Chapter 705 Hard to Tell Who Frames a Case against Whom!
The people inside and outside the room were all shocked. Old Madam had brought plenty of servants, many of whom were standing beneath the lifted door curtain and looking around at this moment. At the sight of this, they screamed with fear, and the others did the same.
“Shut up, all of you!” Old Madam rebuked them harshly.
After pulling herself together, she walked slowly to the bed. However, Nanny Yu walked to the bed quickly before her, reached out to feel w.a.n.g Yishu’s breath, and then nodded at Old Madam silently, indicating that w.a.n.g Yishu was really dead.
“What happened?” Old Madam asked and looked sharply at w.a.n.g Yishu’s maid, who was sitting on her heels in front of the bed and trembling all over.
“I… I know nothing. I know nothing. I know nothing… but that after the Fifth Miss came to have a short conversation with Miss w.a.n.g… Miss w.a.n.g…” The maid said incoherently.
In fact, she was not supposed to say that, but just now Shao Wanru had proved that she just had a short conversation with w.a.n.g Yishu at the door, so what she had prepared before could make no sense now.
Shao Yanru, who had recovered from the horror at this moment, took two steps forward to support Old Madam and looked at w.a.n.g Yishu, who was lying on the bed, without saying a word. There was no need to be afraid of w.a.n.g Yishu, who had to curry favor with her when she was alive and now had been dead!
Moreover, w.a.n.g Yishu brought this on herself and it was her mother’s decision to kill w.a.n.g Yishu. She just took over the plan from her mother, who was locked up in the ancestral hall for the time being.
Although w.a.n.g Yishu died of persecution, she should blame Madam of Duke Xing or Doctor Qiu rather than her for it.
Thinking of this, Shao Yanru immediately became self-righteous. Looking at the footprints by w.a.n.g Yishu’s bedside, she secretly sighed that it was quite a pity to let Shao Wanru escape from the most important trap she set for Shao Wanru.
The trap was set by her, so she knew clearly that there was a needle used for acupuncture on w.a.n.g Yishu’s bed. Of course, it was left by Doctor Qiu in order to set up Shao Wanru, because Shao Wanru had treated Old Madam with her acupuncture. Although she didn’t know how good Shao Wanru’s medical skills were, Shao Wanru was capable of acupuncture.
Since w.a.n.g Yishu’s death was related to acupuncture, she could make Shao Wanru take the blame for being narrow-minded enough to kill w.a.n.g Yishu with her acupuncture. However, she didn’t expect Shao Wanru to be so cautious that Shao Wanru had never approached w.a.n.g Yishu since her arrival here. Although there was a needle on w.a.n.g Yishu’s bed now, it couldn’t prove that Shao Wanru killed w.a.n.g Yishu personally.
However, even with no direct evidence, she could make Shao Wanru take the blame for killing w.a.n.g Yishu indirectly by enraging her. The two of them had held grudges against each other since three years ago. Now Shao Wanru couldn’t bear w.a.n.g Yishu’s existence after returning to Duke Xing’s Mansion, so she came to kill w.a.n.g Yishu indirectly by enraging her. Although it was less serious to kill w.a.n.g Yishu indirectly by enraging her than to kill her directly, it could tarnish Shao Wanru’s reputation anyway.
The royal family was going to pick consorts for several princes soon. If there was some scandal about Shao Wanru at this time, it was impossible for Shao Wanru to be selected!
She couldn’t allow Shao Wanru to be selected as the consort of any prince, because she somehow had a sense of crisis.
Before Shao Wanru became a threat to her, she had to get rid of Shao Wanru by ruining Shao Wanru’s reputation so that Shao Wanru would be sent to the family temple and spend the rest of her life cultivating in seclusion there.
“You mean that I killed Miss w.a.n.g indirectly by enraging her. Well, tell me what I said to Miss w.a.n.g and how I enraged her!”
Shao Wanru was not surprised at the maid’s words.
She had prepared for what was going to happen today and had been careful of every step. She would never let down her guard because of her preparation.
She clearly knew that Madam of Duke Xing and Shao Yanru would try all they could to get her into trouble even if they failed to set her up, so how could she not remain cautious?
“I… I didn’t hear it clearly… I was serving Miss w.a.n.g at that time…” Hearing her detailed questions, the maid said in a panic.
It was not what the testimony she had prepared focused on, so how could she not panic when being asked detailed questions about it?
“You were serving Miss w.a.n.g… but didn’t hear the conversation between my master and Miss w.a.n.g clearly?” Yujie looked at the maid with a sneer and questioned her.
“I… I really didn’t hear it clearly…” The maid said and cried loudly to cover up the panic on her face.
“Since you didn’t hear it clearly, how do you know that my master enraged Miss w.a.n.g in their conversation? My master has just stayed here for a while and had a short conversation with Miss w.a.n.g. Doctor Qiu kept asking my master to come to see Miss w.a.n.g, and he even said that Miss w.a.n.g was dying. My master had no choice but to agree and come here, only to see Miss w.a.n.g dying. Could it be that you and someone else killed Miss w.a.n.g and then intended to push the blame to my master?”
Yujie reached out to point at her and said angrily.
“I… I… I didn’t do that. I have served Miss w.a.n.g for three years. How could I kill her?” The maid said and cried loudly.
“Are you sure that you didn’t kill Miss w.a.n.g? You had to stay here with her for the past three years because of her.” Yujie said in a gloomy tone.
“Old Madam, I didn’t do that… I really don’t know whether the Fifth Miss enraged Miss w.a.n.g or not. I didn’t pay any attention to their conversation…”
The maid cried, while turning to Old Madam and begging her.
Shao Wanru was so angry that she almost laughed. In such a situation, the maid, who acted as if she knew nothing about what had happened, still insisted on pus.h.i.+ng the blame onto her and thus making it impossible for her to defend herself. The maid was so loyal to Madam of Duke Xing that she didn’t even forget to drag her into this at this moment.
The maid seized any opportunity to set her up! Madam of Duke Xing and Shao Yanru must have spent a lot of money bribing such a maid who dared to frame her!
“Wanru, tell me what happened!” Old Madam said and looked coldly at Shao Wanru with obvious disgust in her eyes.
“Old Madam, what do you want me to say? Do you mean that the maid’s false testimony is more convincing than my words? Or do you mean that you trust a maid more than me although I’m a master in the mansion? Old Madam, you think that I might have killed Miss w.a.n.g indirectly by enraging her, but you didn’t think that this maid might have killed Miss w.a.n.g before I came here. Otherwise, how could Miss w.a.n.g happen to die during my visit here? The person, who could make this happen at the right time, must be someone around Miss w.a.n.g!”
As Shao Wanru said slowly, she walked up to the maid and looked down at the maid with cold eyes, “If it’s proved that this maid set me up, Old Madam, please send her to the government office and ask the officers to find out why she, a humble maid, dares to set me up. Not only she but also all her family members have to bear the consequences of setting up a master!”
“Fifth Sister, what are you doing? She is just a maid!” Seeing the maid trembling all over, Shao Yanru had to come forward and say.
“Well, Big Sister, do you mean that the maid told the truth!” Shao Wanru raised her eyebrows and asked.
“Fifth Sister, she’s just a maid, while you are a master. If you say so, how could the maid live on?” Shao Yanru said softly.
“Fifth Miss… I… I really can’t explain it clearly. If you doubt me… I’m willing to pay with my life!” Hearing Shao Yanru’s words, the maid rolled her eyes, immediately had an idea and said. She stood up tearfully and looked around, seeming to be looking for something to knock her head on.
At the sight of this, the servant girls and old maids beside her hurried over to hold her back, for fear that she would really commit suicide.
Shao Wanru was so angry that she was about to laugh. She reached out to draw a note from her bosom and said, “Big Sister, this note is written by you, isn’t it?”
“What note?” Shao Yanru said in panic and had a bad intuition. She was sure that there wasn’t any note from her fallen into Shao Wanru’s hands.
“Old Madam, please take a look!” Shao Wanru said, shook the note in her hand and handed it to Old Madam.
Old Madam looked at her suspiciously and took the note. When she saw the words on it clearly, her face changed dramatically at once.
It said “Make sure to take Shao Wanru to w.a.n.g Yishu’s place today!”
There was no signature. But after taking a glance at the familiar handwriting, Old Madam could tell that it was written by Shao Yanru, and her hands couldn’t help trembling.
“This is Big Sister’s handwriting, right? No wonder in the kitchen, Doctor Qiu kept asking my maid to arrange a time for me to visit Miss w.a.n.g and said that Miss w.a.n.g’s words would be good when death was near. Later, after my maid agreed, he, who was still not convinced, chased me out and didn’t leave until he confirmed the time of my visit. Before anything happened to Miss w.a.n.g, Old Madam had got the news and knew that I was going to kill Miss w.a.n.g. It’s really strange! Big Sister, tell me what happened.”
As Shao Wanru said, she looked at Shao Yanru with the same expression and slightly raised the corners of her mouth with a hint of coldness on her calm face.
“The… the note is fake!” Shao Yanru froze for a moment and said in rage. She was sure that she had never written such a note.
“If it’s fake, who else in the mansion couldn’t bear my existence in the mansion and intended to set me up? Can you tell me?” Shao Wanru asked.
“I don’t know… I don’t know anything. How could I write such a note, let alone be unable to bear your existence in the mansion? Fifth Sister, you are making slanderous accusations against me. Why should I set you up?” Shao Yanru said with a trace of panic in her eyes, because she couldn’t explain the note.
“Big Sister, in fact, I can’t understand why you can’t bear my existence in the mansion. I am from the eldest branch, while you are from the second branch. We are not supposed to be enemies, but why can’t you bear my existence all the time? You made things difficult for me in the Yuhui Nunnery, and now you do it again!”
Shao Wanru said coldly.
Since Shao Yanru could frame her, she could do the same thing to Shao Yanru!
With the fact that Doctor Qiu kept urging her to come here, it was obvious that she was set up by someone. Even if Old Madam wanted to protect Shao Yanru, she would probably not allow her to do that. She bet that Shao Yanru could not have told Old Madam all about what had happened in the Yuhui Nunnery.
Someone like Shao Yanru would never expose herself as long as she could hide behind others, because she wanted to maintain her image as the gentle and kind First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion in front of everyone so that they would use all beautiful words to describe her!
“How… How can you say that…” Shao Yanru said in panic.
“Well, let’s stop here. w.a.n.g Yishu has been in poor health, and the doctor managed to keep her alive by giving her medicine in the past three years. Otherwise, she would have been dead long ago!” Old Madam interrupted Shao Yanru coldly and balled up the note in her hands. Now it seemed that Shao Yanru was more likely to be the one behind the scene.
However, Shao Yanru was her favorite granddaughter, so she couldn’t allow any slightest damage done to Shao Yanru’s reputation!
As expected, Old Madam decided to make concessions to avoid trouble. Shao Wanru showed a deep smile. It was Old Madam who decided to stop here. However, she was unwilling to let it go. Just now, she heard a rush of footsteps from outside. The person should have arrived, but was just eavesdropping at the side!
The p.a.w.n she set was about to join the game now!