CHAPTER 12: CHAPTER 12: SLEEPING LIKE THIS, AREN’T YOU AFRAID YOU’LL FREEZE TO DEATH?

Ruan Jiao told her that this is a post station, and there are other officials of higher rank than these exiling officers.

If they found out that Ruan Mian was bribing, they would surely punish them.

But saying these words to their face is undoubtedly slapping the officers in the face!

In the next moment, the whip of the head officer lashed onto her body.

With one strike, her skin was torn to shreds!

Madam Liu was so frightened that she cried out in fear, stepping forward to embrace Qi Lin and pleading repeatedly.

"Lord, Lord! My daughter is not in a good state of mind, please don’t hold it against her!"

The head officer said harshly, "I bet it’s her who ate it! Hand it over!"

Madam Liu was shocked, shaking her head like a rattle: "No, Lord, please see clearly, we did not steal your food, I swear! If we did, let me be struck by lightning!"

But just as she finished speaking, Nanny Fang suddenly knelt down on the spot, pointing at Qi Lin to accuse her.

"Lord! It was Miss Qi who stole your jerky, I saw it with my own eyes!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Liu was furious: "You wretched thing, how can you talk nonsense!"

Qi Lin also didn’t expect that Nanny Fang, who had served her mother for many years, would actually betray her??

Even though she had already been told to keep quiet!

However, although Nanny Fang was terrified, she didn’t dare to hide anything and confessed everything in detail.

"I personally saw the young lady stealing things from the Lord’s carriage, and at that time, I even tried to stop her, but she refused to listen to me. I also know where she hid what she didn’t eat from the jerky."

Inside the jerky, there were other things??

Now everyone at Uncle’s Mansion heard it, and Mrs. Wang instinctively looked at Ruan Mian, huffing.

"I said a few pieces of jerky weren’t worth it, it turns out to be the act of a scheming person, your Ruan Mansion really produces talent!" She stared angrily at Ruan Jiao, speaking sharply.

"Aunt Ruan, since you have such an impressive sister, why not go and get some good food for Lin, so the Princely Heir’s affection for you doesn’t go to waste!"

Lin was born of Mrs. Wang, but Ruan Jiao did not like him!

However, she didn’t dare to confront Mrs. Wang, because she knew that this matriarch was not an ordinary person.

At this moment, the officer had already kicked Qi Lin away with one kick, raising his whip to make an example: "Daring to steal our things, you really have a death wish!"

Qi Lin was also trembling at this moment, huddled to the side, glaring at Ruan Mian with red, furious eyes, unable to see her own situation clearly but full of anger.

"Just because Ruan Mian bribed you with a few golden peanuts, you want to..."

Before she could finish speaking, Madam Liu suddenly slapped her!

After interrupting her, she turned to the officer and kowtowed: "Lord, my daughter is young and ignorant, said some bad words, let me discipline her!"

And Qi Lin, covering one side of her face, couldn’t have imagined her own mother would hit her, her red eyes looked like she would tear someone apart.

But the officials didn’t care, first giving a few lashes, whipping her until her skin was flayed, frightening everyone who saw it, and then they stopped.

Madam Liu saw her daughter in a mess and hurriedly rushed forward.

But before she could speak, Qi Lin had already shoved her away aggressively, shouting angrily: "Even you hit me?? Stealing that jerky to eat, was because you, mother, wanted to eat it! And yet you hit me?"

Madam Liu hurriedly tried to explain: "Linlin, how could you say such a thing at that time, mother was doing it for your own good, you..."

But Qi Lin wouldn’t listen to her explanation, actually kicking her away, and at this moment, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, almost uncontrollably curling up, crying out in agony.

"Pain... pain..."

"Linlin, Linlin what’s wrong! Lord, Lord! Something’s wrong with my daughter! Quickly call a doctor!"

Guo Yong passed by, wrinkling his brow and driving Madam Liu away with a whip: "This is exile! And you still want to call a doctor, why don’t you call King Yama instead!"

No one paid attention to the mother and daughter anymore, and Madam Liu was left to call out to her old servants.

Seeing her angrily shouting at others, Ruan Mian suddenly recalled Madam Liu’s hypocrisy towards the original character.

Back then, she pretended to be affectionate and dutiful towards the original character, leading the original character to genuinely believe that Madam Liu, her mother-in-law, was good.

This resulted in her willingly pouring her dowry into Qi Mansion to fill the deficit.

Now that their true selves were revealed, it just felt ludicrous, and Ruan Mian felt genuinely unfair for the original character!

In that case, they should be expected to pay the price from now on!

At this time, Cui Zhu asked her in confusion: "Miss, what’s wrong with Qi Lin? She seems like she ate something bad."

Ruan Mian gave a faint smile: "Well, she might need a few days to recover."

Upon hearing this, Cui Zhu realized!

"Could it be you, miss..."

Those jerky weren’t actually for the officials to eat; they were just a shell for the golden peanuts.

To prevent it from being stolen without any evidence, Ruan Mian privately informed the officer that she had put laxatives on the jerky.

Whoever ate it would have an upset stomach for a few days.

These laxatives were something Ruan Mian saw last time at her family’s medicine shop.

There was quite a stockpile in the space.

Seeing Qi Lin in such a state, Cui Zhu felt a wave of satisfaction passing through her body!

"Serves her right! Miss, you’re amazing!"

Ruan Mian smiled softly.

Meanwhile, Nanny Fang, after leading the officers to find the golden peanuts, didn’t dare to return to Madam Liu’s team and instead came to kneel in front of Ruan Mian.

"Miss Ruan! Please grant this old servant a way out."

With trembling hands, she kowtowed repeatedly, and Ruan Mian helped her up.

Back then, this Nanny Fang was quite nice to the original character, often taking care of her when she was bedridden with illness.

Moreover, in the original book, Nanny Fang was a diligent person, with not many scenes but appearing in many memorable moments.

She was just a bit timid.

This time, her betrayal of Qi Lin resulting in her suffering was also considered an achievement.

Ruan Mian fulfilled her promise, allowing her to join her team, responsible for taking care of the Ruan couple daily.

"As long as you dedicate yourself, Nanny, I will certainly treat you as one of Ruan Mansion, with no lack of food, clothing, and supplies."

With these words, Nanny Fang was deeply grateful, immediately agreeing wholeheartedly: "Rest assured, Miss Ruan, I will serve with all my heart!"

With this, at least there was someone closely tending to her parents, which added some support.

Although there were servants in the mansion, the few caring ones were sent away early by Ruan Mian due to their old age, so Nanny Fang just fit into the role vacated by these older ladies.

For Ruan Mian, with the space in her hands, she could afford more than a few Nanny Fangs.

The night deepened.

Outside the post station, heavy snow began to fall, cold and biting, and they lay on the cold ground, huddling together for warmth.

In contrast, Ruan Mian had ensured each member of the mansion brought some straw mats, and when no one was watching, she took out a bundle of straw from the space, spreading it on the ground.

The people of Ruan Mansion were sleeping on warm straw piles, not cold at all, especially since they also had small fur vests, sleeping soundly.

Madam Liu, with her old cold legs, couldn’t withstand such hardships.

Previously at Qi Mansion, Ruan Mian had bought her the best charcoal stoves, used non-stop throughout the winter.

Now she didn’t even have a piece of straw mat!

She kicked the older lady next to her awake, whispering angrily.

"She can find straw in the post station, why aren’t you finding some! Aren’t you afraid of freezing to death sleeping like this!"