"It's not that you can't afford to slap me. But if this slap lands, you're not just slapping me. You're slapping Mu Yanming in the face!"
Gu Qinglan thought for a while but still didn't lower her hand. Remembering Mo Qinghuan's words, she curled her lips. "You dare to call the prince by his name. I'll teach you a good lesson on behalf of the prince!"
This time, she was determined to slap Mo Qinghuan. Mo Qinghuan just stared back at her without moving.
However, the slap didn't land as expected. Instead, someone grabbed her wrist tightly. The pain made her gasp.
"Your Highness." When Gu Qinglan saw who it was, her face turned deathly pale.
Mo Qinghuan raised an eyebrow slightly, with a strong hint of provocation.
Only then did Gu Qinglan realize that she had been played by Mo Qinghuan. She glared at her angrily.
People not far away all looked over and whispered to each other.
"What's going on?"
"What else could it be? The niece of the queen is bullying others again with her power."
"Bullying others? Hmph. I think she's kicked the wrong person today. She dares to provoke the regent."
Hearing the whispers, Gu Qinglan felt extremely embarrassed. However, Mu Yanming's next words truly made her feel what it meant to be ashamed and wish she could find a hole to crawl into.
"Teach the regent's princess a lesson on behalf of the regent?" He snorted coldly, with a look of disdain and disgust on his face. "Who do you think you are!"
The onlookers covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and laughed.
Gu Qinglan stood there like a statue, while Mu Yanming had already pulled Mo Qinghuan away.
...
After leaving the palace gate and getting into the sedan chair, Mo Qinghuan rubbed her neck.
Mu Yanming looked at her coldly.
"If I hadn't come, would you have just taken that slap?"
Mo Qinghuan smiled and looked at Mu Yanming. "Of course not. I'm not that easy to bully."
The frown on Mu Yanming's face finally relaxed a bit.
"You were right just now. If you were slapped, it would be the regent's face that was lost. So from now on, no matter who it is, you just fight back. Leave the rest to the regent."
"Really? Aren't you afraid I'll cause trouble for you?" Mo Qinghuan was secretly delighted but didn't show it on her face. She deliberately probed Mu Yanming's words.
Mu Yanming sneered, looking arrogant. "The regent would like to see just how much trouble you can cause."
Mo Qinghuan tilted her head and thought for a while. "Hmm? What if I cause a hole in the sky?"
Mu Yanming was amused by her. He propped his hand on his knee and leaned towards her. "If you really have that kind of ability, the regent should be able to patch up the sky."
Mo Qinghuan was convinced by his serious look. If any other man had said this, she would definitely have thought he was just bragging. But for some reason, when these words came from Mu Yanming's mouth, she actually felt they were believable!
She must be crazy!
After returning to the prince's mansion, Mu Yanming left in a hurry again.
She changed out of her princess clothes, tidied up briefly, and strolled around the yard to familiarize herself with the layout of the regent's mansion.
As she was strolling, the gatekeeper came. "Your Highness, someone from the general's mansion is here. They say they have something important to see you."
Without thinking, it must be Lan Shi. "Show them to the main hall."
When Lan Shi was led to the main hall by the gatekeeper, Mo Qinghuan was sitting in the main seat, playing with the teacup in her hand.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Lan Shi knelt on the ground obediently to pay her respects. But when she got up, it was a bit difficult for her to support herself on her knees.
"Before the wedding, Your Highness promised to give the antidote. When do you plan to give it?"
As soon as she said this, the maids and servants in the room all lowered their heads, afraid of accidentally overhearing something.
But Mo Qinghuan wasn't afraid of them knowing. She put down the teacup and walked up to Lan Shi.
"Hey, I've had the antidote ready for a long time. But..." She deliberately paused.
Lan Shi immediately felt nervous. "But what..."
Mo Qinghuan didn't intend to keep her in suspense. She waved her fingernails, looking nonchalant. "But, I'm not a saint. You have to pay for medicine when you go to the pharmacy, don't you?"
Lan Shi had been keeping her head down. Hearing this, she looked up at Mo Qinghuan in a daze. But when she met Mo Qinghuan's suddenly sharp eyes, she lowered her head again. "Your Highness, just name your price!"
Mo Qinghuan had a small bottle in her hand. Lan Shi's eyes lit up when she saw the bottle. Thinking of her daughter dragging her numb arms all day long, she reached out to grab it, but Mo Qinghuan dodged it.
"This medicine costs 5,000 taels per pill. In the princess's opinion, Mo Yao's poison should be cured after taking it for five days, three pills a day!" Mo Qinghuan still had that faint smile on her face.
"What, 5,000 taels! Fifteen pills means 750,000 taels. Your Highness, you can't be like this!"
"Don't worry. This time it's silver, not gold." Mo Qinghuan smiled innocently and explained to Lan Shi.
Lan Shi gritted her teeth tightly. She wasn't short of 75,000 taels of gold. But after so many years of a luxurious life, she had only saved a little over 100,000 taels. Now, it was almost all going to be taken by Mo Qinghuan.
But then she thought that Mo Yao was her only daughter. She couldn't... Thinking of this, she gritted her teeth and agreed. "Okay, this subject's wife will go back and prepare the money now."
Mo Qinghuan watched her back and snorted coldly.
She took so much of the original owner's father's pension but tortured his only precious daughter to death. She didn't even give her a decent burial after her death.
"Humph, Qinghuan, don't worry. I'll borrow your body and gradually take back everything for you!"
This was just the beginning.
...
When Lan Shi returned to the general's mansion, she locked herself in her room alone. She lifted the mattress and went down to the secret room.
She lit a fire starter to light the way in the secret room. By the dim candlelight, she opened one of the boxes.
There were thick stacks of silver notes in the box. She counted them one by one.
She found the silver notes worth 10,000 taels each and counted out sixty of them. Then she found the ones worth 5,000 taels each and counted out thirty of them.
She let out a bitter smile. All the large-denomination silver notes she had saved for more than a decade were gone in an instant.
There were only some small-denomination ones left. But for the sake of her daughter, she endured it. Mo Qinghuan was right. The income from the manor and other things would soon bring back this silver.
She found a small box and put the silver notes in it. Then she climbed out of the secret passage, made the bed, and rushed to the regent's mansion impatiently.
All the way, she was extremely nervous. Every time someone looked at her, she tightened her grip on the package in her hand.
When Mo Qinghuan saw this, she curled her lips. "I underestimated this Lan Shi. I didn't expect her to prepare 750,000 taels so quickly."
Thinking of this, while Lan Shi was turning into a corner of the regent's mansion, Mo Qinghuan flashed behind her and hit her with a stick.
She kicked the fallen Lan Shi and took the package in her hand.
Then she returned to the regent's mansion.