Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Deep Night in the Courtyard

Liang Wan returned the way she came. When she reached the rockery, Qiuxi was still hiding by the corridor. From afar, the laughter and boisterous drinking from the outer courtyard could still be heard. Seeing Liang Wan return, Qiuxi waved at her. Liang Wan hunched over and slipped into the rockery. She took out the sedative she had prepared earlier from her robes, lit it, and hid behind a large rock.

No sooner had she hidden than she heard the sound of trampling on flowers and grass. The footsteps were slowly approaching her. Liang Wan pressed her back tightly against the stone wall, not daring to make the slightest sound for fear of alerting the newcomer.

"Awan?" It was indeed Cui Hao. He really came! He called out softly a few times, followed by a brief RUSTLE inside. In less than a quarter of an hour, all movement ceased. Liang Wan covered her mouth and nose, tiptoed into the rockery, and extinguished the sedative.

On the ground, Cui Hao lay unconscious. Liang Wan kicked him viciously a few times, but he remained dead to the world. She slowly crouched down. The surroundings were so quiet that she could only hear her own heartbeat and breathing, as if they were the only two people left in the world. She raised her hand and pulled the sparrow feather hairpin from her hair. She rubbed it gently in her hand. In the darkness, it gleamed with a silvery light under the moonlight, reflecting a piercing coldness in her eyes.

Zhang Shi had been stabbed to death by this very hairpin. Liang Wan tightened her grip on the weapon. At this very moment, she wanted nothing more than to stab this man to death with it, too! The hairpin moved right up to his neck. Liang Wan stared at the man on the ground, her eyes turning red. Why should he be allowed to die so easily? No, he had to live. For the rest of his life, no matter how much humiliation, hardship, or pain he suffered, he had to live! Just like she had to back then! Unable to live, unable to die, enduring torment day and night!

Thrusting the hairpin back into her hair, Liang Wan stood up and looked coldly at the man on the ground. Suddenly, a white dove flapped its wings in the distance and flew into the sky. A cold sneer playing on her lips, Liang Wan let out a falsely coquettish whine, "Mr. Cui."

Outside the rockery, a person who had been peeking around was just about to turn and report the secret, but unexpectedly felt a sharp pain in the back of the neck and slumped limply to the ground. Liang Wan rolled the maid over onto her back. It was Ziyan! Before Mrs. Zhang could bring people to search, Liang Wan pulled and dragged Ziyan into the cramped space, deliberately placing her into Cui Hao’s embrace. Once they were arranged, she darted off to the pavilion, not lingering for a moment.

Having drunk wine at the banquet and exhausted herself just now, Liang Wan felt a bit drowsy. She shifted into a comfortable position and leaned back. Just as she was on the verge of falling asleep from the wait, a sudden, startled shout tore through the night sky from the direction of the rockery. Immediately after, a group of people carrying lanterns hurriedly converged on the spot.

Liang Wan sat up. Resting her chin in her hand, she watched the distance with great interest. She hadn’t expected this random spot to be such a perfect vantage point for the show. Cui Hao, an outsider from a Commoner Clan, had not only trespassed into the inner chambers of a fourth-rank official after drinking, but had also defiled a female member of the household. What was the penalty for such a crime again? She recalled it being castration! Liang Wan just wanted to laugh. Perfect!

In less than a quarter of an hour, the garden was illuminated by dozens of lanterns, casting flickering shadows all around. Liang Wan couldn’t help but shake her head. Mrs. Zhang truly hated her to the bone. She completely disregarded her own son’s grand wedding, insisting on making a move against Liang Wan, and even kicked up such a massive fuss, terrified that she wouldn’t be able to destroy her completely. It was just a pity her painstaking efforts would go to waste!

On the lawn outside the rockery, a circle had formed. All the guests swarmed over, standing three layers deep and peering into the center with varying expressions. On the ground, a pair of scantily clad man and woman were pinned down and tied up. Their heads were covered, making their faces unseeable. Since their mouths were gagged, they struggled desperately while letting out muffled WHIMPERS, but with their hands and feet bound, it was purely an exercise in futility.

Given their appearance, a single glance was enough to tell what they had been doing inside the rockery. But who on earth were they to be so audacious and shamelessly lewd? The guests lowered their voices and whispered among themselves.

"Who... who is this? It’s simply a disgrace to public morals!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. A perfectly good wedding banquet, ruined by such a foul affair!"

"Indeed. Look, Mr. Liang’s face has turned green with anger. This is the big day of welcoming a new bride. Isn’t this deliberately causing trouble for them?"

"He has had a string of joyous occasions lately. Who knows, someone might have done this on purpose—"

"Shh! You can’t just spout nonsense without any proof!"

"Oh my, we shouldn’t be looking at such filthy, indecent things. We’ll get styes in our eyes. Let’s go, let’s go, quickly now!"

Some noblewomen immediately grabbed their unmarried Ladies and squeezed their way out as if fleeing for their lives. A perfectly joyous occasion had turned into a scandal. Liang Cheng was so infuriated that he looked ready to explode, his face dark and livid. He struggled to maintain his last shred of sanity. "What is going on?!"

The servants trembled with fear. They exchanged glances but hesitated to speak. "This—"

Mrs. Zhang arrived fashionably late. She hurriedly pushed through the crowd and squeezed her way in, her tone anxious. "Have you looked? Did you find the Third Lady?"

"The... the Third Lady?!"

The already noisy scene instantly erupted into an uproar. Liang Wan had claimed she was drunk and needed some fresh air, only to never return. They had sent people to look for her, but to no avail. They had even sent someone back to her room to check, but she was nowhere to be seen. A perfectly good, living person had just vanished without a trace! Now, everyone finally understood. She hadn’t vanished; she had gone to have a secret tryst with a man!

Mrs. Zhang looked at the figures kneeling on the ground and secretly rejoiced. She put on a show of shrieking in horror, "Awan, how could you do such a shameful thing—"

The Madam of the He Family tightly gripped Liang Jing’s arm, marching straight toward the crowd. Along the way, guests continuously left, and snippets of their conversations drifted over. Despite the short distance, she walked with great difficulty. Her legs couldn’t stop giving out, and almost half of her body weight leaned heavily on Liang Jing.

"Ajing, did you hear clearly what they said? Is... is that person committing adultery your sister?!"

Liang Jing’s eyes remained fixed on the heavily surrounded crowd ahead, her heart plunging into an icy abyss. She had heard those words too. If it was truly Awan, it would be one thing if she died, but if she lived, how were the rest of them supposed to live—

The Madam of the He Family’s lips quivered, her voice trembling. "Ajing, if it really is your sister, then..."

Liang Jing’s brows suddenly twitched. She looked at the Madam of the He Family in surprise. Did her mother share the same thought as her?

The Madam of the He Family took a deep breath before struggling to say, "Ajing, don’t blame your mother for being heartless. If she really did such a thing, not only would I be letting down the living, but I would also be letting down the dead!

"Not to mention that you won’t be able to hold your head high in the Marquis Wen Mansion in the future, even if I die one day, what face would I have to meet your Awen and Father?"

Liang Jing’s arm ached from the Madam of the He Family’s tight grip. She stared at her blankly.

"Did you hear me? If it is her, you need to find someone. I know you have your ways..." Her lips pale and eyes red, the Madam of the He Family kept shaking Liang Jing’s arm. "Did you hear me?"

Liang Jing nodded slowly. "Don’t worry, Mother. She is my own flesh-and-blood sister. I won’t let her suffer."

The Madam of the He Family covered her face, tears seeping out one by one from between her fingers. "It’s not that your mother is heartless. When your Awen and the others were alive, they were figures of noble character. Now that they are dead, how can we, the living, smear their names? Ajing, your mother truly isn’t heartless—"

Not far away, Liang Wan stood in the cool evening breeze, watching quietly. It turned out that in her previous life, when her Sister sent people to kill her, it had been instigated by their mother...

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