The sun at 9:00 PM scorched the bluestone slabs, yet the pomegranate tree in the main courtyard of the general's mansion was colder than an ice cellar. Shen Ruorou slumped beside the gilded lacquer box she was unpacking for stolen goods, her messy hair sticking to her sweat-soaked cheeks. The pair of jade bracelets that should have proved her innocence lay wrapped in a few strands of golden dog hair on a brocade handkerchief, gleaming glaringly in the sunlight.
"Dog hair?" The Third Elder's goatee twitched, and the tip of his cane poked the dog hair on the edge of the box. "Chen Ruorou, why did you get this thing in your box?"
The servants had already formed a massive wall around them. The woman sweeping the front yard had her broom slammed into the ground, and the boy delivering water from the kitchen forgot to move his feet while carrying a copper basin. Even the chirping of the cicadas in the trees had a gossipy tone. Shen Ruorou stared at the few strands of curly dog hair, as if seeing countless needles pricking her face. Her lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
"Isn't my cousin the one who loves cleanliness?" Shen Weiwan squatted down, picked up a piece of dog hair with her fingertips and shook it in the light, "Yesterday I gave the big yellow dog a bath, and it swung hair all over the yard. I was scolded by my aunt." She suddenly tilted her head and looked at Shen Ruoruo, her eyes shining like stars, "Could it be that my cousin secretly raised a dog?"
As soon as these words came out, the crowd erupted in uncontrollable laughter. Everyone knew that Shen Ruorou usually disliked cats being dirty and dogs being smelly. Last time Chuntao brought a kitten, she covered her nose with a handkerchief from a distance of three meters. Now, dog hair was found in the box. This contrast was more exciting than the face-changing on the stage.
"I don't have it!" Shen Ruoruo screamed and tried to cover the box, but was glared back by the Third Elder. She looked at the dog hair in Shen Weiwan's hand and suddenly remembered that when she asked Xiaolian to hide the fake bracelet at the bottom of the box that morning, she hurriedly rubbed it against a passing big yellow dog - the beast had just rolled in the mud!
"Someone must have put it in there on purpose!" Shen Ruoruo looked at Shen Weiwan fiercely, "It's you! Shen Weiwan, you schemed against me!"
"I plotted against my cousin?" Shen Weiwan let go of her hand, and the dog hair fluttered down on Shen Ruorou's skirt. "I was just letting the big yellow dog recognize its collar rope, but who knew it would bring back the bracelet along the way?" She stood up and patted her skirt, her tone aggrieved like a kitten whose tail was stepped on. "Besides, my cousin never leaves her box key, so how could I put dog hair in there?"
Chun Tao immediately responded, her voice loud enough to pierce the eardrums: "That's right! Our young lady doesn't even often enter your yard, so how could she have the chance to stuff dog hair into your trunk? But you, the second young lady..." She deliberately dragged out her words, glancing at the muddy spots on Chen Ruoruo's skirt, "You were sneaking around the yard before dawn this morning. Could it be that you got it then?"
"You're slandering me!" Shen Ruoruo was trembling with anger. The dark yellow mud stain on her skirt looked like a dog's paw print. She suddenly remembered that Shen Weiwan had tied a red rope around the big yellow dog that morning and scattered meat jerky in the yard to lure it away - it was all a trap!
"Whether you are slandering me or not, just ask Da Huang and you will know." Shen Weiwan winked at Butler Liu, and the fat big yellow dog immediately rushed over with its tail wagging, and its claws slapped the corner of Shen Ruoruo's skirt with a "snap", exactly where it had bitten her just now.
"Woof!" The big yellow dog barked at Shen Ruoruo's box, with half a piece of uneaten meat in its mouth - that was what Shen Weiwan specially fed it this morning.
"Oh my God!" the maids who were watching exclaimed, "Even a dog can recognize the Second Young Lady's trunk!"
The Third Elder's face was as gloomy as the bottom of a pot. He looked at the muddy paw prints on Shen Ruoruo's skirt and the dog hair in the box, and slammed his cane on the ground: "Shen Ruoruo! Do you still want to quibble?"
Shen Ruorou felt a wave of disdain as she watched the people around her stare. Her carefully cultivated image of gentleness and cleanliness was now like dog hair in a box, shattered by a large yellow dog. Her sisters in the circle of noble ladies, who usually praised her as "the most clean and elegant sister," would have laughed their heads off if they knew she had dog hair hidden in her box.
"Elder, I..." Shen Ruorou wanted to explain, but found that all her excuses were pale and powerless in front of the dog hair and muddy paw prints. She suddenly looked at Shen Weiwan, only to see that she was tilting her head and talking to the Seventh Prince Xiao Yu, with a faint smirk on the corner of her mouth.
"Miss Shen's skill in 'using a dog to destroy her character' is truly brilliant." Xiao Yu waved his folding fan, his eyes falling on Shen Ruorou's pale face. "This prince has finally seen what it means to kill someone and destroy their heart."
Shen Weiwan curled her lips and lowered her voice: "She is far inferior to His Highness. I just saw that she was pretending to be too tired, so I helped her relax." She paused and saw Shen Ruoruo's personal maid Xiaolian shivering in the crowd, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
"By the way, cousin," Shen Weiwan suddenly raised her voice, "besides the dog hair in your box, there shouldn't be any other 'surprises', right?"
These words exploded like a thunderclap in the crowd. A few brave servants immediately peered into the box, only to see a paper package vaguely visible beneath the brocade handkerchief. Steward Liu quickly pulled it out and opened it, revealing several packages of dried grass scraps—the very same stuff that Shen Ruorou had sewn into clothes to harm people at the Spring Banquet!
"Grass clippings?" The Third Elder picked up a bag and twisted it. "Why are you hiding this?"
Shen Ruorou completely collapsed and screamed to grab the paper bag: "That's my medicinal herbs! Don't touch it!"
"Medicinal herbs?" Shen Weiwan raised an eyebrow and pinched a handful of grass from her bag. "Why does it look like the kind of grass that made the young lady of the Taifu family itch all over at the Spring Banquet?"
Chuntao immediately exclaimed in agreement, "That's right! The other day, the second young lady said her clothes were dirty and she needed to change. But after she changed, she started scratching. It turned out she had sewn some grass into them!"
The servants around suddenly realized what was going on, and their eyes turned from contempt to fear when they looked at Shen Ruoruo. Who would have thought that the usually gentle and kind Second Young Lady could be so vicious, not only stealing things, but also hiding harmful grass scraps!
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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