Chapter 5: I Am Not Compassionate

Rongniang would have suspicions, Shen Tong had long guessed that, but at this moment, she didn't need to consider these.

In her past life, she must have been deceived by Rongniang and then coaxed into drinking the cold food poison time and time again...

A person who can be so ruthless to a seven or eight-year-old child, regardless of whether she was forced to do so, is unforgivable!

The Buddha is compassionate and will also send the guardian Vajra to slay demons and evil spirits.

Right is right, wrong is wrong.

Mother has a secret, a big secret, and her uncle is in the know, even helping mother in this secret.

Rongniang is mother's personal maid, but she is not in the know, she only knows a little bit.

The reason mother promised Rongniang to her uncle as a concubine is to have Rongniang act as a go-between and pass on messages, but who knows if there is the intention for Rongniang to act as a secret monitor on her uncle?

If so, then mother must have a hold on her uncle, to make him help her keep the secret.

If her uncle can stage a scene of being captured by the Feiyu Guard, then all these years, mother has been avoiding the Feiyu Guard!

The Feiyu Guard, the head of the Twelve Guards, directly responsible to the emperor, in charge of prisons, and also has the power of inspection and arrest, from the imperial family to the officials, all are terrified of them.

And her mother is the one being pursued by the Feiyu Guard, no, it should be her and her mother, so mother secretly prepared that little girl, in case of danger, to use that little girl as her substitute.

Therefore, Shen Tong asked this question.

Seeing Rongniang's look of confusion, Shen Tong asked again, "You can gain my mother's trust and marry my uncle as a concubine, you must know the surname of my maternal family, but I don't know, so I asked you, my mother's surname is Huang, right?"

Only then did Rongniang react, thinking to herself that she was really confused. She said, "Although Madam has always claimed to be the daughter-in-law of Old Master Qian, her maiden family name is Xu, but after Old Master Qian passed away, Madam had a tombstone erected for Old Master Qian with the surname Huang... so I guess Madam's maiden family name is Huang."

Huang?

Shouldn't the husband's surname be written first, and then the maiden name?

Moreover, if that Old Master Qian is indeed her mother's father-in-law, then the tombstone should not only have her mother's name on it.

"When did Old Master Qian pass away, and where is his grave?" Shen Tong asked.

Since the day I entered the mansion, Old Master Qian has been ill. Four years ago, Old Master Qian passed away. Madam said to the outside world that there were no male heirs in the family, so the relatives from the hometown took Old Master Qian back for burial, but every year on Qingming, Madam would go to Dugong Mountain, she only took me with her, and that's when I found out." Rongniang's voice trembled. Yes, she only understood it now, no wonder Madam promised her to her uncle, she knew Madam's secret, as she grew older, Madam couldn't keep her by her side, so she gave her to her uncle.

If her uncle didn't have other intentions, how good would that be.

Shen Tong also understood, just as she had guessed, her mother pretended to be the widow Qian Xu, and found another pair of Huang mother and daughter to raise in the mountain village.

Shen Tong continued to question, and Rongniang only knew this much about what her mother knew. Shen Tong was greatly shocked, her mother was a woman who kept everything to herself, and Rongniang, as her personal maid, besides seeing clues on Old Master Qian's tombstone, couldn't find out anything.

It was precisely because her mother had always kept Rongniang in the dark that once Rongniang deceived her, she believed it to be true, even if she realized it later, it was too late.

In Shen Tong's mind, the moment when she was pierced by a thousand arrows resurfaced, the madwoman who had blocked her and screamed, "Tongtong!"

She had survived that cliff fall, but not only had she lost all her martial arts skills, her appearance was also ruined, yet her mother still recognized her.

It's not too late now, she had only been separated from her mother for a few days, and her mother didn't die at the hands of the Feiyu Guard in her past life, so at this moment, her mother was still alive.

She must find her mother, even if there was only a faint hope, she had to do her best.

"Sister, I only know this much, don't blame me, my parents died early, I only have one younger brother, and now my brother is still in the hands of Uncle, I don't know if he's alive or dead..." Rongniang cried in a choked voice.

"Don't cry, your brother is already dead, only someone as foolish as you would think that your brother could still be alive," Shen Tong said coldly.

"Dead? Impossible, Uncle said, as long as..." Rongniang suddenly felt that she shouldn't say the rest of the words, and quickly stopped herself.

"As long as they make me appear dead or alive, someone will take me away, but it's really strange, why didn't you act when I was sick?" This was also something Shen Tong couldn't understand, she fell ill as soon as she arrived, why wait until she woke up to use the cold food poison on her?

Rongniang cried even more sadly, "I... I watched you grow up, I couldn't bear to do it."

"Couldn't bear to? Yes, now that you've said that, I understand, it's because the person who really wants me, wants me alive, and I was still young and sick, if they had given me medicine at that time, I might have died, so you waited until I was well before making your move, am I right, kind-hearted Rongniang?"

Shen Tong's tone was full of sarcasm. Rongniang indeed stopped crying and could only sob quietly.

Shen Tong was too lazy to look at her like this, but still "kindly" reminded her, "I told you that your brother is dead, it's not a false alarm. Think about it, you've done such a shady thing for your uncle, can he still leave you alive? If he doesn't want to keep you, why would he keep your brother? Fatten him up and then slaughter him? That would be a waste of food."

"What are you saying?" Rongniang stopped sobbing at once, her face changed drastically, and she shouted in disbelief, "You're talking nonsense. Master won't kill me. He said as long as this matter is done, he will take the whole family to the capital..."

Rongniang couldn't continue. Master did indeed say he would take the whole family to the capital, but there wouldn't be her and her brother in that family. She was just a concubine!

Shen Tong didn't want to look at her anymore. This foolish girl didn't even think about being silenced, but instead thought about betraying her former master.

She picked up a large pillow and moved towards Rongniang to smother her, but her hand fell in mid-air. The words Xie Ren had said echoed in her ears, "I won't kill you, not because I don't kill women, but because I have no reason to kill a dead person."

Xie Ren didn't kill her, and she survived, experiencing a more terrifying death than before.

So... she had no reason to kill Rongniang with her own hands.

Besides, there wasn't even a knife here. It would be quite difficult for an eight-year-old girl like her to smother an adult with a pillow.

Shen Tong smiled at Rongniang, dropped the pillow, and used a piece of cloth to gag her mouth again.

She walked out of the room and shouted loudly to Chunque and Fangfei, who were guarding outside the gate, "Come here, let's play a game."