Chapter 877 The Truth in the Unpleasant Past
Shao Wanru had known in her last life that Gu Xishu was not a good person.
On the surface, it seemed to be a bicker between her and others, but Gu Xishu was such a vicious person that she might cause a quarrel. In Shao Wanru’s last life, after Gu Xishu joined hands with Second Young Master of the Wen’s Mansion to murder Wen Xichi, she also instigated Madam Wen to drive Shao Wanru out. She couldn’t even be tolerant of Shao Wanru, who was alive.
At that time, she was homeless and driven into a corner where only death was waiting for her.
If it were not for Qi Baiyu or the person behind him, she would have had to die.
“Fourth Sister, why do you say that?” Shao Wanru said calmly.
“Fifth Sister, what I want to tell you… I can’t believe it myself, but… but I did see it. I have never told anyone else, not even my mother… I don’t know whether you will believe me…” Shao Cailing looked very confused and her words were incoherent.
Shao Wanru nodded with a smile and said, “Of course I believe you!”
Among all the Misses in the mansion, Shao Cailing was the least scheming girl. What she thought in her heart was always written on her face.
“I… I saw something when I was a child. I… I think it was true… but I was so scared that I dare not to speak it out!” Shao Cailing was fl.u.s.tered. She grasped Shao Wanru’s hands as if she wanted to borrow Shao Wanru’s strength.
Shao Wanru looked at her with a smile. She did not shake off Shao Cailing’s hands. Shao Cailing held Shao Wanru’s hand with force that the latter felt a little pain in her wrist. Even so, Shao Wanru did not shake her off.
It seemed that Shao Wanru’s calmness and gentleness comforted Shao Cailing, who started to feel relaxed and gradually loosened the strength on her hand. However, her hand was still held together with Shao Wanru’s. She looked at Shao Wanru with a serious face and said, “Fifth Sister, I think it was Gu Xishu who killed Wen Xiyan!”
“What?” Shao Wanru didn’t have a response for a second. But in a moment, she suddenly remembered that Wen Xiyan was Wen Xichi’s younger sister who died young, and her face immediately showed a deep-thinking expression.
“She is the Miss of the Mansion of the Prime Minister, the only daughter of Madam Wen. When we were kids, we often hung out together. The two families didn’t shut the side door until she died. It was said that every time Madam Wen saw that door, she would be reminded of the pain of losing her daughter.”
Since she had begun her confession, it was much easier for her to continue it. Shao Cailing explained in a low voice. “Wen Xiyan was also killed by being pushed into the water! That day, I was playing with Third Sister. Later, Third Sister was summoned away, so I went to Wen’s Mansion alone, through the side door. I intended to go to find Wen Xiyan, but I saw Gu Xishu and Eldest Sister on my way. The two of them stayed together in a hidden place and talked with each other without even servants beside!”
“They looked very sneaky, so I hid as well and peeked at them. But they left soon after talking for a while. Then I didn’t care about them and went back home. Later, I heard that Wen Xiyan died. The spot happened to be the place where I saw Gu Xishu and Big Sister hiding and talking before. Suddenly, I remembered that… there was a shoe of Wen Xiyan, and when Gu Xishu left, she threw the shoe… into the water!”
Shao Cailing stammered again and there was a flash of panic in her eyes.
At that time, she didn’t take it seriously at all. When Shao Cailing saw Gu Xishu pick up a shoe from the ground and threw it into the water before she and Shao Yanru left, she had thought that Gu Xishu just did it for fun. G.o.d knew whose shoe it was! It happened to be used for playing stone-skipping.
After all, there were several kids, and their shoes were about the same size. Sometimes, they would deliberately hide or throw away others’ shoes or other things.
The children of the third branch had always been in a distant relations.h.i.+p with those of the second branch. It was lucky for Shao Cailing not to show up in front of that two people at that time. But after that, Shao Cailing felt a burst of lingering fear. If they had known that she saw them at that time, would she have been murdered too by Gu Xishu and Shao Yanru?
If that were the case, would she have also ended up dying from drowning?
After Wen Xiyan’s death, Shao Cailing was scared to death and she had been sick for half a year, during which she had always been in a daze. Every time she thought of the scene, Shao Cailing was scared and fl.u.s.tered.
She was in a full state of panic. Later, her wet nurse knew about it. The wet nurse comforted her and told her not to tell anyone. She warned her that Old Madam attached most importance to First Miss. And Wen Xiyan’s death was related to First Miss. If Old Madam had known it, something miserable would have probably happened.
The third branch of Marquis Xing’s Mansion had never been valued. If Third Master were not the biological son of Old Madam, they would have been sent out of the mansion early with a little property.
However, Shao Cailing didn’t witness them pus.h.i.+ng Wen Xiyan. There was no practical evidence to prove that they were the murderers. The wet nurse was afraid Shao Cailing would be sent by Old Madam to some remote village in the name of recuperation, and that she could never return to the capital city again, and that she might even die outside. So she repeatedly warned Shao Cailing to keep it a secret.
Don’t tell anyone!
But at the moment, Shao Cailing was in a panic. She thought that Gu Xishu must have found out her secret. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked her to go there and pushed her into the water. Except for Gu Xishu, who else would want to kill her?
“Fifth Sister, I think Gu Xishu must have known that I saw it, so she did that to me on purpose!” Shao Cailing was very anxious and scared at this time. The panic in her heart drove her to tell Shao Wanru the buried past.
“Wen Xichi’s young sister was also killed by Gu Xishu?” After hearing Shao Cailing’s words, Shao Wanru believed her. If Wen Xichi’s younger sister was still alive, Madam Wen would never treat Gu Xishu so well.
So, Wen Xiyan was the obstacle for Gu Xishu to become Madam Wen’s preference.
However, Shao Wanru was shocked that Shao Yanru was also involved. With a flash of inspiration, she thought of Doctor Qiu. In her last life, Doctor Qiu was responsible to treat Wen Xichi. But in this life, he entered Marquis Xing’s Mansion to treat w.a.n.g Yishu instead of going to the Mansion of the Prime Minister.
Could it also have anything to do with Gu Xishu and Shao Yanru? In any aspect, Wen Xiyan was not a threat to Shao Yanru. Even the latter could build a close relations.h.i.+p with the Mansion of the Prime Minister by making friends with the former. And Shao Yanru would definitely do so according to her personality. So it could be said that it was merely Gu Xishu who wanted to kill Wen Xiyan.
If her guess was right, then it should be Gu Xishu who was the murder. But Shao Yanru happened to see her do that. Although they were young at that time, they were both cruel and merciless. After an agreement was reached, Shao Yanru promised to help and cover up the truth for Gu Xishu. From then on, Shao Yanru would have something on Gu Xishu, and it would be much easier for Shao Yanru to make use of Gu Xishu.
It would be much better than making friends with Wen Xiyan!
Shao Wanru lowered her eyes slightly, with her pupils contracted, overflowing an aura of bloodthirsty evilness.
No wonder Gu Xishu wanted to expel Shao Wanru out in her last life. Honestly speaking, Shao Wanru had never been an important role in the Mansion of the Prime Minister and could not become a threat or burden in the future even if she continue to live there. But both Wen Xichi and Shao Wanru didn’t expect what had happened in the mourning hall.
Before he died, Wen Xichi had once told Shao Wanru many times that he had reached an agreement with his mother Madam Wen. If he died in the future and Shao Wanru still wanted to stay in the mansion, she would be taken good care of. If she wanted to leave, she would be given some money so that she could live a good life even if she no longer stay in the Mansion of the Prime Minister.
However, the fact was beyond her and Wen Xichi’s expectation.
Wen Xichi had always been intelligent. Even though he was in deeply poor health, he had put something away for the rainy day for Shao Wanru. He died without any regrets after making sure that Shao Wanru would have nothing to worry about in the future.
But the reality was a slap in his face. After his death, his mother and Gu Xishu kicked her out of the mourning hall and the Mansion of the Prime Minister with an unfounded accusation.
Shao Wanru believed that Madam Wen couldn’t have done it to such an extent if it weren’t for someone else’s instigation. Anyway, it would be bad for the reputation of the Mansion of the Prime Minister if no sooner had her son died than his wife was driven out. But the truth was they did that even so.
“So it was Shao Yanru!” Shao Wanru closed her eyes, felt the coldness in her heart, and then slowly opened her eyes.
She couldn’t deny Madam Wen, nor could she respect her. She was not a saint and had her own views on what was right and wrong.
However, she would not let go of Gu Xishu and Shao Yanru.
Perhaps, as Shao Wanru thought, not only the matter about Doctor Qiu but also what Gu Xishu had done to her today was Shao Yanru’s order. It was quite unexpected that Shao Yanru would have so much power to order Gu Xishu to set her up, though she was locked in the palace and slighted by everyone there, almost without any chance to make a comeback.
When they were in Wen Xichi’s study, she felt Gu Xishu strange. It didn’t seem that Gu Xishu meant to expose her. If the woman in the painting was truly her in this life, she must be frightened to become guilty in front of Gu Xishu who had threatened her. Then Gu Xishu could be sure that the person in the painting was indeed her.
If that was the case, it was not that Gu Xishu wanted to expose her, but that she wanted to threaten her.
Shao Yanru, who was behind, coerced Gu Xishu into threatening Shao Wanru to help Shao Yanru out of the dilemma! What a good plot!
Otherwise, given Gu Xishu’s determination to marry Wen Xichi, what she wanted should be to ruin Shao Wanru’s reputation, not just to threaten her!
“Fifth Sister, don’t you believe me?” Seeing Shao Wanru remain silent for a long time, Shao Cailing became anxious and asked.
“Fourth Sister, I certainly believe you. You should be careful from now on and don’t let Gu Xishu find out what you have known. Otherwise, what happened to you today might come to you again!” Shao Wanru reminded in a soft voice. It was afraid that not only Gu Xishu but also Old Madam from the same mansion would support Shao Yanru.
Now Shao Wanru was curious about who had pushed Shao Cailing. Was it indeed Gu Xishu? She always felt that it was not Gu Xishu. Then who would it be if it wasn’t Gu Xishu? Who also found out Shao Cailing’s secret?
“Don’t worry. I won’t give it away. I don’t dare to talk about it! but I won’t let Gu Xishu go!” Although Shao Cailing was timid, she was unwilling to see that Gu Xishu got away from it without any punishment.
“Fourth Sister, don’t worry. Even if we don’t investigate it, the Mansion of the Prime Minister will do, though they might try to keep it secret. How could they just let it go after such a thing has happened to its guests in the mansion? Otherwise, the next accident might fall on the people in their own mansion!” Shao Wanru smiled slightly and said meaningfully.
It wouldn’t be over like this…