Huang Shan's words stabbed into Jiang Jinyue's heart like a sharp thorn.
So she was inferior to Caiyu. Even this eunuch could see it!
Poor her. She had fought for more than a decade in the Jiang family in Jiaodong. Due to her status, she was outshone by her two elder legitimate sisters. After coming to Yanjing, she was even outshone by a low - status servant girl!
What on earth was she inferior to them?
Huang Shan's words were like needles, and the piercing pain spread in Jiang Jinyue's heart. Tears welled up uncontrollably and dripped onto her begonia - colored front lapel, soaking a large stain.
Huang Shan had no habit of showing tenderness to the fair sex.
The more distraught Jiang Jinyue was, the more excited he became.
At this moment, a ferocious light shone in his eyes, and his gaze fell on the middle of Jiang Jinyue's splayed limbs.
Since being castrated, he would never be able to taste the pleasures of a woman in his life.
But precisely because of this, he loved to hear women wailing under his hands even more.
As soon as the thought came to him, Huang Shan's hand reached out towards Jiang Jinyue...
The fear of being torn apart made Jiang Jinyue forget her previous hesitation and sorrow. Her mind was filled only with despair and terror:
"No, please... please..."
"Really don't want it? Or don't want it to be too slow?" While using lewd words to degrade Jiang Jinyue's mind, Huang Shan fondled the girl's fresh body with his hands.
Tsk tsk.
A virgin was indeed a virgin.
A noble lady was indeed a noble lady.
The feeling was really different from that of the maidservants serving the ladies in the palace.
Huang Shan became extremely excited and tortured Jiang Jinyue in every possible way.
How could this pampered young lady have ever experienced such a thing? Even the maids doing rough work in the palace couldn't withstand the perverted abuse of these eunuchs!
Tears continuously rolled out of her eyes and hit her bruised chest, causing a stabbing pain.
The feeling of salt - water - soaked whips lashing the skin, which Caiyu had once endured, now transferred to Jiang Jinyue. The pain made her tremble all over...
At this moment, where was she still the third beauty of the Jiang family in Jiaodong, or the cousin of the Prince of Yan's Mansion?
She was just a prostitute at the mercy of a eunuch!
...
This night was extremely long for some people, just like the dark night in the dungeon the night before.
But for Caiyu, it was like the blink of an eye.
When Caiyu woke up, it was already broad daylight.
She looked blankly at the red hickey marks on her body, which were criss - crossed in the spaces outside her wounds.
"This... last night, the prince came back?" Caiyu recalled in horror.
After a long while, she finally felt completely defeated.
She couldn't remember anything, just like having a blackout after drinking.
Caiyu finally gave up trying to recall. Looking around, she found that Song Yinghuai had already left.
Xiangye had woken up last night. She wrung out a hot towel and handed it over, looking hesitant to speak.
Caiyu keenly noticed that she seemed to want to say something. She wiped her face and nudged her. "What secret have you found out again, girl?"
"It's not a secret." Xiangye couldn't keep a secret. When asked, she immediately wanted to tell everything she knew. "Sister Caiyu, the prince has other women!"
The hot towel on Caiyu's face paused for a moment. Then, Caiyu took it off and calmly said "Oh".
"Why aren't you worried?" Xiangye was both puzzled and anxious. She simply leaned closer and whispered to her. "I heard that the two women are named Miaoyi and Yunling. They are both extremely beautiful. They are special gifts from Lord Huang, the envoy from the capital, for the prince."
"I heard that the prince stayed in their residence last night and didn't return to the Lianyin Pavilion all night..." Xiangye looked towards the bedroom. Finding that there were indeed no signs of anyone sleeping on the luxurious canopy bed in the bedroom, she immediately deflated. "It's over, it's over, it's over!"
Seeing her look as if the sky was falling, Caiyu couldn't help but find it funny. "What's over?"
Xiangye looked at her in frustration. "You've fallen out of favor!"
Caiyu: ...
She silently lowered her eyes.
Stupid Xiangye, couldn't she see the fresh hickey marks exposed by her slightly open front lapel?
If Song Yinghuai had stayed in the residence of those two women last night, were the hickey marks on her body made by a dog?
However, she didn't have time to explain it to Xiangye today.
After Granny Yu's death, she had mastered the direct way to contact the Crown Prince.
She immediately sent a message, expressing her intention to negotiate with the Crown Prince in the letter.
Calculating the days, the Crown Prince's reply should be coming back.
Would the Crown Prince agree to let her postpone the mission again?
Would he confess the real reason for luring Song Yinghuai to break his abstinence in the letter?
Thinking of this, Caiyu's heart pounded wildly, and she couldn't sit still for a moment.
"The Lantern Festival is in two days. I'm going to the shop today to check the market." Caiyu ordered. "Xiangye, ask Brother Liu to prepare the carriage for me. I'm going out of the mansion."
The rain that had fallen all night had stopped. The morning light was dim, and the sun was rising in the east.
It seemed to be a good harvest year this year.
But Concubine Yao was in a very bad mood.
Before dawn, she had sent Granny Li to invite Song Yinghuai to the Wanxiang Hall.
The news Granny Li brought back this morning almost made her faint again.
"Huai'er! I heard that you sent Yue'er to accompany that eunuch Huang Shan?" Concubine Yao gasped in shock, looking at Song Yinghuai accusingly.
She stared at Song Yinghuai, who was sitting at the tea table in front of the bed, sipping tea leisurely. Her lips were tightly pursed, showing a look of disapproving anger.
"How could you send Yue'er to an eunuch?" Concubine Yao half - lay on the bed, pounding the bed hard with her hand. Her face twitched. "She's your cousin! You!"
She couldn't say any more.
As soon as she spoke, she felt dizzy.
Granny Li quickly supported her from behind and helped her calm down. "Old Princess, please calm down. You've just been detoxified. The master said you need to rest in peace and not get angry."
Song Yinghuai remained calm. He just savored the fragrant tea carefully. After taking a few sips, he put it down, a faint smile in his eyes:
"Why is Mother so angry? Your son just asked his cousin to accompany the noble guest who came to the mansion. My cousin has always regarded herself as the master of the mansion. It's only natural for the master to accompany the guest."
"But it's Huang Shan!" Concubine Yao couldn't help raising her voice. "Don't you know who he is?"
Concubine Yao was also a concubine who had come out of the palace. She was well aware of the dirty and twisted minds of eunuchs.
They said it was to accompany the guest. People all thought that eunuchs were servile, but they didn't know that these slaves were the most adept at bullying the weak and currying favor with the powerful.
They only flattered a few favored masters in the palace.
When it came to others, they could torture them in all sorts of ways...
Especially in matters of men and women, how could Concubine Yao not know in the palace?
Jiang Jinyue was sent to Huang Shan. She was probably in great danger.
It was just that the news didn't reach her ears until this morning. It was too late!
"Your son knows, so that's why I sent her there!" Song Yinghuai finally put away the faint smile on his lips, and a coldness flashed across his eyes.
"Why?" Concubine Yao stared blankly at him.
Song Yinghuai put down the teacup in his hand and looked intently at Concubine Yao:
"Mother, do you know that it was she who instigated the poisoning of you?"
"What?"
This time, Concubine Yao was even more shocked. She immediately denied it in disbelief. "Impossible! It wasn't Caiyu..."
"No!" Song Yinghuai coldly exposed her self - deception. "Zhui'er has already confessed in the prison, and the Hu merchant who sold the poison has also confessed that it was under Jiang Jinyue's instigation that Zhui'er purchased the 'Half - Moon' poison through the pawnshop of the Jiang family in Yandi as the middle contact point."
A little girl like Zhui'er couldn't withstand the torture in the dungeon. After just a few blows, she didn't care about her family or the Jiang family anymore.
"This..."
"Mother is a smart person. When the news of Zhui'er's arrest was sent back to the Wanxiang Hall last night, Mother should have already had a judgment in her heart. Why does Mother deceive herself?"
Every word of Song Yinghuai hit Concubine Yao hard.
Concubine Yao was silent for a long time, looking extremely conflicted.
She had indeed had a vague guess after Granny Li brought back the message, but...
"Yue'er's aunt and I were once the closest sisters. If Yue'er has an accident in Yanjing, how can I explain it to her aunt..."