"A Niu, A Niu! Thank heavens you're all right! Mother was worried sick!" A Niu's wife dropped to her knees before him as soon as she reached him, sobbing bitterly.
"What happened?" A Niu asked. "Wife, weren't you too sick and weak to get out of bed? How can you walk now?"
A Niu's wife coughed twice. "A Niu, listen to me. She brought people to threaten our family and told us you were dead. Mother and I cried until heaven and earth went dark, and she ordered her people to take that chance to kill us."
A Niu's wife pointed at Lingling. As she spoke of it, her eyes reddened, and lingering terror swept over her.
"Luckily, the Princess Consort sent people to save us. She even sent a miracle doctor to treat me. I'm much better now. A Niu, did you help these villains do something wicked?"
"All four of us nearly died under this woman's blade!"
"Father!" His little son rushed over and clung to him, crying too. "Mother's telling the truth! They tried to kill us!"
A Niu gathered his child into his arms, his eyes bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Lingling.
"I was forced! Princess Consort! Lingling went to those stewards first. They refused to do it, so they forced me to go instead. When I refused at first, they beat me."
"Later, Lingling promised that once it was done, she would have Lord Ruyun assign me a small courtyard so I could bring my whole family into the Prince's Manor and care for them. She also promised me plenty of money to treat my wife! That was how I became possessed by greed and strayed down the wrong path."
"Lingling gave me a packet of powder and told me to put it in