Chapter 13: Absolutely Unyielding

  "Really?" Peony looked at Old Lady Zhou, "When Old Lady Zhou entered the courtyard, she asked about Miss Qin's situation. At that time, did Miss Qin say that Miss was suffering from wind chill or a weak body and needed to rest more?"

  Mrs. Zhou looked at Mrs. Gu and Mrs. Gu put on a fair and just appearance as the hostess, saying: "To tell the truth, what did Qiner say at that time?"

  "Qin'er said..." Mrs. Zhou recalled, Qin'er indeed said that Seventh Miss had a weak body and didn't say she caught a cold, at the time many people were present, so she didn't pay attention to it. But under the watchful eyes of everyone, this conversation doesn't add up, already arousing suspicion, wouldn't Madam be suspected?

  Besides, Seventh Miss was not even in a state where she needed to be treated by a doctor, yet Coral reported it this way. Could it be that she had been bribed by Seventh Miss with the intention of tricking Eighth Miss into getting bitten by a snake?

  At the thought of this possibility, Zhou Mama's eyes suddenly turned sharp and she abruptly turned her head to stare at Shanhu.

  Kneeling down, Coral suddenly felt a sharp pain in her temples, and involuntarily looked towards Mother Zhou, only to see a fleeting shadow of gloom in her eyes.

  Her heart tightened, and before she could think further, she turned her head to see Hua Yu smiling at her with an eerie smile. Suddenly, she remembered the high-level tactics she had used on Chun Tao a few days ago, which had not only calculated Eighth Miss but also Madame's moves without leaving any traces. A chill ran down her spine as she realized that this time, she might have fallen into Hua Yu's trap as well.

  Thinking of Chun Tao's current situation, with a rotten face, and the second young master's handsome face as white as snow, she was afraid that she would lose her beauty and not be favored by a good person. Her heart was filled with fear, one wave after another, and at this moment, she couldn't care about anything else. She quickly knelt down and crawled to Madame Gu's feet, hugging her knees and speaking incoherently in terror: "Madame, save me... I really didn't tell a single lie... even if someone gave me a thousand chances, I wouldn't dare to lie in front of you, I really did follow your orders and watched Miss's house, when I asked Yu Mei, I didn't leave out a single word... Ah..."

  Before she could finish, Old Lady Zhou kicked her to the ground with one foot from the side, "You wretched servant girl, have you gone mad? What nonsense are you spouting? Someone, come and drag this rabid dog out for punishment!"

  As soon as she finished speaking, two sturdy women immediately pounced on Shanhu and dragged her out, pulling and pushing her.

  Coral cried and struggled, but couldn't make a sound.

  From start to finish, Gu's eyelids didn't even lift once, as if it was something that had nothing to do with her.

  Qin shook his head secretly, but He's mouth was raised with a sarcastic smile, and he said in a gloomy tone: "Useless things always end up like this, I've learned something today."

  Her words were naturally meant for those lower-ranking servants who served the Gu family to hear, and when they heard them, their faces indeed turned pale with fear.

  Mr. Gu's fingers tightened around the cup.

  As the coral was dragged away like a dog, Hua Buqi seemed to have not seen anything, but in his heart, he was furious and amused. This father, being a high-ranking official in the court, was extremely skilled at guessing people's intentions, but now, did he really not notice that Gu Shi had bribed the coral to harm him? Was it because Hua Ruoyan was bitten by a snake, so he wanted to let this matter slide?

  Do they all think they are soft persimmons and can't find any handles to harm themselves, so they can do whatever they want?

  It's easier said than done.

  This time, she also wants to sound a warning bell for them, telling everyone that she is not easy to bully either.

  She suddenly frowned and said in a low voice: "Father, it seems that Shanhu's heart is not with me. As the master of this girl, I am truly a failure. However, my eighth sister ran into my room to care for me and got into trouble, and I feel extremely guilty about it. At that time, I should have let those two snakes bite me instead..."

  "Hua Bu Que swept a glance at He Shi and Qin Shi, who were staring at him intently for a moment, and coughed somewhat unnaturally. 'Alright, it's all because of that wretched servant girl Shan Huo. Fortunately, your eighth sister took the blame for you, so let's just drop the matter here.'"

  He was about to get up when Hua Zheyu suddenly looked up with tears in her eyes and said, "Father, Jingting Garden has been very quiet all these years, and I've never heard of any snakes coming and going. It's true that the Fourth Prince Chengruo said that his daughter has been learning some mountain knowledge from some farmers in the village for the past two years, so she also happened to recognize those two snakes coiled on her roof beam as Trifoliate Orange Snakes. This kind of snake generally likes to be by the creek, in thickets or on rocky walls with bamboo forests, but my courtyard is dry and open, why would those two snakes coil on my roof beam? Doesn't Father find it strange?"

  Old Master Gu was shocked to hear this, he didn't expect that this little scoundrel would still not let go after getting the benefit, and also knew the living habits of this snake, what kind of bad things would he do?

  She stole a glance at Hua Buqi, who frowned slightly in annoyance, but still turned back to ask Changgui: "Is what Seventh Miss said reasonable?"

  Changgui had followed Old Master Guo on hunting trips before, so he naturally knew about these things. He hastily replied, "Seventh Miss is right, the Bamboo Leaf Green Snake often stays in bamboo forests and grass thickets, and rarely enters places where people live."

  "So you're saying that someone deliberately released the snake into Jingting Garden? Who has the audacity to harm our master?" Hua Buqi swept her gaze across the room, exuding an air of quiet authority.

  The whole crowd of servants and attendants were silent, not even daring to breathe, fearing that they would be implicated.

  Hua Zhe Yu Zi Shi Ting Chu Liao Ta De Yu Bing, Na Ge Gan Hai Zhu Zi? Fen Ming Shi Ta You Xiang He Xi Ni.

  English Translation:

  The flower is like rain, and he has already heard his tone of voice, who dares to harm the master? It's clear that he wants to muddy the waters again.

  She rolled her eyes and stared at the low table beside her, where Gu's leftover snake soup was still sitting, uncollected. Her gaze also seemed to unconsciously glance at He Shi for a moment.

  He looked suspiciously in the direction of her gaze, how could she not recognize that thing? Her eyes suddenly lit up, and naturally remembered that Gu Shi had said that he had a migraine attack these two days, and asked someone to buy some snake porridge to eat...

  She smiled and then said, seemingly unintentionally: "Snakes wouldn't go to Jingting Garden for no reason. I heard that Auntie has been having a headache lately, and every time she's like this, she'll cook some snake soup. I wonder if these two snakes escaped from the kitchen?"

  She said she ran away from the kitchen, but with this family's cleverness, how could they not know that she was hinting that Gu's family took advantage of the situation to harm Hua Zhe Yu?

  Gu's face turned pale, and He Shi from the second house was the most ruthless. Although she usually fawned on people with a flattering expression, she had always resented not being able to take charge of the household after marrying the second son. Over the years, whenever there was an opportunity, she would secretly sabotage Gu, who had been guarding against her for so many years and using both soft and hard tactics to keep her in line. Recently, He Shi had been relatively subdued, but unexpectedly, today she reverted to her old ways, trying to bring Gu down. She wasn't worthy of being compared to Gu!

  She cleared her throat and said in a low voice, "Second Brother's wife is right. I have indeed fallen ill these past few days. I bought several snakes from the kitchen to make medicine and cook porridge. Maybe someone saw that thing and had evil intentions, stealing the snake and putting it in the house, waiting for an opportunity to harm people."

  She has always been quick-witted, and He's incoming pile of crap was cleverly deflected by her onto Hua Yu's body, not a single bit was left unclear.