Chapter 12: Don't muddy the waters

  Gu's family wiped the corner of his eye, a strong and sad expression choked: "Meng'er went to ask about Yu'er with good intentions, who knew she would hide two snakes in the house to hurt her, old master, they are sisters, how can one sister have such a big grudge against her younger sister..."

  He Shi, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, chimed in: "With Seventh Sister's enormous temper, isn't it likely that she and her sister had a falling out over the stolen clothes two days ago, and now she's venting her frustrations on Meng'er?"

  Qin's family member beside her felt she was being a bit excessive, "How is that possible? Seventh young lady has always been gentle and timid, how could she have the nerve to manipulate two snakes? It must be just a coincidence?"

  Gu's family heard this, somewhat annoyed that the third brother's wife always spoke for that cheap person. A cold light flashed in her eyes as she quickly swept a glance over her, before lowering her head and saying: "Third Aunt is also right, it's just that this matter is too coincidental..."

  The words had not been spoken, and Hua Zhe Yu had already brought the peony in with her. She saw that Hua was not short of gloomy clouds gathering on his face, and hastily put on a startled expression.

  "Speak quickly! Was it you who deliberately let the snake hurt your eighth sister?" Hua Buqi slammed her hand on the table, her anger bursting forth.

  "Father, I really didn't know there was a snake in the house. If I had known, I would have run out of the door long ago and wouldn't have dared to stay inside..."

  Looking at her like that, she wouldn't dare either. Hua coldly snorted, "I heard from the Fourth Prince that you've learned a lot of skills in the past two years at the Zhuangzi, who can prove that you didn't do it on purpose?"

  He said that just to appease the anger of the Gu family, and simply punishing her would be enough. After all, Hua Ruo Meng was bitten by a snake, and her wound was black and swollen, so it's natural for her mother to be worried, and indulging her wouldn't hurt anything.

  And as for the rain listening to him, he was obviously trying to add insult to injury, what's the worry about having no excuse?

  She bit her lower lip, looking despondent. "Father, don't say that I'm not capable of catching snakes. Even if I were, would I have foreseen that Eighth Sister was going to my room and intentionally placed two snakes on the beam for them to attack her as soon as they saw her? Such an unreasonable thing - with your experience, can't you see through it? That day, Historian Shi repeatedly told me to take care of myself, saying that I would have to go to the North Sea in the future to retrieve the Resurrection Grass for Empress Dowager. Now, I almost lost my life to a snake bite. Not only would it be an unjust shame for our family, but also a disappointment to the Emperor's high hopes for us..."

  She spoke with tears streaming down her face, her words were sorrowful and heart-wrenching, reasonable and moving, suddenly making Hua Bu Qu's back tremble with a start, and he was shocked to realize that if the two snakes were targeting not Hua Ruo Meng but this precious Hua Zhe Yu, wouldn't it be a disaster?

  In this way, he didn't dare to be careless anymore. He was certain that someone wanted to frame the Huas and suspected that it might be an inside job with someone from the mansion colluding with outsiders to do evil deeds. He immediately ordered Longgui to go and summon Zhao the steward for questioning, saying "Maybe we can find out who is secretly harming our master!"

  Changgui did not dare to linger and was about to leave when Gu's wife said: "Wait."

  Hua didn't turn back to look at her, "Why not call Zhao the manager to investigate?"

  Gu's lips pursed, she had originally wanted to take advantage of Hua Ruo Yu being mysteriously bitten by a snake to properly punish Hua Zhe Yu and make her aware of her power, so that she would obediently hand over those accessories. Who knew that as soon as Hua Zhe Yu came up, she bit down on the key point, bringing out the Empress Dowager, which led to the expansion of the snake biting incident, causing Hua to start investigating, truly detestable.

  Besides, Zhao was her trusted aide. She called him over, and regardless of whether he could find the person who released the snake or not, it would be difficult for her as the mistress of the house. It's better to...

  She gazed at Hua Zhiyu in the rain, "This matter has many flaws, I don't know if Master has noticed or not?"

  The flower is looking at her with admiration.

  "If Ru Meng hadn't gone to Jing Ting Garden, nothing would have happened. But today was strange. If it wasn't for the coral from Jing Ting Garden coming to my place to report that Qi Ya Tou had caught a cold, I wouldn't have asked Zhou Mama and Ru Meng to visit her. And Ru Meng wouldn't have gone into that room, let alone get bitten by a snake. Master, everything is clear, what else do you want Zhao the steward to investigate?"

  Mr. Gu said slowly and reasonably, but poured a basin of dirty water on Huajiu Yu's body. The implication is that Huajiu Yu and Shanhua are partners in deceiving Huarou Meng, and then letting the snake bite her to death. It's not that someone wants to harm Huajiu Yu at all, not only denying Huajiu Yu's words, but also turning the tables on him.

  Hua Bu Que listened with reason, he deeply knew that Hua Rou Yu and Hua Zhe Yu were not on good terms in private, normally she wouldn't go to Jing Ting Garden without a reason, today's matter, could it be really Hua Zhe Yu's doing?

  The more I think about it, the deeper my doubts become.

  Then you'll know how formidable Gu's family is.

  The flower-like rain lightly swept across her face, changing color without missing a beat. The corner of her mouth was slightly hooked, fortunately she had anticipated that the Gu family would have this kind of trick up their sleeve, otherwise, she would have really fallen into their trap.

  She took a step forward, bowed her head and bit her lower lip: "Father, there are some things that I, as a daughter, cannot explain even if I had a mouth all over my body. Since the words were spread by Shanhu, why not call Shanhu in to confront her?"

  The flower that didn't dare to be careless hummed and said, "Call Xianglian in for questioning."

  As soon as the words fell, Shanhu, who had been waiting outside the door, walked in with a lotus step and said with a bow: "What are your orders, sir?"

  "Was it you who went to Dasheng Garden this morning to inform Madame that Seventh Miss had caught a chill?" asked Hua Buqi, frowning.

  Coral seemed startled, thudded to the ground with a plop, hung her head and looked flustered.

  This appearance is clearly an acknowledgment that such a thing exists.

  The flower was not lacking in her eyes, a chill surged up, "Who told you to go report the news? Speak!"

  Coral was so frightened that she trembled all over, and crouched on the ground, saying: "It... it's Peony. She said Miss told her to say so..."

  The peony, who had been holding back for a long time, immediately stepped forward to refute: "Coral, heaven and earth conscience, when did I ever say that? It was you who came running to ask me this morning why the young lady hadn't gotten up yet. I said the young lady had instructed us, saying she would rest for some more time today because her body was weak. Before I could finish speaking, you ran off without a trace. Shortly after, Mother Zhou brought Eighth Miss over."

  She suddenly slapped her forehead and said: "Ah... no wonder, Old Lady Zhou said she wanted to invite a doctor or something, it turned out that you went to the lady's side and made a statement, saying that our young lady was bedridden with illness, then Eighth Young Miss, being deeply affectionate, hastily pushed open the door of the young lady's room, and only then did the disaster occur..."

  Her words were quite skillful. On the one hand, they revealed the fact that Shanhu had privately gone to Dacheng Garden to report a false message, and on the other hand, they implied that Huaruomeng's so-called sisterly affection was fake, making it difficult to determine what was true.

  Shanhu was alarmed, as if all these things were her own doing. She couldn't bear this blame. The mistress had only told her to counter-accuse Seventh Miss when she had no other choice, but hadn't said to take the responsibility alone. She hastily raised her head and said: "You clearly said that Miss had caught a cold, so I went to Dacheng Garden to report it and let the mistress invite a doctor."