Qingying felt heartbroken, feeling pain and regret for her mother.
Someone as radiant as her should have a wonderful life...
“Miss Ye was always in a bad mood during her pregnancy. In order to cheer her up, Liu Yu agreed to her request and redeemed me, bringing me to serve Miss Ye.” As Li Niang said this, her expression softened. “Those days were probably the happiest time of my life.”
"After you, Jiaojiao, were born, she gradually stopped clinging to the past. Perhaps she accepted her fate. She said she only wanted to raise you well. For you, she was willing to become Liu Yu's concubine, just to give you a legitimate status."
"But Liu Yu refused. He didn't want Miss Ye to be a concubine. Perhaps he really loved Miss Ye very much and wanted her to come into the mansion as a secondary wife. But Madam Pan was not a magnanimous person. She came from a noble family and married into the Liu family because she knew in advance that the Liu family had an ancestral rule that men of the Liu family were not allowed to take concubines. But Liu Yu wanted to break this precedent, so how could she be willing?"
Three years passed, and Ye Ning became pregnant again. This time, the old lady could no longer sit still. After all, she was a member of the Liu family and should not be allowed to be lost to outsiders.
Pan was so angry that she took the young Liu Shushu back to her parents' home, but accidentally lost Liu Shushu.
Pan thought that Ye Ning had someone kidnap Liu Shushu, so she went to the villa, but was stopped by Liu Yu.
Pan was crying hysterically, hitting Liu Yu as she sobbed, yelling, "Give me back my daughter! Give me back my daughter..."
Liu Yu said firmly, "It couldn't be her. She's been with me these past few days and hasn't left my sight!"
This was undoubtedly like stabbing Pan in the heart. She cursed Ye Ning, saying she deserved to die a horrible death and that all her children should be sickly. Liu Yu immediately slapped her, knocking her to the ground.
Pan hated Ye Ning to the core. She felt that Ye Ning had ruined her family and destroyed her hopes for the future.
So she also wanted to destroy Ye Ning.
At this point, Li Niang's expression suddenly turned somewhat painful. She closed her eyes and continued, "Pan secretly reported the matter to the Emperor. That night, Liu Yu was not there, and a group of men in black broke in. Everyone died. Miss Ye asked me to take you to hide in a secret room, while she was kidnapped by those men."
"Later, in order to escape, I took you through many twists and turns, hoping to go to the capital to seek help from Liu Yu."
No wonder Qingying had such an image flash through her mind when she first met Li Niang: a little girl running forward with a baby in her arms, saying "Don't be afraid".
That little girl was Li Niang, and that baby was her. Li Niang must have been terrified at the time, but she had to pretend to be calm in order to comfort her.
"Later, I didn't find Liu Yu, but I found Miss Ye's body. She was stabbed to death with a sword. Before she breathed her last, she was still desperately protecting her stomach, curled up on the ground." Li Niang's voice was a little choked.
“I don’t know what she went through before she died, but she was covered in blood. I tried to take her body away, but Pan grabbed me. She also discovered your hiding place and stabbed you to death in front of me.”
"Wait..." Qingying interrupted her, puzzled, "What do you mean by 'stabbed to death'?"
“It’s true. I saw it with my own eyes. She stabbed you in the body with a dagger, and you stopped moving immediately. I thought you were dead, which is why I haven’t looked for you all these years.”
Qingying subconsciously touched herself, frowned, and asked hesitantly, "Do you remember where she stabbed you?"
"I remember, of course I remember!"
"Could you demonstrate for me?"
Li Niang touched her body, finally pinpointing a spot, pointed to it, and said, "It's here."
Qingying silently made a note of it, then said to her, "Go on, what happened next?"
Li Niang shook her head. "Later, I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, my eyes had been poisoned and I was blinded. It was Liu Yu who saved me. He took me back to the music hall, saying that was the safest place."
Qingying was quite puzzled. "Why do you call him Liu Yu directly, instead of calling him General Liu like others do?"
"He doesn't deserve it!" Li Niang said indignantly. "If it weren't for him, Miss Ye wouldn't have died so tragically. He deceived Miss Ye, and he selfishly imprisoned her by his side, never considering what Miss Ye truly wanted!"
Qingying recalled Liu Yu's face, and thought of how he easily believed others' framing that day, completely disregarding that she was his biological daughter. He also ignored her when she was rejected during their engagement... Oh, it seems that over the years, he has been away fighting battles and rarely cared for her. He only showed affection to her in front of others.
Looking back now, he was just trying to gain a good reputation so that outsiders would think he treated his children equally. In reality... he was always a selfish person.
Qingying sighed helplessly, trying her best to remain rational. She then continued to ask, "Then why did the Emperor intervene in this matter? I heard that he and Mother had a past relationship; why would he kill her?"
"I once heard Miss Ye lament the ruthlessness of emperors, but I know nothing about their affairs, and Miss Ye has never revealed a single thing to me."
It was indeed ruthless. If they truly had feelings, how could they have wiped out her entire Ye family...
Looking into the woman's lifeless eyes, Qingying asked softly, "Is your eye really incurable?"
Li Niang shook her head. "I've seen many doctors, and they all say it's rotten." Then she gave a faint smile. "Jiao Jiao, don't worry about me. I'm used to it. You should be careful by yourself while you're alone in the Liu family. I'm of lowly status and can't help you much, but if there's anything I can do to help, just ask. I'll do my best to assist you."
Qingying untied the purse at her waist and poured out all the silver inside, saying, "This is all the money I have on me. I'm giving it all to you in case you need it."
"No need, no need, Jiaojiao, I don't need any money here."
“Take it if they give it to you.” Qingying said seriously, “It’s all Liu family’s money, so why not take it? I’m still officially the third young lady of the Liu family, so they won’t dare to make things too difficult for me.”
Li Niang couldn't refuse her, so she had no choice but to accept the silver.
She thought to herself that she would hide it for Jiaojiao first, and give it all to her when Jiaojiao needed money in the future.
"Jiaojiao, you can't stay here too long, otherwise they'll find fault with you if you go back late. I've heard that even the concubine daughters of noble families need their stepmother's permission to go out. Pan Shi probably doesn't know that you sneaked out today."
Qingying touched her nose guiltily, "How did you know I snuck out?"
Li Niang smiled and said, "If one comes out openly and honestly, why would one need to disguise oneself as a man?"
She chuckled dryly, "Haha... I can't hide it from you after all."
"Then you should go back early. After all, the music hall is not a place for women."
Qingying knew that she was doing this for her own good, but she didn't leave immediately. After hesitating for a while, she said, "Liniang, I will redeem you from your servitude."
Li Niang shook her head.
"Why is that? You don't want to leave?"
“Young Master Zou has already redeemed me. I am not currently bound by any contract with the music hall, and I can leave whenever I want.”
Qingying was hearing for the first time that the music hall had a contract system. Just as she was about to ask more questions, Li Niang picked up her teacup, turned away, and said to her in a light tone, "Miss, you should go."
Having been kicked out three times, even Qingying, with her thick skin, couldn't bear to stay any longer and got up to say goodbye.
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