Ning Wan, who was lying on the ground, stared wide-eyed in disbelief as several servants rushed forward and hurriedly subdued the maid.
Then an older nanny came forward with scissors, pried open the maid's mouth, and cut off her tongue. The maid didn't even have time to scream before she fainted from the pain.
When the maid fell to the ground, her head happened to be turned towards Ning Wan. Blood was flowing from her mouth, and her tongue, which had been cut off by the nanny, was lying to the side. Even though Ning Wan had experienced so much, she couldn't help but tremble.
Aunt Lin was quite pleased with her appearance, and immediately grabbed Ning Wan by the collar and lifted her up.
"You little brat, do you think you're worthy of that old woman's affection? Humph, you don't seem very bright to me. Tell me, is that old woman dead or alive? Why did she suddenly stop needing the royal physician to keep her alive?"
Ning Wan looked at Aunt Lin with a pale face and stammered:
"I...I don't know what you're talking about?"
A loud "slap" rang out...
Five red finger marks were immediately imprinted on Ning Wan's fair face. In no time, half of her face was swollen. However, Ning Wan dared not cry out in pain, for she was afraid that Aunt Lin would cut out her tongue as she had done to the maid earlier.
So she forced back her tears, pursed her lips, and stared intently at Aunt Lin.
"Haha, you've got guts! Looks like I didn't hit you hard enough!"
Then, there was another crisp "snap"...
Ning Wan's tears streamed down her face. She bit her lip tightly and let out a muffled groan.
"You shameless bastard, you're so stubborn!"
After saying this, Aunt Lin, as if having exhausted all her patience, threw Ning Wan directly to the ground.
At this moment, Ning Wan felt as if all the bones in her body were broken, and every part of her body ached. Tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string.
Ning Wan kept repeating to herself:
"Mother, I absolutely won't tell you what you and Grandmother told me to say. Mother, when are you coming to save Wan'er? Wan'er is in so much pain..."
Aunt Lin walked back to her chair and slowly sat down, rubbing her wrist repeatedly.
"This girl is disobedient. Give her a good talking-to and let's see if she dares to talk back to us again!"
Upon receiving the order, the maidservant beside Ning Wan quickly walked over, raised the whip in her hand, and lashed out at her.
"You brat, are you going to tell me or not!"
"Slap! Slap! Slap!..."
One lash after another, and soon Ning Wan could no longer hold on. She could still sit on the ground with her body slightly bent, but now she was lying on the ground with her limbs limp and barely breathing.
Ning Wan didn't even have the strength to shed tears. She felt her whole body burning hot from the whip splattered with chili water, her skin and flesh torn open, and even breathing was excruciatingly painful. Her consciousness was becoming increasingly blurred, and she soon couldn't hold on any longer and fainted...
"Your Highness, it seems she has stopped breathing?"
Aunt Lin, who was eating grapes, glanced indifferently at Ning Wan, who was lying motionless on the ground, and said impatiently:
"What bad luck! I hope she doesn't die in my house. Get her out of here right now!"
Upon hearing Lin Yiniang's instructions, the old woman picked up Ning Wan, who was lying on the ground, and with a look of disgust, took her away from Lin Yiniang's Red Phoenix Pavilion. She went straight to a deserted path, dumped Ning Wan on the road, and hurriedly returned home.
After a long time, Yun Qing returned to the manor from outside. As she passed by this path, she saw the little figure lying on the ground in the distance. When she got closer, she realized that the person was Ning Wan. Without caring about anything else, she carefully picked her up and hurried towards the Princess's courtyard.
Yun Qing remembered that Jiang Yuwei was still in the Princess's room before he left the manor. Although he didn't know how Ning Wan ended up here covered in wounds, it was always the right thing to do to send the child to her mother.
As Yun Qing carried Ning Wan to the outside of the Princess's courtyard, he saw Jiang Yuwei and Ning Zixuan coming out. When Jiang Yuwei saw that it was Yun Qing, she was about to greet him when she looked down and saw the little girl in his arms who was curled up in pain.
Jiang Yuwei stumbled and almost lost her balance, but fortunately Ning Zixuan steadied her, allowing her to regain her footing. With red eyes, Jiang Yuwei looked at Ning Wan and called out:
"Wan'er, who did this to you, my Wan'er!"
Seeing this, Ning Zixuan quickly instructed Yun Qing:
"Quickly take the child to the side room; it's quiet there."
Then he turned to the maid beside him and instructed her:
"Go to the front hall and invite General Ning and his son to the side room!"
Jiang Yuwei was already sobbing uncontrollably. Seeing this, Ning Zixuan quickly spoke up:
“Madam Jiang, saving Wan’er is the most important thing right now. If you cannot save her, I will send someone to fetch a doctor from outside.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yuwei barely regained some of her composure and shook her head, saying:
"No, no need, my Wan'er. I don't trust anyone else to treat me. I'll do it myself. I can do it!"
As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei hastily wiped away her tears and followed Yun Qing into the room. When Yun Qing placed Ning Wan on the bed, Jiang Yuwei clearly saw Ning Wan's eyes twitch, perhaps because of the pain.
At this moment, Jiang Yuwei felt a sharp pain in her heart. She suppressed her tears and first used scissors to cut Ning Wan's clothes off little by little. Then she took some spiritual spring water and carefully wiped Ning Wan's entire body.
Ning Huaizhi and Ning Zhao rushed to the side room with their maid when they heard that Ning Wan had an accident.
"Yuwei, how is it inside? Do you need us to go in and help?"
Hearing Ning Huaizhi's voice, Jiang Yuwei felt even more aggrieved and indignant. However, Ning Wan's current state was unsuitable for public display, so she choked back tears and called out towards the door:
"Huaizhi, you wait outside. You can come in after I've treated Wan'er's wounds."
Ning Huaizhi noticed something was wrong with Jiang Yuwei's voice, and he became increasingly anxious, but he still tried to comfort her:
"Okay, Yuwei, we'll wait outside. Call me anytime if you need anything."
Jiang Yuwei didn't reply, but just bit her lip and nodded. She carefully observed every wound on Ning Wan's body, including pinch marks, handprints, and whip marks.
Jiang Yuwei couldn't understand what kind of grudge would lead someone to kill a young child like this. While carefully tending to Ning Wan's wounds, Jiang Yuwei whispered her name:
"Wan'er, wake up, don't sleep, it's your mother, your mother is here."
Ning Wan slowly opened her eyes and mumbled something indistinctly:
"Mother, Wan'er didn't say anything, Wan'er didn't say anything..."
As if he had used up all his strength, after saying those words, his head lolled to the side and he fainted...
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