Talk alone? At this time?
When the Jinyun Hall is trying so hard to protect her? Is she disregarding the Jinyun Hall?
Could it be this child"s mind is such a mess that she hasn"t seen that the Jinyun Hall is protecting her so she wants to beg for herself?
These thoughts raced through Lord Lin"s mind. A flash of anxiety and incomprehension also crossed the pitch-pot director"s face.
Lord Lin was not a child. Of course, he wouldn"t let go of such an opportunity.
"Fine," he said.
As they watched Miss Jun accompany Lord Lin to a neighboring room, Fang Jinxiu"s face was taut with anger, the director was expressionless, and Ning Yunzhao was frowning again.
Could it be when she said that it concerned another person"s reputation, she meant him?
Otherwise, why would she look at him.
What kind of thing concerned him?
Ning Yunzhao"s face hardened as he thought of a possibility.
The door behind them shut, and the room fell into silence.
Miss Jun said she wanted to talk to Lord Lin alone. The director did not approve, but he still prepared her a room where no one else could listen in.
The Jinyun Hall was a business that pursued the path of a gentleman. So they absolutely would not be rude.
"Miss Jun, you are still young. Making mistakes is not such a rare thing," Lord Lin spoke first, his tone laced with sorrow. "As long as you admit your mistakes, there will always be a chance."
Miss Jun nodded.
"Yes, as long as you admit your mistakes, there will be a chance to correct them," she said.
So you admit it. Lord Lin looked at her.
"So say it, what actually happened," he said woodenly.
"It is very simple, this must be a conspiracy," Miss Jun said. "Since the time that Miss Lin invited me out on this March 3rd, or perhaps even earlier."
A conspiracy, of course it was a conspiracy.
Perhaps created since she and Jin"er got to know each other.
Who his daughter a.s.sociated with was always something for the madam to care about. As a father, he didn"t care, but that didn"t mean he didn"t know what sorts of people were proper to a.s.sociate with.
In his eyes, Jun Zhenzhen was not someone who was suitable to be friends with his daughter.
"Jin"er regards you as a friend, so it"s even worse when you do such a thing," he said with loathing.
"Miss Lin allowing me to be her friend was part of the conspiracy," Miss Jun said. "Lord Lin you also know very well that I am not suitable to be her friend. Miss Lin also knows this."
Lord Lin was infuriated.
"You really have an evil heart, "he said. "You doubt Jin"er"s sincerity, so you did such a thing to hurt her."
To some adults, their kids were pure, innocent, guiltless. They were very obedient, just like when they were born, forever a harmless babe. They never considered them adults, and didn"t believe that they could have inferior qualities of selfishness, deceit, jealousy, hatred.
Miss Jun never had this struggle, but as a member of the n.o.bility and a future princess, she had seen the daughters of the n.o.ble families and their fights from above.
These girls fought openly and covertly. But the adults thought of these fights as naughty, insignificant. They didn"t believe that these kids" fights could sometimes be just like those of adults, b.l.o.o.d.y and cruel.
Miss Jun felt disinclined to explain the hidden facets between Miss Lin and Miss Jun"s interactions to Lord Lin.
As a girl, spectating and partic.i.p.ating directly were both very shocking. An adult like Lord Lin could not understand.
"Miss Lin was not sincere. Miss Lin was only sincere in hurting me," she said directly. "Lord Lin invited me to go out with her, and while we were en route she gave all kinds of signals to lure me to the Jinyun Hall. Xianglan drugged the tea, then brought me to the prearranged room, section 4, room 7. That mute was probably hidden there at that time, just waiting for me to enter the room. But by chance, I suddenly became interested in playing pitch-pot, so I decided to go play. As a result, I don"t know why Miss Lin entered the room. Everything that she planned happened to her, and now we are here."
She quickly summarized what had happened. Lord Lin was looking at her, dumbstruck.
"You, you"re talking drivel!" he shouted out. "This story is much too clumsy!"
He got angrier as he spoke, and started pacing around.
"Complete, utter nonsense. What suggestive hints, what mute hiding in the closet ahead of time, what Xianglan drugging the tea. Your words are simply too laughable!"
"Of course she was speaking suggestively," Miss Jun said. "Lord Lin, don"t you know why I went to the Section 4 rooms?"
Lord Lin looked at her.
"Why?" he shouted coldly.
"Because Miss Lin told me that Tenth n.o.ble Son Ning was in that room waiting to see me," Miss Jun said equally coldly.
Lord Lin stared.
Tenth n.o.ble Son Ning?
"All of Yangcheng knows my entanglement with the Ning Family, so naturally, Miss Lin also knew about the allure Tenth n.o.ble Son held for Jun Zhenzhen," Miss Jun said. "This is the reason we went to the Section 4 rooms. Now that you know why we went to those rooms, as well as what your servant girl Xianglan said about drugging the tea, Lord Lin, you are an adult, a bureaucrat who has seen countless cases. You should be very clear on the sequence of events."
Lord Lin"s thoughts were in a precarious situation.
Yes, without saying anything else, as long as it could be confirmed that incapacitating drugs were in the tea, the whole story would become clear.
His daughter would do such a thing?
How was that possible?
"It is easy to investigate this. After all, it was a plan of a child. Although thorough, it is not invulnerable. It doesn"t even need evidence. Those girls and that mute, after interrogating them, the matter will come to light," Miss Jun said.
Yes, such a thing was easy to investigate. Then why would anyone do something with one hundred loopholes?
"Because it wouldn"t be investigated," Miss Jun said. "The intended victim was me, whose reputation is already dragging through the mud. Everybody would see the fuss and no one would investigate the truth. Even if I were to say that Miss Lin tricked me into thinking that Tenth n.o.ble Son wanted to see me, who would believe me?"
If it was like that, then this was indeed well thought out.
Lord Lin"s expression was fluctuating.
"I originally thought that Lord Lin knew, and thought that Tenth n.o.ble Son was part of it, until he came in and until you asked why I went to the Section 4 rooms. Then I realized both of you didn"t know," Miss Jun said, sincere. "This is not some sort of ill.u.s.trious thing, so I didn"t want to implicate Tenth n.o.ble Son Ning by saying it in front of everyone."
If it really was like that, if it implicated Tenth n.o.ble Son Ning and the Jinyun Hall, then it was just as Jinyun Hall said; they were being taken advantage of.
Jin"er, Jin"er really did this?
"Rubbis.h.!.+ Why would Jin"er do this?" Lord Lin grumbled.
"There definitely is a reason. Lord Lin, you can ask her," Miss Jun said.
Lord Lin subconsciously said, "o", before coming to his senses.
"Utter nonsense!" he suddenly shouted. "You silly girl, why are you so slyly inverting black and white? How could everything be of Jin"er"s doing? A load of nonsense! I almost fell into your plan!"
Miss Jun remained calm.
"Lord Lin, I didn"t say this to entrap you, and neither to persuade you," she said.
Then why?
"I just wanted you to know the truth, so you can choose the rational response. That is only fair," Miss Jun said.
Rational response?
Lord Lin was stunned again. What was the rational response? That was asking what should be asked, not asking anything else, quietly bring his daughter home, and not questioning her again?
That"s fair?
This is obviously intimidation!
How funny. He, Lin Cheng, was actually being threatened by this girl.
And a widow of a merchant whose reputation was already in shambles at that.
Lord Lin looked at this girl, repeating what Jun Zhenzhen had said earlier. His angry expression turned cold and calm.
A widow of a merchant with a reputation in shambles actually dared discuss the truth with him.
The truth, is the truth important? Could it make his daughter have what had happened to her erased?
Even if his daughter wanted to harm people...
Lord Lin looked at Jun Zhenzhen, grief, indignation, bitter rancor on his face.
This is definitely your mistake.