Chapter 20 Force her to apologize, then slap her!
The moment Xie Guidu appeared, he attracted the attention of all the noble ladies. Some were stunned and stared at him with wide eyes.
When Baochuan saw the newcomer, she was overjoyed as if she had seen a savior. She embellished the story and recounted the whole tale. In the end, she was still indignant, saying, "Fourth Miss has too much of a temper. I don't know why she has to pick on a zither."
Cuizhi glared at her fiercely, "You're talking nonsense! You were the one who begged us to bring the zither in for you..."
Xie Guidu's eyes were icy cold as he swept his gaze across the zither, which was now completely ruined, and his forehead throbbed with pain.
Dou Wenyi smashed the zither out of jealousy; she couldn't stand it when she gave Dou Mingyan even the slightest thing.
Unfortunately, this fine instrument suffered an undeserved misfortune.
However, she shouldn't have made things so embarrassing.
Dou Wenyi interrupted Cuizhi, "Alright, Third Sister is good-natured and won't argue with you. Don't you know the occasion? Do you even have the right to speak here?"
A hint of surprise flashed across Meng Jingshu's eyes.
Dou Mingyan allowed her maid to falsely accuse her sister, regardless of right or wrong. Airing family scandals in public is not the behavior of a lady from a respectable family.
On the contrary, this Miss Dou was calm and composed, and knew how to advance and retreat. Now she made a double entendre, clearly showing who was superior.
Xie Mengyao was indignant. "Brother, Sister Mingyan has a competition this afternoon, and she has to deal with this kind of trouble. Where can we go to seek justice... Dou Wenyi has gone too far!"
Xie Guidu replied gently, "Mingyan, I'll find someone to repair this zither for you. I have a few other fine zithers in my collection, and I'll have Moyu bring them over to you later. The zither being damaged is a small matter; there's no need to let it spoil your mood."
Dou Mingyan's eyes were red, and she said softly, "Thank you, Your Highness. It's alright if I don't participate in the competition this afternoon."
Since the person in question showed no intention of pursuing the matter further, the noble ladies naturally had no objections.
Xie Guidu turned and glanced at Dou Wenyi. "Wenyi, your brother is at the Dripping Water Pavilion. He needs to see you. You should go there first."
As expected, Xie Guidu never disappointed her, always favoring Dou Mingyan and letting others smear her.
If she walks out of here today, her shameful act of framing her elder sister will spread throughout Tianning City tomorrow.
Dou Wenyi curled her lips in self-deprecation, "Young Master Xie, do you also think I damaged this zither?"
Xie Guidu's two handsome eyebrows furrowed instantly, his eyes flashing with a sharp glint. "Mingyan already said she wouldn't hold it against you, why bring it up again?"
Dou Wenyi glanced at Baochuan, then suddenly squatted down.
With a loud slap, a resounding hand landed on Baochuan's face.
Everyone was stunned.
Xie Guidu frowned slightly. She dared to slap Mingyan's maid in front of noble ladies, so how could she possibly act so arrogantly in the Dou family!
Dou Wenyi gripped Baochuan's collar, forcing her to look directly into her eyes. "You said you never opened the zither case?"
Baochuan trembled with fear, "I didn't, I really didn't!"
Dou Wenyi laughed, "Really? But why do your hands smell of mugwort and camphor?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.
Xie Guidu immediately realized that the zither case originally contained mugwort and camphor. The scent of camphor was not easy to dissipate, and if one accidentally touched it, even after washing one's hands, there would still be some residue.
Baochuan must have touched the zither case to have gotten that smell on it!
Baochuan's face turned deathly pale. She kept picking at her fingers, anxiously protesting, "No... I didn't!"
Dou Wenyi turned and looked at Xie Guidu provocatively, "Just because you're not sensitive to smells doesn't mean others can't smell them. For example, Young Master Xie has an exceptionally keen sense of smell and can tell who's lying."
Xie Guidu grew increasingly agitated, his handsome face now covered with an icy expression.
Now that things have come to this, how could he not see that there was something wrong with that maid?
But how could she dare to order herself to smell Baochuan's hands?
What is he?
Dou Wenyi released her, gracefully stood up, and flicked the wrinkles off her dress.
"The crack in the body of the instrument was a sunken pit, clearly in a semi-circular shape. The gap was relatively neat, indicating that it was not damaged by something with sharp edges like a stone. It looked more like it was damaged by something like a bronze ruyi."
“We were led in by an old woman when we came in, and then we met Princess Fu’an near the waterside pavilion. It’s only been a short while since we arrived at Biyue Pavilion. Where am I supposed to conjure up a murder weapon?”
Xie Guidu frowned slightly. He had watched her walk into the Biyue Pavilion, and they had indeed not opened the zither case.
Dou Mingyan swayed precariously, as if she had been bullied. "Fourth Sister, don't worry. Baochuan has ulterior motives, and I will not let her off easily! These are all minor matters; let's go back and talk about them later, lest we become a laughingstock..."
When Baochuan's gaze met Dou Mingyan's warning look, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground, weeping bitterly.
"This servant deserves to die, Fourth Miss, spare my life, spare my life... This servant accidentally broke the zither, and fearing punishment, this servant shouldn't have wronged Fourth Miss..."
Dou Wenyi felt a sense of irony upon hearing this. "Third Sister, you'd better keep your eyes open in the future, lest others say you're not strict with your subordinates!"
Dou Mingyan covered her face with her sleeve and wept, "Baochuan, you've hurt me like this, what will people think is my fault... Where do you place me?"
Baochuan froze, glanced at Dou Mingyan, and then desperately raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the face.
With a few slaps, her cheeks swelled up, and blood trickled from the corners of her lips.
The inner room was silent, save for Dou Mingyan's suppressed sobs.
"That's enough, Baochuan. Go down and wait for your young lady to decide your fate," Xie Guidu said, stopping her.
He glanced at her irritably, and the worry that had just risen in his heart vanished instantly. "Why spoil such a pleasant gathering?"
Is it her fault for spoiling the mood?
"Is Prince Xie blaming me?" Dou Wenyi frowned.
She thought Xie Guidu would at least uphold justice in public, but she never expected him to care for Dou Mingyan so much.
How could a mere maidservant dare to act on her own and jump out to falsely accuse her?
Dou Mingyan forced Baochuan to become a scapegoat. With Xie Guidu's intelligence, could he really not see through the intricacies of this situation?
He believed her clumsy trick and defended her in every way.
"Wenyi, this is truly disgraceful. You should apologize to your third sister right now." Xie Guidu's voice was slightly cold.
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