Su Nuannuan came to the door of the second room in a threatening manner and confronted the second wife, which made the appetite of the army of peeping people whetted. Just as the scene was about to reach its climax, she suddenly became interested in the mental journey of a little girl and asked her about it slowly, which made everyone, including Shi Yurou, spit out blood.
"I knew it was Grandmother's cat, but I didn't let it go because of Grandmother. I am Second Mistress's maid, how could I betray her? It's just... it's just a beast, how innocent? So... I deliberately let it go. But I didn't dare to be too conspicuous, so I waited until the opportunity came before letting it go. I didn't expect that Madam Liu saw through it, so I was still punished when I came back."
It is unknown whether this little girl named Xing'er has any intentions, but Su Nuannuan saw a sense of pride in her. Perhaps because she was a slave, this pride was rarely shown in front of others, but it was never completely erased. So at such a moment, after Su Nuannuan's words, this pride was immediately aroused again.
Su Nuannuan sighed softly and nodded to Xing'er: "You are a good person." Then she looked up at Shi Yurou and said with a smile: "It seems that things are very clear now. Aunt Liu, do you have anything else to say?"
The face of Mrs. Liu changed several times, and after a long while, she kowtowed in panic and said, "Grandma, please forgive me. I admit that I killed the cat, but I didn't know it was your cat. It was only when I went to Aunt Lin's house with Second Madam that day that I saw the cat and knew it was the one that bit Second Madam's cat. So I wanted to kill it to curry favor with Second Madam. That's why... that's why I made a big mistake. But I really didn't know it was your cat. If I knew, even if I had ten guts, I wouldn't dare to do such a thing. Grandma, you are very insightful."
"That's nonsense."
Xiangyun couldn't help it any longer, she stood up and pointed at Granny Liu and shouted, "Everyone in the mansion knows that the cat of the second young lady is now kept in the grandmother's room. Even the young master likes it very much. You have a wide range of friends in this mansion. You even know how many rat nests there are in the east corner. How could you not know about this? The reason you are so bold is probably that you didn't expect our grandmother to stand up for a cat when you were beating her. Now our grandmother is here. You were scared, so you denied it. Now that you've been exposed, you say you didn't know it was our cat. Do you think you can get away with it by pretending to be ignorant? Bah! You wish for it."
"Oh! This girl has such a sharp tongue, but it's a pity that she was born a girl. If it was a boy, I'm afraid he wouldn't become a powerful person who can solve cases like a god in the future?" Shi Yurou suddenly sneered, and immediately choked Xiangyun. The little girl was not convinced. She wanted to say more, but Honglian gently pulled the corner of her clothes, so she had to retreat reluctantly.
Honglian's meaning was very clear: people of the Second Grandma's level had to be dealt with by the First Grandma, and if they dared to talk back, it would be a lack of respect for the superior and would only cause trouble for their own grandma. Sure enough, Su Nuannuan laughed and said, "The Second Sister-in-law doesn't need to mock a little girl like this. She was also very distressed when she saw Zhaocai almost being beaten to death."
After saying that, she turned to Mrs. Liu, walked up to her and paced back and forth for a few steps, as if she was thinking of some bad idea, which made Mrs. Liu very nervous. Suddenly, she said, "Now I want to ask you a question. You are not allowed to think about it. You must answer it immediately. If you can answer it, I will admit that you are not guilty of ignorance and will not pursue it. What do you think? Do you dare?"
Mrs. Liu really didn't dare to do so, but she didn't dare to shrink back at this moment, so she had to grit her teeth and said, "Madam, please ask, I will tell you everything I know."
"Okay." Su Nuannuan nodded: "Let me ask you, what color is your grandma's cat?"
"White."
"What's your name?"
"Snowball."
"When did it fight with the second girl's cat? You don't need to tell me the exact time, just an approximate time."
"Hmm! About three months ago."
"Who went to Aunt Lin's place at that time?"
"Me, Granny Fang, Tao'er, Biyu, and two servants, Daxi and Erxi."
“So many people couldn’t stop it?”
"I didn't stop it. The cat ran too fast."
"Then I adopted this cat. What did you guys say behind my back?"
"We all say that the eldest grandmother doesn't give face to the second wife..."
The voice stopped here, and Liu Pozi covered her mouth with a pale face, but it was too late. The high tension and the unknowing rapid questions and answers made her unprepared and was caught off guard. Su Nuannuan sneered, stood up and looked at Shi Yurou calmly, and said lightly: "Second Madam, did you hear it? Do you have anything else to say?"
Shi Yurou's face turned the color of liver, and she looked at Mrs. Liu with a look that made her want to eat her alive. But Su Nuannuan also turned to Mrs. Liu and said in a deep voice, "You think that I adopted Zhaocai and didn't give face to your second branch, so you deliberately tried to win back this face for your second branch. Haha! You don't want to kill the cat? You just want to slap the face of me, the wife of the prince. If I don't punish you today, I'm afraid everyone in the Marquis' Mansion will think that my face is easy to slap, and it's okay to slap it, Second Madam, don't you think this is the truth?"
"Sister-in-law, your words are too kind." At this point, Shi Yurou had no choice but to sacrifice the pawns to save the chariot. She could only squeeze out words from between her teeth and said, "These servants... are really bold. Sister-in-law will take them away and let you deal with them as you wish."
"Second Madam, you can't do this..."
Liu Pozi was frightened to death. Who didn't know how cruel the eldest grandmother was? He Xiang was pregnant with my father's child, and she dared to harm him. I am just a servant. If I fall into her hands, do I still want to survive? Because of the fear for a moment, I completely forgot the consequences and shouted desperately: "Second grandmother, we are following your orders..."
"Shut up." Shi Yurou's eyes turned red with anger. She had originally thought that as long as Liu Pozi and the others passed this test, they would be slowly transferred back to her side to serve her and make up for it. After all, it was not easy to cultivate a few confidants. Who knew that this old woman was so unreasonable and wanted to drag her down with her. If possible, Shi Yurou really wanted to kick her to death.
"Sister-in-law, this old fellow cannot be kept. First, he tried to guess my feelings and beat your cat to please me, sowing discord between us sisters-in-law. Now that the truth has been revealed, he is trying to frame me. Such a cunning and sinister slave should be beaten to death with a big stick to serve as a warning to others."
Shi Yurou shouted murderously, and her beautiful face looked a little ferocious.
"Beating someone to death for a cat is a bit too much. Don't worry, sister-in-law, I will be careful when I do it."
Su Nuannuan was merciful again, and Shi Yurou was so angry that she was shaking: Damn, you have a sense of propriety now? You brought people to my house aggressively, and you call this a sense of propriety? You didn't have a sense of propriety when you should have, but you had it when you shouldn't? You did it on purpose, right?
In the end, Su Nuannuan only beat the maids with ten boards each and deducted their monthly salary for half a year; the two little girls were punished with five boards because of their young age, and their monthly salary was deducted for three months. Even so, it was enough for them to drink a pot. Su Nuannuan made it clear: I beat you not because you dared to beat my cat, but because you shouted excitedly during the beating of the cat. At such a young age, it is not advisable to have such a vicious mind. Remember this board in the future, remember to be kind, this Hou Mansion still abides by the rules, and cruel people will have retribution.
This was passed on to the masters by the army of peekers. Madam Yang spit out her tea on the spot and muttered, "The sun is rising from the west. This cruel woman wants others to be kind. Is she really repentant or just pretending? I can't tell."
The old lady was wiping the dominoes on the kang. After hearing the servant's report, she didn't say anything for a long time. When the man left and she and Qiu Ling were the only ones left in the room, she put away the dominoes and said with a smile, "I thought this child couldn't stand the slightest grievance and would get angry when provoked. Now it seems that I was worrying too much. Isn't this a very clear way to deal with things?"
Qiu Ling smiled and said, "She just can't stand being wronged, otherwise she would have gone to the Second Mistress's house. But no one expected that in the end she would be raised high and then let go gently."
Old Lady Fang smiled and said, "That's the right thing to do. Tingye and his wife have indeed become a little strange in the past two years, so let Nuannuan go and scare them away. As for the old women, although they have bad intentions, can we really beat them to death or maim them for a cat? That would be too overbearing. We should punish them, deduct a few months' salary, and teach them a lesson so that they won't dare to do anything wrong in the future. They were not the original source, and Nuannuan was not targeting them."
Qiu Ling smiled and said, "What you said makes sense, but I think that Grandma was too rash this time. Just wait and see, I don't know how many people will come to you to complain in the next few days. After all, it's just a cat. This is a bit of a big fuss, and I don't know how many people will be thinking about it."
Old Lady Fang said calmly, "It's just a cat, but these days, I don't know how many people are staring at it. Because I haven't been in charge of things these years, the backyard is really a bit out of place. Everyone knows that I value rules, so they are all well-behaved on the surface, pretending to be harmonious. How many secret things have they done secretly? I know some of them, and I don't know some of them, but I just turn a blind eye and don't bother to care. Anyway, it can't turn the world upside down. In fact, they don't understand me. What are the rules and etiquette on the surface? It counts only if you have it in your heart. So I never say much about Nuannuan's insolence. You probably think I love to eat her food, so I don't care. How is that the reason? It's just because the child is fierce, but in her bones she is a good child who really understands the rules and is kind, so I like her."
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