"Bold demon! How dare you resist! Today I'll show you the power of this Taoist priest!" He pointed at Song Ruotang with two fingers together and was about to stab her with his sword.
Song Ruotang clenched the corner of her dress and shouted coldly, "How dare you! You broke into my courtyard without permission today. When the master comes back, you'll surely be held accountable!"
The cold aura around her made her voice icy. The Taoist priest paused for a moment, rolled his eyes, and indeed stopped attacking.
But he clicked his tongue and said, "Madam Third, don't blame me. I'm just following orders. I don't mean to harm you. I'm here to expel the evil spirit from you."
The Taoist priest explained seriously. Song Ruotang gasped and coldly asked him, "Whose order are you following? Does the master know that you've broken into the mansion?"
"The master is busy with official affairs. How could we bother him with such a trivial matter?" A clear female voice interrupted. Song Ruotang turned her head and saw Du Lingxuan walking over surrounded by a group of maids.
There was a sickly look in her eyes, but her gaze towards Song Ruotang was full of playfulness, as if she were watching a joke.
Song Ruotang stood up. Du Lingxuan walked up to her. Seeing the swollen copper coin mark on her cheek, she pretended to be concerned and said, "Third sister, don't be afraid. Once the evil spirit is expelled, you'll feel better."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Song Ruotang looked at her coldly. Du Lingxuan gave a soft laugh and said, "Third sister is possessed by a demon, so naturally you're not in your right mind. Once the Taoist priest expels the evil spirit, you'll regain your senses."
After saying that, she turned to look at the Taoist priest behind her and gave him a look, signaling him to continue. With Du Lingxuan's support, the Taoist priest no longer hesitated. He took out a few cinnabar yellow talismans, lit them on the copper coin sword, and then roasted the sword in a bowl of burning wine. Then he began to mumble incantations.
He shook the bell and approached Song Ruotang. He shouted, "Hurry up as in the law of the universe!" Then he suddenly opened his eyes and raised the scalding copper coin sword. "This evil spirit likes to seduce others with its beauty and suck their essence. Once I disfigure her, she'll get better."
At this moment, Song Ruotang finally understood that all this so - called religious ceremony was just a preparation to ruin her face.
Du Lingxuan wanted to disfigure her so that she would no longer have the capital to compete with her for the master's favor.
Song Ruotang wanted to struggle, but she was held tightly by several strong men and couldn't break free at all. Her heart sank to the bottom. Looking at the approaching copper coin sword, she could only close her eyes resignedly.
She had no other capital. The only thing she had was this face. She didn't know if Pei Zhiyan's affection for her was only based on this face...
If so, she didn't need to stay here anymore...
Clang -
The sharp sound of metal colliding rang in her ears. Song Ruotang opened her eyes, and Pei Zhiyan's voice came, full of coldness and anger. "What are you doing?"
The copper coin sword of the Taoist priest was deflected by the stone thrown by Pei Zhiyan and didn't fall on Song Ruotang's face.
Du Lingxuan didn't expect Pei Zhiyan to come back at this time. A look of panic flashed across her face, but she quickly regained her composure. She trotted up to him and said, "Master, why are you back..."
Pei Zhiyan ignored her and walked straight up to Song Ruotang. The strong men beside her wisely let her go. Pei Zhiyan held her shoulders and looked at her frightened face with heartache in his eyes. "Ruotang, are you okay?"
Song Ruotang was about to shake her head, but when she thought of what they had done to her, her eyelashes trembled and her eyes filled with tears.
She threw herself into Pei Zhiyan's arms. Crystal tears rolled down instantly, and she said with a trembling voice, "Master, I'm so scared..."
Pei Zhiyan hugged her. Seeing the swollen red mark on her face, a cold light flashed in his eyes. He turned to look at Du Lingxuan. "You should give me an explanation."
Du Lingxuan felt Pei Zhiyan's anger and was a little scared. But seeing the two of them hugging each other, jealousy grew wildly in her heart, forcing her to bite her lips unwillingly.
"What? Are you bullying her without a reason?"
Since Du Lingxuan didn't say anything for a long time, Pei Zhiyan's tone had turned extremely cold. A sense of oppression came over. Du Lingxuan trembled and said bravely, "It's not like this, master."
She took a few steps forward with a wronged look on her face. "Master, your concubine has been sick for several days. You know that..."
Pei Zhiyan squinted his eyes slightly. "What do you mean? Are you taking your anger out on Ruotang just because you're sick?" He walked up to Du Lingxuan and looked down at her. "Du Lingxuan, do you not take me seriously at all?"
What Du Lingxuan had done today only made Pei Zhiyan think of the days when Song Ruotang was bullied by the Song family. The Song family always labeled Song Ruotang as an unlucky star. Whenever something went wrong, they would find a group of Taoist priests to perform religious ceremonies in the manor and scold and beat her.
Today, Du Lingxuan was doing the same thing, just relying on her family background.
"I didn't know that the daughter of the Du family was a vicious woman who bullied others relying on her family background." Pei Zhiyan snorted. "I wonder if Minister Du knows what his younger sister is like..."
Du Lingxuan shook her head with fear in her eyes. She stepped forward and grabbed Pei Zhiyan's sleeve. "Master, it's not like this. Master, please listen to your concubine's explanation..."
She said anxiously, "Your concubine has been sick for several days and hasn't gotten better, so I thought of finding a Taoist priest to take a look. Taoist priest Qingshan calculated that there was an evil spirit in our mansion, and it was on Third sister, so I came to expel the evil spirit..."
"Evil spirit?" Pei Zhiyan chewed on these two words. Du Lingxuan quickly nodded. "It's true. Your concubine doesn't dare to make things up out of nothing. It's really that those who have contacted Third sister in the past few days have all fallen ill to varying degrees..."
When Du Lingxuan said this, it seemed that she had found her own ground and began to count one by one. "Sister fell in front of Third sister's courtyard that day and got a big cut. I came to invite Third sister to enjoy the plum blossoms and got seriously ill."
She glanced at Song Ruotang as if she was a little afraid, looking at her like a plague god. "And Liuer. She just arrived at Third sister's courtyard and hasn't served for a few days, but she's been ill until now."
Pei Zhiyan found it funny that she blamed everything on Song Ruotang. "You don't only contact Ruotang every day, do you? If this can be used as evidence, does it mean that everyone you contact every day has an evil spirit on them?"
Du Lingxuan paused and looked at the Taoist priest standing beside her, signaling him to speak. The Taoist priest stepped forward. "My lord Pei, please allow this poor Taoist priest to say a few words..."
"Shut up!" Pei Zhiyan shot a cold look at him, and the Taoist priest wisely kept silent.
Pei Zhiyan looked at Du Lingxuan. "I never believe in these unfounded things. Don't play these tricks in front of me. I'll deal with you according to the law for how you bullied others today."
Du Lingxuan suddenly opened her eyes wide and screamed in disbelief, "I'm your wife! You're going to deal with me according to the law?"
"I, Pei Zhiyan, have never had a proper wife." His tone was oppressive, and the cold air rushed towards Du Lingxuan. "What kind of wife are you to me?"