bookcurios Chapter 137 Drowning Her in a Pig Cage
Chapter 137 Drowning Her in a Pig Cage
Song Yaozhu and Shen Qingyu were "invited" back. The ladies and young women who were originally in the courtyard were now standing in rows, all of them looking unwell.
Anyone would feel uncomfortable being mistaken for a thief when visiting someone's home.
"Please cooperate, everyone. We will leave once we find the Eight Treasures Auspicious Phoenix Hairpin," a supervising nanny said apologetically.
"So you mean you won't let us leave if we can't find it?" the woman said sarcastically, her face full of disdain.
The old woman was also full of apologies, but losing the palace's reward was a serious crime!
"That phoenix hairpin isn't anything special; maybe we just lost it somewhere? How can they accuse us of this?"
"Exactly! We've made a mistake while attending the ceremony. Now we can't even drink the wine from your house, what bad luck!"
"How could you say such a thing!" Madam Zhai was furious. "Stealing imperial gifts is a capital offense! Whoever took it, hand it over right now!"
Many of these ladies held high positions, and they couldn't stand Madam Zhai's tone. One of them sneered, "So what if we took it? Can you search us?"
A lady with an imperial title naturally speaks with confidence.
"I didn't mean that. It's just that today is the Princess's big day, and I hope that everyone will do things that are appropriate for their status."
Madam Zhai naturally couldn't allow herself to be searched, but no one present was willing to be searched, resulting in a stalemate.
"Since we cannot make a decision, let's report it to the authorities."
Madam Zhai's face changed drastically. On her daughter's wedding day, the government sent people to arrest thieves. If word got out, how would her daughter manage this huge royal mansion?
Madam Zhai composed herself and said, "If the thief is reported to the authorities, he will face imprisonment. The Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture will also be here for a banquet today. If you don't want to make a big fuss, please return the items to their rightful owner."
“Everyone’s husbands are respectable men; who would admit to stealing? Even if they did take it, they wouldn’t admit it now.”
The scene froze again. Song Yaozhu leaned against the wall, gazing at the fiery clouds on the horizon, without uttering a word.
Shen Qingyu seemed quite interested, scanning everyone with her gaze before quietly asking Song Yaozhu, "Who does Your Highness think the thief is?"
All the ladies and young women present were officials of the lowest rank of fourth grade. Surely they wouldn't be so short-sighted as to want a phoenix hairpin?
"Whoever it is, it's none of our business." Actually, she already had a guess in her heart.
The ladies in front started shoving each other, and Song Yaozhu pulled Shen Qingyu back several steps to the corner of the wall, shielding her behind her. She knew a little bit of martial arts, but Shen Qingyu was truly powerless.
Suddenly, a shout erupted from the crowd: "So it was you who took the gold hairpin! Your Zhai family is crying wolf!"
It turned out that during the shoving earlier, the gold hairpin had fallen out of the sleeve of Madam Zhai's brother and sister-in-law, and they were caught red-handed!
The woman looked completely bewildered and hurriedly said, "I didn't take it! I didn't take it! I really don't know what happened!"
Madam Zhai was furious and repeatedly apologized, scolding her younger brother and sister-in-law.
Song Yaozhu looked at Madam Zhao, who had been standing outside the crowd, and saw that she had a mocking expression on her face and looked very pleased.
She looked away and pulled Shen Qingyu along, saying, "Now that things are over, let's go out. We'll be taking our seats soon."
The seating arrangement was based on each person's status, and Shen Qingyu was not able to sit with Song Yaozhu. Her status as a divorced woman was also awkward; her childhood playmates at the table were now all wives of some other person, and they all tacitly ignored her.
Song Yaozhu's situation was similar; after all, she was merely the wife of a leisurely prince, powerless and insignificant, and even feared by the emperor. While lower-class families might fawn over her because of the Xie family, powerful clans would simply avoid her.
Song Yaozhu barely touched her chopsticks at the table, but a maidservant clumsily spilled soup on her while serving the dishes. Forced to leave, she went to change her clothes.
Walking down the street, Caijin couldn't help but complain, "Your Highness, this trick really works every time."
Song Yaozhu chuckled. Whether it's a good trick or a bad trick, as long as it works, that's fine.
The maid led the two into a side room in the backyard and said, "Your Highness, please wait a moment. I will go and fetch you some clothes."
Song Yaozhu sat in the room, looking around at the decorations. It was a very ordinary side room. She knew without even thinking who wanted to harm her.
In this Prince Yong's mansion, the only person who could order the servants around and harbored resentment towards her was Zhao Ying'e.
"Your Highness, my right eyelid keeps twitching. Am I afraid something bad is going to happen?"
"Don't panic, even if the sky falls, the Prince will hold it up." She said this as she went to check the windows and found that they were locked.
Do they think she can't escape through the front door?
A short while later, the maid who had said she was fetching clothes came in carrying a set of clothes and said, "Please change, Your Highness."
Then she busied herself lighting all the candles in the room and stood aside preparing to take her dirty clothes to be washed.
Song Yaozhu felt a moment of languor, and seeing that Caijin was already looking sleepy, she knew the problem lay with the candles. Without making a sound, she pulled Caijin behind the screen to change her clothes, and then secretly took out an antidote pill from her sachet and swallowed it.
After taking the antidote pill and smelling the cooling balm, Cai Jin felt much clearer-headed.
She was about to speak when Song Yaozhu covered her mouth and whispered, "Go find the prince later."
Cai Jin nodded, then collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Song Yaozhu was the same.
Seeing this, the maidservant quickly went out, and soon two rough-looking old women came in and carried Song Yaozhu out.
Song Yaozhu felt that she was cursed by the Grand Duke Jupiter after her rebirth, otherwise she wouldn't have encountered such tricks so frequently.
How many times has she been "captivated" by this?
Zhao Ying'e was entertaining guests in the front yard when she heard that the matter had been accomplished, and she looked smug.
Although she became a concubine of Prince Yong, this man was not the one she loved! Her ideal married life was one of romance and love with her husband, not watching him mourn his dead lover!
Everything I'm suffering now is all because of Song Yaozhu! If it weren't for her appearance, with my sincere heart for Xie Liwei, marrying him would have been a matter of time!
Xie Liwei will definitely be moved by his own sincerity!
But the premise is that Song Yaozhu doesn't exist!
She wanted to make this bitch die in the cruelest way possible!
Song Yaozhu did not expect that Zhao Ying'e would not use her reputation as a pretext. Instead, she had her put into a bamboo cage and was about to be thrown into the river.
......
Even Song Yaozhu, who had been strategizing all along, panicked. This bamboo cage was so tight that even pigs couldn't break free, let alone a weak woman like her!
Fortunately, before these people could carry her out of the mansion, Fang Rao descended from the sky and knocked them all unconscious.
Song Yaozhu climbed out of the bamboo cage and warned Fang Rao, "You absolutely must not tell the Prince about this!"
That's so embarrassing!
Fang Rao replied without changing his expression, "Yes!" He then leaped and disappeared into the darkness. Xie Liwei, who had come out to "sober up" a short while later, learned the whole story.
His eyes darkened; the Zhao family had no desire to live!