12dz Chapter 140 Touching the Person They Shouldn't Have Touched
Chapter 140 Touching the Person They Shouldn't Have Touched
Ying'er felt resentful, so much so that when she saw Shen Li, she showed no sign of submission and did not even bow.
The woodshed was next to the corner gate of the outer courtyard. Shen Li had never been here before. There were only two small windows covered with a thick layer of dust, and the room was very dark even during the day when the door was closed.
Firewood and some miscellaneous tools were piled up against the wall. In spring, not much firewood was needed, leaving a large area of dusty open space. Walking around stirred up dust, and breathing in the air was filled with the smell of dust.
"You're not convinced?" Shen Li stopped a dozen steps away from Ying'er, her gaze calm and her voice flat.
“Miss, even if I did wrong that girl, so what?” Ying’er immediately began to complain when no one else was around: “Can’t I even hit a beggar? How am I supposed to face the family in the future if you treat me like this?”
"She's a beggar." Shen Li looked at her: "And what are you?"
"I..." Ying'er didn't expect that Shen Li, who was always dignified, could speak so sharply, and she couldn't figure out her temper for a moment.
"If she had a good background, would she have wanted to live on the streets? Judging character by birth, showing no compassion for the unfortunate, is this how the Crown Prince taught you?" Shen Li's voice remained calm, but her tone had turned cold.
"This...this matter may not necessarily be that I wronged her." Ying'er felt somewhat guilty, and her eyes darted around before she added, "Since you mentioned the Crown Prince, you shouldn't treat me like this."
"Just because you slept in the Crown Prince's bed?" Shen Li smiled mockingly when she saw her panicked expression. "You think you're superior because of that? Don't even mention the maids in my courtyard, you don't even respect me."
"You... how did you know?" Ying'er suddenly realized that Shen Li in front of her was more terrifying than she had ever known.
She admired His Highness, and knowing her past, she still tolerated him—what profound forbearance that was!
“I know, and I want you to know that even so, you’ll still be locked up here.” Shen Li looked at her, her voice slightly cold: “It’d better not be all you have.”
"You...you dare to hit me?" Ying'er, having her secret exposed, disregarded everything else and stepped forward, pointing at Shen Li:
"To tell you the truth, I was sent by the Crown Prince to monitor you and Gu Chang'an. If you dare to touch me, I will accuse you of colluding with Prince Yi and harboring disloyalty towards His Highness!"
"Anything else?" Shen Li asked indifferently.
"His Highness will concentrate his forces against you and the Shen family. At that time, you and your parents will all face certain death." Ying'er grew increasingly confident, practically threatening Shen Li with her face pressed against his: "You'd better think carefully, whether you want to… uh…"
She couldn't finish her sentence because her neck was being gripped. In desperation, she tried to pry Shen Li's hands off, but those slender fingers were as hard as iron, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pry them open.
To her despair, her strength was gradually waning, and her feet slowly left the ground. No matter how much she struggled, Shen Li's raised arms did not budge an inch.
"Uh...uh..." Her face flushed red, her eyes filled with disbelief. She thought Shen Li would at most punish her, she never expected her to kill her.
And where did she get such strength?!
“You didn’t have to die so young. You messed with people you shouldn’t have, and you had a pitifully small hand.” Shen Li looked up at her as her face turned from red to purple, but her expression remained calm: “How could you possibly be worthy of continuing to play against me at this table?”
"Uh...uh..." Ying'er was lifted into the air, her struggle gradually weakened, and her terrified eyes gradually lost focus.
She couldn't understand until her death why she had to pay with her life just for hitting a maid.
Shen Li casually tossed the body to the ground, the tattered corpse kicking up clouds of dust. She frowned in disgust: "You think I came to such a filthy place just to beat you up?"
"Peony," she called out.
When Shaoyao opened the door and came in, her pupils contracted, she swallowed hard, and gently closed the door.
"Have someone guard the gate and not let anyone in. After nightfall, drag them out through the side gate and throw them into the mass grave." Shen Li took out a handkerchief to wipe her hands.
Peony swallowed hard before whispering, "Miss, isn't she one of the Crown Prince's people? It's fine if you kill her, but how will you explain it to the Crown Prince?"
"Tell your sister Lianqiao to send a message to the palace saying that someone fell into the pond and drowned, and have the palace staff collect her body." Shen Li said, then added, "Go and secretly pass on this message, and tell Yu Die that I have sent her away."
“Drowning…drowning?” Peony stepped forward and looked at the finger marks on Ying’er’s neck. They were still red at the moment, but would turn purple in an hour.
Only a blind person could not tell that he was strangled.
"You could believe it even if you threw her into the water, right?" Peony said with difficulty, "But... wouldn't it be exposed if we collected the body?"
“If someone dies here, I say it’s drowning, and that’s it.” Shen Li walked out, but as she reached the door, she seemed to remember something: “Tell the Crown Prince that her family is not to be trifled with, and they’d better not cause trouble at my residence, it won’t look good.”
Peony nodded, then looked at the person on the ground and shook her head. "They're perfectly fine. Why did they offend their young lady? Are they looking for death?"
When Shen Li returned to her room, she saw that Yu Die was still eating. She gestured for her to continue eating, while she washed her hands and face and changed her clothes.
Throughout the entire process, she was served by maids who were not usually active in the inner room. At this moment, Peony was taking Forsythia back to her room and whispering to her.
"Miss, I'm full." After finishing her meal, Yu Die went into the inner room, which was filled with sandalwood incense. Shen Li had just changed her clothes.
"You've suffered these past few days." Shen Li pulled her hand and sat her down on the couch. "I've already paid Ying'er off and sent her away. She won't be showing up again. You, Sister Lianqiao, are in charge of the inner courtyard. No one will bully you anymore."
"You chased her away?" Yu Die was somewhat incredulous. She thought that at most, her mistress believed her and she would simply avoid that person from now on.
"I've disliked her for a long time, and I was going to get rid of her anyway." Shen Li stroked her head and said, "I didn't expect that it would be a little late and make you suffer."
Yu Die shook her head repeatedly: "Miss is so good to me, I don't feel wronged. No one has ever been so good to me before."
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes again.
Shen Li gently comforted her, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shaoyao walk in and nod to her.
She subtly withdrew her gaze, the coolness in her eyes gradually being suppressed by tenderness.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Zhou Qianqian was in charge of communicating between the Crown Prince and the outside world, but she hadn't seen the Crown Prince for several days. This time, her father's bluff had completely offended the Crown Prince.
Since the Crown Prince dared not defy the Grand Secretary, she, as the Crown Prince's concubine, became his punching bag.
She was initially listless when she received the message, but her eyes widened immediately after reading the contents.