Dongmei saw Bai Ke walking out of the courtyard and quickened her steps to catch up.
"General Bai!"
Bai Ke stopped but didn't turn around. "What is it?"
Dongmei walked up to him and lowered her head, too afraid to look at him. Her voice was uncharacteristically soft. "What did the Princess say about me when she was in front of the Prince?"
Bai Ke turned to look at her. "Say about you? Hah, what, do you think the Princess would go to the Prince to complain about you? Do you think she would exaggerate what you've done and tell the Prince false things?"
She looked up at Bai Ke with a wronged expression. "I didn't think so. Really, I didn't!"
"You know best in your heart whether you did or not. But let me tell you, the Princess didn't mention a single word about your disrespect to her. She only said that I didn't listen to her and punished me to run around the Prince's Mansion ten times."
Dongmei seemed to think she had misheard. She turned her head in confusion towards the direction of the Yangyang Hall.
"She really said that?"
Bai Ke let out another cold laugh. "I'm too lazy to waste my breath on you. I'm going to fulfill the Princess's punishment."
With that, he stepped out of the Prince's Mansion. Dongmei still couldn't believe it and followed him.
Bai Ke ran in front, and she followed behind.
The Prince's Mansion was a large courtyard with seven entrances and exits. Running around it once was about 660 meters. So ten laps would be 6,660 meters, which was about twelve li.
After finishing the run, he supported his knees and gasped for breath.
Dongmei walked over and handed him a handkerchief. He glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and got up to walk forward.
Dongmei followed him aggrievedly. After they returned to the Prince's Mansion, Dan'er saw this scene.
She stepped forward and asked, "What happened to you?"
Bai Ke pursed his lips and smiled faintly. "I made the Princess angry today, so I punished myself."
Dan'er snickered. Seeing that there was still sweat on Bai Ke's forehead, she took out a handkerchief and handed it to him.
He took it and wiped his sweat, then turned to look at Dongmei.
Dongmei took a step back. The meaning in her eyes was obvious.
So it turned out that Bai Ke actually liked Dan'er. She never thought that the master and servant were of the same kind.
She really didn't know how these men judged women!
She angrily turned around and left. Dan'er didn't understand what was going on yet, and the person was already far away.
However, because of the incident where Dongmei had gossiped about Mo Qinghuan behind her back last time, Dan'er had never had a good impression of this Dongmei. So whether Dongmei was in a good mood or not didn't matter to her.
...
Inside the Qi Prince's Mansion, the Qi Prince held Leng Nier in his arms.
"Your Highness, I've already spread the news, but before it got dark yesterday, all the news was suppressed. I think it must be the Regent who did it secretly."
The Qi Prince ran his finger across Leng Nier's face. His expression was extremely sinister.
"It doesn't matter. That matter is just a small thing. Even if it spreads far and wide, it's just a blow to one's reputation and won't have any substantial effect. But I remember you once said that there was a staff member under your father's command who was a master at imitating handwriting."
Leng Nier nodded. "Yes, there really is such a person. His hands are simply magical. As long as he has seen a handwriting, there's none he can't imitate."
"Good. You go back to your parents' home tomorrow and borrow this person from your father for my use."
Leng Nier raised her hand to hook around his neck. Her voice was soft and boneless. "Your Highness, do you have a new plan?"
The Qi Prince gave her a gentle peck on the lips. "Don't ask too much. You'll know when the time comes."
The person eavesdropping outside the door was afraid of being discovered and was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly bumped into a maid carrying ginseng soup.
The ginseng soup spilled all over the floor. The maid shrieked, "What are you doing skulking around outside the Prince's and the Lady's rooms?"
"I'm on duty here. How can you say I'm skulking around?"
The Qi Prince and Leng Nier walked out of the room and gave the guard a cold look.
They had long forgotten about the matter of killing Xiao Shiyi. Naturally, they didn't remember that the person guarding outside was Xiao Shiyi's elder brother.
"What's going on?"
The elder brother spoke first. "Reporting to the Prince, I'm on duty here. It's just that this little maid was clumsy and knocked over the ginseng soup."
The maid frowned and loudly retorted, "You're talking nonsense. I clearly saw you skulking around outside the door. You must be eavesdropping on what the Prince and the Lady are saying!"
The elder brother lowered his head and forced himself to stay calm. "Your Highness, I have a clear conscience. But this little maid keeps saying that I'm skulking around. I don't know what her intentions are. I hope Your Highness will investigate clearly."
Leng Nier wrapped her arm around the Qi Prince's and sized up the maid from head to toe.
A cold glint flashed in her eyes. She had wanted to deal with this little maid for a long time.
Before, she always tried to show herself in front of the Qi Prince intentionally or unintentionally. Not only did she dress gaudily, but now she even wanted to show off in front of the Qi Prince to gain familiarity.
It seemed that she had to be dealt with!
She turned to look at the Qi Prince. "Your Highness, this little maid looks unfamiliar. Why don't I remember when there was such a maid in the mansion?"
Hearing this, the Qi Prince squinted at the maid. He never paid attention to the maids in the mansion. And since he had been on the mountain for a few years and had only returned not long ago, she did look unfamiliar.
She might even be a spy sent by the enemy.
The maid heard this and began to defend herself. "Your Highness, I've been in the mansion for several years. How could I look unfamiliar?"
The Qi Prince turned to look at Leng Nier. "In your opinion, how should she be dealt with?"
She whispered in the Qi Prince's ear, "Originally, I thought about just sending her out of the mansion. But hearing what she said, she's been in the mansion for several years. Who knows how much information she's leaked out. In my opinion, this person can't be kept."
The Qi Prince nodded and let out a soft grunt. He said to the guard standing beside him, "Take her away and beat her to death with clubs!"
Hearing this, the maid plopped down on her knees and begged for mercy. She even crawled up to the Qi Prince and hugged his leg. He gave her a disdainful glance and kicked her away.
The guard's pupils shrank suddenly when he heard this. He never thought that his words would cause this maid to end up like this.
But then he thought, if the Prince had believed the maid's words, it might be him who would be taken away and beaten to death with clubs now.
Seeing that the guard didn't move, Leng Nier impatiently urged, "Why aren't you taking her away? What are you waiting for!"
He gritted his teeth, grabbed the maid's hands and locked them behind her back, then dragged her out.
Leng Nier hooked the corner of her lips and supported the Qi Prince into the room.
After a while, there came the maid's continuous screams from the backyard, followed by a shrill cry, and then there was no more sound.
All that was left was a smear of crimson in the eyes.
The three brothers dragged the maid to the mass grave and casually found a pit to bury her.
"Elder brother, what did you hear outside the Qi Prince's room today?"
The elder brother recalled what the Qi Prince had said. He didn't know what the Qi Prince wanted the handwriting master for, but it must not be a good thing.
The three of them gathered together, and he told the other two younger brothers about the plan.
They decided to send this news to both the Crown Prince and the Regent at the same time and let them guess for themselves what the Qi Prince's purpose was.