Li Furen's eyes flickered, and she lowered her voice, asking, "What about Princess Ningde? Can she be a match for the Night Princess?"
"Don't underestimate Princess Ningde. Sometimes her methods will surprise many people. The Night Princess only sees the surface of Princess Ningde," Li De narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice.
Li Furen said no more.
But in her heart, she felt a lingering fear.
It seemed that without understanding the Night Princess, it was best not to see her again. For the next month or so, if they could avoid encountering her, they should.
"Does Meng'er still have illusions about His Highness Prince Jin?" Li De asked in a deep voice.
Li Furen shook her head. "I don't think so. Meng'er is now the Emperor's person. She should serve the Emperor wholeheartedly. If she has other thoughts, how can she serve the Emperor in the future?"
Li De was relieved. "That's good."
"Don't worry, sir. Meng'er has always known her limits. Even if she has feelings for His Highness Prince Jin, she will restrain herself and absolutely will not do anything she shouldn't," Li Furen continued to comfort Li De.
Li De seemed to have taken her words to heart. He grunted and then went to sleep.
Li Furen, however, could not sleep. She was constantly worried about her daughter in the palace. Having lost face in the palace today, many people in the palace would surely gossip about Meng'er tomorrow. She hoped Meng'er's temper would not cause any trouble.
Thinking like this, she unconsciously fell asleep.
The next day.
Yun Shu and her entourage left the palace.
They soon returned to the General's mansion.
As they were alighting from the carriage and about to enter the General's mansion, someone suddenly rushed over.
They knelt down before them.
They knelt before them in utter misery.
Yun Shu lowered her gaze to the two, then slightly raised her eyebrows. They looked somewhat familiar? Acquaintances?
One of them even embraced Yun Changfeng with both hands, while the other knelt before Yun Shu.
The sudden appearance of these people caught them off guard.
By the time Yun Changfeng reacted, someone had already clung to his legs.
And it was a woman embracing him.
His eyes darkened. Just as he was about to kick her away, the person embracing him spoke, "My lord, please save me. I may have done some wrong things before, and I did do many things under someone's instruction, but my heart for my lord is pure and true."
"I repent in agony every day, only hoping that my lord can forgive me and let me follow by my lord's side from now on. Even if you let me be a servant, I will be willing."
Concubine Xiao?
Yun Changfeng narrowed his eyes.
Yun Shu finally recognized her. It was Concubine Xiao, and next to her was Yun Ying?
Why had mother and daughter become so thin?
They were already kneeling before her, and she hadn't recognized them at all. Weren't these mother and daughter doing well under the protection of the Sha Palace a few months ago? In just a few days, how had they changed so drastically? They looked more miserable than each other?
Yun Ying wailed, "Night Princess, please, on the grounds of our past sisterhood, forgive us and save us from our suffering. Surely you don't want to see us suffer, do you? The only people we can beg now are the Night Princess and Father."
After speaking, Yun Ying turned to Yun Changfeng and cried, "Father, Ying'er has always regarded you as her own father. I loved and respected you so much and wanted to be your daughter. I admit I did many things before, and I know I was wrong. Please let me be your daughter properly from now on, okay? I will be filial to you from now on!"
What she said today sounded very sincere.
The two women's heads were pressed to the ground, completely disregarding the coldness of the earth.
Their bodies trembled.
The morning weather was a bit chilly, but the mother and daughter were thinly clad, and their clothes had many patches. Their hair was also somewhat disheveled.
Their exposed hands and wrists were covered in scars.
Countless scars.
Yun Shu's gaze flickered. Could the Sha Palace no longer accommodate them? Or had they angered the leader of the Sha Palace and been punished by him?
Otherwise, how could they have fallen into such a tragic state?
After hearing the two women's words, Yun Changfeng's eyes showed no emotion. He directly kicked away Concubine Xiao, who was clinging to his leg.
He had no feelings for Concubine Xiao in the first place.
He had been schemed against back then, and later the truth came out. He never expected Concubine Xiao to have the audacity to appear before him now. "Get out of the way."
He led his three grandsons beside him. "Let's go in first."
Then he looked at Yun Shu.
Yun Shu nodded at Yun Changfeng.
She knew he had no feelings for Concubine Xiao, and that he had been set up back then. Seeing Concubine Xiao would only make him feel disgusted, and he would have no intention of dealing with her.
Especially since Yun Changfeng did not want Xiao Li and the other two to witness this scene.
After Yun Changfeng led the three children inside, Yun Shu lowered her head and looked at Concubine Xiao and Yun Ying again.
The mother and daughter looked like they hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time. Their eyes were dark and bruised, and their expressions were somewhat dazed. Only after her father took Xiao Li and the other two into the General's mansion did they snap back to their senses.
The two of them wanted to rush forward.
But as soon as they stood up, their bodies began to sway.
By the time they stood up, the gate of the General's mansion had already closed in front of them.
Furthermore, Jing Heng had already placed a sword horizontally in front of them.
Seeing the cold, gleaming sword, the mother and daughter's faces changed. Especially Yun Ying, who was terrified of Jing Heng. The scene of being forced to eat horse dung while being stepped on by Jing Heng flashed back in her mind.
She trembled uncontrollably all over.
She was so scared that she didn't dare to step forward.
"Mother..." Yun Ying looked at Concubine Xiao in fear.
Concubine Xiao took a deep breath, steadied her nerves, and knelt before Yun Shu again. "Night Princess, it was our mother and daughter's fault before. Look at our past family ties and help us, won't you? Help us escape this sea of suffering, won't you? Moreover, we can tell you about the Sha Palace. Don't you want to know about the Sha Palace?"
This was the last trump card the mother and daughter held.
They could no longer be controlled by the Sha Palace.
They had finally escaped from the hands of that perverse father and son, and they absolutely could not be sent into the tiger's mouth again. Now they understood everything. If they had no use, the Sha Palace would not tolerate them!
Yun Shu smiled nonchalantly. "Sha Palace?" she murmured, repeating the two words.
Recently, Ruan Xi had investigated quite a bit about the Sha Palace. However, with so many things happening lately, she hadn't properly dealt with the matter of the Sha Palace.
She hadn't expected Concubine Xiao and her daughter to deliver themselves to her doorstep.
However...
"With your identities, what could you possibly know about the Sha Palace? Moreover, what does the Sha Palace have to do with me?" Yun Shu asked with a half-smile, her eyes catching sight of a speeding carriage.