The legitimate daughter returns to the capital and embarks on a splendid life, tearing apart the fak

Zijuan looked up at Yunheting, her heart filled with hope. She knew that as long as the master spoke, she could live.

To her disappointment, Yun Heting gave her a warning look, then chuckled twice at Chu Wanqing and said, "Madam's people are for you to deal with as you see fit."

Chu Wanqing stared at him for a moment before turning to Zijuan, who was kneeling on the ground, and said in a cold voice, "Zijuan, you stole the master's property. It wouldn't be too much for me to beat you to death."

Zijuan trembled all over, and was so frightened that she knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: "Madam, spare me! Master, spare me! This servant will never dare to do it again."

She wanted to be a concubine, not a servant, and she didn't want to marry those peasants. She had endured and suffered for so many years, all because Yun Heting promised her that he would take her as a concubine once the eldest daughter married into the royal family.

But she forgot that her indenture was in Chu Wanqing's hands, and only Chu Wanqing could decide her life or death.

Chu Wanqing looked at her coldly, then suddenly laughed: "But you've been with me for so many years, how could I bear to send you to your death?"

Zijuan was overjoyed and looked up to thank Chu Wanqing, but Chu Wanqing suddenly curled her lips and said something extremely cruel: "Since you want to find a man so badly, I'll send you to the lowest-class brothel."

Zijuan suddenly raised her head, her face as pale as paper.

She knew that Chu Wanqing had that right!

The lowest-class brothels? Those are places worse than death!

Few women who go in come out alive, and even those who do are barely recognizable as human or ghosts!

"Madam! Madam, spare my life!" She kowtowed desperately, adding more bloodstains to her forehead. "This servant knows she was wrong! This servant will never dare to do it again! Please, Madam, have mercy! Please, Madam, have mercy..."

Yun Heting paused for a moment. He wanted Zijuan dead, for only the dead could keep their mouths shut. He frowned and said, "Madam, such a traitor is only a menace if kept alive. Perhaps... perhaps it would be better to have her beaten to death. If you cannot bear to do it, I will do it."

Having said that, he called out loudly, "Someone come here!"

Several servants entered in response.

Yun Heting pointed at Zijuan, his face full of righteous indignation: "Drag this treacherous, lowly servant girl out and beat her to death!"

Zijuan's expression changed completely.

She looked at Yun Heting in disbelief. She had taken such a huge risk for him, done so many shameful things for him. In the end, not only did he not save her, but he also wanted to kill her with his own hands?

The servants stepped forward to drag him away.

Zijuan suddenly struggled and cried out, "Master! Master, you can't do this to me! I..."

"Shut up!" Yun Heting interrupted her sharply, his gaze as piercing as a knife. "You stole from the master's property and dare to beg for mercy? Guards, gag her and drag her out!"

The servants were about to get to work.

Seeing this, Yun Jin suddenly spoke up, "Uncle, shouldn't we be asking her where these fakes came from, who she sold the stolen items to, and what she did with the money?"

She looked at Yun Heting and reminded him with a smile, "Such a big matter, she definitely couldn't handle it alone. There are probably accomplices in this mansion. If we don't deal with them together, how can Aunt sleep peacefully?"

Yun Heting's expression froze. He was annoyed that this girl was causing trouble, but he also knew that he could not insist on killing Zijuan now. He looked at Zijuan with a gloomy expression and asked, "Zijuan, tell me the truth. Who ordered you to do this? I will plead for you because you have served the madam for many years."

He paused, then looked at her meaningfully: "If not for others, you should think about your family too."

The word "family" was emphasized very heavily!

Zijuan was shocked. She understood that Yun Heting was threatening her!

But she had no choice but to bear this threat!

She closed her eyes, tears streaming silently down her face.

When I opened my eyes again, all that remained was a deathly gray.

"No one instructed me," she said in a hoarse voice. "It was I myself... I was overcome by greed."

Chu Wanqing hadn't expected her to say anything, but it turned out she already knew. She stood up and said coldly, "Lock her in the woodshed. We'll deal with her tomorrow."

Yun Heting moved his lips as if to stop him, but ultimately held back.

Several old women dragged Zijuan to the doorway when they heard Yunxiu's voice from outside: "What's going on?"

As she finished speaking, she walked in from outside the door: "Father, Zijuan has served Mother for so many years, how can you just beat her to death like that? I don't know what she did wrong. Even killing someone is just a matter of beheading them, no matter how big the mistake, it doesn't warrant death, does it? Why not just deduct her monthly salary and demote her to a low-ranking maid?" After saying that, she turned to Chu Wanqing and asked, "Mother, what do you say?"

Seeing Chu Wanqing's displeasure, Yun Jin quickly stepped forward to explain, "Cousin, Zijuan's mistake is unforgivable..."

But before she could finish speaking, Yunxiu interrupted her: "Cousin, you don't understand the rules of the capital. No noble family would kill its servants at will."

She had actually arrived long ago. She knew about it when she heard that Chu Wanqing had opened the storeroom to pick out nice things for Yun Jin. She was very angry. What kind of nice things was this cousin from who-knows-where picking out for her?

Those things should all belong to her!

Having barely managed to suppress the urge to rush over, she kept her maidservant watching the movements in Chu Wanqing's courtyard. She was also aware of when Manager Qin led people to inventory the dowry.

When she found out that Zijuan had taken some of Chu Wanqing's dowry, she was furious. How dare a maid like Zijuan covet her things? Killing her would be too lenient.

Upon hearing that Zijuan had hidden her father's undergarments, she understood that the money she had exchanged for those items must have been used to support her mother's expenses over the years and to help her with other matters. Otherwise, how could she have earned such a good reputation?

When Yunxiu was five years old, she knew that Liu Zhixue was her mother. Her mother entered the Yun family under the guise of a teacher to personally teach her, wasn't it all so that she could marry into the royal family?

Mother has suffered such a great injustice. So what if she used some of Chu Wanqing's dowry? It's going to be her dowry sooner or later anyway. Just consider it as her using it in advance. Why is Mother so angry?

So she came to persuade her mother to let things rest and not to fight over such a trivial matter. How could the matriarch of the household not have such a small capacity for tolerance?

When she arrived, she overheard Yun Heting saying he wanted to kill Zijuan, and she also heard what Yun Jin was saying: Can this matter be investigated? What if investigating it implicates her mother?

She thought her cousin was really meddlesome!

So, she couldn't help but step forward.

Her words were full of sarcasm.

Yun Jin understood, and so did Chu Wanqing.

Yunxiu was reminding Yunjin that she was just from a small place and didn't understand the rules of the aristocratic families in the capital, so it was best not to interfere to avoid embarrassing herself.

Yun Jin wasn't foolish enough to confront her directly. She curtsied and took a step back, saying, "What my cousin says is true. I have overstepped my bounds."

Suppressing her anger, Chu Wanqing asked in as gentle a tone as possible, "Xiu'er, do you know what mistake she made?"