No wonder she had been by Su Yueyue's side for so long. Xiaocui still had some sense. She immediately knelt on the ground and apologized to Zhizhu. "Sister Zhizhu... I... I'm not a human. I'm sorry... I shouldn't have hit you... Please... forgive me..."
Before her voice faded, Su Mingyu's voice came faintly from behind. "So this is the rule of Miss Xiaocui. She should keep her back straight when apologizing."
Xiaocui immediately kowtowed, crying with snot and tears. "Sister Zhizhu... I really know I was wrong... Please say some good words for me..."
Zhizhu had never experienced such a situation. She was so scared that her legs trembled and she could hardly stand, let alone say a word.
Seeing that she didn't say a word, Su Mingyu shrugged. "You see, she doesn't want to forgive you at all. What do you think we should do?"
Now, at the sound of Su Mingyu's voice, Xiaocui trembled all over. She endured the sharp pain in her hand and kowtowed hard. She didn't even know when blood started to flow from her forehead.
Seeing Xiaocui in such a miserable state, Zhizhu finally seemed to come to her senses. She looked at Su Mingyu with pleading eyes. "Miss... Since she already knows her mistake, let's just let it go."
"Okay." Su Mingyu nodded readily. "Then please ask the steward to get me some medicine for treating external injuries."
Hearing that Su Mingyu had forgiven her, Xiaocui finally felt relieved.
Just when she thought she could take a breath, she saw Su Mingyu come in front of her with a ladle of water. "Your injury is quite serious. If you don't disinfect it, it will definitely get inflamed later."
"I once read in a medical book that if you clean the wound with highly concentrated salt water, the wound will not only heal faster but also won't cause inflammation."
Xiaocui was so scared that cold sweat broke out on her back. She curled up like a helpless little animal and didn't dare to look into Su Mingyu's eyes at all. "M... Miss... I was wrong... I'm really wrong. Please spare me this time."
Su Mingyu raised her eyebrows and smiled faintly. "What are you talking about? Since our maid has forgiven you, I naturally won't torture you anymore. I'm doing this for your own good."
Su Mingyu pretended to think for a while and then continued. "Well... Consider this salt water as my way of thanking you for helping me discipline my servants."
After saying that, she poured the salt water directly onto the wound on Xiaocui's hand. Xiaocui's hand was already badly injured. After being soaked in the salt water, the excruciating pain made her faint.
Su Mingyu glared at Xiaocui disgustedly. Then she looked up sharply at the servants who were already so scared that they curled up in a ball and hugged each other tightly. She said coldly, "I'm usually in a good temper and don't want to argue with you."
Sweeping her eyes across the crowd, Su Mingyu continued. "But you should also know that your eldest miss - me, Su Mingyu - am not a rabbit. I don't want to bite you just because I'm in a good mood, but it doesn't mean I won't teach you a lesson. Do you understand?"
The servants had never seen such a scene before. One by one, they were so scared that their faces turned pale and their voices trembled. "Yes... W... We understand."
Satisfied that the intimidating effect she wanted had been achieved, Su Mingyu pulled Zhizhu, who was also scared and stunned, and turned back to her own yard.
It wasn't until the two of them sat down in the yard that a cold wind blew and Zhizhu finally came to her senses and realized what had just happened. She looked at Su Mingyu in disbelief and asked hoarsely, "M... Miss... Was that really you?"
So cold - hearted and cruel, even more so than Su Yueyue.
"What?" Su Mingyu teased seeing Zhizhu's pale face. "Are you scared now? Do you not want to live with me anymore because you know I'm so cruel?"
"Not really..." Zhizhu shook her head. "It's just that such a miss is so scary. I've never seen you so angry before."
Su Mingyu took out a medicine bottle from her bosom. She rubbed the ointment inside on her hand and gently applied it on Zhizhu's face.
"I don't care at all what they say or do on a daily basis. But if they hurt you, it's different."
Zhizhu pursed her lips and asked in disbelief, "Miss, did you get so angry because of me?"
Su Mingyu gave her a sidelong glance. "Otherwise, why would I look for trouble for myself for no reason?"
Looking down at Su Mingyu's eyes that were so scary just now but now so clear, Zhizhu grinned. "Miss... You're so good to me."
"You just realized it now." Su Mingyu smiled helplessly, but a hint of doting showed in the depths of her eyes.
This maid was the first person who had been truly kind to her since she traveled through time. Of course, she had to protect her.
"Just..." Zhizhu was a little scared. "Xiaocui is one of the second miss's people. Miss, you tortured her so much last night. I'm afraid the second miss will cause trouble for you tomorrow."
Su Mingyu seemed very calm. "Let her."
Anyway, she wasn't afraid of a little trouble.
After what happened last night, Su Mingyu's cruelty spread like wildfire in the Su Mansion.
Early the next morning, when she went to the main hall for breakfast, Su Yueyue was already waiting for her. "Sister, you really showed off your power last night."
Su Mingyu glanced at Su Zhengyi and Wang Manwen, who were silent, and then sat down without saying a word and picked up her chopsticks and bowl to start eating.
"You!" Su Yueyue was so angry that her face turned ashen. "You crippled my personal maid, and now you can still eat breakfast so calmly."
Su Mingyu didn't even lift her eyelids and said coldly, "Isn't it just a maid? Does our Su Mansion lack a maid for you?"
Su Yueyue was at a loss for words for a moment. It took her a while to retort. "It's like you wouldn't fly into a rage just because of a maid."
Su Mingyu slowly put down the bowl, picked up a bun, took a bite, and then said, "It seems that my sister doesn't know me very well."
"The reason I got so angry wasn't because my maid was beaten, but because your maid beat her."
Su Yueyue was confused by these words. It took her a long time to ask with a cold face, "What on earth are you talking about?"
Seeing that she really seemed not to understand, Su Mingyu sighed. "If it were you who beat my maid, I naturally wouldn't be angry, because as the master, you should discipline the servants."
"But who does Xiaocui think she is? How dare she overstep and beat my people? Isn't this indirectly slapping my face?"
"I'm the legitimate eldest daughter of our Su Mansion after all. If this gets out, who knows what people will say about the rules of our Su Mansion."
With just one sentence, Su Mingyu put a big label of family etiquette on this matter. Even if Su Yueyue was stupid, she knew that if she continued to argue, she wouldn't get any advantage. So she could only cast a pleading look at Wang Manwen.