In the corridor of the Junagadh Royal Palace, Snigdha's violence and manic leaping had created a state of complete, hellish chaos.
Casting aside all her fear and hesitation, Prabhasa now stepped up directly in front of the cunning zamindar's son, Jishnu. Prabha's eyes were flushed red with anger and sorrow. With a sharp pull, she dragged Jishnu's hand toward herself.
In an exceptionally loud and trembling voice, Prabha screamed, "Jishnu Jamaibabu! Although you haven't become our brother-in-law yet, I am telling you one thing strictly! Speak to Didi Snigdha later, answer my question first! What did you say just a moment ago? What did you utter—that my birth mother is dead? My mother is dead—how could such a hideous lie escape your mouth? How could you bring yourself to say such a thing?"
Hearing Prabha's frantic scream and desperate plea, Prince Prafulla rushed over and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Concerned, Prafulla said, "What's wrong, Prabha? Have you gone completely mad along with Snigdha? Why are you screaming at Jishnu like this and blurting out senseless things?"
Making a mock face, Jishnu yanked his hand away with a single jerk and gestured foolishly with his arms, saying, "Agh! How was I supposed to know? She was explaining all those things to me just a short while ago!"
Saying this, Jishnu suddenly put a finger to his mouth like a little child and, in a grotesque, animalistic posture, began making loud, strange noises like a dog—"Kuk-kuk... kuk-kuk!" Then, he abruptly started barking aloud—"Gheu! Gheu!"
Seeing this strange and clownish spectacle, King Aditya placed his hand on his forehead and roared, "What on earth is happening in this royal palace? Jishnu! Is there a dog show or a fancy dress competition going on here, son-in-law? Why are you standing in the full corridor barking like a low-class fool?"
Standing nearby, Snigdha made a hideous face, laughed sneeringly, and said, "Oh, look at that! I completely forgot, Father! Everything must feel severely spicy to you now, doesn't it? Anyway, listen Jishnu... her mother hasn't turned into a ghost and died! Do you know where her mother is? Want to hear where she is?"
Stopping his barking, Jishnu grew curious and asked, "Yes, yes, tell me! Where is that younger mother?"
Stepping forward, Prafulla charged toward Snigdha. Screaming, Prafulla said, "Stop it, Snigdha! Why are you bringing up all these dark family secrets to Jishnu again? Haven't you felt any shame revealing this much to him already? What more are you about to tell him? Go, send him home from here! You don't need to utter another single word to him!"
Snigdha bulged her eyes out of their sockets at Prafulla and snarled through gritted teeth, "Prafulla! Mind your tongue! Otherwise, I'll rip that beard right off your face in one jerk and hand it to you! Then no girl will ever want to marry you! Don't talk too much in front of me! Don't act all delicate like a woman ever again! I've never seen you step forward proudly like a royal prince, sword in hand, rushing to slay enemies! You were merely named Prafulla, but all day long you hide behind the saree pallu of this stepmother's daughter Prabha! Following her around like a girl all day!"
Saying this, Snigdha turned toward Jishnu with a fiendish, victorious smile blooming across her face, "Listen, Jishnu! Let me tell you the actual truth... Prabha's birth mother hasn't fled anywhere, nor is she dead; she is imprisoned as a convict deep inside the dark, wretched dungeon beneath this very Junagadh Royal Palace!"
The moment such explosive news escaped Snigdha's lips, the eyes of the zamindar's son Jishnu widened in utter shock! He stood there with his mouth agape.
In a tone of sheer contempt, Jishnu shouted, "WHAT! The second Queen of this royal palace is imprisoned as a convict in the dungeon? Bravo, Mother Arohi, bravo! You were giving me such grand lectures on ethics, weren't you? Saying you'd land a stinging slap across my face! What do I hear now? What will you say now? Imprisoning your own co-wife in the dark dungeon of the royal palace while enjoying the old groom all to yourself in utter luxury? Bravo! What a splendid drama!"
Queen Arohi flushed red with humiliation and fury. Stepping forward, she roared in a thunderous voice, "Son-in-law! Watch your tongue! Or else I will forget that you are about to become my daughter's groom! What do you mean to imply—that I am enjoying the kingdom and husband all alone? You do not know the hideous deeds of Prabha's mother! Had you known, such low words would never have left your mouth! She possesses an extremely cunning, evil, and dangerous mind! In the past, she caused such terrifying disasters in the royal palace that she is imprisoned in the dungeon today as punishment! She was never mentally normal!"
With a crooked smile, Jishnu sneered, "Ha! That much is obvious—how much is normal and how much is abnormal! That is precisely why such a deadly, manic side is visible in Snigdha today! Now the matter is crystal clear to me! This is entirely a genetic, hereditary disease! One person's mental sickness is bound to be passed on to another! No wonder Snigdha engages in such ghastly madness and animalistic behavior every now and then! The seed of this lunacy surely came from that second mother! Even though Snigdha wasn't born from that Prabha's mother's womb, surely her father Aditya also possesses some secret disease of lunacy! Otherwise, why would this old Aditya go and marry twice? Well, that father's rotten genes have caught onto Snigdha! That's why she barks like a dog and comes to bite every now and then! Whatever, what more do I have to say!"
Hearing the audacity from Jishnu's lips, calling her lineage and herself a 'dog', the blood shot straight to Snigdha's head in a single instant!
Roaring like a frantic lunatic, Snigdha screamed, "What did you just call me? You called me a dog, you child of a Jishnu? You yourself are a filthy dog wagging its tail! I'll rip your ugly face off and hand it to you in one jerk! Want to see me beat you with a broom today?"
Saying this, Snigdha bolted over to the balcony wall and snatched up a thick, heavy royal wooden staff!
Swirling the staff in the air, she yelled, "I'm going to thrash you with this staff today and shatter your bones, just watch!"—saying this, Snigdha landed a heavy, devastating blow with the staff straight across Jishnu's back!