~ UNDERSTAND THE CAUSE AND EFFECT ~
Su Qingwu had already made up his mind to send Su Yuyi back to the residence first, but seeing Mu Yunyao like this, he didn’t dare to take the risk. He was afraid that Mu Yunyao would get angry and make a move on the road in anger.
Su Yuyi felt that Yunyao’s words were pressing down on her internally and externally. She felt panicked in her heart for no reason, “If I’m not going back, then I won’t trouble little sister Yunyao to take care of me. You should take care of Aunt first.”
“Judging from Eldest Brother’s expression, he probably doesn’t plan to bring Eldest Sister back to the residence first. So, I can go back and take care of mother without worry.” After Mu Yunyao finished speaking, she turned around and went forward to support Su Qing. She then followed the Monk of Baohua Temple to the newly arranged room.
When they arrived at the newly arranged room, Mu Yunyao helped Su Qing to sit down. She then turned her head and instructed Si Shu at the side, “Go take a look where did Eldest Brother arrange Su Yuyi to rest?”
Su Qing hurriedly held onto Mu Yunyao’s hand. “Yao’er?”
Mu Yunyao raised her head with a smile on her face, but it didn’t have the usual pure warmth. Instead, it emitted an indescribable baleful aura. “Mother, you don’t need to worry. I know what I’m doing.”
Si Shu hurriedly nodded her head, got up, and walked outside.
Su Qing’s ankle was only slightly sprained, and it wasn’t that severe. It would be better to recuperate slowly for a while. What was more troublesome was her throat, which was burned by the smoke. She would probably have to suffer a little bit before she recovered.
Jin Wang sent a doctor to come over and sent someone to comfort her. Mu Yunyao didn’t refuse the doctor’s offer to help Su Qing treat her injuries. She waited until he had finished prescribing the medicine before she added a few more herbs. Then, she let Si Qin boil the medicine. Mu Yunyao purposely added some sleeping aid to the medicine, so Su Qing fell asleep not long after. Seeing that Su Qing was sleeping soundly, Mu Yunyao stood up and went to the outer room to sit down. Si Qin and Si Qin hurriedly went forward to kneel on the ground. Their faces were full of shame as they quietly waited for their punishment.
After a long time, Mu Yunyao finally spoke. “Tell me everything what happened tonight in full detail.”
“Yes, Miss.” Si Qin opened her mouth first. “After Miss went to help Grand Princess Yi copy the Buddhist scriptures, I accompanied Madam to drink some tea and snacks in the room. Afterward, she went to the prayer hall to chant the Buddhist scriptures and pray according to yesterday’s time. After a while, Miss Su said that her leg hurt, so Young Master asked her to go back. After about an hour later, while Si Cha and I were guarding outside, a monk suddenly appeared. He said that Miss was accidentally hurt by a bookcase in the Scripture Pavilion and asked me to help him. When the servant thought of Si Qi guarding Madam, I immediately rushed to the Scripture Pavilion. Afterward, Miss knew all about it.”
Mu Yunyao’s eyes seemed to be filled with ice crystals, the light in her eyes rippling yet filled with chilliness. “What about Liuliang? Isn’t he protecting you from the shadows?”
“This servant doesn’t know.”
Mu Yunyao remained silent, and the room immediately quietened down. After about a cup of tea, footsteps could be heard at the door. Si Hua went up to open the door and saw Liu Liang standing at the door.
Mu Yunyao raised her eyes, her gaze her eyes deep and unwavering. “Liu Liang, where have you been?”
Liu Liang walked into the room and knelt down, “Reporting to Mistress, I have been lured away and have fallen into an ambush. Cough cough….” As he said this, he couldn’t help but cough twice, and a small trickle of blood seeped out from the corner of his lips.
“With your skill, how many people’s ambush could injure you to such an extent?”
“A dozen or so lackeys, plus three inner sect experts.”
“What about those people?”
“Dead.”
Mu Yunyao’s eyes moved, “Have you cleaned up the corpses? Did you find any clues?”
“I’ve interrogated them to find out who they were. They told me that they were bribed, but they didn’t know who it was. They only said that the person had a mole on his brow. After being injured by me, those two experts from the inner sect experts saw that they had no way to escape, so they directly killed themselves without giving an explanation, and there was no obvious mark on their bodies….” As he said this, he couldn’t help but cough twice, and his face turned even paler. “Please punish me, Mistress.”
“Two inner sect experts….” Mu Yunyao slightly frowned. Those ten or so hooligans might have been ordered to be found by the Eldest Madam. But what about those two inner sect experts? Was he driven by the Eldest Madam, or was there someone else secretly interfering?
Si Shu also rushed back, “Reporting to Miss, this servant has found out where Eldest Miss Su is.”
Mu Yunyao nodded as she looked at the three people kneeling on the ground. “You three can stand up.”
Si Qin and Si Qi looked at each other, bit their lips, and kneeled on the ground without making a sound. Liu Liang did not have the slightest reaction and continued kneeling with his head down. Mu Yunyao looked at the three of them and spoke once again, “I believe that the three of you are loyal to Mother and me. I also know that this matter happened so suddenly and that you all did not intentionally cause this situation. Fortunately, Mother was fine and was only slightly injured. It’s just that a deliberate calculation of unintentional consequences. I just blame those enemies for being too mean.”
“Miss, please punish this servant. If you don’t punish this servant, then this servant’s heart will never be at peace.”
Mu Yunyao’s eyebrows moved as she lowered her eyes slightly, “Since that’s the case, then I’ll punish you with three months of wages. With this lesson, I believe that you won’t make the same mistake the next time. Liu Liang, your injuries are quite severe, go and take care of yourself, don’t leave any root of illness.”
Liu Liang raised his head and said with an uneasy look, “Mistress, Liu Liang should be punished…”
“What, all of you are starting to feel uneasy even though I’m not punishing you all?” Mu Yunyao let out a faint sigh as she faced him and said, “This is Baohua Temple. After listening to the Buddhist scriptures for the past few days, my heart is unavoidably a little bit more lenient. Your punishment is three months’ worth of wages, and also, if you don’t chase after them and kill them, those people may have tried to kill Mothe. You haven’t really done anything wrong. I can still tell the difference between right and wrong.”
“… Liu Liang thanks Mistress. “
“Get up. The smell of blood on your body is too strong. Go down and bandage your wound first. I will prescribe some medicine to restore internal strength and heal the wound. Someone will send it over to you later.”
“Thank you, Mistress.” He looked at Mu Yunyao and saw that she was safe and sound. Only then did the fear in his heart slowly dissipate.
He heard that in Baohua Temple, there was a big fire, and it was in Mu Yunyao’s room at that. He was flustered and was injured by someone while the enemy looked for an opening. He rushed back all the way, and his heart trembled with cold. When he confirmed that Mu Yunyao was safe, it gradually stabilized. This time, those people were targeting Madam, and some were secretly trying to save her. What if the next time those people attacked Madam, and no one happened to protect them? Just thinking of this result made him unable to accept it. It was as if his heart had returned to its previous empty state. Liu Liang gritted his teeth secretly and suppressed the blood in his chest several times. This was enough to teach him a lesson. He would never make the same mistake again!
