Chapter 4: But I Don't Want to Show Mercy

Their lips were pale, their faces ashen, and their teeth were chattering loudly against one another.

Yu Linlang pulled a jade-colored porcelain bottle from her sleeve and handed it to Jiu Jin.

With a cold expression, Jiu Jin stepped forward and muttered unpleasantly, "You two are getting off easy."

Her movements were coarse and direct; with a swift motion of lifting and slapping, she flicked a drop of something into the mouths of the mother and son from a distance. She then deftly stowed the bottle away and retreated behind Yu Linlang.

The trembling Fang mother and son suddenly felt a surge of warmth rise in their lower abdomens, and their entire bodies seemed to regain some heat.

"H-how is it you? What... what do you want by capturing us here?" Mother Fang's lips trembled as she demanded, her voice projecting a false sense of authority to mask her inner terror.

Jiu Jin grabbed the woman by her collar and delivered a sharp slap. "Cut the nonsense. Just answer what you are asked."

As prisoners below the stairs, they had no right to ask questions!

Yu Linlang gave them a faint glance and asked, "Who sent you?"

Before Mother Fang could open her mouth, Yu Linlang said indifferently, "I have no interest in hearing fabricated lies. If you weave a single falsehood, I will have someone stab your son. Calculate for yourself how many stabs your son can endure."

Jiu Jin drew a gleaming dagger from behind her waist and flashed a grin at the ashen-faced Mother Fang.

Mother Fang's pupils constricted, and she nearly screamed immediately, "It was Concubine Ma! Concubine Ma ordered it!"

"Concubine Ma spent a great deal of silver to have us do our best to prevent you from returning. She even said that as long as we could keep you in Xiaofu Village, there would be plenty of promotions for us in the future."

"But the idea was something we several came up with together!"

"We encountered many starving refugees on the road and thought of leading them toward you. Once they clashed, no one would know who lived or died..."

"Although that old woman, Lady Hu, did not plot with us, she knew everything from beginning to end and did not stop us."

"In fact! The method of having my son pose as a refugee to incite chaos was actually suggested by Nanny Hu. Otherwise, how could this old servant have thought of such a cursed plan!"

"She is a nanny close to the First Madam. Her tacit approval and guidance—doesn't that represent the First Madam's intentions as well?"

It was precisely because Mother Fang relied on the perceived permission and backing of the Madam that she dared to put her son in danger.

Although it was indeed Concubine Ma who had sent someone to seek her out initially, wasn't there the Madam to back her up later?

Fortune is sought in danger, and besides, what danger could there be in this?

Mother Fang believed that dealing with a young girl raised in the countryside should be a simple matter.

She never expected to have kicked a massive iron plate!

She was now regretting it so deeply her intestines felt blue. The sliver of warmth that had just returned to her body was now slowly dissipating with the passage of time.

She was terrified, and Fang Datou was even more petrified, repeatedly begging for mercy.

Yu Linlang ignored them, simply extending a hand toward Jiu Jin.

Jiu Jin immediately pulled a thick ledger from her bosom and handed it to her.

Yu Linlang flipped through a few pages, her fingertips tracing the lines of text. She stopped at one spot and tapped it lightly. "Ma. Naturally dull and cowardly. Her status within the Prefect's manor is extremely low, almost invisible. She has one legitimate daughter of concubine status, born by accident, and has not been favored since."

"Her? Spending silver to stop me from returning to the manor? She is just a lowly, unfavored concubine who has nothing to do with me. Why would she stop me?" Yu Linlang's voice was calm, but to Mother Fang's ears, it sounded like a thunderclap.

The ledger in Miss Yu's hand was...??

Could it be that this ledger contained the complete information of everyone in the Prefect's manor?!

A chill seeped into her bones. How could a young girl raised in the countryside for over ten years possess such immense power and capability?

Mother Fang instinctively felt she had provoked someone she should never have touched.

Her teeth began to chatter again as she stammered, "This... this old servant would not dare deceive Miss. It was indeed Concubine Ma's subordinate who used silver to secretly hire me. There were two payments, totaling twenty-five taels."

"I... I still have the receipts to prove it."

"Afterward, she gave my son three taels to hire six or seven street thugs in Weizhou. The plan was to blend into the crowd of refugees and wait for the opportunity to act."

Who could have guessed that while they did manage to blend in, they were all caught and beaten until they were bloodied? It was a complete loss.

Mother Fang burst into tears. "I have confessed everything. Every word I have said is the truth, Miss."

"As... as for why Concubine Ma is making things difficult for you, this old servant does not know the reason."

"But, but you clearly look like a wise and capable person. Once you return to the manor, you will surely uncover the truth."

"Please, for the sake of the Madam, spare our lives."

"Though I am not as favored by the Madam as Nanny Hu, I am, at the very least, an old servant of the household."

"If I die here in Xiaofu Village under mysterious circumstances, the First Madam might become even more wary of you."

"You should know yourself that the First Madam has always believed you have a hard fate that brings misfortune to your parents, and she dislikes you immensely. If that were not the case, why would she have guided Nanny Hu to cooperate with me?"

*Slap!* Jiu Jin struck her with a hand, furious. "Who are you saying has a hard fate?"

This wretched old woman actually dared to insult the Miss to her face.

Yu Linlang's emotions remained undisturbed; she simply said indifferently, "No need to waste words on her."

Mother Fang cried out in panic, "If I die, won't that fulfill the rumors?"

"You haven't even returned to the manor yet, and you have already caused the death of one of the Madam's nannies." She gasped for breath, shouting desperately, "It would look terrible if word got out! If you can spare our lives, I will surely become your asset once you return."

"I might even be able to speak well of you to the Madam. While it may not make her love you immediately, it will prevent her perception of you from worsening further."

Yu Linlang closed the ledger and handed it back to Jiu Jin. She looked at the mother and son without expression. "You certainly are quite the talker."

"Please, Miss, show mercy."

Mother Fang was truly dying of regret. Had she known Miss Yu was this formidable, how could she have been so foolish?

She would never have dared to accept Concubine Ma's silver!

"But I do not wish to show mercy." Yu Linlang glanced at them, dropped that single sentence, and turned to walk up the earthen stairs.

The mother and son panicked, opening their mouths to scream for mercy.

Both of their bodies shook in unison, causing the vat to strike against the sides with low, rhythmic thuds.

Jiu Jin spread open the thick ledger, pulled out a pen, and drew a red line through two adjacent names. She then flashed a grin at them.

Mother Fang felt a bone-chilling cold. Her intuition told her that the two red lines had erased their lives.

Yu Linlang returned to the surface and ordered Jiu Jin to replace the cellar cover. She left Jiu Jin to guard the spot and went to her room to rest.

Inside the cellar, as the torchlight gradually dimmed, the temperature dropped lower and lower. The mother and son, soaked in cold water, could not stop shivering.

It was cold—colder and colder.

It seemed the unknown liquid in the porcelain bottle could only provide them with a moment of warmth to facilitate their questioning.

Now that the warmth had faded, the cold was piercing to the bone.

The mother and son went from panic to mutual resentment, blaming and hating one another. As time ticked away, their bickering gradually faded into silence...

(End of Chapter)