Biyao pursed her lips, muttering with a hint of dissatisfaction:
"I also feel that Fourth Young Miss acted far too recklessly this time. I know she is hell-bent on bringing down Third Young Miss and harbors feelings for Prince Jin, but she shouldn't have kept it from you and secretly poisoned the Snow Ointment. If something had gone wrong and you had used that ointment, the consequences would have been unthinkable. Even if she wanted to set a trap for Third Young Miss, she should have informed you in advance. It’s simply preposterous."
Not long after Yun Wan and Biyao left, Xiangmei and Fu Yang arrived at a spot along the retro-styled veranda.
Seeing the young girl kneeling on the ground with her back straight, Xiangmei squinted at her with a look of feigned surprise and mocked:
"Oh my! Isn't this our Marquis Manor’s Third Young Miss? How did you end up being punished to kneel here? Your mother really is heartless. Kneeling here in this sweltering heat with people coming and going—if the servants below see you, how bad will it look? In the future, who will still hold you in any regard? Even if your mother needs to discipline you for framing your elder sister, she could have done it behind closed doors. Why make you kneel out here and make a spectacle of yourself? Lately, the servants in the manor have been whispering behind your mother's back, saying she must have lost her mind to treat her own flesh and blood this way. To actually turn against her own child for an outsider—…
Chapter 80