning, "Rufei, the people in your courtyard did such a thing, and as their master, don't you know anything about it?"
Jiang Fei coughed weakly twice. "I'm not feeling well, so I won't beat around the bush with Mother. From what Mother said, could it be that I ordered Yunxiang to harm me?"
"I didn't say that." Yao said.
"Since Mother feels that Third Sister was framed, then why don't you tell me why Aunt Zhang heard Rulin threatening that girl to confess?"
Yao choked and couldn't find the words to refute.
Jiang Feixu changed the subject and said softly, "Third sister, I don't know how I got in your way and made you target me everywhere. First, you used my name to make an appointment with Zhao Xingbang, trying to ruin my reputation. Mother spoke for you, and I was helpless. But now this has happened again. If it's because you want to marry Wei Sanlang, if Dingyuan Marquis Mansion and my family agree, I am willing to give it to you."
The old lady didn't know about the Zhao Xingbang incident. She was so angry that her eyes turned black and she almost fainted.
"Shut up!" Jiang Rulin suddenly screamed, "This is all your plan! You deliberately—"
"Shut up!" The old lady slammed her cane on the ground.
"Grandma, please calm down." Jiang Fei said, "I don't want to let this family become a mess. I want to live in the farm."
"I'm not dead yet," the old lady said. "As long as these old bones of mine live, no one will dare to intimate you."
Jiang Fei: “…”
In fact, it would be better to live in the manor. There would be no such annoying things, and it would be more convenient to go in and out. After all, she still had to quickly conquer Wei Mingzhen, and she also had to be on guard against Pei Jing who was bored and always came to disrupt the situation.
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