Ji Zizhao stood on the steps and looked at Zhang Ji. "Uncle Ji, please summon all the servants from Cloud Courtyard."
Following Ji Zizhao's command, a dozen or so servants from Cloud Courtyard were soon gathered in front of the main house, led by Zhang Ji.
Everyone was startled to see a wet nurse being held down on a long bench by guards.
Ji Zizhao swept her gaze across the crowd, not missing a single expression.
Among the dozen servants, while the laborers looked bewildered, the others displayed not surprise but rather fear. This indicated that something truly significant, unknown to Ji Zizhao, had indeed occurred in Cloud Courtyard.
And it was a major event.
While the laborers had little access to the masters, their duties were the most varied within the courtyard.
If it were a minor matter, the laborers would surely have heard some whispers.
Instead, they were kept completely in the dark, as if nothing had happened.
Ji Zizhao sat on a chair brought out by Shui Ling and looked at the wet nurse from Cloud Courtyard, pinned to the long bench. "Looking back, you have served my mother for decades. If you speak the truth now, for your mistress's sake, I will treat you justly. But if you persist in your folly, do not blame me for my ruthlessness."
The wet nurse from Cloud Courtyard wanted to speak, but she couldn't. Clinging to the bench, she gritted her teeth and said, "Whether Eldest Young Lady wishes to beat or kill me, this old servant will harbor no complaints."
The people of Cloud Courtyard had been spared by Eldest Young Lady. In essence, everyone here owed her a debt of gratitude.
From the moment she agreed to help Madam Xu conceal Xin Lan's matter, she knew she had made a mistake. But to protect her own family, she had no choice but to agree.
Now, if only her death could quell Eldest Young Lady's rage, then her life was of little consequence.
Ji Zizhao clenched her fists, her voice cold. "Beat her!"
The Ji family guards did not hesitate. They raised their boards and struck the wet nurse from Cloud Courtyard's lower back.
Blow after blow, raised high and brought down heavily.
Without Eldest Young Lady's order, no one dared to stop.
The other servants of Cloud Courtyard watched in silence, their faces pale, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
This was the wet nurse who had served Madam for the longest time. Could Eldest Young Lady truly strike her?
Ji Zizhao, naturally, had no qualms about striking.
If even the servants within the manor dared to deceive her, how could she navigate the world in the future?
Kindness was a matter of mutual respect; you respect me one foot, I respect you one yard.
Since others no longer cared about that sentiment, what was the point of its existence?
The wet nurse from Cloud Courtyard was already advanced in age. Moreover, the guards showed no mercy. Soon, her lower back was a bloody, mangled mess. The torn flesh and blood stuck to her clothes, and blood dripped to the floor. The sight alone was horrifying.
The wet nurse from Cloud Courtyard, almost unable to utter a word, passed out.
The other servants in the courtyard secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But before they could fully exhale, Ji Zizhao's icy voice rang out again, "Continue beating them! From front to back! If the one in front faints, move on to the one behind!"
Such ruthless words even startled Zhang Ji.
Large manors, inevitably, harbored many unsavory affairs.
The masters of each manor had to expend great effort and thought on these trivial matters, otherwise, there would be no established family laws and regulations in each household.
But Zhang Ji had never witnessed a master, like Eldest Young Lady, ordering a beating without asking a single question.
Even when the decisive Old Master was alive, he had never dealt with inner court matters so swiftly and resolutely.
The servants of Cloud Courtyard, needless to say, were so terrified their legs went weak, and they all fell to their knees.
"Eldest Young Lady, spare us! Eldest Young Lady, have mercy! We truly know nothing, absolutely nothing..."
Know nothing?
When the pain isn't on oneself, one naturally knows nothing.
Ji Zizhao signaled to the guards, "Continue."
Two guards immediately pinned the young servant standing at the front onto the long bench.
The long bench was already stained with the wet nurse's blood. The moment the young servant lay down, he could clearly feel the blood seeping through his clothes, making it difficult for him to breathe.
Ji Zizhao remained unmoved, watching coldly.
Seeing the situation, Zhang Ji nodded to the two guards.
Eldest Young Lady ordered them to beat, so they would beat.
"Thwack, thwack, thwack... Thwack, thwack, thwack..."
The heavy sound of the boards echoed throughout Cloud Courtyard once more.
Ji Zizhao turned to look at the servants who had already curled into balls, her voice as cold as the frost of the twelfth lunar month. "Every single one of you is responsible. The first will receive forty blows, the second sixty... and so on. The night is still long. We have plenty of time to have each of you lie on that bench."
The servants of Cloud Courtyard were nearly terrified to death just by hearing these words.
This, this...
Eldest Young Lady was truly determined to beat them to death!
"Eldest Young Lady, I'll speak, I'll speak... A while ago, I overheard people in the courtyard saying that someone from the main residence had come to issue a warning. Then, the wet nurse of our courtyard told us that no one was allowed to mention Xin Lan, and even warned us that if anyone asked, we were to say Xin Lan had gone home to visit relatives, and knew nothing else..."
Ji Zizhao's clenched fists turned pale and greenish, and her ominous premonition grew.
The main residence was also involved!
No wonder the wet nurse from Cloud Courtyard refused to speak even at the cost of her life. She must have been threatened by the main residence with the lives of her family.
After all, this was a usual threat tactic employed by the main residence.
With punishment came reward. Ji Zizhao pointed to the maid who spoke. "Go stand aside. You are no longer involved."
The maid hurriedly kowtowed, then got up and moved to the side.
Seeing this, the other servants kneeling on the ground, already greedy for their lives, grew even more restless.
"Eldest Young Lady, I, I saw it! That day, I personally saw Madam Xu from the main residence meet with the wet nurse of our courtyard. I just don't know what exactly they discussed."
"I remember when I was on night duty a few days ago, I seemed to see someone brought from the main residence..."
"Yes, yes, that person is currently housed in the wood shed. A few days ago, Madam Xu from the main residence specifically came to check on them, but she hasn't come in recent days."
Upon hearing the word "wood shed," Ji Zizhao instantly stood up and strode towards the wood shed behind Cloud Courtyard.
She was familiar with her mother's courtyard. Even though she had never been to that wood shed, she remembered its general direction.
Shui Ling, trembling, followed her young lady. Tears had long since streamed down uncontrollably. When her young lady pushed open the dilapidated wooden door of the wood shed, and followed her inside to see the figure on the worn-out straw mat, she immediately knelt on the ground and wailed.
"Sister Xin Lan—!"