Chapter 671: The Duke of Qin makes a major move (2/2)

Lady Tang praised back, “Repress her, then raise her up. A wonderful idea!”

Tang Li sat on the side as he listened and nodded his head like a stalk of garlic. He had no objections.

“What kind of logic is that? Are you all trying to curry favor with Ning Jing?” Aunt Ru smiled coldly as she walked inside.

“Exactly,” Lady Tang smiled. She didn’t want to, but for the sake of helping Tang Li get those arms trade deals sooner, she and Han Yunxi had thought of all sorts of things to win Ning Jing’s maidenly heart.

“Sister-in-law, have you been deceived by the Ning Clan’s lies? Why should we try to win over Ning Jing? Hasn’t Tang Li been disgraced enough?” Aunt Ru declared unhappily. The words were designed to strike at Han Yunxi, who simply sipped her tea in silence.

“What are you saying?” Lady Tang said unhappily.

“Mother, Aunt Ru’s calling you stupid and easy to trick!” Of course Tang Li had to put in his two cents.

Aunt Ru smacked him upside the head. “Stinking brat, no sense of propriety at all. What impudence!”

“Mother, Aunt Ru’s cursing you again. This time she’s saying you didn’t discipline me well,” Tang Li chuckled as he teased.

“You!” Aunt Ru raised her hand again, but Lady Tang caught her by the wrist.

“So indiscreet! What if you injure him? You know that mouth of his! I’ve told you so many times already, but why do you insist on arguing with your juniors?”

Aunt Ru could only relent while Tang Li stuck his tongue out at her with a my mom’s protecting me expression on his face. What can you do about that? Aunt Ru’s face turned black at the sight. She sat opposite of Han Yunxi and asked, “Sister-in-law, you’re not really going to provide for that damned girl Ning Jing, are you?”

“That’s a secret!” Lady Tang said mysteriously.

“Aiya, since when have we been outsiders?” Aunt Ru laughed at herself in disbelief. She cast a glance at Han Yunxi and added, “No, we’re even less than outsiders now.”

Han Yunxi still kept silent, but Tang Li grew impatient. He was about to retort when Lady Tang suddenly hit the table.

Bang!

Aside from Aunt Ru, even Tang Li and Han Yunxi were startled by the sound. They all fell silent, Aunt Ru harboring dread beneath her feelings of resentment. She assumed Lady Tang was about to lose her temper, but the woman only cried, “Aiya, I remembered something!”

Aunt Ru exhaled in relief, but Lady Tang then said, “Yiru, I’ve been meaning to ask, but how are the investigations going for the traitor? That’s very important. It’ll be best if we can ferret them out before Tang Li’s wedding day. You and Chu Xifeng shouldn’t disappoint me.”

“There’s….there’s been no progress yet. I’ll do my best,” Aunt Ru replied.

“What do you mean, your ‘best?’” Lady Tang grew unhappy. “Don’t tell me you have no idea!”

“It’s been somewhat of a conundrum. I’ll talk about the details with you later. There’s still something I have to do, so I’ll leave first.” Aunt Ru really wanted to go. She disliked this topic, but she paused to look at Han Yunxi again at the door. The girl was currently talking to Lady Tang about something else and even smiling.

She suddenly felt like she’d been nothing but a laughingstock just then, trying to provoke Han Yunxi. But that woman had sister-in-law and Tang Li on her side and was completely free from worries. What kind of skills gave her the right to earn sister-in-law’s trust? She’s probably just relying on the fact that Feiye favors her!

Aunt Ru decided that she’d have to scheme in earnest with Tang Zijin once Tang Li’s wedding was over. They needed to get rid of the stinking girl with her unclear origins. But she’d hardly reached her courtyard when Chu Xifeng came running over. “Aunt Ru, quick! There’s been a situation!”

“What situation?” Aunt Ru asked urgently.

“We’ve found the traitor! It’s Kong Xi’s close friend!” Chu Xifeng muttered.

A flash of alarm flittered past Aunt Ru’s eyes, but she quickly calmly down. There was nothing to panic about! After all, she was the true traitor! But after Kong Xi’s death, Duanmu Yao was the only person in the world who knew the truth. She gave her a heads up as soon as Kong Xi’s interrogation ended. No matter what Long Feiye and Han Yunxi tried, they’d never be able to trick an answer out of the girl.

Duanmu Yao had told her everything that happened on the mountain pavilion that night. She was certain that Long Feiye and Han Yunxi would have given up by now and stopped suspecting her. So what if they found Kong Xi’s friend? She was only a servant girl in the needle grinding house, a girl named Jin Se1 who was ignorant about everything!

She had nothing to fear!

1. Jin Se (锦瑟) – Jin means “brocade, bright and beautiful,” Se is the name of a 25 or 16-stringed plucked instrument, somewhat similar to a zither.