The next day, Yao Ling felt refreshed and ready for a new day. When she was going to go to the matriarch's courtyard for her morning greet, Xiao Yu gave her a piece of good news. Liu Li already did her revenge and she helped Yao Ling clean up her courtyard by removing two maidservants at once.
"How did she did it? Yao Ling asked curiously. Although she knew that Liu Li would give her a benefit, she didn't know exactly how she did that. That's why she felt curious about what Liu Li had done to the maidservants.
Xiao Yu grinned. "Young Mistress, she's indeed ruthless. However, because this move is for our benefit... I really applaud her." What Xiao Yu said was correct... As long as her foul tactics weren't used against them, Yao Ling actually should praise her because of her wit.
Yao Ling yawned lazily and once again asked Xiao Yu, "So... what did she do?"
"This morning... I found out that two of our maidservants were gone. I guessed that that was the move that Young Mistress kept saying before. That's why I asked around to find out about what's going on when they didn't show up for duty this morning," Xiao Yu said.
"Are they Qiu Qiu and Qiu Ling?" Yao Ling asked while smiling.
"Young Mistress guessed correctly! They were the one who answered the matriarch's questions back then!" Xiao Yu said excitedly, but she suddenly frowned, "But Liu Li is indeed vicious. They had no choice but to answer with the truth. After all, the one who asked the questions was the matriarch herself. If they lied, the consequences were also dire if a servant lied to the master. They could be beaten along with Liu Li!"
"Yeah, but as I told you before, she isn't in the right state of mind. My mother once told me about a person with this type of condition. This kind of person has lived through so many bad experiences, thus they had a weakness toward kindness and happiness. Once she feels that someone gives him/her care and affectionateness, she will definitely feel indebted. I bet once she felt that way towards Concubine Wan, however, in reality, Concubine Wan didn't treat all of her servants nicely. That's probably the reason why Liu Li got her second master and changed her loyalty, but now... she is also abandoned by them," Yao Ling explained. "She probably will seek a new master."
Xiao Yu's face lit up. "Ah... no wonder! By showing her kindness around her downfall time, Liu Li will feel indebted to Young Mistress!" Xiao Yu exclaimed.
"En... sooner or later... she will come to our side," Yao Ling said. "However, you also need to be careful. Once she is triggered or she feels that she was being abandoned or treated badly, she would retaliate with the same vengeance." Liu Li had a type of mental illness and even though she could be used, they still needed to be careful around her. She was in luck because Mother used to tell her a thing or two about mental illness in order to let her be careful when she met a person like Liu Li. She used to complain that it was a useless thing to learn, but Yao Ling never knew until now that it was a really helpful knowledge.
In this type of household, she needed to have a strong mental ability to see through people's intention and calmly judge a situation. She already paid attention to Liu Li since the first time she met her. In a glance, she knew that Liu Li was the mastermind behind Concubine Wan's behavior. If she didn't pay her any attention, she probably wouldn't realize her current state of mind.
"Yes, Young Mistress. Qiu Qiu somehow was found in bed with a man and she's currently outside with that man, waiting for Young Mistress' judgment. She's still in disarray state at the moment. Fortunately, Young Master has gone to Lin Fu --- or else, he will see a disgusting sight," Xiao Yu said. In her mind, Young Master and Young Mistress is the perfect couple. She didn't want Young Master to see another woman's body other than her Young Mistress!
"Let her be... I will deal with her later after you finish your report," Yao Ling leisurely said. She had no good feelings toward Qiu Qiu since she knew that she was a spy, so why should she bother to be kind to her? Even if others said that she was cruel, she didn't care at all. "How about Qiu Ling?"
"Qiu Ling also had a mishap. Qiu Ling loves wearing make-up the most, so usually, she put on light make-up while working. However, when she put on her eye-shadows, it seems like she had an allergic reaction. Her eyes become swollen now and this servant doesn't think that she will be able to work on that condition," Xiao Yu explained. She felt pity toward Qiu Ling, but she realized that they had to be ruthless or else they would become an easy target.
A few days inside Wang Fu, she found out that a few of the maidservants behaved weirdly --- including Qiu Ling. She had a hunch that Qiu Ling was also a spy but she didn't know who the master was. The best way to deal with them was to change all of the maidservants inside their courtyard, at least... the ones who served Young Mistress directly in the inner courtyard.
"Have you called a physician for her?" Yao Ling shook her head inwardly. She knew that Liu Li would take revenge, but the woman ah~ her method was quite vicious. Liu Li was able to move and walk yesterday and in one day... she was able to remove her enemies.
"Yes, Young Mistress. He's currently checking up on her," Xiao Yu said.
"Good... Then let us handle Qiu Qiu's matter first." Yao Ling walked slowly to the outside. Xiao Yu put Qiu Qiu and her lover in the outer courtyard because she didn't want them to taint her Young Mistress' courtyard.
When Yao Ling saw the couple, she was quite surprised by the man's appearance. He was... really fat and ugly. He had a dark-skinned face with a big mole on his face. She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to rack her brain and find out who this man was from her memory. Xiao Yu knew her young mistress' confusion and whispered, "That man is a lowly servant who is in charge of the lavatory."
Yao Ling shook her head inwardly. Liu Li indeed got her revenge to the extreme! He could find any man for Qiu Qiu, but she chose the worst of all. She sighed and asked, "What happened?"
"Young Mistress... this lowly one was set up! This servant didn't know how this servant could end up in that room! Please give me justice, Young Mistress!" Qiu Qiu begged loudly while kept kowtowing.
The man who finally found a wife for himself sneered and said, "How could you? You are the one who jumped on me, but you dare to deny it?" The man quickly kowtowed in front of Yao Ling and also pleaded, "Young Mistress, please give this servant justice too!" How could he let go of this chance? No one wanted to become his wife because of his appearance. Even though Qiu Qiu wasn't a beauty, but she at least possessed a nice face to look at! It was his luck for listening to Liu Li's coerce. At first, he didn't know what she wanted him to do. He just needed to appear at a certain place. Who knew that Qiu Qiu would jump on him --- so, in this part, he didn't really lie.
The man realized that judging from Qiu Qiu's state, someone must have drugged her. However, he wouldn't admit that matter or even let them know that it was Liu Li's idea. He could marry her if he insisted to say that Qiu Qiu was indeed a willing participant. He wouldn't betray Liu Li, but instead... he would thank her and give her something in return.
"This..." Yao Ling wanted to say something, but she also astounded by the man's shamelessness. She could see a glint in his eyes and the man seemed to be a bit lecherous. She wanted to get rid of Qiu Qiu, but giving her to this man... wouldn't it too cruel? Somehow, she was at a loss. This was the first time she needed to punish a person and she was too soft to make a cruel judgment.