Chapter 596 The Princ.i.p.al Maid As A Scapegoat
Shao Yanru had hurried down the mountain that day, but not been in hurry to return to the mansion. She went directly to a place and asked someone to invite Chu Liuyue.
When Chu Liuyue entered the room, he was full of the smell of alcohol. Obviously, he had been drinking wine before.
“Your Highness!” Hearing that Chu Liuyue had entered the door, Shao Yanru stood up with red eyes. It was obvious that she had cried just now.
“What happened?” Chu Liuyue had indeed been full of anger, but looking at the beautiful woman with tears in her eyes, now he became a little gentler.
“Your Highness, I… I really don’t know why this happened!” Shao Yanru said with the grievance. She wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, but her eyes turned red with tears.
“How could there be two different bottles of ointment, and one bottle was mixed with something else?” Chu Liuyue said unhappily, “How could you make such a mistake at this time?”
“I… I don’t know. Both she and I were injured. At that time, we went down the mountain and took two bottles of ointment from the mansion, but I didn’t expect that it would be like this.” Shao Yanru looked fl.u.s.tered and confused.
Chu Liuyue turned to look at Shuqi who stood beside Shao Yanru. Shuqi knelt down in a hurry and said, “When I went to the mansion to get them that day, Nanny Yu, who served Old Madam, told me which bottle was for First Miss and which one was for Fifth Miss. It really has nothing to do with First Miss.”
“She specially told you this?” Chu Liuyue asked coldly.
“That’s what she told me!” Shuqi nodded repeatedly.
“Since the two bottles of ointment are different, why don’t you ask about them?” Chu Liuyue turned to Shao Yanru and asked unhappily.
“I… at that time, I thought my ointment was fine and hers had problems. You know, Grandma doesn’t like her, so it’s normal for her to be partial to me. I naturally listened to Grandma, so I wouldn’t deliberately ruin Grandma’s business. But I didn’t expect that there was also something else in my ointment!”
Shao Yanru wiped her tears with grievance and bit her lips to red. Her big eyes seemed to be wet with water, which were so beautiful and moving.
Chu Liuyue’s irritated heart calmed down, and he comforted her in a soft voice, “Well, next time you encounter something like this, you need to be careful. Don’t make more trouble. Just now, Great Elder Princess was so angry that she went to your mansion and smashed a lot of things!”
“How, how could she do this? That… That is Duke Xing’s Mansion…” Shao Yanru was shocked and said in disbelief with red eyes.
“So what? Fifth Miss Shao is Great Elder Princess’s granddaughter. Besides, it is indeed your mansion’s fault. I heard that Imperial Physician Qu has helped to verify it, so this matter is true. After returning to the mansion, you should persuade Old Madam not to make any trouble from time to time. Otherwise, it will ruin your Duke Xing’s Mansion’s reputation and you will also be involved with trouble!”
Chu Liuyue warned Shao Yanru. She was as beautiful as jade, and they had grown up together since they were young. He had some affection for her, and he couldn’t bear to let her be involved in the trouble caused by Duke Xing’s Mansion.
“I know… I will go back and talk to her, but… but what should I do now? Fifth Sister will not let it go easily. She asked someone to come here and stir up trouble, and then Great Elder Princess knew this matter. There was a matter of Baiyunguan before, and now we have such a thing. I’m afraid that Fifth Sister will not let the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion go easy!” Shao Yanru said sadly.
Hearing that Shao Wanru would make the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion suffer and looking at Shao Yanru’s beautiful weeping face, Chu Liuyue felt more and more that he had done the right thing. This Fifth Miss Shao was really an unpleasant troublemaker.
“Don’t worry. I will help you secretly. Go back and ask Old Madam to find someone to take the blame first. Don’t get other aristocratic families involved again. Although these aristocratic families are no longer prosperous, they may have the last cards in their hands. Maybe you will both suffer at that time!”
“I know. I will listen to your words!” Shao Yanru knew that Chu Liuyue was talking about Duke Yong’s Mansion, so she quickly promised him obediently.
Seeing that she was so gentle, Chu Liuyue’s face looked a little better. He sat down on a chair on one side and held the teacup that Xiao Qizi had given him. After thinking for a while, he asked, “What’s your relations.h.i.+p with Qiu Yu and Chu Qing?”
“What?” Shao Wanru didn’t understand what Chu Liuyue had said for a while. After being stunned for a while, she asked a little uneasily.
“I heard that Qiu Yu and Chu Qing are now in Yuhui Nunnery and they both have contact with you. How is your relations.h.i.+p with them?” Chu Liuyue looked up at Shao Yanru and asked casually.
Shao Yanru’s heart tightened unconsciously. She shook her head hurriedly and said, “Your Highness, although I know Official Qiu and Commendery Prince Qing, I only know their names and I haven’t had any private contact with them!”
If Chu Liuyue wanted, it would not be difficult for him to investigate the matter that she had visited maple leaf forest with Qiu Yu and Chu Qing. Shao Wanru was smart and did not intend to hide it. Thus, she told him the truth and told him what had happened in the maple leaf forest.
Chu Qing had met her by chance, and Qiu Yu had been invited there because of Shao Wanru’s matter. Later, it was because Shao Wanru’s foot had been injured that the three of them had wandered a little, but soon she had come to accompany Shao Wanru.
Most of these things were true. She only hid something about her interaction with Qiu Yu and Chu Qing, but these key points could make the meaning of the whole sentence completely different.
Chu Liuyue looked quite satisfied. He nodded and did not ask any more questions. He only asked her to be careful after returning to the mansion, and then asked someone to send her out.
After getting on her own carriage, Shao Yanru did not go anywhere else this time. The carriage went straight to Duke Xing’s Mansion.
As soon as she entered the mansion and got out of the carriage, she saw her mother standing in front of the carriage excitedly. When she saw Shao Yanru getting out, she rushed over and asked with concern, “Ru’er, are you okay?”
“Mother, don’t worry. I’m fine. How’s Grandmother?” Shao Yanru said with a smile.
“Your grandma was so angry that she almost fainted. She took the medicine and fell asleep just now. How could you be so careless, Ru’er? Didn’t you say that her foot was not injured? Why did she get hurt so badly?” Madam of Duke Xing complained in a low voice as she pulled Shao Yanru into the room.
The wrongest thing in this matter was that Shao Yanru thought that Shao Wanru had not been injured, so she invited an imperial physician. Had it been an ordinary doctor instead of an imperial physician this time, it would be easier to explain. She could even secretly threaten the doctor to change his words and say something else that could prove Duke Xing’s Mansion’s innocence.
But now it was this Imperial Physician Qu invited by Duke Xing who had ruined the plan.
She felt as if she lifted a rock only to drop it on her own feet.
“Mother, check the people around Grandmother and see who can have the access to the ointment!” Shao Yanru had already thought of a solution on the way and said calmly.
“Who do you think can have?” Madam of Duke Xing also knew in her heart. She looked around and asked in a low voice.
Several servant girls and old maids followed them a few steps away, not too far or too close. The distance allowed them to see Madam and First Miss, but they couldn’t hear their words. No one else was seen along the way. Just now, Rui’an Great Elder Princess had rushed in and smashed everything in the mansion, which had frightened all the servants in the mansion.
“Since one can get the key to my grandmother’s private warehouse, he or she should be grandmother’s trusted subordinate.” Shao Yanru hinted.
“Nanny Yu?” Madam of Duke Xing rolled her eyes and asked.
“No, this won’t work. Grandmother won’t agree, but if you mention Nanny Yu first and then Shui Yan, Grandmother will give up her!” Shao Yanru said. If she mentioned Shui Yan first, she was afraid that Grandmother would take pity on her. But if she mentioned Nanny Yu first and then Shui Yan, she believed that Grandmother would give up Shui Yan after comparing her with Nanny Yu.
“Mention Shuiyan? But Shuiyan is…” Madam of Duke Xing’s face darkened and she said with embarra.s.sment. Shuiyan was the princ.i.p.al maid of Old Madam. Except for Nanny Yu, Shuiyan was the most capable servant of Old Madam. In the past, Shuiyan had always been kind to Madam of Duke Xing. Although she was not Madam of Duke Xing’s servant, she was still the person who worked for Old Madam but showed kindness to Madam of Duke Xing. It was a little reluctant for Madam of Duke Xing to punish her.
“Mother, if you can’t bear to give up Shuiyan now, do you want to make this matter a real mess? If a few more troubles happen in our mansion, the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion will be implicated. At that time, how can I marry into the royal family successfully?” Shao Yanru felt wronged and looked at Madam of Duke Xing with red eyes.
Madam of Duke Xing didn’t have pity on Shui Yan because of her kindness. At this time, when she saw Shao Yanru’s look, she immediately nodded and stamped her feet hard. “Okay, then just choose Shui Yan!”
A servant’s life couldn’t be more important than her daughter’s reputation…
Rui’an Great Elder Princess had aggressively taken people to smash Duke Xing’s Mansion, which once again pushed Duke Xing’s Mansion into the limelight. First, it had been about the matter of Baiyunguan, and then the matter of this ointment. Later, it was said that the princ.i.p.al maid of Old Madam was vicious. Because Fifth Miss Shao had slapped her once in the mansion, she had born a grudge in her heart, so she had added some other powder into the ointment.
Of course, this servant girl had been sold after being beaten 20 times.
However, a little servant girl dared to mix other things into Fifth Miss Shao’s ointment, which also showed that Fifth Miss Shao was really not valued by Duke Xing’s Mansion. What’s more, after she had been recognized, it was once said that her courtyard had even been burned down, forcing Fifth Miss Shao to move to Yuhui Nunnery.
All kinds of rumors came out that Duke Xing’s Mansion treated the Fifth Miss harshly and even wanted to drive the Fifth Miss out of Duke Xing’s Mansion. As for the reason, it was said to be for the t.i.tle of Duke Xing. Because the two children of the first branch in Duke Xing’s Mansion blocked the way of the Second branch, they wanted to kill the Fifth Miss Shao.
It was said that this rumor came from many cases. As for the reason why they didn’t deal with Shao Yuanhao, it was because he was now in Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s place, and Duke Xing’s Mansion didn’t dare to reach out to him.
Because of what had happened recently and its relation with the previous things, the more these words were spread, the more convincing they became. Some officials even began to collect information about it and were ready to impeach Duke Xing.
But at this time, another rumor came out and destroyed the good situation that Shao Wanru had won before…