Qingyin and Qingling trained for ten years, wholeheartedly waiting for the Wangye to return so they could serve by his side.
But as soon as the Prince Jin returned, they only had a brief encounter before being packaged and sent to the Lu Residence.
To say that they weren't disappointed would be impossible.
But they had been taught by Granny Qing that once they arrived, they had to do their jobs well, so the two maids had no intention of slacking off when it came to taking care of Lu Zhaoling.
Qingling had already gone to prepare hot water for Lu Zhaoling's bath.
Qingyin brought over a nourishing soup. She was careful while feeding Lu Zhaoling, and she was constantly wondering if Lu Zhaoling would be easy to get along with,
or if she would make things difficult for the two servants. But she never expected Lu Zhaoling to suddenly ask her such a question.
You've killed someone recently?
"Don't be nervous," Lu Zhaoling said.
Qingyin set down the soup bowl and stood in front of the bed, her hands clasped, "Does Miss Lu want to punish Qingyin?"
So she's admitting it?
Lu Zhaoling raised an eyebrow, seemingly the maid sent by the Prince Jin's Residence has some pride.
She disdains lying.
Or is it that she doesn't care to admit it in front of her?
"You killed someone, the Prince Jin's Residence probably doesn't know, right?" Lu Zhaoling asked again.
Qingyin turned to her in shock once more. "How do you know?"
That's right, Granny Qing didn't know about this, no one in the Prince's Residence knew, only Qingling knew.
She had been torn about whether to tell Granny Qing or not, fearing that once Granny Qing knew, she wouldn't let her serve the Wangye.
"I can tell," Lu Zhaoling said.
How could she tell?
She'd heard that Lu Zhaoling had just returned to the capital from the countryside--
Qingyin was completely unable to see through Lu Zhaoling.
"I didn't want to interfere in your affairs, but your hands aren't clean, and it's affecting me." Lu Zhaoling looked at her right hand.
Tch. She was too hungry earlier. She should've finished the soup before speaking.
But if Qingyin kept using that hand to serve her food and drink, and might even use it to comb her hair and fold her undergarments, she couldn't bear it.
Hearing her words, Qingyin raised her hand. No matter how she looked at it, there didn't seem to be any problems.
She and Qingling were carefully selected and trained by Granny Qing. They had always thought of growing up to be the Wangye's concubines, so their bodies were clean and beautiful, without any flaws.
Her hand was slender and fair, white as scallions, clean and tidy. How could she say it wasn't clean?
Qingyin looked at Lu Zhaoling in confusion.
Could it be that Miss Lu has some kind of mental illness?
"The person you killed was extremely evil. When you killed him, he was in the middle of doing something bad, right?" Lu Zhaoling continued.
Qingyin's eyes widened in shock. How did she even know that?
That night, she had returned to the residence after running an errand and passed by a small grove, where she saw a man carrying a young girl sneak inside.
After hesitating for a moment, Qingyin had followed.
The man threw the girl to the ground. Only then did Qingyin see that the girl looked no more than eleven or twelve years old.
Her mouth was stuffed with a rag. After the man pulled out the rag, the girl coughed for a moment before bursting into tears.
"Brother, please let me go! I'll listen to you in the future. I'll give you the coins my dad gave me for wine....."
"Who cares about your few coins? I'm already in my twenties and can't find a wife. Every day, I have to listen to my parents thrashing about next door. Those two shameless old fools are making me boil with anger!"
"Brother, wah!" the little girl cried miserably, but it was also clear that her brother wasn't right in the head. He was actually unbuckling his belt!
She scooted back while crying, wanting to run, but she didn't have the strength. Her expression was frightened and terrified.
"You were sick for half a month, using up all the family's money on medicine. Now I don't even have money to go to the brothel for girls! From now on, I'll use you to vent my anger. Good fortune should stay within the family..."
The man tore open his clothes and reached out, grabbing the girl's ankle and pulling her forcefully towards him.
The little girl screamed.
Qingyin was completely numb!
She had never imagined that there were such disgusting people in the world. They were siblings! This brother actually wanted to defile his own sister!
Moreover, this little girl was only eleven or twelve years old!
Qingyin's eyes turned red, and anger almost burned away her reason. Hearing the little girl's terrified and desperate screams, she rushed forward without thinking, kicking the man away.
It just so happened that there was a small sapling that had somehow been cut down. The broken end was sharp and long, and the man fell and landed right on it, piercing him through the heart.
People outside the grove were calling for He Ya and were approaching. Qingyin instantly calmed down and hid.
Then she saw a woman rush in. She paused when she saw the little girl and then burst into tears while hugging her.
That should be the girl's mother.
Seeing that the woman seemed to care for the little girl, Qingyin didn't show herself. The woman's eyesight wasn't good, and it was dark at that time,
so she didn't see the man not far away. Seeing her daughter as if she'd been scared out of her mind, she carried her away.
Qingyin had only cared about the little girl after kicking the man away. After the mother and daughter left, she went to check on the man and was shocked to see him impaled on the broken tree, already dead.
She now remembered that she had used her right hand to pull at the man, wanting to pull him off the broken tree. As a result, her hand had been stained with his blood.
But she had clearly washed it clean.
She had washed it once outside, and after returning to the Wangye's residence, she had washed it several more times with *Xiangyi*, scrubbing it thoroughly clean.
Moreover, it had been so many days since then.
Qingyin looked at Lu Zhaoling in shock.
Although Lu Zhaoling had guessed correctly, she still didn't believe that her hands were still dirty.
"Miss Lu, my hands are clean."
Lu Zhaoling looked at her hand and pursed her lips, "Is that so? Then have you felt that your hand has had a scent these past few days? Also, does it attract bugs?"
Hearing that, Qingyin's expression changed.
Her hand was clean, but every morning when she applied face powder, she did smell a faint fishy odor.
Also, a few nights ago, her fingers had suddenly started itching while she was sleeping. When she got up and lit a candle, she found small bugs crawling on her hand!
She shared a bed with Qingling, and they had spent that night changing the bedding and cleaning the room, but they couldn't find any other bugs.
Qingyin cried out, "Could this be the retribution for killing someone?"
"No," Lu Zhaoling shook her head, "That person deserved to die. It's just that he was an extremely evil person. He was in the middle of doing something evil when you interrupted him, causing his malice to burst forth. You were stained with his blood at the time, so a few strands of filth have clung to your fingers."
Qingyin looked at her hand again.
"But I can't see anything."
"You want to see it?" Lu Zhaoling tilted her head and pondered for a moment, "I'm too weak right now to open your eyes. But your hands have to be washed clean, or you can go back to the Prince Jin's Residence."
It wasn't that she disliked Qingyin, but she disliked the filth on her hands.
"Then I'll go wash them a few more times," Qingyin pursed her lips and turned to leave.
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