Tu retorted angrily, "Who pushed you? Everyone here is a respectable person. Who would want to cause you trouble? You're such a grown woman, and you're full of lies!"
"I didn't catch fish, I didn't go near the water, and there's a railing in front of me." Gu Huanhuan's face turned pale as she swore, "Someone really pushed me."
To prove she was telling the truth, she stretched out her hand and said, "When I fell, I clung to the railing so tightly that you can see my fingernails are broken."
Pei Yue's face turned pale. Slipping down on her own and being pushed down are different things. At the flower show she was hosting, someone wanted to take the opportunity to kill her?
“Miss Gu, do you have any witnesses?” Pei Yue said. “Perhaps it’s just your imagination in your panic.”
"It wasn't my imagination, someone pushed me." Gu Huanhuan looked around anxiously, then suddenly saw Xie Xiangxiang and pleaded, "Sister-in-law, you were watching from the side, did you see who pushed me?"
Xie Xiangxiang did see it, but didn't Gu Huanhuan say that she didn't learn manners very well?
I won't testify for you!
"Third sister, I didn't see it. I can't follow you girls around the whole time you're playing."
“Sister-in-law, you’re lying! When I fell in, you were standing on the shore and said, ‘Have you thought about the consequences?’ You must have seen it!”
Xie Xiangxiang said angrily, "Third sister, you're hallucinating! If I had seen it, how could I not have stopped it?"
Pei Yue frowned and said, "Madam, didn't the old woman say that the three young ladies of the Gu family were playing together? Where are the eldest and second young ladies? Why don't we call them over and ask them?"
Tu was also puzzled: where were Gu Jiaojiao and Gu Xuanxuan?
The people from the Duke of Xun's mansion searched the entire garden, but they couldn't find Gu Jiaojiao and Gu Xuanxuan.
Tu was feeling irritated. The two children were so frightened that they hid.
The Chrysanthemum Festival was completely ruined because of the three young ladies of the Marquis's mansion, one fell into the water and two went missing. The mistresses of the other mansions immediately took their female relatives back to their mansions.
Madam Xie shook her head; this flower festival was a complete failure.
She took Xie Zhaozhao's hand to say goodbye, and before leaving, she told Xie Zhaozhao not to overwork herself.
The entire Duke Xun's mansion mobilized and finally obtained a useful piece of information: After Gu Huanhuan was rescued, someone saw Gu Jiaojiao and Gu Xuanxuan walk out of the garden together and secretly talk to a man, and then they disappeared.
The gatekeeper was beaten half to death, and Pei Yue cursed, "Why didn't you report to the master when the person went out?"
The servant was speechless. They strictly inspected people entering the garden, but what about when they went back home?
Since Miss Gu Jiaojiao and Miss Gu Xuanxuan had already left the Duke's mansion garden, Xie Zhaozhao, Madam Tu, and Xie Xiangxiang had no reason to stay any longer, so they also got into the carriage and returned to the mansion.
After Gu Huanhuan's accident, she was always taken care of by Xie Zhaozhao, and she always traveled back to the mansion in Xie Zhaozhao's carriage.
As soon as they stepped out of the garden, they saw Gu Shaoyu waiting outside the garden gate.
Upon seeing her, he immediately came over and asked, "What happened? Why haven't you returned home so late?"
Xie Zhaozhao said, "Let's go back to the manor first and then talk about it."
Back at the manor, Madam Lu was already extremely anxious.
Seeing that Gu Huanhuan had returned in Xie Zhaozhao's carriage, she breathed a sigh of relief: "If she hadn't come back, I would have gone to the Duke's mansion to look for her."
Xie Zhaozhao was extremely exhausted, but she had to pull herself together and follow Gu Huanhuan and Madam Lu into the courtyard.
After Gu Huanhuan recounted what had happened, Xie Zhaozhao asked, "Huanhuan, tell the truth, who pushed you?"
Gu Huanhuan shook her head: "Third Aunt, I was too flustered at the time, I didn't see clearly."
“Remember what you said. You didn’t say who pushed you at the scene today, and you still didn’t say it in front of your third uncle. So don’t say anything from now on. You just accidentally slipped into the water.”
Gu Huanhuan didn't know what it meant, but she could only nod with tears in her eyes.
Xie Zhaozhao asked Madam Lu to take the person back first, as she needed to rest. She was exhausted, hungry, and sleepy after a long day.
After taking Gu Huanhuan back, Madam Lu questioned her again and was almost certain that it was Gu Xuanxuan who pushed Gu Huanhuan into the water.
She wished she could kill Aunt Wang and Madam Tu immediately.
I also heard that Gu Jiaojiao and Gu Xuanxuan have both gone missing, and the eldest son's family is secretly searching for them.
She paused for a moment, carefully considering what Xie Zhaozhao had just said, and immediately understood the meaning of "You didn't say it in front of your third uncle now, so don't say anything in the future."
The third wife guessed that those two would definitely get into trouble, and it was her own fault.
The matter of separating Zhen Huan from the second wife has nothing to do with her.
"Huanhuan, remember this: for the rest of your life, as long as you have a breath left, you must thank your third aunt."
Gu Huanhuan couldn't figure it out for a moment.
Seeing that she was still confused, Madam Lu said, "Don't worry about it. Your third aunt is right. You just slipped and fell by accident. Don't mention who hurt you anymore."
After Gu Huanhuan fell asleep, Madam Lu came out.
Gu Zhongyu returned from outside and asked Madam Lu, "What exactly happened?"
Madam Lu recounted the whole incident and said to Gu Zhongyu, "Both the eldest and second young ladies have disappeared. The people from the eldest branch of the family have all gone to look for them. You should go with them to look for them too."
Gu Zhongyu wasn't stupid, and he said, "Now I'm afraid that both the eldest and second young ladies have met with misfortune."
Mrs. Lu chuckled: "Yes, that's what you call retribution!"
"how?"
"Huanhuan said that after she fell into the water, Sun Kehai, the illegitimate son of Sun Bo's family, ran over from the male guests' side and insisted on going down to save Huanhuan."
"The Third Madam's maid and Miss Zhang's maid stopped that scoundrel. Your two good nieces cursed and beat the two maids, forcing them to move aside. Tell Sun Kehai to go down and save Huanhuan."
As she spoke, Mrs. Lu began to cry.
"I was wondering why my sister-in-law was so kind as to tell the old lady that she wanted to take Huanhuan to broaden her horizons. I thought she meant well... but I never expected that she was plotting to ruin Huanhuan."
Gu Zhongyu said, "Is it really that bad? What is your sister-in-law after? It's just that Huanhuan is reckless and lacks manners."
Mrs. Lu was so angry that her eyes widened, and she didn't even want to argue anymore.
In this family, the eldest son, Gu Boyu, inherited the title; Gu Chengyan became the heir apparent of the Marquis of Pingyang; and the third son became famous through the imperial examinations and became a powerful Grand Secretary.
Gu Zhongyu was neither good at literature nor martial arts. He had neither inherited a noble title nor any skills to rely on. Even his sons and daughters were not as good as the illegitimate children of the main branch.
Lu could not count on him, nor could she count on her own family.
Her father was a low-ranking official of the sixth grade, but he was one rank higher than the magistrate of Ouyang County, the family of Tu's mother.
She had always resented Tu Shi, but she never expected that Tu Shi would actually be determined to destroy her own legitimate daughter.
The eldest son spent the whole night searching for people, and Gu Shaoyu also sent Nanxing, Moyan and others to help with the search.
When Xie Zhaozhao returned to Qingpu Courtyard, she felt extremely unwell, with dizziness and lightheadedness.
She was out all day, hot and tired.
"You should get some sleep first." Gu Shaoyu watched as she quickly washed up, gave her a bowl of mung bean soup, and lay down.
When I called her to eat dinner, she mumbled, "I don't want to eat."
Gu Shaoyu reached out to pull her up, only to discover that Xie Zhaozhao had a high fever.
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