Chapter Twenty: Is She Still Alive?

Xiao Yu was still quicker-witted, teasing with a laugh, “You stubborn girl, don’t recognize me? Looking at me so sneakily like that—are you here to steal the things General Mo brought the other day?”

Chun Ya spat at her, “Bah! Do you take me for your master, always dreaming about things beyond your reach?”

Xiao Yu, disdainful at the quarrel, didn’t bother to argue further and instead probed cautiously, “If you’re not serving your master, then what are you doing in the Miss’s quarters?”

Chun Ya rolled her eyes, “You’re no different. You saw me and still pretend nothing’s wrong. We both know what’s going on.” With that, she turned and strode away, uninterested in further bickering.

Xiao Yu stood still, lowering her gaze to ponder briefly.

After a moment, she suddenly looked up, exclaiming in alarm, “This isn’t good!” Then she bolted back in a hurry.

Qian Mengyun, seeing Xiao Yu rushing in so flustered, immediately asked, “What did you find out?”

Xiao Yu pointed outside the room. “Just now, I saw Chun Ya skulking outside Chu Xi’s quarters. It seems she was sent by her master to gather information. I’m afraid the Second Miss has already learned of this. The First Miss must devise a plan without delay.”

Qian Mengyun gritted her teeth in hatred, “So it is. That Chu Yue was born to oppose me.”

Xiao Yu suddenly smiled, “Miss, this time the Second Miss isn’t just opposing you—she’s courting disaster. After all, the marriage alliance with the Marquis’s family was arranged by the Marquis’s wife, yet the Second Miss dares defy them. Isn’t that asking for trouble?”

Qian Mengyun chuckled, “Looks like my girl is getting ever sharper.”

“Miss, what shall we do next?”

Qian Mengyun sighed softly, lowering her eyes in thought for a moment before saying, “Have someone keep watch over Wang Mu. If Chu Yue wants to send a message to General Mo Zi Xiao, then the only person she can use is Wang Mu. As long as Wang Mu doesn’t leave the Marquis’s mansion, Chu Yue will be helpless.”

“I understand.” With that, Xiao Yu turned and went to assign someone to watch over Wang Mu.

Meanwhile, Chu Yue, the exact opposite of Qian Mengyun, was plotting how to get Wang Mu out of the mansion to send a message to Mo Zi Xiao to rescue Chu Xi.

Spring Bud cocked her head. “Second Miss, why must you have Wang Mu deliver the message to General Mo? It’s too obvious. Couldn’t another servant do it?”

Chu Yue shook her head. “Do you think I don’t know that? If someone else delivers it and my parents find out, we’ll all be implicated. But Wang Mu is different. He’s Chu Xi’s most trusted servant, so it would be reasonable for him to go—no one would suspect.”

“Besides, who else would dare risk their life? A servant of the Marquis’s household betraying the Marquis? That’s practically a death sentence. Who would be willing?”

Spring Bud nodded. “I understand.”

Chu Yue beckoned Spring Bud over and whispered a plan into her ear.

Spring Bud immediately nodded. “Understood, I’ll take care of it right away.”

Chu Yue watched Spring Bud’s retreating figure with worried eyes. She knew this was no small matter and could easily lead to disaster.

But now she had no time to hesitate. The thought of a woman’s fate being no longer her own after marriage, and how only wealth could protect her, made her resolve to risk everything.

It was already past noon. She wondered whether Chu Xi, just recently returned from the Duke of Zhen Guo’s mansion and physically worn out, could withstand the torment of the Marquis’s eldest son—the monster. Was he even still alive?