Sun Yaowen went pale as soon as he saw the situation unfolding, he stood there unable to move, slapping his forehead and yelling, "What are you talking about?! How could I, I, I possibly..."
His tone, however, obviously betrayed his guilty conscience.
Yi Ling glared fiercely at him, gesturing him to shut up, before addressing the household servants that had barged in, "What do you mean by this? Don’t spread baseless rumors! Are you trying to randomly accuse us? Did Ji Xiulan say something to Madame Sun?"
"We’re just following orders, dare not say more. Not only do we need to search Young Master’s place, but the entire residence as well. Please don’t make it hard on us, Concubine Yun." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Upon hearing this, Yi Ling was taken aback for a moment, her face changing slightly, "Searching the entire place?"
What did that mean?
Yi Ling instantly became somewhat perplexed.
It wasn’t until they went to see Madame Sun that they found the place bustling with activity. An entire roomful of people was kneeling, whether they were masters or servants, all were down on their knees.
Some servants who couldn’t find space to kneel had to do so outside the room.
Yi Ling couldn’t help but gape, taking some time to recover before joining them on her knees.
Madame Sun was furious, cursing, "You unfilial descendants! To think you’d even go as far as plotting against Grandpa Sun for the inheritance! What kind of monsters have our Sun Family produced!"
Yi Ling and Sun Yaowen exchanged a glance, both looking bewildered.
After listening to some more of the commotion, they realized that the little maid who had accused Ji Xiulan of hiding poison had been tortured into confessing that she had been manipulated.
Even the few servants who had accused Ji Xiulan of being First Young Master Sun’s woman were full of lies.
The entire affair fell apart on its own, and both First Young Master Sun and Ji Xiulan were vindicated. However, it was a fact that Grandpa Sun had died from chronic poisoning, which could not be faked.
So Madame Sun ordered a thorough investigation, and the entire household was to be searched.
Everyone in the residence was currently kneeling here, waiting for the results.
Silence fell upon the room, as Madame Sun seemed to lose her strength, too tired to even curse and only waiting for the results.
Finally, a servant ran in, kneeling and reporting, "Madame, we’ve searched every courtyard as ordered, and we found hidden drug residues in the courtyards of Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Young Masters!"
Shock spread through the room, with almost everyone looking dumbfounded, "How could this be?"
Sun Yaowen’s face turned extremely ugly.
Now that drug residues had been found in everyone’s courtyards, it became even more unclear who the real culprit was.
Sun Yaowen suddenly looked over at Ji Xiulan, who was kneeling closest to Madame Sun. She was sobbing silently, with a wronged expression on her face.
Sun Yaowen’s heart was filled with mixed emotions, as he couldn’t think clearly about the current situation with his limited intellect.
But even though he couldn’t figure it out, Yi Ling didn’t have a much better grasp on the situation either. It had all happened too suddenly, and there was no direct accusation pointing at anyone. The entire matter felt nonsensical.
What she was more worried about at this point, however, was that now that the Young Master of Sun family had been cleared, he would undoubtedly claim most of the inheritance. What were they to do then? Hadn’t all their previous calculations been rendered futile?
As she thought about this, Yi Ling’s expression worsened.
Yet, she didn’t pay much attention to Ji Xiulan, thinking that the foolish woman had simply been lucky this time, and vowing that she wouldn’t let her off so easily next time!
But... Yi Ling couldn’t help but wonder, was it really just luck?
As for the Sun family’s current situation, it had become a case without any leads. Drug residues were found in every courtyard—was it possible that everyone had worked together to harm Grandpa Sun?
The matter couldn’t be resolved for the time being, leaving Madame Sun to vent her anger until it eventually died down.
Throughout this entire situation, Sun Yaowen had been in a daze, feeling as if he’d experienced a series of highs and lows that didn’t allow his mind to catch up.
It wasn’t until he entered his courtyard that he saw Ji Xiulan suddenly appearing from a dark corner.
"Young Master," Ji Xiulan’s eyes were red and swollen, giving her a pitiful look.
Seeing her so delicate, Sun Yaowen couldn’t help but feel a wave of tenderness sweep over him, "Xiulan?"
Sun Yaowen, unaware of the scheme against Ji Xiulan that had backfired on Yi Ling, never had any intentions of knowing the details, as he now simply felt that Ji Xiulan was rather lucky to have escaped the ordeal.
However, Yi Ling’s expression wasn’t all that good, "Auntie Ji, what are you doing here? Be careful not to let others see you."
Ji Xiulan glanced at her with a touch of hatred in her eyes, but still forced herself to act pitiful, "I need to speak privately with the Fifth Young Master."
Yi Ling was of course unwilling to agree, and Sun Yaowen felt that it wasn’t quite appropriate given the circumstances, so he furrowed his brow, "Just say it outright."
Ji Xiulan looked around, noticing that there weren’t any other people nearby, before finally stuttering with tears in her eyes, "I-I’m pregnant."
Upon hearing this, Yi Ling felt as if she had been struck by a bolt from the blue, and Sun Yaowen’s eyes bulged, "Wha-what?! This child..."
Ji Xiulan threw herself into his embrace, "Of course it’s yours. Who else do you think could have gotten me pregnant? Do you really think that Grandpa Sun, with his frail body, would still be able to conceive a child with me? I just found out about this today, and I’m both shocked and scared, so I came to you."
As she spoke, Sun Yaowen became stiff, unsure of how to react to the situation.
Not waiting for any response, Ji Xiulan sobbed, "If you don’t want to acknowledge this child, then I’ll have no choice but to tell Madame Sun. I’ll say that I’m carrying Grandpa Sun’s child, but I don’t know whether she’d believe me or not..."
Her words seemed wronged, but they carried an undertone of threat.
If Sun Yaowen refused to acknowledge the child, Ji Xiulan would have Madame Sun acknowledge it. Naturally, Madame Sun wouldn’t believe that a dying old man could have fathered the child and would surely investigate. That would inevitably expose Sun Yaowen and her affair.
At that point, if Ji Xiulan were to face death, she would have to drag Sun Yaowen down with her.
Sure enough, upon hearing her words, Sun Yaowen jumped in fear, hastily saying, "We can’t do that!"
Ji Xiulan’s teary eyes looked at him, "Then what do you plan to do?"
Sun Yaowen hurriedly replied, "Of course it’s my child! How could I not acknowledge them? It’s just that right now, during the division of the inheritance, it’s really inconvenient..."
Ji Xiulan nonchalantly smiled, "It’s okay, I’ll stay with Madame Sun and serve her until the inheritance is divided. Just remember to come get me then."
Though staying by the old lady’s side meant taking some abuse, it also meant that Yi Ling couldn’t hurt her as easily. Furthermore, staying with the old lady made Ji Xiulan akin to a ticking time bomb:, the moment Sun Yaowen dared to betray her, she would reveal everything to Madame Sun, taking him down with her!
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