Chapter 837: Chapter 837 Left with a Skeleton

Situ Yongjie was also worried about this! After all, the Fourth Prince is a member of the Imperial Family, and his biological mother is the current Empress. If something were to happen in the General’s Mansion, Zhang Jun’s Mansion would likely harbor resentment towards the Empress from then on.

And the Empress’s maternal family has deep roots and great influence; the General’s Mansion is no match for them.

Situ Yongjie said, “Qinger is right, Fourth Prince, for your safety, just take a distant look and don’t get too close to the tiger. Does that work for you?”

First, the Fourth Prince glanced at Xuexue, then after seeing her say nothing, he spoke up: “No need. If even the young lady dares to ride a tiger, shouldn’t I, a man of stature in the royal palace, be afraid of a mere beast?”

“Bravo!” Xuexue clapped, “The Fourth Prince truly has the spirit, worthy of the title Fourth Prince.”

The Fourth Prince proudly said, “Every year I accompany the imperial father on hunting trips outside the capital to deal with ferocious beasts, so I have learned some resilience.”

Situ Qinger, with a worried look on her face, said, “Fourth Prince, those are long-distance shootings; this is close contact.”

The Fourth Prince laughed heartily, “Why not? Besides, this tiger has been living in the General’s Mansion for quite some time now, and hasn’t taken any lives, has it?”

At that question from the Fourth Prince, Situ Qinger immediately teared up, pouted, and lowered her eyelids, adopting a sorrowful appearance as she tearfully said, “Hasn’t it? A maid of mine fell victim to that beast. Fourth Prince, you wouldn’t understand how horrific the scene was that day, the blood-soaked sights. Even now, just thinking about it sends chills down my spine!”

“Oh!” The Fourth Prince was somewhat taken aback.

Situ Qinger raised her delicate hand, wiping her tears while pitifully saying, “It’s true, I was very close to that maid! Having witnessed her being devoured by the tiger, I have nightmares every night, I dare not sleep, for the bloody images haunt me whenever I close my eyes.”

Situ Qinger’s panicked demeanor did not seem deceitful, and the Fourth Prince was puzzled. He had not heard about the tiger eating a maid in the General’s Mansion. He looked towards Xuexue and asked, “Miss, what exactly happened?”

Xuexue casually explained: “On the day of the incident, I wasn’t in the General’s Mansion; when I returned, my foster parents were also covered with wounds. They said that for some unknown reason, my younger sister took a maid to Qingyuo Pavilion to attack them, and the tiger, in trying to protect its owners, accidentally killed the maid.”

The story goes that just a few days after Auntie Tang had gone to the manor, Situ and her maid, filled with anger while Xuexue was away from the mansion, stormed into Qingyuo Pavilion to take out their frustrations on Mo Xiaoqiang and his family.

While they were arrogantly mistreating Mo Xiaoqiang and his wife, Chuner showed up with the tiger.

The usually tame tiger, seeing Mo Xiaoqiang and Madam Xie covered in blood, went berserk, lunging forward and pounced on a maid.

At that moment, Situ Qinger and several maids were beating Madam Xie mercilessly, completely unaware of the tiger’s arrival.

Only when they heard the maid’s screams did they stop the beating and turned around…

They saw the tiger had already bitten through the maid’s throat, with blood gushing from her neck, creating a terrifying sight.

Panicked, they ran out of the Qingyuo Pavilion, stumbling and tumbling, without caring for their image anymore.

The next day, when Situ Qinger recovered, she went to look for Xuexue to retrieve the maid’s body.

Unexpectedly, Xuexue dismissed her with a terse remark: “There are no bodies in Qingyuo Pavilion, just a skeleton. Take it if you want it.”