“So it was Xiangqiao coveting wealth and treasures, framing an innocent person!”

One stone stirred up a thousand ripples. The guests immediately began discussing amongst themselves. They had originally thought this was the second miss of the household detesting the third miss, sisters at odds, with Jiang Li’s vicious act of cursing Jiang Youyao. Who would have expected that in the end, it turned out to be a personal maid whose eyes opened wide at the sight of money, framing an innocent person.

This way, the matter became quite simple. Originally, it was Jiang Li’s personal maid Xiangqiao who had unclean hands and feet, wanting to steal the gift Jiang Li was giving to Jiang Youyao. But fearing the matter would be exposed and traced back to herself, she simply went and found a headdress of much inferior quality to switch it with.

Xiangqiao shook her head desperately, hugging Jiang Li’s legs and saying: “It’s not true, it’s not true! Those jewelry pieces were all bestowed upon this servant by Second Miss! This servant didn’t steal them. Second Miss, please speak up for this servant!”

Those jewelry hairpins indeed weren’t stolen by Xiangqiao. However, Jiang Li would not admit this.

Jiang Li merely looked at her, opening her mouth with great heartache: “Xiangqiao, I treated you well. Why would you treat me this way? Moreover, my own funds are not abundant. After spending all my silver to buy a headdress for Third Sister, the remaining jewelry was all I had left. These jewelry pieces are not inexpensive. If I rewarded you with one or two pieces, that would be one thing, but to reward you with all of them—in all of Yanjing, people who could be this generous are probably few and far between!”

The surrounding guests all nodded. That was exactly right. When servants performed well, giving them more rewards was understandable. But whose money came from thin air? To be so lavish, giving an entire box of jewelry to a servant—unless one’s brain was damaged. Moreover, as Second Miss Jiang just said, all her silver had been used to buy the coming-of-age gift for Third Miss Jiang. The remaining jewelry couldn’t possibly be casually bestowed on others—she lacked the means to do so.

Xiangqiao stared blankly at Jiang Li. Jiang Li’s expression was so sincere without a trace of pretense that Xiangqiao almost became confused herself.

She had only been focused on coveting Jiang Li’s box of treasures. When Jiang Li generously bestowed them, she happily accepted. But she hadn’t expected that for a master to give a servant so many things was already extremely abnormal. She had only thought that Jiang Li was a country bumpkin who didn’t understand social customs, never imagining that the things she accepted so readily would become a death warrant.

Ji Shuran had asked her to tamper with the coming-of-age gift Jiang Li was sending. But Xiangqiao’s appetite had been spoiled recently, her courage had also grown, and seeing that headdress, she too had been tempted. She happened to overhear maids in the courtyard chatting idly, mentioning a jeweler who specialized in making counterfeits. She sought him out, spent some small amount of money, and had an identical gemstone headdress made.

Except for the difference in quality, on the surface there was no error whatsoever. Xiangqiao thought that once Jiang Li found herself unable to defend herself and the Jiang family punished Jiang Li, that headdress would naturally be disposed of as inauspicious, and the matter would pass.

This way, she could both complete Ji Shuran’s instructions to frame Jiang Li and also gain a headdress for herself free of charge.

What Xiangqiao hadn’t expected was that in such a panicked situation, Jiang Li could still discover at a glance that something was wrong with the headdress. Yet Jiang Li had only touched that ruby headdress once—how could she distinguish it so clearly? Even more unexpected was that the ruby headdress would appear in her own room.

She had clearly placed the headdress in a box and buried it in a safe place!

Who did this? Xiangqiao raised her eyes and met Jiang Li’s gaze, her heart giving a cold shudder.

Could it be that Jiang Li had known all along what she was going to do? She had been watching silently the whole time. Thinking about it now, those jewelry pieces bestowed so generously without a care—at this moment, they seemed to prove even more that she was a thieving criminal.

Jiang Li had been scheming from that time!

She wasn’t some country bumpkin who understood nothing at all. She knew everything, yet still pretended to know nothing!

A wave of despair suddenly rose in Xiangqiao’s heart. She had ruined Ji Shuran’s plan, and Ji Shuran would naturally not easily forgive her.

Just at this moment, Jiang Li spoke again. She said: “But there’s still one thing I don’t understand. Xiangqiao, you could have simply switched my headdress and used an inferior counterfeit to present to Third Sister. When Third Sister received it, she would only think I didn’t have much silver. But why would you risk being discovered by deliberately carving extra knife marks on the gemstone to frame me, nearly causing me to be rejected by my parents?” Jiang Li guided her patiently. “I’ve thought it over again and again—you had no reason to do this. Could it be that someone behind the scenes was directing you?”

As soon as that last sentence came out, the guests’ expressions became subtle.

Someone behind the scenes—the intricate and complex relationships between the Jiang family’s stepmother and stepdaughter suddenly became vividly apparent. Ji Shuran’s heart jumped. She wished she could tear Jiang Li to shreds. She turned her body slightly, secretly giving Xiangqiao a warning look.

Xiangqiao was extremely frightened. She bit her teeth, steeled her heart, looked at Jiang Li crying and said: “Second Miss, it was clearly you who told this servant to do this. You said Third Miss didn’t deserve to use that headdress and told this servant to find an identical headdress and carve knife marks herself…”

“What utter lies.” Jiang Li sighed and shook her head, straightening her body and looking down at her: “What you said just now you’re already taking back yourself. You can’t even lie properly. Moreover, you still haven’t explained how you stole my entire box of jewelry.”

Jiang Li looked at Ji Shuran again and said: “Mother bestowed this maid upon me, saying her character was excellent and her hands and feet diligent. Ordinarily I didn’t dare treat her carelessly, but I never expected this girl to have unclean hands and feet and even dare to frame her master. Mother, this time you truly misjudged her.”

Ji Shuran only felt her face burning, as if she had been slapped in public. Just moments ago, she had vouched for Xiangqiao’s character with sworn certainty in front of a courtyard full of guests, but now she had no choice but to retract her words.

Ji Shuran forced a smile and said: “It’s all Mother’s fault. Mother… couldn’t judge people clearly and caused you to suffer grievances.”

How could a household mistress fail to judge people clearly, yet place such a detestable person beside her stepdaughter? The various ladies who had previously sympathized with Ji Shuran immediately felt a chill in their hearts.

Ji Shuran took in all the guests’ expressions, feeling extremely annoyed. It was also at this moment that she understood Jiang Li’s intention. Jiang Li also wanted to use this matter to send Xiangqiao back, pulling out a nail she had planted in Fangfei Courtyard.

Jiang Li smiled inwardly. Did Ji Shuran think she was merely pulling out Xiangqiao as a single nail? No, she didn’t have much time to waste on the Jiang family’s trivial matters. Some things, when done cleanly in one go, would save a lot of trouble.

“Mother isn’t completely unable to judge people.” Jiang Li smiled. “Regarding this matter, I must thank Mother for the other maid you sent me, Yunshuang. If not for Yunshuang’s reminder, I wouldn’t have known Xiangqiao was this kind of person who betrays her master.” She immediately spotted Yunshuang standing at the back of the crowd with precise accuracy and said sincerely: “This time, many thanks to Yunshuang.”

Xiangqiao on the ground was stunned. In a flash of lightning and spark of fire, she understood many things, but her mouth had already been stuffed with cloth by an old woman, and she couldn’t speak.

Yunshuang, hiding at the back of the crowd, was dumbfounded. Ji Shuran’s gaze looking toward her made her feel her heart turn ice-cold.

Author’s Note: Yunshuang, professionally sabotaging teammates for a hundred years~