Inside the room.
"Why are you so surprised to see me, Nanny Li?" Qin Wanrong said. "Do you think I'm like a dying candle in the wind, barely hanging on?"
Nanny Li was frantically thinking about a countermeasure in her heart. She lowered her head and said, "This old servant wouldn't dare."
"You've even dared to poison your mistress. What else wouldn't you dare to do, Nanny Li?" Qin Wanrong said coldly.
A few glints of gold flashed in Nanny Li's eyes. She quietly raised her head and saw the gold hairpin she had stolen from Mistress Qin's jewelry box in Qin Wanrong's hand. She was so frightened that she shivered all over.
"Nanny Li is a smart person. I don't need to say much. I'm sure you understand," Qin Wanrong said. "I can pay off the five hundred taels you owe. But you have to work for me and mustn't betray me. Otherwise..."
She waved her hand, and someone escorted a person to appear outside the door of the secret room.
The person was tied up with ropes and had a rag stuffed in his mouth. As soon as he saw Nanny Li, he burst into tears and whimpered frantically. It was Nanny Li's only son.
"What do you want to do! Let him go. Come at me if you have anything to say!" Nanny Li had few weaknesses, and her only weakness was her good-for-nothing son at home. Seeing her son fall into Qin Wanrong's hands, she was even more flustered.
"I didn't expect you to be a sentimental person, Nanny," Qin Wanrong said. "You must have made up your mind on how to choose."
Qin Wanrong was still alive, and her weakness had been grasped. For the sake of her own and her son's lives, Nanny Li didn't struggle much and quickly agreed to defect to Qin Wanrong.
After this incident, Nanny Li's back was a bit more hunched when she left.
After Nanny Li left, the door next to the secret room was opened, and Su Yuanyuan walked out with Zhang Yingxue and Zhuo Shu.
Zhuo Shu said, "She won't go back and inform Mistress Qin, then come back to deal with Wanrong, will she?"
Su Yuanyuan laughed and said, "She stole Mistress Qin's hairpin. That's an act of betraying her master. She won't survive even if she informs. Moreover, her only son is still in our hands. She doesn't dare."
With a deeper smile, Su Yuanyuan said, "Now, we just have to wait for another fish to take the bait."
Fifteen days had passed.
This was already the fifteenth day that Qin Wanrong had been staying at Prince Qing's Mansion.
Seeing that Qin Wanrong had been away from home for half a month but they still hadn't received the news of her death, Mistress Qin was extremely anxious.
At this time, Nanny Li came back with a food box to report to her.
"Mistress, this old servant got the news from Yuzhu when I delivered the medicine today. It's said that Princess Fubao is going to take a few young ladies staying at the prince's mansion out to Fuxing Temple to pray for blessings tomorrow, and then send our young lady back home."
"What? Are you sure you heard right?" Qin Wanshan was both surprised and panicked. She immediately turned around and looked at Mistress Qin sitting on the chair. "Mother, that good-for-nothing has been staying at the prince's mansion for so many days. We've been sending her medicine every day. Logically, she should have died long ago. How can she still go to Fuxing Temple to pray for blessings?"
Mistress Qin also frowned and said to Nanny Li, "Have you confirmed everything? Did she really drink the medicine?"
Nanny Li lowered her head and said, "Yuzhu told this old servant personally that the eldest young lady did drink it."
Mistress Qin gritted her teeth and said hatefully, "She still won't die. How can this good-for-nothing have such a hard life?"
Qin Wanshan was also extremely hateful. She had been waiting for Qin Wanrong to die so that she could marry into the Lin family. But she didn't expect that Qin Wanrong was still lingering on. It was really annoying.
"Mother, what should we do?" Qin Wanshan pouted and said. "Are we really going to let her come back?"
A hint of cruelty flashed in Mistress Qin's eyes. "The New Year is approaching. The Court of Judicial Review is the busiest at this time. Your father is not at home. We must get rid of that good-for-nothing before he comes back!"
"But how should we do it?" Qin Wanshan said. "We're not going to take action directly at the prince's mansion, are we?"
Mistress Qin said, "Aren't they going to Fuxing Temple to pray for blessings? It takes half a day to get from the capital to Fuxing Temple. Anything could happen on the way. That's the best time to take action."
The more Mistress Qin thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. She held Qin Wanshan's hand and said, "Tomorrow, you also go to Fuxing Temple. It would be best if you can meet them on the way. Then, you just..."
Mistress Qin whispered her plan in Qin Wanshan's ear. The mother and daughter showed the same cruel expressions on their faces.
They didn't know that everything they said had fallen into Nanny Li's ears.
The next day, as soon as it dawned, the gate of Prince Qing's Mansion was opened. Su Yuanyuan, wearing a veil hat, walked out briskly. There were also three young girls about the same height as her following behind. However, one of the girls was supported by the other two as she walked out of the door. It was obvious that she was in poor health.
The girls got into the carriage. The coachman whipped the horse, and then the carriage headed out of the city.
Not long after the carriage left the city gate, another carriage followed out of the city and trailed far behind the carriage of Prince Qing's Mansion.
Inside the spacious carriage, Zhang Yingxue turned back and looked out through the gap. She said to Su Yuanyuan in front, "Sure enough, she's following."
Su Yuanyuan laughed and said, "I'm just afraid she won't come."
The carriage drove steadily on the road and arrived at the foot of Fuxing Temple smoothly all the way. The girls took turns to take the sickly Qin Wanrong into the temple. They also successfully knelt and burned incense in the main hall.
Just as they were about to leave Fuxing Temple, a voice came from behind them. "Sister?"
Su Yuanyuan turned around and saw Qin Wanshan running towards them.
Qin Wanshan first curtsied to Su Yuanyuan. "Qin Wanshan pays respects to Princess Fubao."
Su Yuanyuan looked at Qin Wanshan's undisguised face through the veil hat and said, "Rise."
Qin Wanshan stepped forward and supported Qin Wanrong's other arm, pushing Zhuo Shu aside. She said affectionately, "Sister, what a coincidence. You're also here to pray for blessings at Fuxing Temple today? Shan'er hasn't seen you for a long time. You've been staying at Prince Qing's Mansion these days. Shan'er misses you very much."
Qin Wanrong let her hold on to her without saying a word. She just coughed lightly.
Qin Wanshan frowned and patted her on the back. "Sister's illness seems to have gotten worse. Haven't you had a good rest recently? Sister, mother and father miss you very much. Why don't you go back to the mansion with Shan'er today? It's always not good to stay at someone else's house all the time."
Su Yuanyuan said with a smile behind them, "Don't worry, Miss Qin. We're going to send Sister Wanrong back to your mansion after we leave Fuxing Temple. You sisters will be reunited soon."
When they got back to the foot of the mountain, Qin Wanshan shamelessly got into the carriage of Prince Qing's Mansion. Zhang Yingxue couldn't help rolling her eyes and wanted to say something sarcastic, but Su Yuanyuan pressed her hand and shook her head slightly at her.
Looking at Qin Wanshan, there was a sly smile in Su Yuanyuan's eyes.
The stage had been set up. Next, it was time to see how the "actors" would perform.