The mistresses of the twelve chambers noticed that since Zhao Shuning's return, her relationship with the family head had been getting better and better.
Every noon, Zhao Shuning would go to the main courtyard for about half an hour.
Because of this preferential treatment, the Lin family treated Zhao Shuning with even greater courtesy.
One evening, Zhao Shuning found a key, the one to the dungeon.
She had received Lin Feng's permission, saying that she wanted to go in and check on the condition of Madam Haitang, as she was an alchemist and might be able to treat Madam Haitang.
Considering their years of marital affection, Lin Feng thought for a while and agreed.
At night, Zhao Shuning took Huan'er with her and went to the dungeon.
The dungeon was very dark. Zhao Shuning took out a night pearl, which made the whole prison a lot brighter.
When they reached Madam Haitang's cell, Zhao Shuning used the key Lin Feng had given her to unlock the door.
At this moment, Madam Haitang also realized that someone had come and opened her eyes.
When she saw that it was Zhao Shuning, she got extremely angry. In a panic, she rushed towards Zhao Shuning.
Zhao Shuning wasn't in a hurry. She stood still at the cell door.
Madam Haitang's feet were chained to the high - wall. When she was just a short distance away from Zhao Shuning, she stretched out her hands but still couldn't reach her.
"Madam Haitang, I've come to see you."
"You vixen! How dare you come back?"
"Why shouldn't I come back? It was your husband who sent someone to invite me back. Madam Haitang, I heard that your youngest daughter is now on the border, suffering all kinds of humiliation. I don't even know if she's still alive."
Madam Haitang: "Zhao Shuning, you are so vicious! You'll never come to a good end."
"Am I vicious?"
Zhao Shuning shook her head.
"Madam, I'm here to see you now so that I can go back and report to Lord Lin. Tsk, tsk, tsk. It seems that, just as they said, you've really become a crazy old woman. You probably won't have a chance to return to Lin Feng's side for the rest of your life. You know that Lin Feng values his reputation. How could he tolerate a crazy old woman like you as the mistress of the Lin family? I think Miss Xiao is quite good. Next, she should become the first mistress of the Lin family."
"Pah! I'm not crazy. Let me out. That coquette, Miss Xiao? How could she be worthy?"
Madam Haitang looked at Zhao Shuning and said, "Zhao Shuning, do you think I dare not touch you? If it weren't for the people from the Divine Sect protecting you, I would have sliced you into pieces on the first day you entered the Lin family. Otherwise, do you think you could have lived until now?"
"Divine Sect? What do you mean?"
But Madam Haitang gritted her teeth and refused to say anything.
The young man with a coiling tiger between his eyebrows had warned her not to touch a single hair on Zhao Shuning.
Moreover, the matter of the Divine Sect was related to a greater and more shocking conspiracy. Even if she died, she would never say a word.
"Not going to say?"
"It doesn't matter if you don't say. Madam Haitang, you were once the first mistress of the Lin family. Wherever you went, people would show you some respect. But now, look."
Zhao Shuning gently tapped on the iron chain.
The loud noise of the iron chain echoed in the dungeon.
"But look at you now. You're locked up in this place, pitch - black, stinking, with cockroaches and dead rats. So many disgusting things. How could a daughter from a noble family like you bear it?"
"Isn't this all your fault, you vixen!"
"Is it my fault? Did I beg your daughter to get into my bed? Did I beg her to have an affair with the master of the Celestial Fairy Gate? Madam Haitang, look at your current expression. It's extremely distorted. And look at the environment you're in. It's not fit for a human to live in. Lin Feng is treating you like an animal. You're still deeply in love with him. It's really pitiful."
"What exactly do you want to say?"
Zhao Shuning smiled.
"Nothing. I just want you to meet someone."
Zhao Shuning clapped her hands, and Huan'er appeared in front of Madam Haitang.
"Just a little maid. How could she catch my eye?"
"Madam Haitang, take a good look at her. Don't you feel the slightest bit of familiarity with her?"
The woman looked up at the girl in the green dress.
Her expression changed from casual and sarcastic at first to surprised later.
"Lu Wu?"
"Madam, I'm Huan'er. Lu Wu is my elder sister."
Madam Haitang remembered Lu Wu because the incident back then had caused quite a stir, and it was also because of that incident that her reputation had started to decline.
"What are you doing here?"
Zhao Shuning smiled: "Madam, you should remember what I told you. Those who kill must pay with their lives. Lu Wu died nine years ago. You've lived for nine extra years. Now, you have to pay back all you owe."
No one knew what had happened in the dungeon that night.
Anyway, from then on, Madam Haitang became a real crazy old woman.
When the servant brought her food, she bit off a piece of the servant's flesh.
When Lin Feng went to see her, she cursed at him with filthy words and even exposed some of the bad things Lin Feng had done.
In short, Madam Haitang was completely crazy now.
Lin Feng's complexion improved a lot. Because of this, he trusted Zhao Shuning even more.
In his opinion, his previous fleeting thought was nonsense. Zhao Shuning was a kind and innocent girl, a good pawn.
But Zhao Shuning still insisted on living in the nunnery. Maybe the little girl still hadn't gotten over that incident.
Back at the nunnery, Huan'er asked puzzledly, "Miss, why did you treat Lin Feng? Don't you hate him?"
"Who said I treated him?"
"Didn't he..."
"It's fake."
Zhao Shuning lay on the bed with her hands outstretched.
Huan'er: "Fake? How is that possible? Before you went to see Lin Feng, his complexion was so bad."
"It's just a psychological effect. I just hinted to him that he was sick. So later, he was in denial of his illness. He thought he was really sick in his mind, so his complexion naturally wasn't good."
"Ah? Then isn't he fine now?"
"Who said he's fine?"
Huan'er: "But Miss, didn't you say he wasn't sick?"
"He really wasn't sick before I came to the Lin Mansion. But now, he's really ill."
"Ah?"
"Silly Huan'er, do you think I really went to the main courtyard every day to send him medicine?"
Huan'er understood.
She began to admire Zhao Shuning even more.
"But Lin Feng's complexion has really been getting better and better."
"Silly Huan'er, this is still a psychological effect."
Zhao Shuning looked at the starry sky and counted the days. She made another mark on the beam. In another month, Lin Feng's poison would finally break out.
This poison was given by her master. It was colorless and odorless. Even if Lin Feng's cultivation was high, he wouldn't be able to detect it.