What exactly is being hidden in Chapter 344?
Shen Wantang said coldly, "Why is the young master in such a hurry to leave? Are you afraid?"
"What a joke! You think I'd be afraid of you?"
"Since you're not afraid, then stay and answer my questions."
"Shen Wantang, who do you think you are? Why should I answer whatever you ask? Are you an official from the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review?"
Shen Wantang looked straight at him: "I am the mistress of the Prince's mansion. I have the right to inquire about the death of a maid in my household! If I don't care about the death of a person, then what difference is there between me and the Prince, an official of the Court of Judicial Review who doesn't care about human life?"
Xiao Qingyuan was both shocked and furious: "Shen Wantang, watch your mouth!"
Shen Wantang said with some disdain, "I only asked a few very basic questions, why are you so anxious?"
"You bought Huayi a few lychees, she ate a few, and there are a few left. Is it hard to answer that?"
"Your Highness's secrecy only raises suspicions. You don't think you're protecting Huayi, do you?"
"Your Highness is so mistaken. If you take her away today, she will become the prime suspect. From now on, everyone will suspect that Chun Die's death is related to her."
Xiao Qingyuan angrily said, "Nonsense! Shen Wantang, don't wrong Huayi. How can you be so vicious? Huayi speaks well of you in front of me every day. She sincerely respects you, but you actually smear her!"
Seeing his angry expression, Shen Wantang's doubts deepened. What was originally only three-tenths of a suspicion had now become seven-tenths.
"Why do you say that, Your Highness? Did I say that Chun Die was killed by Hua Yi? I was just asking her how many lychees she ate. Why won't you let her answer? What are you hiding, Your Highness?"
"I--"
Xiao Qingyuan only managed to utter one word before the rest got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything more.
He was, of course, trying to hide the fact that he had only brought back one lychee. More importantly, for some reason, he also subconsciously wanted to hide the fact that the lychee he brought back was rotten.
Although his expression was angry and his voice was bluffing, a sense of unease was welling up inside him.
After he gave the lychees to Huayi, he told her to throw them away, but he didn't know whether Huayi actually threw them away or where she threw them.
If Huayi threw it away, but Chundie picked it up and ate it, wouldn't he be the one who killed Chundie?
Although he despised Chun Die for being stupid and ugly, she was still a human life.
Chun Die could choke to death, die from illness, fall to her death, and so on, but she couldn't be killed by him! Otherwise, what difference would Xiao Qingyuan make from those beasts who don't treat maids like human beings?!
Seeing Xiao Qingyuan's changing expression, Shen Wantang knew perfectly well that he was hiding something. She instructed Granny Chai, "Granny, take someone to Xinghe Courtyard. After eating the lychees, there should be peels and pits left. Go and count how many there are."
"yes."
"Also, go check the servants' quarters to see if there are any fruit peels or pits. If there are, bring them back. If not, search carefully to see if there are any other foods brought back from outside the manor."
"yes."
Granny Chai accepted the order and left.
Xiao Qingyuan's face turned slightly pale. He couldn't help but look at Huayi and asked her in a low voice, "Did you eat the lychees I gave you?"
The painting gently shook its head.
Xiao Qingyuan's expression suddenly changed: "You didn't eat?!"
Hua Yirou said softly, "I couldn't bear to eat it; it's still in the brocade box that the young master brought back!"
A cold sweat broke out on Xiao Qingyuan's back: "Are you sure it's still in the brocade box?"
Hua Yi smiled gently at him: "It's definitely still there. I was thinking of peeling it open again today and eating it with the young master."
"No! Please don't eat it!"
"Well... alright, the prince can decide on the painting."
Xiao Qingyuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Lizhi was still alive, Chundie's death had nothing to do with him.
Of course, it has nothing to do with the artistic conception.
After waiting for a while, Granny Chai returned with her entourage.
Xiao Qingyuan stared intently at her, and when he saw that she was wrapping something in a handkerchief, his heart skipped a beat. Had Granny Chai brought that rotten lychee?
When Granny Chai opened the handkerchief and he saw what was inside, his heart, which had been pounding violently, almost stopped beating instantly!
That wasn't a whole lychee; it was a bunch of lychee shells!
He cried out, "Where are my lychees? Who? Who ate the lychees I gave to Huayi?!"
Hua Yi was utterly shocked: "How did the lychees the young master gave me turn out like this? Granny Chai, you found these in the brocade box, didn't you?"
Granny Chai completely ignored her. Holding the lychee shells, she respectfully said to Shen Wantang, "Your Highness, this is all I found. I pieced it together and found that this should only be the shell of one lychee, not two or more."
Shen Wantang glanced at the small clump of lychee shells. She had just eaten some yesterday, so she knew the amount of lychee shells. This was indeed only the amount from one lychee.
She looked at Xiao Qingyuan: "Did the young master only bring back one lychee for Huayi?"
Xiao Qingyuan's pale face suddenly flushed red: "So what if I am? Are you trying to mock me and make fun of me?! Don't you know better than anyone that I don't have a monthly allowance? Where am I supposed to buy so many lychees if I don't have any money? This one was a gift from Yuan Zheng!"
For the first time, Shen Wantang's tone carried impatience: "Chun Die is dead, and I have no mind to mock the young master. I'm just confirming the number of lychees with the young master! Please put away your messy thoughts and stop making malicious speculations!"
"You!! You still have the nerve to be right?!"
"Your Highness, answer me now: who ate this lychee?"
"have no idea!"
"It wasn't eaten by the young master?"
"Of course not me! I don't care to eat this kind of thing. I'm already tired of it!"
"That's what Huayi ate?"
"How could that be? Huayi didn't even dare to eat it. After I gave it to her, she put it in the brocade box!"
"That's what Spring Butterfly ate?"
"have no idea!"
Xiao Qingyuan's voice was very firm, but he felt a chill run down his spine. The truth of the matter seemed to be becoming clearer and clearer under Shen Wantang's questioning, and it was becoming more and more difficult for him to accept.
At the head of the table, Shen Wantang's icy voice pierced through the almost frozen air and drilled into his ears: "Even though this lychee is just a shell, you can tell it's rotten and can't be eaten at all!"
"Huayi, you answer this: Did Chundie eat this lychee?"
Hua Yi lowered her head and said meekly, "Princess Consort, the Prince just said that I put the lychees in the brocade box. I really don't know who ate them."
"However, Chundie knew that I put it in the brocade box. Last night, after the young master returned, Chundie wanted to go in and serve him a bath. I thought that she had worked hard all day, so I didn't let her in. I went in and served the young master myself. When I came out again, Chundie was no longer in the room."
"But I don't think it was Chun Die who stole the lychees. She's an honest person and not the kind of person who would steal. Besides, the brocade box doesn't look like it's been touched."
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