met free Chapter 122 Never die in peace
Chapter 122 Never die in peace
Upon hearing this address, Lady Yongyi looked slightly dazed and was about to say something when she saw Ru Niang sitting on the edge of the bed with a bowl in her hand. She touched the porcelain bowl with the back of her hand to check its temperature, seemingly still worried that it might burn her. Then she took a spoon and scooped a little honey water onto the back of her hand to test the temperature.
Not only that, Ru Niang also lowered her head and wiped the honey water off the back of her hand.
Lady Yongyi twitched the corner of her mouth: "Once our Lord is safe and sound, I will reward you with a jar of honey and transfer your son back to the manor as a steward."
Then she sighed, "You're getting old, it's better for your son to be by your side."
Lady Yongyi owned several shops and arranged for Ru Niang's son to help out at the counter. The mother and son rarely saw each other throughout the year.
Upon hearing this, Ru Niang tightened her grip on the spoon.
The next moment, the porcelain bowl was taken away by a hand.
Ru Niang's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly looked up and saw that the Lady of Yongyi was drinking honey water.
"Little...Miss..."
Ru Niang's throat felt tight, and she couldn't say a word she wanted to say.
Lady Yongyi handed the bowl in her hand to Ru Niang and noticed that Ru Niang's eyes were red and she was almost crying.
"What's wrong with you?" Lady Yongyi asked. "Are you missing your child?"
Ru Niang stared at the slightly concerned look in the eyes of the Lady of Yongyi, her hands holding the bowl trembling, her lips quivering as she tried to say something.
Suddenly, she felt a little dizzy and her chest felt tight.
Ru Niang paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I haven't seen Lin'er for two months. When he left last time, he said that the next time we met would be on my birthday. He secretly saved up a lot of money to buy me a pair of clove earrings. He also said that his father passed away early, and I raised him single-handedly, enduring a lot of hardship. Now that he's grown up, it's time for me, his mother, to enjoy life."
As she finished speaking, Ru Niang's voice choked with emotion.
Upon hearing this, Lady Yongyi thought of Ru Niang's hardships, and then thought of her own life, which had been relatively smooth. Why had she ended up like this?
“Ru Niang, your life has been tough, but you are looking forward to more and more things. You are both honest and upright, and you have never had any improper thoughts.”
Lady Yongyi said softly, "Although my family was poor, my father and brothers were upright people. They did not have much wealth in their lives, but they were able to live a peaceful and healthy life."
"I have a lot of ambition, but I lack wisdom and ability. Since childhood, I have been blinded by the wealth of various families and confused my mind. I want to marry into a high-class family and no longer want to live a poor life."
Lady Yongyi's smile was bitter: "I worked so hard to marry into the Yongyi family, thinking I had finally achieved my goal. But in the end, my life was no different from when I was at my parents' home. I had to be very frugal every day."
At this point, her eyes reddened: "I'm not reconciled. I don't want to become a laughingstock and then go astray. Although I no longer have to live a life of splitting every penny in half, there's no going back."
Ru Niang listened to the rambling of the Earl of Yongyi with her head down, and couldn't help but think of the hardships that the master and servant had gone through. Her heart was filled with pain, and tears streamed down her face.
Lady Yongyi saw her crying so sadly: "Fortunately, you have been with me all this way." She pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve: "This time, you have helped me get through this hurdle, so I don't want to think about those riches and honors anymore."
She smiled and handed the handkerchief to Ru Niang to wipe her tears, but then a sudden pain shot through her lower abdomen.
Ru Niang felt as if a wound had been pierced through her heart by the words of the Earl of Yongyi, and her hands trembled even more violently. She wanted to say something, but when she saw the Earl of Yongyi slumped on the bed, her hands pressed against her abdomen, her face pale with pain, she realized what she was doing.
Ru Niang turned pale with fright, suddenly stood up, and the porcelain bowl fell to the ground and shattered with a "crack".
Lady Yongyi noticed that Ru Niang was not feeling well. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly felt nauseous and hurriedly leaned over the bed to vomit, but nothing came out. She just dry-heaved a few times.
Gradually, she felt a tightness in her chest and couldn't breathe properly.
She gasped for breath, the pain in her abdomen growing more intense, and her limbs becoming numb.
Lady Yongyi lay weakly by the bedside, trying to open her eyes wide to look at Ru Niang.
Only at this moment did she realize that Ru Niang was not crying because she wanted her son to cry, nor was she moved by her words, but because she had betrayed her and was shedding tears of guilt and unease.
"You...it was you..." Lady Yongyi's tongue trembled, and her words became somewhat indistinct: "Why...why?"
She was wary of everyone except Ru Niang, yet it was Ru Niang who betrayed her!
From the moment Ru Niang called her "Miss", she felt something was strange, but when she saw Ru Niang drink the honey water, she never suspected that she would poison her.
Ru Niang knelt on the ground, looking at the poisoned Lady Yongyi. Overwhelmed by panic, she stammered, "Miss, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I had no choice but to do this... The Lord's crime is punishable by the execution of his entire family. I'm not afraid of death, but my Lin'er, his life has just begun. I want to find a way for him to live."
She was loyal her whole life, but in the end she had to betray her master. She suffered, struggled, and was tormented by guilt again and again, but in the end, reason prevailed over everything.
"Before the master left, he instructed me to take good care of Lin'er. I am your servant and also a mother. In the end, I could not resist my motherly selfishness and became an unfaithful and unjust person."
Ru Niang burst into tears, almost sobbing uncontrollably, and knelt on the ground: "The Lord's crimes are irrefutable, no one can protect him, no one in the entire mansion can escape... I'm sorry, Miss, I will give my worthless life to you and atone for my sins in the underworld."
Lady Yongyi made an "uh" sound in her throat, and then fell silent.
Ru Niang seemed to sense something and her body stiffened.
After a long while, she stiffly looked up and saw that Lady Yongyi was foaming at the mouth, her eyes still wide open, staring at her.
It's as if they want to open their eyes wide and see the people around them clearly, or as if they can't bear the betrayal of their closest loved ones and die with their eyes wide open in disbelief.
When Ru Niang truly poisoned Lady Yongyi, her mind went blank. She stared at her blankly, unable to utter a sound. She could only tremble as she tried to close Lady Yongyi's eyes, but she couldn't.
A sudden, sharp pain shot through her abdomen, and Ru Niang collapsed onto the footrest, her pupils unfocused as she stared at Lady Yongyi, as if she could hear the voice of a young lady still confined to her chambers.
“Ru Niang, it’s cold in winter. Don’t sleep on the footstool. Come to the bed and warm the blankets for me.”
“Miss, I will not sleep in the bed tonight. Tomorrow is your wedding, and this may be the last night I lie on the footstool to keep vigil for you.”
Ru Niang didn't take the thing out of her sleeve. Guilt was tearing at her soul. She curled up in pain, coughed up blood, and gradually stopped breathing.
The setting sun shone through the lattice window into the corner of the inner room, where Ru Niang lay on the footstool, just as she had before she was married.