Tie Lihua waved a hand, and the matron beside her stepped forward, dragged the maid into the sunlight, and pressed her down onto the broken porcelain.
"Since you understand propriety so well, I shall reward you properly."
As she spoke, Wenren Luoshui had someone bring over a small stove with a kettle on it.
She picked up an empty teacup and the kettle of boiling water, while Yunjian hauled Wenren Fuling over beside the maid.
Wenren Luoshui placed the teacup in her hand and poured the scalding water into it.
The teacup was very thin and offered no insulation at all.
Nor had Wenren Luoshui given her a saucer. The boiling heat passed through the cup's walls, scalding Wenren Fuling's hand bright red.
Wenren Luoshui set the kettle back on the stove's still-burning coals and instructed the servants beside her, "Remember to replace her water when it cools. Someone who understands propriety this well surely won't hold a grudge against me. Otherwise, wouldn't she be slapping herself in the face?"
Madam Wenren's face flushed crimson. She wanted to plead for her eldest daughter, but when she met Wenren Luoshui's half-smiling gaze, the words died in her throat.
Looking at the Princess Consort, she felt that she, too, was on the verge of erupting.
If she opened her mouth to plead, their entire family would probably be thrown out of the Prince of Beiping's Residence at once.
Wenren Fuling might genuinely have believed she had done nothing wrong. She still pouted, wearing the cold expression of someone unjustly accused.
"If that is what Your Ladyship insists on thinking, then even a hundred mouths couldn't clear my name."
She stood beneath the blazing sun, her calm voice carrying an unmistakable note of grievance.
Had everyone present not retained their memories, her tone