Xia Ruyi viciously grabbed Pan Zhu’s collar.
"Where did you go just now?"
"Our sedan chair entered through the back door, why didn’t you remind me!"
"Speak! Are you in cahoots with them!"
Pan Zhu clutched her own collar with both hands, her face flushed red.
"Cough, cough!"
"Miss! I was..."
"Halfway, that Wedding Matron suddenly said something was left back at the mansion and told the maid to go back to fetch it!"
"The maid was careless for a moment and went back!"
"When I returned, Miss was already in the back courtyard’s side room!"
"This maid should die, this maid deserves a thousand deaths!"
Xia Ruyi glared at her fiercely, gritting her teeth.
"You can never accomplish anything, always ruin things!"
"If I can escape this cage, so be it"
"If I can’t escape, I’ll take you down with me!"
With that, she pushed her away violently.
Pan Zhu’s plump body stumbled a few steps before stabilizing.
Watching Xia Ruyi about to leave, Pan Zhu turned and knelt down.
"Miss, this maid’s death wouldn’t matter, but what about you?"
"The few people who came from home are no longer with you!"
"Now it seems, isn’t this all their treacherous plot?!"
"They want to remove all the close people around Miss so they can insert their confidants to fully control Miss!"
"If it’s truly like this, wouldn’t Miss be at their mercy?"
Pan Zhu’s face was full of tears.
Xia Ruyi also stopped her steps.
She thought to herself: what she says is not without reason.
She brought several people over, now only Pan Zhu is left.
Looking at the maids guarding outside the door.
It seems... they were all sent by Hai Feng for her to use.
Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
She sighed and slowly turned around, personally helping Pan Zhu up.
"Enough!"
"It’s my fault!"
Pan Zhu shook her head in tears.
"Miss, you are not wrong!"
"It’s my fault, this maid is too stupid, this maid is useless!"
"They kept me probably because this maid is stupid!"
"No!"
Xia Ruyi held her hand.
"You’re not stupid! You’re all I have, Pan Zhu you’re all I have!"
With that, tears started to fall.
Moments later, the mistress and maid hugged each other and cried bitterly.
The two maids standing outside heard, exchanged a glance, and sneered mockingly.
The slightly chubby-faced maid sneered.
"Fools! The Commandery Princess actually sent us to serve her!"
The opposite oval-faced, fair-skinned maid sighed.
"Alas! Our fate isn’t good, can’t get any lucrative positions?"
The chubby-faced maid’s eyes gleamed, and she grinned secretly.
"You can’t say that!"
"Back then, how much Silver did the Commandery Princess spend on her? If calculated carefully, it’s tens of thousands of taels!"
"With so much Silver, she couldn’t have spent it all, so... she still has a lot left!"
The oval-faced maid’s eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Is there still something in it for us?"
"Of course!"
The chubby-faced maid said confidently.
"Listen closely..."
With that, they leaned in, giggling as they whispered conspiratorially.
...
Inside the inner chamber.
Xia Ruyi and her maid cried for a long time, after venting.
They finally had to face reality.
Pan Zhu advised.
"Miss, escaping is unrealistic, breaking off the marriage even more so, since you’re already married into this household!"
"You now belong to the Prince when alive and will be his ghost when dead!"
"Right now, our only path is to survive!"
"As long as we can live, there’s hope for everything; dead, there’s nothing!"
Xia Ruyi wiped her tears, gritting her teeth in great reluctance.
"Fine!"
"I’ve survived death; am I afraid of living?"
She fiercely swore in her heart.
’All those who deceived and harmed me, I’ll repay them tenfold, a hundredfold, just watch!’
Pan Zhu wept tears of joy.
"You finally pulled yourself together!"
Xia Ruyi rose calmly, staring out the window with a blank expression, finally realizing.
"So those rumors were orchestrated by Hai Feng!"
"Her purpose was to create a rift between me, my second sister, and sister-in-law! To sever ties with them!!"
"Such a vicious tactic!"
Though their relationship was strained before, it hadn’t reached the point of breaking off.
If such a thing hadn’t happened, apologizing and crying to them might still have worked.
But now, all words had been said to the death.
All escape routes blocked by herself.
It’s truly...
That wretched Hai Feng really intends to push her to a dead end!
"Damn it!"
Xia Ruyi ground her teeth.
"Hai Feng, I won’t let you get away!"
Seeing her like this, Pan Zhu dared not advise further, thinking it’s good she’s determined.
She then lowered her head and went to tidy up her clothes.
That set of Shui Hong wedding dress and hairpins had to be worn tonight!
...
Come evening.