Chapter 340 The Truth Behind It
Gu Xiuming?
When everyone heard this name, they were shocked and even a little incredulous, because there was no conflict between Xuan Yi and Gu Xiuming, not even an argument. Why would Gu Xiuming want to harm Xuan Yi like this?
Gu Xuanyi was taken aback and subconsciously retorted, "Don't talk nonsense. I have no grudge against him. Why would he want to harm me? Tell me, who are you trying to protect? You're making baseless accusations against an exiled person because you think he's too far away in exile to defend himself."
Zhang also thought it was impossible and said, "Yunxiang, now that things have come to this, you'd better tell the truth."
Yunxiang shook her head repeatedly: "Madam, Miss, what I said is true. He's the one who told me to do it."
Zhang still felt that Yunxiang was protecting the real mastermind. She even thought that the scumbag son-in-law was the real mastermind. In order to marry a girl like Xuanyi who was easy to manipulate, he bribed Xuanyi's maid. So she said, "Now that he has been sentenced to exile, you can say whatever you want. Do you have any evidence to prove that what you said is true?"
Yunxiang immediately raised three fingers and swore: "This servant swears that everything I have said is true. If there is even half a lie, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."
She put her hand down and continued, "This servant really did not mean to harm the eldest young lady. When the former heir asked this servant to match the eldest young lady with the eldest son-in-law, he only said that he and the eldest son-in-law were good friends. He learned that the eldest son-in-law was in love with the eldest young lady, and he could not bear to see his friend troubled by love. Moreover, there is nothing wrong with the Wu'an Marquis's mansion. He wanted this servant to do a favor and say a few good words for the eldest young lady."
Gu Xuanyi questioned, "You are my maid, why are you working for him? What benefits did you receive from him?"
Yunxiang lowered her head guiltily and replied, "My brother committed a crime, which was resolved by the former heir apparent. There is evidence to prove this. As the Marquis is the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, it shouldn't be difficult for him to investigate this matter. I owe the former heir apparent a debt of gratitude. I thought that since my husband is so devoted to you, he would definitely treat you well, so I agreed to this."
"Later, when I saw that the eldest daughter was having a hard time in her husband's family, and I knew that the Marquis of Wu'an's family was really bad, I realized that he might have been deliberately scheming against the eldest daughter, but I dared not say it. Later, when my brother was short of money to get married, he tried to find the former heir. In order to prevent me from revealing the matter, he gave me money, which confirmed my suspicions."
Upon hearing this, most people believed it. Such matters could indeed be investigated by following the clues. For Gu Jingxi, who was serving as the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, it was not a difficult task. They doubted that a mere maid would dare to fabricate such a story. But why would Gu Xiuming do this?
Yunxiang continued, "Aunt Li was also aware of this matter. I have another piece of evidence to prove it. When I went out to buy things for the eldest young lady, I ran into Aunt Li on the street. On a whim, I asked Aunt Li for a favor, thinking that I might leave some evidence in case the truth came out. It was a hairpin, which I have kept all this time, just so that I would have evidence if the truth came out someday. The maids who used to serve at Qingyuxuan should have seen Aunt Li wearing this hairpin."
After she finished speaking, she took out a gold and pearl-inlaid butterfly hairpin from a hidden pocket in her sleeve. This was something she had suddenly remembered and asked to take with her before Zhou Yun led her out of the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion. She never expected it would actually come in handy now.
Gu Jingxi glanced at the hairpin, then gave Zhou Yun a look.
Zhou Yun immediately understood, took the hairpin from Yunxiang's hand, and then went to find the maid who had previously served Aunt Li to verify it.
Gu Xuanyi was stunned. She couldn't understand why Gu Xiuming would betray her. It was impossible for that beast to be friends with Gu Xiuming. After she married that beast, she never saw that the beast and Gu Xiuming have any close relationship. They were not friends at all.
Meng Jinyao looked at Yunxiang kneeling on the ground, then glanced at Gu Xuanyi. In a flash, she suddenly remembered a past event that she had witnessed firsthand.
One day, neither Xuan Yi nor Aunt Li noticed each other and bumped into each other. Xuan Yi was angry that Aunt Li was so blind as to bump into her, so she argued with Aunt Li and even slapped her hard across the face.
Perhaps, that's when the feud began. Back then, Gu Xiuming loved Aunt Li so much, regarding her as the apple of his eye. Seeing his beloved girl suffer such injustice, he was furious and wanted to take revenge.
Just then, Xuan Yi started arranging marriages. Marriage is a major event in a woman's life; marrying the wrong person can ruin her life. She clearly wanted to avenge Aunt Li, and there were many other ways, but she chose such a vicious method. What a wicked heart she has.
Thinking of this, Meng Jinyao suddenly said, "Xuanyi, I remember once I saw you had a conflict with Aunt Li, and you even hit Aunt Li. Could it be because of that incident that Gu Xiuming felt sorry for Aunt Li and held a grudge against you, so he plotted against you? At that time, he and Aunt Li were inseparable and had no conflicts. I guess he would do this to retaliate against you."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone was shocked and stunned. They had seen through Gu Xiuming's true colors. Given Gu Xiuming's personality, he really would do such a vicious thing. It was wrong for Xuan Yi to impulsively hit someone, but to want to ruin Xuan Yi's life because of a slap was a chilling way of revenge.
Reminded by her third aunt, Gu Xuanyi suddenly remembered the little thing she had long forgotten and murmured in disbelief, "But, but I am his cousin. Aunt Li is just a concubine who is not worthy of being mentioned in public. How could he treat me like this because of a concubine?"
Now, Zhang realized for the first time that there was a problem with her parenting style. She had spoiled and raised Xuanyi to be arrogant and domineering. Ultimately, because of this personality, Xuanyi offended the wrong people and suffered this kind of torment.
Gu Jingsheng said angrily, "You idiot! Is that Concubine Li just an ordinary concubine? She's the apple of his eye. He was willing to do something as shameful as running away from his marriage for Concubine Li, let alone retaliate against you, his cousin? Why did you have to provoke Concubine Li for no reason? Did you think you were superior by bullying her?"
Gu Xuanyi covered her face and burst into tears. She truly never imagined that a single slap would lead to her being schemed against and forced to marry that beast. Gu Xiuming must have known the beast's true nature, which was why he plotted against her and sought revenge. No wonder, no wonder when she got engaged to that beast, everyone in the family except her father, who only saw the benefits, disapproved. Only Gu Xiuming was optimistic about the marriage, telling her how wonderful that beast was and congratulating her on finding a good husband.
Zhang felt heartbroken for her daughter and took her into her arms. The two of them hugged and cried.
Not long after, Zhou Yun returned and had the maids confirm that the gold and pearl butterfly hairpin belonged to Aunt Li. The maids had seen Aunt Li wear it several times, which indirectly proved that Gu Xiuming was the mastermind. Otherwise, Aunt Li, who was not favored by the Gu family, would not have been able to make Xuan Yi's head maid obey her orders.
Madam Gu's expression turned solemn. Xiu Ming was the one who did this, but now Xiu Ming has been exiled to Yazhou and expelled from the clan. As elders, they are unable to seek justice for Xuan Yi or punish Xiu Ming. What should they do?
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