Chapter 71 You've Always Been the One I Trust Most
The girl had a round face and looked very kind. Her thighs were covered with grass clippings and dirt.
Upon seeing Meng Huanyan, he smiled gently and prepared to climb in through the window.
Meng Huanyan didn't shout. In her despair, she saw a stranger's face, which surprised and shocked her.
She let the maid crawl into the room before lowering her voice to ask.
"Who are you? How did you get here?"
Guan Yi'an arranged for two maids to stay in her courtyard. She was afraid that if she spoke loudly, the maids would hear her, so she informed Guan Yi'an.
The round-faced maid replied softly, "Replying to Madam, I am Lan Cui, a newly recruited maid in the manor. I heard crying and commotion coming from Madam's courtyard while I was sweeping outside, but the gate was closed. They said that Lord Guan was discussing matters and should not be disturbed. I was worried, so I came through the bamboo grove at the back."
Meng Huanyan closed the window and walked to Lan Cui. "How long have you been here? What did you hear? What did you discover?"
Lan Cui lowered her head and said, "I heard Lord Guan talking to my aunt."
That means they all heard it.
Meng Huanyan's expression tightened, then she smiled bitterly and said, "What's done is done, and people will find out sooner or later. But why did you run into my room after hearing such a deadly secret instead of leaving quickly when no one was watching?"
Lan Cui looked indignant. "The master is wrong. I don't know what Aunt did wrong, but locking you up and giving you away is not the behavior of a man. Lan Cui's father is such a shameless person who killed my mother. So I hate this kind of man to the bone. Although I am small and weak, I can't bear to see Aunt follow in my mother's footsteps. I want to help Aunt escape."
"You'll help me escape?"
Meng Huanyan stared at her, clearly disbelieving.
Lan Cui nodded emphatically: "Put on my clothes and go out of the bamboo forest. Although it's dangerous, it's better than staying and suffering humiliation."
“No.” Meng Huanyan shook her head. “Even if I leave the bamboo forest, I will still be discovered. Besides, I am injured and cannot even leave this bamboo forest.”
She was covered in superficial wounds, not fatal, but very painful, making it difficult for her to walk.
"What can we do? How can I help you?" Lan Cui seemed even more anxious than she was.
Meng Huanyan thought for a moment, then took out paper and pen, wrote a letter, and handed it to Lan Cui.
"Leave this to your true master; she will know what to do."
Lan Cui's expression changed, and she took a step back. "Don't you believe me, Aunt? I'm just a newly hired maid in the manor. What real master? I don't understand."
"Stop pretending." Meng Huanyan waved her hand with difficulty and said with a bitter smile, "At this time, besides my mother, the only one who cares about me is her. But my mother wants me to live well, while your master wants me dead. Give this letter to her, and then try to get me some sleeping pills. Don't say it's impossible; your master has a way. If she helps me with this, she can achieve her wish."
The maids in the manor would stay far away after being instructed not to disturb their masters. Lan Cui went to great lengths to find this place and even pretended to help her, so she must not be from the Guan family.
She didn't believe in anything about kindness and justice.
Meng Huanyan wasn't a good person, and she would never meet someone so kind-hearted.
After much thought, the only person behind this is Meng Lingge.
This elder sister of hers has always been vengeful, and she must still remember the time she framed her, which is why she came knocking on her door at this time.
That's fine, her elder sister hates her, and she also hates Guan Yi'an.
Since she didn't want to live anymore, she used Meng Lingge to eliminate Guan Yi'an.
Let's go to hell together.
Lan Cui was somewhat surprised to see her so certain. She neither confirmed nor denied it.
He took the letter with both hands and said, "I'll try to think of a way."
Lan Cui tucked the letter into her bosom, opened the window, carefully climbed out, and crouched as she walked through the bamboo forest. Once out, she tidied the exit to make it look like no one had been there before continuing her cleaning work.
Meng Huanyan's eyes lit up as she slowly walked to the dressing table, drawing her eyebrows and applying lipstick, carefully grooming herself.
As night fell, Lan Cui finished her work and was able to leave the Guan residence under the pretext of going back to get some clothes to change into.
She turned into a narrow alley, and only after making sure no one was following her did she appear from another exit of the alley and get into a horse-drawn carriage parked at the intersection.
Meng Lingge and Dong Qing had been waiting in the carriage for a long time.
Lan Cui curtsied and said, "Greetings, Princess Consort."
Meng Lingge said gently, "No need for formalities. I asked Chen Luo to find a stranger that neither Meng Huanyan nor Guan Yi'an had ever seen before to infiltrate the place. I didn't expect that in the end, they would find a little girl like you. The Guan residence is dangerous, so you should be careful."
Dongqing arranged for Lancui to sit down at the small table opposite them. Lancui said apologetically, "The Guan family has only been hiring maids for menial tasks recently. Guard Chen said that the more inconspicuous the maid, the more trustworthy she is, so he chose me. I have been extra careful, but Meng Huanyan still saw through me."
Lan Cui was of average build and appearance, and was indeed not particularly noticeable.
Chen Luo always acted with discretion, and Meng Lingge and Dong Qing were both somewhat surprised to hear that Lan Cui had been discovered.
"What happened?"
Lan Cui first relayed the news she had overheard, then took out the letter from her bosom and handed it to Meng Lingge. "I did as Guard Chen instructed, knowing she couldn't escape, but I pretended to help her. But after only a few words, she asked me to give this to my real master."
Meng Lingge was shocked. She had expected that Guan Yi'an and Meng Huanyan would develop a grudge against each other and scheme against one another, but she never expected that Guan Yi'an would collude with a eunuch for an official position and send Meng Huanyan to be played with.
Unexpectedly, Meng Huanyan is now covered in wounds and living a life worse than death.
The letter unfolded, a full page with over a dozen lines written on it. The handwriting was mostly distorted, suggesting that the person holding the pen had endured considerable pain to complete it.
"Elder sister, I've called you that countless times in my life, but only this time was it from the bottom of my heart, with genuine feelings. Now, it's too late for me to regret it. But I often think, if I hadn't tempted Guan Yi'an on your wedding day, would my life be better than yours? Would you be living the life I have now? Probably not. Given your personality and status, Guan Yi'an wouldn't dare treat you like that. My whole life, however, has been about fighting, the more I couldn't win, the more I fought, until in the end I even lost myself. Thankfully, this should be the last time. Tomorrow at noon, have someone go to the Guan residence; I'll give you a surprise. I hope that, for the sake of the surprise, you'll ask the Meng family to treat my mother well. I know you'll do it. Thinking about it carefully, the person I've always trusted the most is actually you. Huan Yan."
This letter is filled with the feeling of parting.
Meng Huanyan even contemplated suicide.
Although Meng Lingge had long disliked Meng Huanyan, her feelings became complicated after reading the letter.
The phrase "The person I've always trusted the most is actually you" left her feeling particularly uneasy.
“Tomorrow at the hour of Wei…” Meng Lingge muttered, then asked, “Was the time when Eunuch Wan went to the Guan residence today the hour of Wei?”
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