The sun was setting in the evening, and the shadows of the pomegranate trees in the main courtyard of the General's Mansion stretched long across the blue brick floor. Shen Ruorou, supported by two maids, stood in the courtyard. Her plain cloth skirt was still stained with blood from the morning's caning. Her hair was draped messily over her shoulders, but she stared intently at Shen Weiwan across from her, her eyes filled with hatred.
Just as the third elder was about to announce the final decision, a muffled "thump" suddenly came from the corridor - Chuntao actually knelt down in front of everyone, and her forehead hit the hot blue bricks heavily.
"Elder! Masters!" Chuntao's voice was tearful but very clear. "This servant has something to say!"
The third elder frowned: "Chun Tao, you have no right to speak here! Hurry up and get up!"
"I dare not get up!" Chun Tao raised her head, her eyes red, but her face was full of determination. "Yesterday evening, I saw the Second Young Lady sneaking into our Young Lady's courtyard! At that time, I thought the Second Young Lady was here to deliver some snacks, so I didn't dare to say anything. Who would have known..."
She paused deliberately, and pointed at Shen Ruorou with a trembling finger: "Who knew that something like this would happen today! The Second Miss was holding a brocade box in her arms at the time. It was still daylight when she went in, and it was dark when she came out!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Shen Ruoruo was like a cat whose tail was stepped on. She suddenly broke free from the old woman's hand and staggered to tear Chuntao's mouth. "I didn't even go to her yard yesterday! How dare you, a lowly slave, spit blood!"
"I'm not talking nonsense!" Chun Tao dodged to the side, her voice rising even higher. "Sister Wang in the kitchen saw it too! And the doorman! Second Miss, do you dare to ask them to confront us?"
"Yes! I saw it too!" Nanny Wang, who was sweeping the floor nearby, suddenly interrupted, slamming her broom on the ground. "Yesterday at three o'clock in the evening, I saw the second young lady coming out of the eldest young lady's courtyard. She was holding a square object in her arms, and she was covering it with a cloak!"
"I saw it too!" The gatekeeper scratched his head. "When the Second Young Lady came out, she told me not to tell anyone she'd been here..."
The servants were like firecrackers, and they immediately exploded. The maids and servants who had been hiding behind the moon gate all poked their heads out, echoing one after another:
"I remember now! The Second Miss did go to the West Wing yesterday!"
"Yes, I saw her face look strange when she came in..."
"No wonder the eldest lady's jewelry was lost. It turned out that the second lady stole it!"
Shen Ruorou's face turned from pale to blue, then from blue to red, and finally turned into a boiled shrimp, her whole body trembling. She pointed at the servants around her, her lips trembling and unable to speak a complete sentence: "You...you were all bribed by her! It was Shen Weiwan who ordered you to frame me!"
"Oh? I ordered them?" Shen Weiwan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, turning a piece of freshly cut iced watermelon in her hand, the juice dripping from her fingertips onto the ground. "Cousin, what you said is very interesting. Chuntao is my personal maid, so it's not surprising to see you enter my yard. But I can't even remember all the names of Wang Ma and the gatekeeper, how can I bribe them?"
She slowly approached Shen Ruorou, handed the watermelon to Chuntao beside her, and clapped her hands: "Besides, if cousin really came to bring me snacks, why did she hide? Why did she tell the servant not to say anything? Is sending snacks something shameful?"
"I...I was..." Shen Ruoruo was forced to retreat step by step, and her back hit the corridor column again, "I wanted to give my sister a surprise!"
"Surprise?" Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows and suddenly raised her voice, "What kind of surprise requires sneaking into someone else's room with a brocade box? Could it be that my cousin wants to give me a 'stolen surprise'?"
"You!" Shen Ruorou was so angry that she was shaking all over, but she couldn't refute a word. The eyes of the servants around her were like needles piercing her, and those whispers came like a tide:
"Tsk tsk, you said you were doing it for your sister's sake, but you turned out to be a thief!"
"I used to think the Second Young Lady was gentle and kind, but I didn't expect her to be such a hypocrite!"
"That's right, he stole something and then turned the tables on me. He's so cruel!"
The Third Elder's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and his goatee was shaking with anger. He slammed the table, and the tea in the cup splashed out again. "That's enough! Shen Ruoruo, we have witnesses and evidence. What else do you have to say?"
Shen Ruorou looked at the contemptuous faces around her, then looked at Shen Weiwan who was sneering. Suddenly, her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground. She knew that she was completely finished. Chuntao's testimony was like the last straw, crushing all her excuses.
“Elder,” Shen Weiwan suddenly spoke, with a hint of “reluctance” in her voice, “After all, my cousin is my blood relative, why not…”
"Shut up!" The third elder interrupted her in a stern tone, "How can we tolerate such a person with bad behavior and evil heart!" He paused and looked at the steward next to him, "Go! Drag Shen Ruorou to the woodshed and keep her under strict supervision! No one is allowed to approach without my order!"
Several maids came forward and unceremoniously lifted Shen Ruorou up. She was dragged away like a puddle of mud, cursing non-stop: "Shen Weiwan! You will not die a good death! Even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go!"
"Go slowly, cousin," Shen Weiwan leaned against the corridor pillar, her voice crisp, "There are many mosquitoes in the firewood room, remember to ask the maid to bring you more mugwort."
Only after Shen Ruorou's shouting and cursing disappeared outside the Moon Gate did the main courtyard return to silence. Chuntao stood up from the ground, with red marks on her knees, but she smiled smugly: "Miss, what I said just now was quite powerful, wasn't it?"
Shen Weiwan patted her shoulder approvingly: "That's great! Thanks to you this time, otherwise she would have gotten away with it."
The third elder looked at Shen Weiwan with a complicated look. He was silent for a long while before he slowly spoke: "Weiwan, you... Well, forget it, you can take care of yourself." After that, he left with the help of the servants.
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