He Shaoyu was just there to make a cameo appearance; he was unaware that he had been included in Qiuqiu's camp as an accomplice to harm the male lead and had even joined Qiuqiu's ranks of protectors. He stood obediently behind his aunt, constantly casting deathly glares at Su Changxu.
Chiu Chiu wondered, "Why did Little Firecracker Brother become a dud?"
They waited and waited, until a little maid from the bamboo garden stumbled in and reported: "Madam, the young master has committed suicide!"
The prayer beads that Wen was spinning in her hand were torn off, and the beads fell to the ground with a dull thud, each sound striking Wen's heart.
Ignoring everything else, she shoved Su Yunyi, who was blocking her way, and walked towards the door, turning back to glare fiercely at Su Yunyi and He Xunyuan as she went: "If Mu Yang makes any mistakes, I will not let you off!"
Su Junyao became even more certain that the person in front of him was not his mother.
My mother is dignified and virtuous, and she has never quarreled with anyone in her life. How could she look at them with such vicious and sinister eyes?
Although they didn't believe Qiao Muyang would commit suicide, there still needed to be an explanation. Su Junyao felt utterly exhausted and overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness.
He handed Qiuqiu over to Su Yunyi and told them to go back and rest first. After settling He Bei and her nephews in, he went to find Marquis Wenyang.
Upon entering Marquis Wenyang's study, he went straight to the point: "I suspect that the people in the Bamboo Garden are not my mother."
Su Junyao stared intently at his father's face, trying to glean some clue, but the other man seemed unfazed. He stood still for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "There are no clues."
Su Junyao was shocked: "You also had doubts?"
Marquis Wenyang glared at him and said irritably, "Do you think everyone is as heartless as you? I feel like I've become a completely different person."
Su Junyao wanted to explain, but Marquis Wenyang waved his hand to interrupt him: "Alright, stop explaining. So many years have passed, why are you starting to have doubts now? Did Qiuqiu tell you?"
Su Junyao didn't speak. Qiuqiu kept reminding them in some inconspicuous details, as if guiding them to change their fate.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Marquis Wenyang probably already knew what was going on. He thought he had found out something, but it turned out he was still relying on Qiuqiu.
He sat facing Su Junyao, with the unfinished chess game from last time in front of them. The black pieces were completely overwhelmed by the white pieces, but upon closer examination, there was still a glimmer of hope.
Marquis Wenyang shifted his gaze from the chessboard to Su Junyao's face: "After I returned to the capital back then, I noticed something was wrong with your mother and started investigating. The fire was handled perfectly back then, as if it really was an accident. But looking at it again today, I still think it was a conspiracy."
Fifteen years ago, at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Su Junyao drank too much and fell asleep in his study. The oil lamp in the study was overturned, igniting the books. Because of the large collection of books, a raging fire broke out in no time. The drunken Su Junyao showed no reaction whatsoever.
In full view of everyone in the mansion, Madam Wen rushed into the burning building and carried Su Junyao out. The burns on her face were from shielding Su Junyao from the burning wooden frame.
If she wasn't his biological mother, why would she risk her life to save him?
Marquis Wenyang raised a question: "After the incident, the steward told me that your mother had locked herself in her room for a month. What happened during that month?"
"I inhaled a lot of thick smoke and was unconscious for several days. When I woke up, my lungs were sore, and I had to rest for a long time. Yun Shi took care of everything at home. The second son was not in the capital, and the third son was too weak to take care of himself..."
It seems he genuinely didn't know what had happened during that time!
"According to you, it was indeed my mother who saved me, but she was replaced by someone else during that month?"
The person who switched the identities exploited the Marquis's guilt to create the illusion that Lady Wen had undergone a drastic personality change, and had been living in the Marquis's mansion using Lady Wen's identity for many years. Apart from personality, this person was no different from Lady Wen in any way, so this person must have been very familiar with Lady Wen.
The only person Su Junyao could think of was his mother's twin sister.
“My aunt passed away a year after the fire. My second brother and I both went to her funeral.”
But who else could be so familiar with his mother?
Su Junyao was alone in the study where the incident occurred. The fire broke out in full view of everyone. Wen's sister passed away a year later.
Everything is not forming a closed loop; they still need to find the clues that connect them.
Wenyang Hou was old, and after sitting in the wind for a while, he started coughing. His back was hunched, and he no longer looked like his youth. It was unknown whether he could figure out the truth before he died.
"Investigate this matter secretly. I'm handing over all my men to you. Whether they're human or ghost, I need to know the truth!"
Marquis Wenyang suddenly gripped Su Junyao's wrist and solemnly instructed him.
Even without him saying anything, Su Junyao would have investigated the matter thoroughly!
"How should we handle Qiao Muyang's matter?"
"Utterly useless!" Marquis Wenyang sneered. "He's getting more and more greedy. Find a chance to drive them all out."
I don't know why my son kept those two troublemakers at home back then, but he doesn't want to mention their names anymore.
Su Junyao kept them around because of the silver they had hidden in their house. Now that they are no longer of any use, it's time to get rid of them. Otherwise, people will really think that the Marquis's mansion belongs to them.
"Leave it to me to handle, and use this opportunity to expel them from the mansion!"
Su Junyao asked Chen He to send someone to keep an eye on the movements in the bamboo garden, and also asked Chen He to go to his aunt's hometown in person to inquire about what happened that year.
He had a feeling that some things would soon come to light!
Su Junyao returned to Jingxin Garden exhausted. Seeing Su Changxu waiting for him, he suddenly stopped and felt even more tired.
"You'd better have something important to say to me!"
Su Changxu, who was watching Qiuqiu being punished, turned around and said, "Of course, it's something important!"
Su Junyao nodded, then glanced at Qiuqiu, who was sitting motionless in the corner with her back to Xin and the others, and casually asked, "What's wrong with her?"
Su Changxu pointed at Qiuqiu and then gestured outside with his chin, "She and Shaoyu were punished for littering banana peels."
He Shaoyu was being punished by standing in the backyard, while Qiuqiu was facing the wall in repentance.
The banana peel that Qiuqiu threw at Qiao Muyang was actually a gift from He Shaoyu.
"It's not nice to throw banana peels around. Chuchu, be careful next time."
What Su Junyao said was that next time you should be careful not to throw banana peels, not that you should not throw them at Qiao Muyang next time.
So language is indeed quite interesting.
Inspired, Chiu Chiu declared: "I will never throw away banana peels again!"
I should have thrown a firecracker and blown him away!
Hmph! I hate being punished by sitting!
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