Reborn to Become A Queen: The Real Heiress's Comeback

At the moment Qinglian saw Zhan Lan, she felt as if she had seen her savior and let out a noisy cry towards Zhan Lan.

But very soon, she realized that Zhan Lan's previously gentle expression had changed, now filled with towering hatred in her eyes.

Qinglian instantly reacted, something was wrong—Zhan Lan was not here to save her!

"Are you curious why you can't speak?" Zhan Lan chuckled lightly.

Qinglian moved a bit towards the corner of the wall, watching Zhan Lan with terror.

She didn't understand; Zhan Lan was not defiled, and she had sincerely changed.

Why was Zhan Lan being so aggressive? Based on her many years of understanding her, the other party was not such a person!

Zhan Lan's gaze was like a knife scraping across Qinglian's cheek, her cold voice stated, "The so-called poison was merely an itch-causing medicine, and the antidote was a mute medicine. Qinglian, I told you to watch your mouth!"

Having relived her life, Zhan Lan lived with unparalleled clarity.

She knew too well: never forgive someone who has hurt you; even if they're trying to please you in every possible way, don't forgive them.

Because their true nature is how they were when they hurt you.

Just like Qinglian!

Realizing that Zhan Lan intended to deal with her, Qinglian tried to stand up and flee towards the door in her muted state, but Zhan Lan reached out to pull her back and stuffed a rag into her mouth.

"Qinglian, I trusted you so much, yet you dared to feed me poison, truly vicious."

Poisoned?

Qinglian didn't understand, she wasn't the one who had poisoned Zhan Lan this time.

Zhan Lan pressed Qinglian against the wall, pulling out a dagger from her sleeve. The cool blade slid across Qinglian's cheek, causing her to shiver in terror.

"Qinglian, your mouth, ears, and eyes are not for betraying your master! Since they're useless, there's no need to keep them!"

Zhan Lan raised the dagger in her hand and swiftly brought it down, and all at once, the light in front of Qinglian's eyes vanished.

Intense pain and darkness swept in, with warm blood sliding down from her blinded eyes, the smell of blood pervading her nostrils.

Fear spread, and as the blood drained from Qinglian's face, she could not even scream for help.

Zhan Lan was a devil who had returned from the depths of hell!

She is a devil!

...

As the sunset, a scream emanated from Aunt Ji Yue's room.

"Ah!"

Aunt Ji Yue snuck back to her room, and upon hearing that scream, her legs weakened and she rushed to push open the door.

She immediately saw the maid, Qinglian, hung by a white silk noose on the room's beam.

Qinglian's eyes were blind, her ears cut off, with blood steadily dripping down her cheeks.

Zhan Qingqing was pale as a ghost, cowering in the corner of the bed, covering her eyes and screaming in absolute terror.

Aunt Ji Yue, overcoming her fear, hurriedly stepped forward to embrace Zhan Qingqing.

"Don't be afraid, Qingqing, mom is back!"

"No, there are ghosts, the whole room is haunted!" Zhan Qingqing had awakened and seen Qinglian hanging in her room.

Even though she had been harsh with the maids every day, she had never killed anyone; this scene was too horrifying for her.

"Qingqing, stop screaming, do you want your grandparents to see you like this?" Aunt Ji Yue covered the nearly hysterical Zhan Qingqing's face in fright.

It was only then that Zhan Qingqing came back to her senses, the pain on her body still unsubsided—she had been defiled!

Last night, Zhu Touyuan tortured her all night, insulted her in various ways!

Remembering that man's foul breath, Zhan Qingqing couldn't help but retch.

"Mom, it's all Zhan Lan's and that cheap wench Qinglian's fault. If people find out, how will I be able to face the world!" Zhan Qingqing sobbed with anguish.

"Don't be afraid, Qingqing, mom is here, mom will figure something out." As mother and daughter wept together, suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps came from outside.

Startled, they realized there was still a dead body hanging from the beam!

If discovered, it would be impossible to explain. Even though Qinglian was of low status, she was still a human life!

She had just returned to the mansion; how could someone come so quickly!

Aunt Ji Yue's uneasy feeling grew stronger, she was certain: someone had killed Qinglian, trying to frame her!

But she who stands upright fears not the slanted shadow!

Aunt Ji Yue got up as Madam Qin Shuang pushed the door open. The moment Aunt Ji Yue saw Madam, she felt relieved.

Madam was always tender-hearted and soft-handed and wouldn't tell others about Qingqing's matter.

Moreover, if the matter got out, it would be the General Mansion's reputation that would be tarnished!

"Big sister, please take up for your younger sister, someone has killed Qinglian..." Aunt Ji Yue quickly stepped forward.

Qin Shuang stared in horror at the hanging corpse of Qinglian.

"What on earth happened here!" A sharp female voice reached Aunt Ji Yue's ears.

Hearing this voice, Aunt Ji Yue thought to herself that this was bad!

Only then did she notice that there was another person standing behind Madam, the matriarch of the General Mansion, Madam Wang.

Madam Wang had an elegant and dignified appearance, close to fifty but with barely any wrinkles, and her complexion was radiant.

She was dressed in a date-red brocade robe, with a white jade fretted forehead ornament and lucky jade hairpins amongst her hair, holding a tiger-head cane in her hand.

The moment she saw Qinglian's corpse, a flicker of panic passed through her eyes, but Madam quickly composed herself.

In her youth, she was a military medic and had followed Old General Zhan to war, whose wife died early, and over time, they developed affection for each other and became companions.

The head of the Zhan Family was Old General Zhan Xinzhang, who had his legitimate son Zhan Beicang with his first wife, and with Madam Wang, his second son, Zhan Xincheng.

The reason Zhan Xincheng could only be a concubine's son was because Zhan Xinzhang had promised his deceased wife: the Zhan Family could only have Zhan Beicang as the legitimate son.

Madam Wang always had this hurdle in her heart; although Zhan Xinzhang had married her, the name of the legitimate wife in the family genealogy was still that of Zhan Xinzhang's deceased wife.

Her son, who should have been the legitimate second son, could only remain as a concubine's son due to Zhan Xinzhang's fidelity to his promise to his first wife.

This was also a thorn in Zhan Xincheng's side.

Currently, Zhan Beicang and Zhan Xincheng were leading their sons on the front lines.

Affairs of the inner court were generally overseen by the matriarch, Madam Wang.

Old General Zhan, feeling guilty about the concubine's son and the family genealogy issue, treated Madam Wang extremely well, and everyone in the mansion respected Madam Wang.

Unlike Zhan Qingqing, who had not seen the bloodshed of corpses scattered everywhere, Madam Wang was not scared out of her wits upon seeing the body.

Madam used her cane to point at the corpse and said, "Quick, have someone take down the body!"

Shortly after, two house servants arrived and quickly took the body down, covering it with a cotton cloth and placing it in the courtyard.

Aunt Ji Yue, afraid of being suspected, immediately said, "Qinglian was Zhan Lan's maidservant; I suspect she murdered someone to frame us!"

Madam Wang did not pay attention to Ji Yue, but instead noticed something off about Zhan Qingqing.

She stepped over to the bed, where Zhan Qingqing was hiding under the covers, trembling.

"Miss Zhan Qingqing, are you scared? Let your grandmother have a look."

Madam was about to pull back the covers when Zhan Qingqing clutched them desperately.

Her body bore too many traces of being violated, and her grandmother would surely recognize them in an instant.

Aunt Ji Yue wanted to stop her, but Madam Wang forcefully yanked the blanket away.

With more strength than the average woman, she exposed Zhan Qingqing in front of her.

Madam Wang looked suspiciously at Zhan Qingqing and commanded Nanny Liu, who was accompanying her, to hold the lamp high, discovering bruises and purple marks on her neck and arms.

There were deep bite marks and scratches in some places, not to mention what couldn't be seen.

"What happened to you..." Madam instantly caught onto the clues.

Aunt Ji Yue's knees gave out, and she cried, "It's all that wretched girl, Zhan Lan's, fault; she and Qinglian plotted against Qingqing, leaving her to be defiled by Zhu Touyuan!"

Knowing about this, Zhan Qingqing felt even more aggrieved and could only cry with her head covered.

"How sinful!" Madam Wang closed her eyes; she knew this mother and daughter pair too well.

It must have been them looking for trouble with Zhan Lan, with the fourth daughter's weak and forbearing nature, it was impossible for her to do such a thing.

Madam Wang sighed a breath of relief; fortunately, the one who defiled Zhan Qingqing was her fiancé, although it was a disgrace, it would have been worse had it been someone else!

"Where's Lan, that girl? Call her over!"

Just as Nanny Liu was about to go look, Qin Shuang spoke up, "Mother, Lan has disappeared, your daughter-in-law has sent people to search for her."

As the words finished, a maid hesitantly said from outside the door:

"Madam, Miss Zhan Lan has been found... but, the situation is rather grim, you should see it for yourself."