The crisp sound of a slap could be heard clearly even from inside the house.
Through a crack in the window, Su Yunmo saw Zhao Yanran, accompanied by several maids, surrounding Zhao Xiaoxiao.
Zhao Xiaoxiao’s face took a solid slap, causing her to fall onto the washbasin. A large gash opened on her forehead, bleeding profusely.
Aunt Xun on the bed seemed to have heard the commotion outside and struggled to raise her hand, "Xiaoxiao..."
"She'll be fine, and so will you. Focus and don't move erratically."
Su Yunmo shifted her gaze back. It seemed the hot water was unusable.
At this moment, one had to distinguish between what was important and what was not.
If Aunt Xun needed to focus, she needed to focus even more.
Outside the courtyard.
Zhao Xiaoxiao blindly wiped the blood from her eyes that obstructed her vision. She knelt on the ground, holding the washbasin in one hand and reaching for the towel with the other.
Mother, Mother is waiting.
She had to deliver the hot water. Mo Mo would surely find a way to save Mother, she definitely would!
Zhao Yanran kicked the washbasin over and, grabbing Zhao Xiaoxiao by her collar, yanked her up from the ground. "You little wretch, I'm talking to you, can you hear me!"
Zhao Yanran's eyes were still bandaged, white gauze wrapped around her head, threading through her elaborately coiffed noble hair.
When she was angry, her brows furrowed, distorting her features. One side of her face was made up, while the other side, due to the bandages, was pulled taut, looking extremely bizarre.
Zhao Xiaoxiao was suspended in mid-air, her feet off the ground, only her toes barely touching the floor. Her hands still reached for the washbasin on the ground.
"I wasn't complaining, please... please let me go, let me save Mother..."
She had only gone to plead with her father to help find a doctor for her mother, but her father had refused.
Her father said that the household should not be disturbed over a mere concubine.
"Your mother is nothing more than a dog raised by the Zhao manor. You are, at most, a puppy. Do you really think you're a young lady of the Zhao family?"
Zhao Yanran threw Zhao Xiaoxiao aside, sneering sarcastically.
Her own eyes were blinded. Why should this mother and daughter live so comfortably? These lower-class people deserved to suffer even more than she did!
Zhao Xiaoxiao crashed onto the basin, cracking it. The last bit of hot water was gone.
Zhao Xiaoxiao's head buzzed, and her vision went black. "No!!"
Why was she so useless? She couldn't even accomplish such a small task.
She truly regretted it. If she had agreed to Mo Mo's suggestion from the beginning and asked her to find a way to take her mother away, it would have been better.
It was all her own bravado that had led to her mother's current state. It was all her fault.
"Mother, please don't die... Mother..." she cried, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. Frantically, she used the towel to try and soak up the water on the ground.
Alas, spilled water could not be gathered.
"Your mother should have died long ago. Even a doctor would be useless. You should thank me for giving her an earlier release," Zhao Yanran scoffed as if bestowing a favor.
The two maids following behind her then stepped forward to barge into the room.
"Don't go! Mo Mo! Mother!" Zhao Xiaoxiao's eyes turned red as she lunged at Zhao Yanran.
She was kicked away by Zhao Yanran.
Zhao Xiaoxiao's eyes turned red. She charged forward and bit down hard on Zhao Yanran's hand, drawing blood.
She hated it! She hated herself for not resisting sooner.
Everyone in the manor treated her and her mother like dirt.
Father, Madam, and even Sister. If people like them didn't exist, it would be so much better!
The two maids broke through the door and, the next second, screamed and flew out of the room, crashing heavily onto the ground.
Everyone was startled.
"You little slut, let go!" Zhao Xiaoxiao was thrown aside by Zhao Yanran.
Ignoring the pain of her fall, she looked up, her eyes immediately turning red. "Mo Mo!"
Su Yunmo held a silver knife. Blood stained her tender little hands, dripping from the silver knife onto the ground.
With every step she took outward, a splash of blood bloomed on the ground.
Zhao Yanran clutched her bleeding hand, gnashing her teeth hatefully. "So it was you, you little beast!"
Before she could even go find her, this one had come to her door.
Although the incident at the academy last time was provoked by her own instigation of Lin Yuning, she clearly remembered that her initial target had been Su Yunmo.
But for some reason, in a moment of distraction, she had gone to trouble Lin Yuning. Now, thinking back, it must have been this damned girl who had interfered.
It was all her fault that she had ended up like this!
"Drag this little beast over here for me! This young lady will dig out her eyes and fill them with maggots!"
The other maids charged towards Su Yunmo.
A crimson glint flashed in Su Yunmo's eyes, and the silver knife in her hand shot out.
The silver knife zipped rapidly around the maids.
They immediately let out screams of agony.
No one could even see Su Yunmo's movements.
The maids suffered several bloody gashes all over their bodies, especially at their knees, which were cut open, causing them to tumble to the ground, unable to rise.
Zhao Yanran's eyes widened in shock.
In a momentary lapse, Su Yunmo appeared before her.
A flash of silver.
A deep gash was carved across Zhao Yanran's face. She screamed and crouched on the ground.
Su Yunmo kicked her shoulder, sending her flying.
She reached out and clenched her fist in the air, the silver knife swiftly returning to her hand.
"Your life is spared for now. In three days, someone will come to claim it."
She looked at Zhao Yanran, a sinister red light flashing in her eyes. Her sharp gaze pierced people's hearts like a cold blade, her every word carrying a hidden killing intent.
Zhao Yanran was stunned by this gaze. For some inexplicable reason, she felt an overwhelming sense of fear.
It was as if she were being stared at by death itself, making her tremble.
"Scram!" The single word was like a descent from hell.
Zhao Yanran felt an immense pressure bearing down on her, causing her legs to weaken and buckle. She knelt on the ground with a grunt.
Something was wrong. This girl was truly not right.
Perhaps she had overlooked something. Perhaps she shouldn't have provoked Zhao Xiaoxiao in the first place.
The two maids who had been thrown earlier struggled to their feet and quickly helped Zhao Yanran away.
Su Yunmo retracted her gaze and turned to Zhao Xiaoxiao. "Go see your mother. She's alright now."
Zhao Xiaoxiao's mouth opened, and she stared back at Su Yunmo blankly, seemingly unable to recover from the immense surprise.
A moment later, she suddenly threw her head back and burst into loud sobs.
Su Yunmo sighed inwardly.
It was too much to ask of a seven-year-old child to endure such an ordeal.
Zhao Xiaoxiao cried for a long time, until her tears were all spent and only mournful wails remained before she gradually quieted down.
A wind stirred in the courtyard, and the scent of blood lingered stubbornly.
Zhao Xiaoxiao sobbed, then fiercely wiped her tear-streaked, bloody face. "Mo Mo, you're going to deal with Father, aren't you? Please take me with you."
Su Yunmo narrowed her eyes.
"The time you came to the manor, I heard people say that Father lost something very important. Only you were present that day."
Though timid since childhood, she wasn't foolish. Mo Mo was different from other children; she had known this from the very beginning.
Although she didn't know why Mo Mo was doing all this, it didn't matter.
As long as Father was gone, and Sister had no one to protect her, she and Mother could be free.
This was the only path now.
Su Yunmo suddenly felt she had underestimated Zhao Xiaoxiao. "Have you thought it through?"
What she wanted was not merely to bring Zhao Xuntian down.
It was to see the entire Zhao family collapse!
Zhao Xiaoxiao glanced back at the door of the room, as if she could hear Aunt Xun's steady breathing from there.
She clenched her fists and nodded firmly, "Everyone, may they all go to hell!"
Endurance yielded no good results.