Jiang Segu squatted down in front of the two maids and said in a calm voice, "I'll give you another chance this time out of kindness. Think carefully about what really happened by the pond! If you tell even a single lie, I will make your families pay the price for your lies!"
The two maids visibly trembled.
Jiang Segu was about to say something more when Old Madam Jiang spoke up in time: "Azi, aren't you threatening them? Grandmother will absolutely not allow this kind of interrogation!" Upon hearing this, the two maids hurriedly raised their voices to protest: "Sixth Miss, what we said is all true! Aren't you making things difficult for us? We have no grudge against Third Mistress, how could we frame her!"
Jiang Segu slowly stood up, looking at the two of them putting on an act. He felt annoyed, but he had to take a deep breath to calm himself down.
Even so, I wonder if you have ever seen how my mother pushed the peony into the water!
The two maids were taken aback by Jiang Segu's question and looked at each other, unsure how to answer.
At this moment, Old Madam Jiang spoke up: "They were so eager to save lives back then, how could they possibly remember this! Azi, Grandmother knows you want to defend Mother, but..."
“Grandmother, you’ve judged my mother based on just two servants. I absolutely refuse to accept that! Besides, my mother hasn’t even spoken yet!”
Jiang Segu interrupted Old Madam Jiang and knelt before the distraught Third Grandma Jiang. "Mother, can you tell Azi what exactly happened by the pond?"
Grandma Jiang then seemed to wake up from her dream.
Looking into her daughter's clear and serene eyes, she finally came to her senses from the chaos.
"She said she had a secret about your father to tell me. I didn't want to go at first, but then she sent someone else, saying that..."
Grandma Jiang paused, glanced at Old Madam Jiang who was hiding in the dim light, but ultimately didn't reveal the matter. She vaguely said, "She said that if I didn't go, I would definitely regret it! Mother thought that since we were in the mansion, she went."
When we got to the pond, she told me to get Juan Niang out of the way before she would tell me your father's secret.
Who knew that as soon as Juanniang left, she pulled me into the pond...
Then, servants saved us…
Jiang Segu pressed on, asking, "Mother, are you saying she pulled you into the pond?"
Grandma Jiang nodded.
"Grandmother, I beg you to send someone to the pond to check! Whether it was Shaoyao who used a self-inflicted injury to frame my mother, or whether my mother has made a mistake, you will know once you send someone to the pond!"
Looking at Jiang Segu's confident expression, Old Madam Jiang asked, "What do you mean by that?"
“The pond in the mansion is only surrounded by a stone path six steps away, there is no path along the edge of the pond!”
It had rained a while ago, so the mud around the pond should be slippery. If someone had pushed you into the pond, your footprints would have been different from your own when you jumped in.
By the way, before I came to the main hall, I went to ask Peony myself. She said that she was facing away from the pond when her mother pushed her into the pond, and then she accidentally pulled her mother into the water!
Therefore, her footprints should be reversed!
I've heard that the courtesans bind their feet to please their patrons, so the smallest footprint on the shore must belong to a peony!
Without waiting for Madam Jiang's consent, Jiang Segu asked Juan Niang to take people to check the pond, and also asked Zhou Mama to take people along.
Her analysis and instructions surprised everyone with her composure and intelligence.
Not long after, the maid who had gone to check returned.
Few people go to the pond on rainy days, and when the two maids rescued the man, they did not return the way they came, so the footprints by the pond are well preserved.
There were five footprints by the pond, and as Jiang Segu said, the smallest one belonged to Peony.
The footprints were both upright and reversed, but the two footprints at the very edge of the pond were not only upright, but the left footprint was particularly deep compared to the other footprints. This must be because when she jumped into the pond, she lifted her right foot first, which made the left footprint so deep.
As for Grandma Jiang's footprints near the pond, the toes were deeper than the heels, and there were also traces of dragging forward.
Thus, the truth is self-evident.
After Zhou's mother and Juan's mother finished reporting, the room fell silent.
At this time, candles had been lit inside the room.
The faces of the people were varied in expression, illuminated by the flickering candlelight.
Finally, it was Jiang Segu who broke the silence in the room.
“Grandmother, since Peony brought this upon herself, when will you send her out of the manor?”
Old Madam Jiang's eyes were like the waters of a lake in the dark night, so deep they were unsettling.
"Mama Zhou, go and throw that vile woman out of the Marquis's mansion!"
However, before Zhou's mother could even step out the door, Marquis Changping walked in, saying, "Let's see who dares to kick people out!"
As he passed Jiang Segu, he glared at her fiercely and then sternly rebuked Old Madam Jiang, "Su Zheng, how exactly do you manage the backyard? How could you make such a huge mistake!"
Do you know the fate of the child in Peony's womb? That child is the future hope of our Marquis's mansion! If anything happens to him, I will divorce you without hesitation!
Upon hearing this, Jiang Segu finally solved a mystery in his heart.
She never understood why, no matter how much her grandfather hoped for a large and prosperous family, he would never personally bring back a concubine who didn't even know whether she could give birth to a boy or a girl.
So that's the problem.
"Grandfather, if I may be so bold as to ask, what is the fate of the child in Peony's womb? And who told you this, Grandfather?"
Marquis Changping glanced at Jiang Segu and said to Old Madam Jiang, "A few days ago, I met a highly accomplished master on the street. He only glanced at me and said that I have little affinity with my descendants..."
Jiang Segu lowered his head and rolled his eyes.
Who in the capital doesn't know that he had few descendants?
Otherwise, how could someone who's already in his fifties only have one grandson?
"At first I didn't believe it either, but later the master said that I would have a grandson who was destined to be a noble and wealthy family. He also said that this grandson was exceptionally talented and would become a prodigy at a young age, and would surely bring glory to my family!"
I didn't believe it at the time, and I didn't give him a single penny. The master said he wasn't after money, but only wanted to establish a good connection.
When I heard it was free, I listened for a couple more minutes.
Who knew that the master was truly an extraordinary person!
Marquis Changping looked on with reverence. "He said that my beloved grandson's fate was too perfect, which might offend the emperor's majesty, and that's why he ended up in the belly of a lowly person."
He also told me that if I found his predictions accurate in the future, I should go to Dongchan Temple to see him, and then he would talk to me in detail…
At this point, he revealed a stern expression, "If the master hadn't foreseen that my beloved grandson would face a calamity today and told me to come back quickly, you people would have ruined my beloved grandson!"
"I'm making this clear today: not only will you not get rid of Peony, but anyone who dares to lay a finger on her in the future will be severely punished!"
As he said this, Marquis Changping stared straight at Jiang Segu, his intention to warn Jiang Segu was obvious!
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