Song Yixiao was in a trance. She didn't pa.s.s out with a sense of relief until Doctor Fu said the maid's life was saved. All the while she didn't find that she sprained her ankle again. Moreover, her sprain was even more severe than before.

After she woke up again, she still had no time to attend to that.

Because she learnt that Zhiqin survived indeed but she was severely hurt with irreversible wounds by the instant biting. The injury on her neck with her bone exposed to air had stopped bleeding, but an unrecoverable scar would exist forever. Worse still, she couldn't speak anymore!

Most of her right palm bitten off, she had only two fingers and part of the palm left.

Moreover, she even had numerous injuries all over her body.

What made Song Yixiao saddest was that Zhiqin also lost one eye. The scratch that crossed most of her face ruined not only her beautiful face but also her left eye!

"It's lucky enough that she is still alive!" Ms. Zhao was aware of Song Yixiao's sorrow so all the people kept comforting Song Yixiao after she woke up, "Nothing is more important than staying alive. Moreover, Zhiqin is only a maid and she must be married to a servant, who will not care too much. Since she is your personal maid, an ordinary servant will never dislike her!"

"Well said! Besides, this is her duty. It is lucky that you are okay. Otherwise, she will be sorry for you even if she dies!"

Song Yixiao, who was silent before, suddenly burst out crying!

Ms. Zhao and the other people looked at each other and didn't dare to reply.

"How is it possible that Zhiqin is sorry for me? I am sorry for her!" Holding the edge of her bed, Song Yixiao could hardly express her grief and indignation, "In the previous life, Zhiqin kept me company until I was 16 years old. She was like a flower, pretty and tough, but now!"

She cried sadly but it didn't last for long. For one thing, she was worried to disturb Zhiqin who was still in coma. For another, her flame of fury didn't allow her to cry in pain here and do nothing.

Song Yixiao stopped crying and wiped off the tears, asking the nearby maids, "Is there any conclusion for the matter that Zhiqin and I are chased by the mastiffs?"

"It is said that the guard for the inner courtyard neglected his duty so the new dog slave led the mastiffs in accidentally, who thought that he could walk them around the lonely place within the inner courtyard. Unexpectedly, the ropes were loosened in the halfway and then mastiffs came to disturb you!" The servant who was replying to her lowered the head while watching her gloomier face, saying, "But Princess Consort is still investigating…"

Song Yixiao finally laughed through her teeth, "Disturb? Let's not talk about me. Zhiqin has been so seriously hurt and they just call this a disturbance?"

The room became extremely quiet for the moment.

"I want to meet my mother." Song Yixiao took a deep breath and stared at Ms. Zhao.

Ms. Zhao moved her lips and seemed to say something but upon seeing the flame of anger in Song Yixiao's eyes, she felt soft-hearted, "I will send someone to see whether Her Highness Princess Consort is free or not now… Your ladys.h.i.+p, you haven't eaten anything since last night. How about having some porridge?"

She said sadly, "Anyway, Zhiqin has been injured like this. You cannot fall ill in bed for her, right?"

What she said at last convinced Song Yixiao. Indeed, Zhiqin was severely injured. Regardless of pain and regret, there was no turning back! Now what Song Yixiao could do for her was nothing but to look after her well and revenge for her!

If she wanted to revenge, she couldn't collapse!

"Give me a bowl of ewe's milk!" Song Yixiao sat by the table and ordered with a stupefied look.

After having the porridge, she was drinking the warm ewe's milk when the servant that Ms. Zhao sent to report Wei Mengying returned with his hands put down, "Her Highness said that Miss Song had sprained her ankle so she had better not move around. She will come to visit you later when she has time!"

However, it was not until the noon that Wei Mengying came to the Hanxia Villa, tired and exhausted.

She checked her daughter's countenance and then asked about Zhiqin's condition. She couldn't help sighing, "She is a good girl. We cannot let her down… Send for the best doctor and use the best medicine. We will make sure that she can live a good life from now on."

Song Yixiao nodded her head silently.

"What about you?" After all, Zhiqin was not the maid of Wei Mengying so despite being touched by her sacrifice, Wei Mengying didn't care much about this maid's life. After showing her att.i.tude, what she was really concerned about was her birth daughter's safety. She asked with concern, "Does your ankle still ache? Have you dressed the wound in your hand today?"

"Mother, I am okay." Song Yixiao smiled reluctantly and directly asked, "Do you know who did this?"

Wei Mengying looked around and didn't sigh until all the others left, "It's a tough thing!"

"It happened in the inner courtyard. Even you cannot find the ringleader?" Song Yixiao raised her head in surprise. Under the circ.u.mstance, there were only two reasons. One was that Wei Mengying had inadequate control of the prince's residence for being a princess consort for a short time. The other reason was that the ringleader played his card too well.

In any case, it was not good news for Song Yixiao.

"It is not that I cannot find out who did it but that I have found out the ringleader and yet had no enough evidence. Moreover, even with the evidence, for some people, we cannot deal with them." Wei Mengying felt depressed.

Song Yixiao looked at her and said, "Cui Jianlian?"

"And Madam Jin." With a severe look, Wei Mengying gently stroked her daughter's soft hair and said, "And Marquis Boling, Yuan Xuepei. He told me about Madam Jin's partic.i.p.ation, saying that she asked him to do a favor. He didn't want to counteract against her or offend me, so when he got two mastiffs for her, he deliberately dragged two companions to wander around the place where you were ambushed and pretended to save you in an encounter."

She hedged, "Pitifully, he was still too late to save Zhiqin."

"He couldn't do it or didn't want to?" Song Yixiao sneered and burst into tears, "Yuan Xuepei is a marquis and the legitimate grandson of Dowager Consort. Why would he be constrained by a daughter-in-law of the prince's residence?"

Wei Mengying took a sip of tea, said casually with peaceful eyes, "Since you know Yuan Xuepei is not only a marquis but also the legitimate grandson of the dowager consort, you should know we can only trust what he says. It is better than forcing him to side with Madam Jin!"

Song Yixiao opened her mouth and didn't ask in a low voice until a while later, "Well, mother, you mean?"