s.h.i.+ Qingxue watched Mo Junyang being carried out, and subconsciously wanted to follow him out.

But she just stepped forward and suddenly saw Qu Yuebai turn back secretly and blink at her when no one paid attention to it.

Qingxue stopped, and she was shocked and comforted in her heart.

He was actually pretending!

She secretly twitched her mouth to express disdain for Mo Junyang's behavior of shamelessly pretending to be sick.

"Grandma, what should I do with Chun Yu?" s.h.i.+ Qingxue grabbed Mo Shujun in time and asked in a low voice.

Mo Shujun was so anxious about King Rui's eldest son who had pa.s.sed out at that time. How could she care about the life of a servant? And she didn't want to answer it.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue immediately proposed, "Don't you always say that I should learn rewards and punishments? How about letting me deal with Chun Yu, such an evil subordinate?"

Mo Shujun saw that Qingxue's face was full of eagerness, and she was not afraid of her covering for her subordinate. Then she nodded with agreement, "Since she's the person in your house, I'll leave her to you to deal with!"

After that, she didn't care about what happened next, and followed straightforward to the guest room.

In the courtyard of Luotong Boudoir, all the servants were called up to stand aside. Chun Yu was manacled and kneeling down in the middle of the yard, while Dong Shuang who had been bruised and another second-cla.s.s servant, Jing Yu, were standing aside.

Xia Mang ordered someone to carry a chair for s.h.i.+ Qingxue to sit and interrogate her, but Qingxue didn't sit down.

In the depressed atmosphere, she first glanced at Dong Shuang and whispered, "Jing Yu, you bring Dong Shuang to deal with the wounds first and then come back."

"Yes."

Then s.h.i.+ Qingxue slowly turned her sight to Chun Yu. She looked solemn, and said softly, "Chun Yu, did I treat you badly?"

Chun Yu shrank her neck, shook her head, and answered, "No."

"The share of Luotong Boudoir is not low, and you servants are deeply favored by me, so the rewards given to you are not few. Don't you have enough money to spend?" s.h.i.+ Qingxue again asked in a low voice.

This time Chun Yu didn't even answer, she just shook her head in silence.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue sneered, "What was it that made you steal the rewards given by Emperor, and frame Dong Shuang. She was almost killed by it. Is this your friends.h.i.+p after living in the same room for so many years?"

"Wow!"

As soon as this was told, the subordinates who used to be silent started to gossip again.

They all heard that the second-cla.s.s maidservant Chun Yu was caught and punished in public by the master for theft, but they didn't expect that there was such a story in it.

"You may know a person's face but not her mind! Fortunately, it's not me who lives in the same room with her, or I will have so bad luck!" A maid said in a low voice.

Another responded her secretly, and got fear in her heart, "You are so right! Look how severe Dong Shuang's injuries are!"

Xia Mang glanced at the whispering crowd, and yelled coldly, "Quiet!"

After everyone was quiet, s.h.i.+ Qingxue asked again, "Chun Yu, I'm very clear what kind of person you are, and I'll give you a chance to confess. You tell me who asks you to do this, and I may spare your life."

Chun Yu was so stupid and it was absolutely impossible to think of such a sophisticated way to frame others, not to mention that there still should be someone to sell the stolen things.

After looking around through the crowd who all bowed their heads, she looked back at Chun Yu. Seeing that she held the att.i.tude that she would not cooperate and kept silent, she couldn't help being angry, "Are you unwilling to tell?"

Chun Yu trembled because of the fulmination. She opened her mouth and was about to say something, but stopped when she reached a certain point. Suddenly her face became pale and lowered her head again, keeping shaking her head.

"Well!" s.h.i.+ Qingxue sneered in her heart; she was very disdainful of Chun Yu's behavior. When she was about to reveal the truth, she suddenly was reminded that before she took Chun Yu away from the lobby, Zhou Ruyu seemed to have whispered something to Chun Yu.

d.a.m.n it!

Shouldn't they seize the initiative?

The look of Chun Yu showed that she was obviously threatened by them. How could she get any truth?

She became agitated in her heart, and her questioning became even more offensive, "Do you really think that you can get away from this if you don't speak a word? Stealing the rewards from the Emperor, framing others up, selling your master's things. Every one of them is enough to kill you. You..."

"I..." Chun Yu finally spoke with her trembling voice at this time, "I didn't sell anything. I just had a conflict with Dong Shuang, and I found a way to frame her. Those missing rewards from the Emperor were not stolen by me. Please perceive carefully, Master."

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was astonished and didn't speak.

Chun Yu seemed to have reliance, and suddenly said with her voice increased, "I admit that I have framed Dong Shuang, but it's just a conflict between us, and it's not enough to convict me to death. You don't have the evidence to prove that I have stolen those missing things, and if I am punished for this, I refuse to accept it!

I believe that other servants won't be convinced when they see Sixth Lady's arbitrary behavior!"

The last sentence stirred up the trouble really in time, and the subordinates aside began to discuss about it again.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was angry, but she even laughed, such stubbornly resisting att.i.tude was so ridiculous, "So you don't confess your crime?"

Chun Yu paused, and immediately raised her head, "No."

s.h.i.+ Qingxue lowered her eyes and said coldly, "If I have evidence, won't you still admit it?"

Still resisting with silence, this time there was even a little more contented smile on Chun Yu's face, as if she was sure that s.h.i.+ Qingxue could do nothing to her!

Caught the thief and proved with the stolen things! How could she convict her if she had no evidence?

s.h.i.+ Qingxue stopped talking and sat silently on the chair. After a while, she waved her hand at Xia Mang.

The latter understood, and whispered a few words to the subordinate next to her, and the subordinate hurried away.

When everyone was doubtful, the subordinate rushed back, holding a cloth bag in hand, and handed it to s.h.i.+ Qingxue.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue threw it on the table casually and slowly opened the cloth bag, "Do you still recognize these things you have sold?"

In Chun Yu's shocked and scared eyes, she said slowly, "Or have you forgotten this matter after you sold it?"

"No! No way. I have dealt with them. It's impossible..." Chun Yu shouted in a panic, and then shut up immediately.

But it was too late!

The stolen things which had been sold appeared again in front of Chun Yu made her in a panic completely. She confessed everything even without any torture.

Xia Mang glanced at Chun Yu and immediately said, "Sixth Lady had discovered that you stole and sold the things in the house. She thought that you had worked hard in the house for so many years and tolerated it and redeemed them with her own money. It was not expected that you didn't feel guilty and even became more rampant by framing others up. Such an evil servant, how could you get away from this!"

After all the gossips were successfully suppressed, Xia Mang turned to s.h.i.+ Qingxue again, "Chun Yu sold the rewards from the Emperor and framed others up, and there was absolute evidence. Sixth Lady, please decide how to deal with her."

s.h.i.+ Qingxue stared at Chun Yu for a moment with her serious sight, sneering, "As my grandmother has said, whip her thirty times. It's unnecessary to send her in jail, which may ruin the reputation of the s.h.i.+ Family. Just send her away!"

"Yes!"

s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't need to give another order, Xia Mang immediately asked others to carry the torturing tool here.

As soon as the whipping began, Chun Yu screamed sharply. All the other subordinates were frightened, but they all lowered their heads and didn't dare to make a move.

However, Qiu Lu, who was also a second-cla.s.s servant, looked pitiful on her face, and begged in front of Qingxue in a low voice, "Sixth Lady, it is reasonable that Chun Yu should be punished for her mistakes. But she is just a weak girl. Whipping thirty times might kill her.

You've always been kind, so just send her away. The subordinate is also a human being. If you beat her to death in front of everyone, I'm afraid that there will be someone saying that you punish the subordinate too strictly. How about just selling her to others, which shows your mercy and punishes Chun Yu at the same time?"

Qiu Lu was hesitant while speaking, and her words were euphemistic. She persuaded s.h.i.+ Qingxue to let go of Chun Yu from every aspect, as if she really cared about s.h.i.+ Qingxue's reputation with her whole heart.

If she didn't imply that she was being cruel if she didn't stop beating Chun Yu...

Hearing that, everyone actually began to discuss.

After Jing Yu sent Dong Shuang back to her room, she heard Qiu Lu's remarks, and she argued, "Qiu Lu, what are you talking about? Sixth Lady punishes Chun Yu because she has made mistakes. According to the rules of the house, she should be punished. Saying that, are you implying that our master is cruel or that the rules of the house are inappropriate?"

"No, that's not what I mean." Qiu Lu waved her hands quickly, and hurried to explain, "I'm just afraid that someone will say those wrong words that Master is cruel. I..."

"Since you know those are wrong words, you should slap on their faces once you hear them! Sixth Lady has already decided not to send her in jail due to the relations.h.i.+p in the past. Do you think that Sixth Lady should break the rules because of some ridiculous gossips?" Jing Yu folded her arms, looked tough and fierce, and refuted. Qiu Lu had to shut up unwillingly.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue looked around, and then asked indifferently, "Do you have any disagreements with the punishment of Chun Yu?"

The crowd responded together, "No. Master deals with her properly!"

The scream continued, but no one showed sympathy for Chun Yu anymore. But Xia Mang thought of one thing, and came up to ask, "After Chun Yu was sent away, the position of the servant in your study room should be empty. Will you raise one from those second-cla.s.s servants or choose among other servants?"

In the s.h.i.+ Family, the salary of second-cla.s.s servants was also different.

Just like Chun Yu, Qiu Lu, Jing Yu, Xiao Man and she were all second-cla.s.s servants, but because she was appointed as the servant in study room by Qingxue, her salary was 30% more than others, and she was closer to the master. In addition, her status was just lower than the two first-cla.s.s servants.

As soon as they heard that there was a chance to be raised, all the servants suddenly became energetic, and no one cared about Chun Yu's life.

But in Luotong Boudoir, apart from the first-cla.s.s servants, Xia Mang and Dong Shuang, only Chun Yu and Qiu Lu were named by Princess Royal, and Qiu Lu was deeply favored by Sixth Lady.

It was impossible for others to surpa.s.s her and become the servant in study room. But if Qiu Lu was raised to be the servant in study room, wasn't there an empty position as a second-cla.s.s servant?

s.h.i.+ Qingxue saw everyone's eager sights and ignored Qiu Lu's joy which she didn't even hide. She turned her head around and looked at Jing Yu who was staring at Chun Yu with anger.

She slowly said, "Everyone spends years working to reach their today's position, so it will be unfair to raise the third-cla.s.s servants regardless of the levels. Jing Yu is able to write well, then make her work in study room. As for the empty position, you choose a smart one to raise!"

She actually appointed Jing Yu?

Not to mention the others' surprise, Jing Yu herself was also stunned, totally unaware how she could be favored by her master.

Xia Mang frowned first when she heard this arrangement. She turned her head around and glanced at Qiu Lu and figured a hint of resentment that was hidden behind the obedience in her eyes.

Then she looked at her master. s.h.i.+ Qingxue seemed not have noticed it and just said to her tiredly, "The rest is left to you to handle. Come to my room after you settle all these matters."

"Yes." Xia Mang nodded, but there was some fear in her heart.

Did she just read Qiu Lu's sight wrong? Did the master find Qiu Lu's malice?