The Battle of the Noble Ladies (Book 1)

Chapter 70 - Malice

Song Chuyi couldn't tolerate anyone meddling with Song Yan. It didn't matter if it was the Wang family, whom she already held a deep grudge against; even Song Yi was off-limits. In her previous life, Song Yan had been sent to the gates of hell by the Wang and Li families together... Remembering the past sent a chill through Song Chuyi's body.

She let out a cold laugh a couple of times and, upon careful thought, realized that she might already know what the poisonous woman from the Wang family was plotting.

Baozhu knelt on the ground, watching her. After the initial shock had worn off, Song Chuyi fell silent, causing Baozhu to feel a little apprehensive. Tentatively, she called out, "Sixth Miss?"

Song Chuyi finally snapped back to reality and turned to look at her. Her gaze was hazy and completely unreadable, unlike the emotional eyes of other young ladies. It left others guessing about her feelings. Baozhu was taken aback that someone as young as Song Chuyi could cultivate such an ability to conceal her emotions. The words she had prepared in her mind now seemed to escape her.

After a while, Baozhu could hear her own heartbeat pounding like a drum, and she finally lost control, straightening up to look at Song Chuyi urgently. "Sixth Miss, I really didn't lie."

"I know," Song Chuyi nodded, seemingly unaffected by the matter, even chuckling lightly before asking, "Let me guess what Fifth Aunt left with the Fourth Young Master."

Guess?! Who could guess such a thing? There were countless things in the world that could cause harm! Baozhu instinctively wanted to laugh, thinking that the Sixth Miss might be somewhat unhinged.

But Song Chuyi had already slowly stood up, her previously misty eyes suddenly sharp: "Is it something from the palace?! Or... is it something belonging to Prince Duan?"

Baozhu's eyes widened in disbelief, and she sat back in shock, feeling as if her head had exploded into chaos. How could this be possible?!

Seeing her expression, Song Chuyi confirmed it and couldn't help but let out a few cold laughs. The Wang family never learned their lesson, still using the same methods from the previous life.

"We both know why you came to find me," Song Chuyi suppressed her emotions and looked at her calmly. "Now I'm giving you a way out."

The fact that Song Chuyi could actually guess what Fifth Lady had left with Song Yan made Baozhu's heart clench. She thought Song Chuyi wouldn't take the bait, but now that she heard her say this, Baozhu felt relieved and nodded quickly. "I'll go, I'll go! Sixth Miss, can you show me the way?"

Song Chuyi nodded, telling her to continue serving and not to worry about anything else for now.

Once Baozhu left, still skeptical, Qingtao asked with a worried expression, "What about that thing with the Fourth Young Master? Shouldn't we take care of it? If someone finds out..."

Of course, they needed to handle it.

Right now, Song Yan's situation is not the same as in her previous life. In that life, Song Yan had been mediocre, relegated to performing ordinary tasks in the estate, while Song Yi had two legitimate sons with the Li family.

During that time, the heads of the Song family had all passed away, and the ones in charge would naturally not care about Song Yan.

However, in this life, Song Yan was still Song Yi's only son, and the current head of the Song family was Song Yan's own grandfather.

Wang Jinsi had set her sights on Song Yan, and with the old grievances involved, there was no escaping a deadly outcome.

But all of this was still far from enough.

If the people around Song Yan were reliable enough, then all this dirt wouldn't stick to him at all.

The Li family had never shown true care for Song Yan. If they had any intention at all, it was probably just to completely waste him.

Sitting in her chair, she thought for a while and concluded that there was no need to give the Li family such an easy time.

Without the Li family's consent or indulgence, it was impossible for the Wang family's people to infiltrate Song Yan's side.

If Baozhu caused a scene with this matter in front of Song Chengru and Old Lady Song, the Wang family would surely be at a disadvantage. However, the Li family would only receive a reprimand.

Such a light punishment was far from sufficient. Such a good opportunity would need to be used at the most opportune moment to have the greatest effect.

After thinking it over, she decided to go see Song Yan in person.

It had been over a month since Song Yan returned, and this was her second time visiting his room.

Song Yan's residence was in a two-story building adjacent to the second branch. There weren't many flowers or trees around, mostly camphor and ginkgo trees, giving it a quaint and dignified appearance.

Unfortunately, Song Yan was not in the courtyard.

The housekeeper, an older woman in charge of Song Yan's quarters, finally arrived more than an hour later to apologize to Song Chuyi. However, there wasn't a hint of panic on her face, and she spoke rather nonchalantly: "The young master went to the lady's chambers, so he likely won't be back for a while. I took the opportunity to go home for a bit."

She was quite straightforward in admitting it. Confident that she was now one of Li Shi's people, she showed little respect for Song Chuyi, the legitimate daughter left behind by the former wife.

Song Chuyi wasn't angered and smiled as she let it go, then turned to observe the other servants.

There were four senior maids around Song Yan, all around the age of twelve or thirteen. Although they were still young, each one was dressed extremely elaborately.

The eldest one, called Liulu, couldn't even hold a cup steadily. She swayed her slender waist, breathing heavily, holding her chest like a delicate beauty in distress.

The other three were equally pampered, resembling noble ladies rather than maids. They couldn't even handle simple tasks like sewing or knowing about Song Yan's seasonal clothing. They certainly didn't seem like maids—they seemed more like young mistresses.

A thought crossed Song Chuyi's mind, and she smiled as she turned to Nanny Xu. "Nanny, I recall different people were originally serving by my brother's side. I wasn't aware that the head housekeeper could replace people at will?"

Nanny Xu had never seen such disorder in the master's household. Her eyebrows furrowed tightly together as she sternly shook her head, "Of course not, there must have been some mistake along the way."

Clearly, many people from the Cui family had been brought back to serve Song Yan, and they had been seen in the courtyard before. But now, they were all gone. If someone tried to claim that Li Shi wasn't behind this, no one would believe it, even under duress.

Having achieved her goal, Song Chuyi didn't stay long. However, just as she was about to leave, she glanced back into the courtyard.

Liulu and Zhenzhu were already playing on the swing, while the housekeeper sat boldly in the head seat inside, calling for someone to serve her tea, behaving exactly like the matriarch of the household.

A cold, mocking smile touched Song Chuyi's lips as she led the pale-faced Nanny Xu, along with Qingtao and Hongyu, back to the main hall.