Chapter 251: Clumsy Tricks
Even the old lady was so shocked that she was speechless.
The old lady was so angry when she saw her precious grandson being kicked by a concubine that her face turned red. She raised her cane and was about to hit Wen Wan.
Shen Yu stepped forward and held the old lady's cane.
"Grandma, you can't do that."
The old lady raised her voice, "Why not? Are you still going to protect her?"
"Grandmother." Shen Yu frowned and said in a deep voice, "Compared to the unjust injustice suffered by Aunt He Wan and her brother, the kick my grandson received is insignificant."
The old lady was about to refute, but Shen Yu quickly spoke first, "Grandma, after all, the person is here and won't run away. Why don't you wait until the matter is clear?"
The old lady stared at him blankly, and seeing his firm attitude, her anger calmed down a little.
Everyone in the General's Mansion knew Shen Yu's abilities. If he said there was injustice involved, could it be that there really was something behind it?
"For your sake, I will wait a moment. If Zhao Shi has not wronged her siblings, I will punish this ignorant Concubine Wan severely for all her crimes."
Shen Yu comforted the old lady, then turned around and made a gesture of invitation to Wen Wan.
Wen Wan glared at him. It was obvious that he had also noticed the clues, but he insisted that she be the one to uncover the truth.
Wen Wan didn't waste any time and asked Zhao directly, "Madam, please think carefully. Who knew that Bai Li'er could protect you from disaster?"
Zhao didn't want to pay attention to her, but the old lady signaled her to answer truthfully.
Zhao then reluctantly said, "This matter is very important to me, so naturally only the maids and servants brought by my mother's family know about it."
At this point, Zhao's heart skipped a beat, as if she realized something.
Wen Wan asked Wen En again, "Did you meet Bai Li'er at noon?"
Wen En replied coldly, "Yes, I did. It was just an ordinary Persian cat. But it wasn't a very nice cat. It might be afraid of me, so it would avoid me if it saw me."
Wen Wan nodded, "Did you drink alcohol at noon?"
"Sister, you know how much I can drink." Winn curled his lips, seeming reluctant to give that somewhat embarrassing answer.
As a man, how could he have the nerve to tell others about how much he could drink after just one glass of alcohol?
Wen Wan knew it, and Chen Yu also knew it. When they were in the border town, just a small glass of wine made him drunk for the whole night.
So, when the maid said that Wen En strangled Bai Li'er to death after getting drunk, she and Shen Yu knew that the maid was lying.
Wen Wan asked again, "This maid kept saying you were drunk. She must have smelled alcohol on you, so she made up the lie. Where did the smell of alcohol come from?"
From the maid's words, she figured out the clues and guessed that he smelled of alcohol.
Wen En couldn't help but give Wen Wan a thumbs up, "Sister is still so amazing. Today, when I was passing by the garden, a maid holding a wine jug bumped into me and spilled the wine all over me."
As he spoke, Wen En looked behind Zhao, his eyes fixed, and he raised his hand to point at the last maid with a black mole on her face.
"That's her."
The maidservant with the black mole came out timidly, and the old lady asked, "Is what he said the truth?"
The maid knelt on the ground and replied, "Yes, I was in a hurry and accidentally bumped into the young master."
The old lady frowned and asked again, "Did he look drunk at that time?"
The maidservant with the black mole shook her head and said, "Looking at the young master's gait, he doesn't look drunk."
The truth came out and the maid's lies were exposed in public.
Thinking back to Wen Wan’s first question, the only people who knew Bai Li’er’s importance were the few slaves and maids that came as dowry from Zhao’s family, including this little maid.
The clue was obvious. This little maid clearly wanted to pin Bai Li'er's death on this rude young master.
Wen Wan sighed, "My brother has indeed been a bit of a mischief. He's done a lot of ridiculous things in the mansion these past few days. You think that if you pin this on him, it won't arouse suspicion? In fact, given his and my status, I'm afraid he won't be able to defend himself, right?"
When ordinary people do evil things, they must have a motive.
Wen Wan looked at Zhao again and said, "Madam, I believe that this little maidservant usually takes care of Bai Li'er. If she is not considerate enough, you should punish her severely. If this continues for a long time, she will feel resentful."
Zhao, who was originally furious, seemed to have not expected that Wen Wan would analyze the whole story in just a few words.
Although Zhao was not as smart as her, she was able to understand the meaning after such a clear explanation.
Zhao's figure swayed, and she covered her forehead and whispered, "I'm being strict, but it's just to make her pay more attention..."
Wen Wan couldn't help but shook her head again, "But have you ever thought about how your punishment is passed down layer by layer? Your one point of severity, when passed down from the old nanny, the personal maid, and the maid in charge, becomes eight points of severity."
Zhao was shocked and seemed a little unconvinced.
Wen Wan pursed her lips, glanced at the little maid who was lying on the ground and shivering, hesitated for a moment, and walked up to the little maid.
She lifted up the maid's trouser legs and saw layers of cane scars on her fair calves, some new and some old.
The little maidservant retracted her legs in embarrassment. Perhaps she knew that her guilt was already confirmed, and her expression showed a look of despair and determination.
"But even so, she shouldn't have killed my Bai Li'er!"
Zhao came to her senses and still showed no mercy. With Ling'er's help, she stood up and said, "Now that we have found the culprit, let's deal with her."
"Yes!" Ling'er directed two servants to pull the little maid out of the yard.
Zhao knew she was in the wrong, so she glanced at the expressionless Shen Yu, and then at the very embarrassed old lady.
Zhao lowered her head and actually bowed in Wen Wan's direction.
"Aunt Wan, I'm sorry. I misunderstood you and your brother. Tomorrow I'll have someone send over some excellent supplements to calm you down."
She then said to the old lady and Shen Yu, "Old lady, I'm sorry to have caused you trouble because of what happened to the people in my yard."
The old lady held Zhao's hand lovingly and said, "What are you talking about? It's that lowly servant who is too hateful. What does it have to do with you? You look unwell. Go back and rest."
"Thank you, ma'am."
After Zhao finished the ceremony, she led everyone out of the courtyard.
As soon as she left, the old lady didn't want to stay even a moment longer.
The old lady said to Shen Yu, "Look, how sensible is Zhao? She knows she's in the wrong, yet she apologizes to a concubine. Poor Zhao, she works so hard for the general's mansion, but she can't please you at all. Alas..."
The old lady also left with her people.
The courtyard was peaceful again, but unfortunately, Wen Wan was in no mood to taste the delicious food prepared by Chef Zheng. She just said she had no appetite and went back to her room and closed the door.
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