Yi Ling glared fiercely at Ji Xiulan, her eyes were so filled with fury they seemed about to spit fire. Her usually reserved voice almost faltered," Shut up! Stop spouting nonsense here!"
Ji Xiulan feigned innocence, "How could I be spouting nonsense? Sister Yun, was it not you who told me that the fifth daughter of the Song Family has long harbored affections for our old master, therefore, you asked me to invite him here for a rendezvous?"
Song Ya Lan, driven to laughter by anger, pointed at Yi Ling’s nose and cursed, "How brilliant! Even now you still try to deceive me. I was fooled by your false pretenses. You, a mean person, kept me running in circles! From the very beginning, you never thought about helping me, you only wanted to use me and offer me to Sun Yaowen, so you could earn his favor? Ha! Yi Ling, I was fooled into believing you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Song Ya Lan slapped Yi Ling again, and her mouth corner cracked.
Yi Ling quickly begged for mercy in tears, "It’s not true, really not, this mean person is spouting nonsense, don’t believe her, she set me up, it’s all her fault!"
Ji Xiulan, surprised, said: "Sister Yun, now that things have reached this point, how could you still accuse me? I knew nothing about the whole affair, how would I frame you? I have never had anything to do with the fifth Miss of the Song Family, how could I possibly know her secrets? I didn’t even know that she was sent to Lian’an Town’s Qing Shui temple, I am merely a insignificant concubine, how could I have such abilities?"
Song Ya Lan no longer wanted to hear another word from Yi Ling, gripping her hair, she started beating her mercilessly, her face twisted with anger: "Mean person, this whole scheme from start to end was yours, you had me dancing like a puppet on your strings, how could you possibly not know that, in fact, the visitor was Sun Yaowen? The informant you had outside the temple gate even came to tell me that it was Mu Lang arriving! You deceived me from start to end, I trusted you so much, and you repay me like this... I’ll kill you!"
At the onslaught of Song Ya Lan’s attack, Yi Ling had no power to fight back, her strength was nothing compared to that of Song Ya Lan, let alone the fact that Cui Cui was also helping. As for her maid, she was too timid and fearful. The moment she saw that her master had offended nobility, she ran away without a trace.
Watching Yi Ling getting beaten so miserably, Ji Xiulan wore a satisfied smile on her lips, enjoying the show with enormous pleasure.
Just as Yi Ling was on the verge of dying, Song Ya Lan suddenly stopped, standing there, her clothes disheveled and her face distorted. She looked like a ghost, as she grabbed Yi Ling’s chin and glared at her ferociously, "Wouldn’t it be a waste to simply kill you? You so desperately wanted to present me to Sun Yaowen and gain his favor, so he could reward you? Ah! Fine, you’ve driven me to this dead end, I will not let you off either! Let’s see, who will have the upper hand!"
As Sun Yaowen pointed out, today she and he had already consummated their relationship, and no matter what, it could not be undone. If nobody had seen it, it would have been fine, Song Ya Lan could have hidden the truth, and her family could have arranged a quiet marriage to a lower status family, that would have been the end of it.
Unfortunately, Yi Ling had summoned a crowd to witness everything. By tomorrow morning, the scandal between her and Sun Yaowen would spread across the whole Yu State. Apart from Sun Yaowen, she could not marry anyone else. The only road left for her was a dead end. The Song Family would not tolerate such a tainted girl that brought disgrace to the family, they could not bear such humiliation.
Song Ya Lan, after this moment of frenzy, had to accept the reality. There was no other way out for her besides Sun Yaowen.
And if she were so miserable, how could she let this mean person off easy? She wanted to make the mean person, who had framed her, used her, and ruined her reputation, to suffer a fate worse than death!
Death would be too easy for her!
The ghastly expression on Song Ya Lan’s face sent shivers down Yi Ling’s spine. In her beautiful eyes, for the first time, she saw profound fear. In Song Ya Lan’s cold gaze, she seemed to see her own endless nightmare, her ambition and hope completely dashed.
At that moment, she suddenly laughed. It was a bitter and despairing laugh. She realized how foolish she had been, fighting against that woman and ending up losing terribly. She had even been easily utilized against Song Ya Lan while being compelled to bear Song Ya Lan’s wrath and hatred.
For the first time, she felt foolish for her self-righteousness. In this matter, how many things actually fell into that woman’s plot? All? Eh, it wasn’t impossible.
In the end, she left without a single leaf falling on her body, even without showing her face at all, just quietly letting her and Song Ya Lan suffer from the disaster.
What a powerful person! Why did she have to provoke her?
Regret was starting to creep in for Yi Ling, but it was too late. As Ji Xinhe had said, she had already given her enough chances.
Yi Ling’s smile seemed to provoke Song Ya Lan. Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at Yi Ling, tightly clutching her throat and shrieked, "What are you laughing at!"
Still wearing a dismal smile, tears started rolling down Yi Ling’s eyes, she said with a hoarse voice, "I am laughing...At our foolishness."
Upon saying these words, Yi Ling passed out.
Song Ya Lan did not catch her words clearly and tossed her aside disgustingly.
Ji Xiulan immediately fell on her knees and pleaded with Song Ya Lan. She shrewdly shifted all the blame to Yi Ling, making herself seem entirely innocent and guilt-free.
Just at that moment, there was a stir outside - people from the Song Family had arrived.
The people from the Song Family came so quickly, it was evident they hurried here on fast horses. The second lady of the Song Family did not come, not wanting to lose face. Instead, a steward from the Song Family came, his face was respectful, but his eyes were cold and clearly filled with contempt towards Song Ya Lan.
Willing to commit unspeakable acts in such a sacred Buddhist place, purely to encounter a man furtively– who could bear such a loss of face?
Now, the Song Family not only had to liaise with Qing Shui Temple, but also had to placate Song Ya Lan and quickly marry her off. In truth, the whole household was driven to a frenzy, there was no doubt the second lady of Song Family would not be able to sleep tonight.
Xin He promised the presiding monk that she would safely deliver Song Ya Lan into the hands of the Song Family. Now that her task was completed, she decided to leave before the people from Song Family arrived. She didn’t want to bump into Song Ya Lan, who might stir up further trouble being already unstable.
Who knew, just as she was about to step out of the temple, she saw a tall figure waiting outside the temple.
Xin He curved her lips into a smile, with a hint of warmth in her eyes, "You are here?" Upon close listening, it even carried a hint of being coquettish.
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