Chapter 271: The Lady of the Marquisate vs. the Younger Prince 14
Shiqi's arms were tied behind her back, her legs were bound together, her mouth was gagged, and she was thrown into the stable, where she was covered with horse straw, leaving no trace at all.
She couldn't make any sound and couldn't move. If it weren't for the horse's cleverness, even Ji Yunhuan wouldn't have been able to find her.
Shiqi was wet all over, with no obvious scars on her body, but her face was pale and her breathing was weak, and it was obvious that she had suffered a lot.
Ji Yunhuan took off her coat and put it on Shiqi. She touched Shiqi's cold face and wished she could burn down the entire mansion!
"What did they do to you?" Ji Yunhuan's voice trembled slightly.
Shiqi shook her head and said weakly, "It's nothing, I just tied you up. The old lady wants to know where your dowry is hidden and what properties you have under your name. Don't worry, madam, I didn't tell her."
Ji Yunhuan understood very well the old lady's methods of tormenting people.
Shiqi was covered in water because she was pressed into a water tank and struggled in suffocation until she was on the verge of death, when she was pulled out. This method of torture leaves no scars and is the old lady's favorite.
Shiqi must have been pricked by a needle, and there should still be needle marks between her fingernails. She may have also been kneeling for a long time with a heavy object on her shoulders, and her knees are all bruised.
As for why Shiqi was not hurt, it was because the old lady still wanted to sell Shiqi!
In the last century, after his family fell into trouble, Liang Wanzhou, in order to maintain his good reputation of being loyal to his wife, did not divorce her. Instead, he drove her to the back room and treated her like a servant.
She didn't even have the qualifications to be sold, and the old lady was even more unscrupulous in torturing her.
Shiqi was sold out. Shiqin was beautiful, so in order to make her life better, she took the initiative to climb into Liang Wanzhou's bed.
There were many women in the Marquis' Mansion, and Shiqin was no match for them at all. In the end, her appearance was disfigured and she died tragically in the snow.
Liang Wanzhou deliberately let those women deal with Shiqin. Ji Yunhuan could only watch the people around him die one by one, suffering in pain and despair every day, and was finally pushed into the well by Liang Wanzhou himself.
Ji Yunhuan was trembling with pain. She wiped Shiqi's face gently with a handkerchief and scolded, "Are you a fool? Just tell her one or two things. When I come back, I will make the decision for you. Why are you holding on? Things are not as important as people."
"If you really die in her hands, what's the point of keeping those things? Where can I find another Shiqi to accompany me? Are you trying to piss me off to death?"
Shiqi sniffed. She hadn't cried just now, but the lady's words brought tears to her eyes.
"There are also poems, zithers, books, and paintings accompanying the Madam. The old Madam is very greedy. She wants all of the Madam's dowry. That is the Madam's last resort."
"Madam, you lived so happily at home before. Since you came to this mansion, the Marquis is absurd, the old lady is vicious, and Aunt Wan is arrogant. Without these dowries, how will Madam live in the future?"
Ji Yunhuan gritted his teeth and said, "That's not as important as you! I'll take you back, and I'll ask Shiqin to ask Doctor Xu to come over. You take good care of him and make sure he's plump and white."
Ji Yunhuan helped Shiqi back to the east wing, while Shiqin quietly slipped out to ask for a doctor.
Before the two men had time to enter the house, the old lady rushed into the courtyard with a group of people. More than a dozen torches illuminated the dark courtyard as bright as day.
"Stop! This maid made a mistake, and I asked her to reflect on it in the stable. What do you want to do? Do you want to disobey your mother-in-law?"
Shiqi couldn't help but shudder when she saw the old lady. As soon as the lady left this morning, the old lady took her to the back room. She had been there all day without eating or drinking. Now she felt scared when she saw the old lady.
Ji Yunhuan felt extremely distressed. She protected Shiqi behind her, her eyes filled with rage as she stared at the old lady.
"I don't know what Shiqi has done wrong that requires the old lady to discipline her personally. She is my maid. Shouldn't the old lady ask for my opinion before disciplining her?"
The old lady is not well-read, but she has a lot of twisted ideas.
"She offended me, so of course I have to discipline her myself. Do you think I'm stupid? If I tell you, you will definitely protect her. This mansion is under my jurisdiction, so naturally I can discipline her however I want. It's your turn as a daughter-in-law to point fingers at your mother-in-law!"
Shiqi hid behind the lady and could not help but whispered in defense: "It was the old lady who broke into the lady's room and searched, so I stopped her. I did not offend the old lady."
The old lady's eyes widened, her face looked ferocious and terrifying.
"How dare you! The entire mansion belongs to my son, and what belongs to my son is mine! There is no place I can't go to, and there is no place I can't go to. How dare a mere servant stop me? You deserve to be beaten to death."
The old lady had many people around her, so Ji Yunhuan didn't dare to force her and could only reason with her first.
"Shiqi is a personal maid I brought from the Ji family. It is her duty to protect my things. If she really offended the old lady, I will apologize to her on her behalf."
"The old lady has punished me, but she can't just hold my maid hostage and not let me. I will send her out of the mansion tomorrow, so that she won't bother the old lady anymore."
The old lady was unhappy when she heard this. She was still hoping to force useful information out of Shiqi, so naturally she was unwilling to let Shiqi leave.
"No! Not only did she bump into me, she also stole my stuff! She can't leave until she finds the stuff!"
The old lady made up lies without blinking an eye. Ji Yunhuan was very upset and mocked:
"The entire mansion is completely clean. They can't even pay out next month's salary. How can they have anything valuable?"
"If you want to slander someone, you should find a decent reason. Shiqi has been with me since she was a child and has seen all kinds of good things. How could she be interested in the old lady's trifles?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the servants holding torches looked at each other in bewilderment. They were not the servants of the marquis's mansion, they were paid to do the job. For such a big marquis's mansion, there must be some servants to guard the house and run errands to keep up appearance.
"Is this true? The monthly salary of the Marquis's Mansion is not high, and it's exhausting. I might as well work as a gatekeeper for a wealthy merchant."
"My father followed the old marquis through thick and thin, and I followed the young marquis. If it weren't for the old marquis, we would have left long ago. The old marquis used to have houses and horses, but now he has nothing."
"Is the Marquis' Mansion really that poor? Didn't they pay money on time every month before?"
The concierge, Uncle Fang, had arrived in the courtyard at some point. He nodded to the lady and said loudly:
"You may not know this, but we have been relying on Madam for the past few months. After Madam came, our monthly salary was paid on time. Since yesterday, Madam has stopped taking care of the family, so there is no money left in the mansion."
"What are you doing here so late at night? What good will it do you to stop the lady? Why don't you all go away?"
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