The young man, who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, stood there with a gloomy expression, looking Hong Xiaoduo up and down, and then gave the woman a displeased look.
The stewardess who brought my cousin here only said that my cousin had been bullied. The maid who served my cousin during her bath also said that my cousin had several bruises on her body. But the stewardess Liu didn't say who bullied my cousin. It turned out to be a young woman who seemed to be even younger than my cousin!
"Is it you who bullied my cousin Xun, leaving her covered in injuries?" he questioned in a deep voice.
Hong Xiaoduo laughed upon hearing this, and pointed at the smug-looking stewardess, saying, "I don't know what she told you, but from beginning to end I didn't even touch your cousin Xun's sleeve. Her injuries have nothing to do with me."
You don't seem like a fool, so why did you come here based solely on her side of the story? And with so many servants? Is this a scene of a brawl?
If you really want to settle scores with a stranger like me who's just passing through, isn't that going a bit too far? May I ask, sir, don't you have any shame?
Or is it that the young master is always this arrogant and domineering?
He had barely uttered a question when he was met with a barrage of insults. The young man's face turned quite ugly. Although he was annoyed that he had come without fully understanding the situation, he was already standing there, and leaving now would only make him look worse.
"Young lady, you are quite eloquent; I am ashamed to admit my inferiority. But tell me, how did my cousin Xun get those bruises?" the young man continued, forcing himself to speak.
My aunt has five children, and she was nearly fifty when she finally had this one daughter, so naturally she was spoiled and pampered. She came to stay for a few days and was even bullied and injured; how could he, as her cousin, possibly ignore it?
When her mother asked her cousin Xun what had happened, Xun just cried in distress and refused to say a word.
At this time, although there were few pedestrians on the street, there were still some who stopped in twos and threes to watch and whispered among themselves.
Seeing that there were onlookers, Hong Xiaoduo loudly explained the whole story to them: "That's what happened. Fellow villagers, I came here by the same route, but I don't know anyone here to rely on. So please help me judge who is right and who is wrong."
After she said this, the onlookers whispered among themselves. Although they all felt that Hong Xiaoduo was innocent, they all recognized who the young man was, and naturally dared not stand up for an outsider.
However, Hong Xiaoduo hadn't expected them to help her in the first place.
Public opinion is a fearsome thing. No matter how this matter ends today, it will spread tomorrow.
She looked at the young man and asked, "Isn't your family influential here? Then you must care about your reputation, right?"
"Young master, what I just said is the truth. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. As for the bruises on your cousin Xun's body, what kind of injury they are and how they came about, I do have a suggestion."
"There must be a government office in town. Go and ask a coroner to come and examine the body. That should find the answer." Hong Xiaoduo hadn't forgotten the other person's question and responded.
Upon hearing this, the onlookers gasped in shock. Just who was this young woman, speaking so rudely? She actually suggested calling a coroner to examine the injuries of a living person?
Is it because she's young and inexperienced that she speaks so recklessly? Or is there some other reason? She certainly doesn't seem like a helpless outsider.
Looking at the fifth young master of the Guan family, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
"Fifth Young Master, did you hear that? Is that lowly maid talking like a human being? Isn't she cursing Lady Xun to die?" The stewardess saw that the Fifth Young Master of her maternal uncle's family was being suppressed by this young lady, so she gritted her teeth and started the fire.
"Shut your mouth, you young master!" Young Master Guan was naturally furious.
Even if he didn't understand the whole story before accusing her, and even if this young lady was in the right, she shouldn't have spoken so rudely! She suggested having a female doctor examine the injuries, but it turned out to be a coroner!
The Guan family, who were extremely wealthy, were usually high-profile, but they never did anything wrong.
Unexpectedly, they were careless tonight. When Cousin Xun entered the mansion, she was in a sorry state, pale and shivering from the cold. The family was already heartbroken, and when Madam Liu recounted her ordeal on the road and what the maids said, they were even more furious. They were no longer able to think rationally about anything else.
If the carriage breaks down, it's just bad luck; blame the coachman for not checking the vehicle carefully before setting off. But if it's been bullied like this, then it's a man-made disaster, and of course the perpetrator should be held accountable.
But now, looking at the young woman in front of me, although her words were vicious, her eyes and her reactions were open and honest, so I felt that she was not the kind of person who would bully my cousin Xun.
Could it be that Lady Liu is lying? Young Master Guan stared at Lady Liu and saw that she looked flustered. He already had his answer.
"I understand now. The fault lies with the stewardess this time, but even so, you don't have to treat my cousin Xun like that. She has never had children around her at home. Is it possible that what the young lady saw was not that she disliked the child in the carriage, but that she was not used to it?"
I know her character well; she's kind-hearted. You're a woman yourself, so why couldn't you have shown her a little consideration? How could you be so heartless as to kick her off the carriage?
"How could you bear to let a pampered young lady who has never suffered any hardship sit shivering in the cold on a cargo cart? How could you do this to her?" Thinking of the scene when he first saw his cousin Xun in the mansion, Guan Wu Gongzi's emotions rose again, and his tone became unnaturally higher.
Hong Xiaoduo rolled her eyes after hearing this: "I say, young master, I'm too lazy to argue with you about whether that Xun lady is kind-hearted or not, because it has nothing to do with me. I just want to remind you, young master, not to try to morally blackmail me."
She's your cousin, so it's your business if you spoil her rotten. She's not related to you at all, so why should I take care of her or indulge her?
And they even questioned my conscience about how I could bear it? What a joke! I'm not some man who lusts after beautiful women, why would I need to pity or cherish them?
Alright, it's getting late. We've traveled a long way and are exhausted. We don't have time to waste with you, rich young master. We've said enough, so let me ask you, young master, what are you planning to do now?
"If they're going to fight, let them do it quickly, otherwise I'm going inside to rest." After saying that, Hong Xiaoduo placed her hand on the soft whip at her waist.
Hong Xiaoduo knew perfectly well that since the other party had brought so many people to demand an explanation and hadn't gained the upper hand, they wouldn't leave easily.
The reason she talked so much nonsense to the other party was mainly for the onlookers to hear.
"You?" This was the first time Guan Wu Gongzi, who was always respected and dared not provoke others, had ever seen a stranger, and a young woman at that, act so arrogantly...
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