"Why not? If you don't speak, your Shangguan family will think I'm not good enough for you. I need to let them know that you are the cruel one." He ignored Shangguan Xi's attempts to stop him and looked resolutely at her parents.
"At first, I stayed in the front courtyard as my uncle requested. Those young masters looked down on me, so I stayed alone in a secluded corner. Suddenly, Yuhuan rushed to find me, looking panicked. I thought something had happened to my cousin, so I hurried to her. Guess what Yuhuan told me?" As he spoke, he looked at the couple meaningfully.
Seeing their silence, he shrugged indifferently. After all, in their eyes, Miss Shangguan had always been pure and adorable. They dared not think further, so he would help them understand their daughter better. "Yuhuan said my cousin instructed that a woman would fall into the pond shortly. That woman was the daughter of a fourth-rank official. She told me to jump in and save her the moment she fell, to try and embrace her in the water, and delay the rescue, making everyone believe I had ruined her reputation and that she had no choice but to marry me."
Seeing the shocked expressions on the couple's faces, Xu Wentao felt a sense of satisfaction. He continued, "Who knew things went wrong, and she was the one who fell in. When I swam to her, I realized it. I thought, hasn't the Shangguan family always looked down on us? So, I decided to go with the flow and make her marry me. You know the rest."
"Is this true? So, you originally intended to frame Miss Lin, but ended up trapping yourself instead." Although it was Shangguan老爷 asking his daughter, a voice in his heart told him this was true.
It was impossible to say that Shangguan老爷 knew nothing of his daughter's actions. It was just that in his eyes, his daughter always acted with discretion. She hadn't caused any major trouble all these years, had she? If this were true, she had indeed gone too far this time.
"No, no, don't listen to his nonsense! He's trying to shirk responsibility and blame everything on me." Shangguan Xi, afraid of seeing the disappointment in her parents' eyes, quickly denied it.
Shangguan老爷 was angry, thinking his daughter was incorrigible. He couldn't bear to do anything to his daughter, but he could still vent his anger on her maid. He immediately ordered, "Guards, drag Yuhuan out and give her twenty strokes. See if she talks. If not, continue hitting her. She's a servant born in our household. If she dies, just throw her in the mass grave."
Yuhuan was terrified upon hearing this and immediately kowtowed, begging for mercy. "Master, spare me! Madam, spare me!"
Two servants immediately dragged her out. As Yuhuan was being pulled away, she looked pleadingly at her mistress. "Miss, save me! Miss, save me..."
Shangguan Xi turned her head away, not looking at her. Seeing her mistress's expression, Yuhuan understood everything. She knew her mistress was heartless. She had once believed that after accompanying her for so many years, she was different. Now, she saw that she was no different from the other maids who had taken the blame for her mistress. Her eyes gradually shifted from hope to despair.
When the planks fell on her, the intense pain overwhelmed her. She wanted to tell the truth to the master and madam immediately, but she was afraid of her mistress's revenge afterward. Moreover, she herself was involved. If she confessed, she wouldn't fare any better.
Listening to the screams from outside, Shangguan Xi remained unmoved. She kept counting her fingers, believing that as her master, she held her life and death in her hands. She should do everything for her, and if sacrifice was needed, she should do it without hesitation.
The twenty strokes finally ended. Without looking, Yuhuan knew her backside was bleeding profusely. When she was dragged back to Shangguan老爷 like a dead dog, and saw her mistress still indifferent, she felt a surge of despair.
"You lowly wench, are you going to talk or not? If you don't, I won't give you a second chance. I'll have you beaten to death with clubs, and your family will be implicated too." Shangguan老爷 looked at her sternly, thinking his daughter was exceptionally good, and it was these maids and servants who had corrupted her.
Yuhuan immediately turned to look at her mistress again, only to see her threatening gaze. Her heart sank to the bottom, and the world turned dark. She felt she couldn't escape this doom. However, for the sake of her family, she prepared to tell the truth, as hoping her mistress would protect her family was impossible.
"What Young Master Xu said is indeed the truth. It was Miss who ordered this servant to call him to the front courtyard," Yuhuan said weakly, as if she had used all her strength.
"I heard that Miss Lin had just arrived from her hometown. This was her first time out. You shouldn't have had any dealings with her, should you?" Shangguan夫人 asked her doubts. This was also why she was a little incredulous when Xu Wentao mentioned earlier that her daughter intended to frame Miss Lin.
"Miss and she did meet for the first time, but Miss and Lin Ziqin are close friends. They often exchanged letters and small gifts. The reason Miss picked on her today was that Lin Ziqin had complained to her many times about her and her mother, saying they made her unable to hold her head up in the capital. Miss was seeking revenge for someone," Yuhuan now revealed everything, leaving Shangguan Xi in a frenzy.
Having learned the cause and effect, the couple didn't know what to say. They didn't know whether to blame their daughter for attacking a woman she had just met, or to blame Xu Wentao for using a scheme to ensnare their Shangguan family, or to blame Miss Lin for why she had to dodge. What a mess! Shangguan老爷 unconsciously began to rub his forehead.
However, one thing was clear to him: he absolutely could not marry his daughter off to the Xu family. After all, from Xu Wentao's words, he knew he held grudges against the Shangguan family. Although he was somewhat resentful of his daughter's lack of accomplishment, he was unwilling to watch her fall into a fiery pit.
Not long after they returned, Xu mother received the news and hurried to find Shangguan old lady. Upon hearing this, the old lady thought it was a good match and quickly put pressure on her son and daughter-in-law. But this time, no matter what she said, the couple refused to agree, which angered her so much that her chest ached, and she almost fell ill.
Mr. Lin had been worried about the Shangguan family's retaliation. The next morning, he brought Lin Ziyou to the Shangguan family to beg for forgiveness.
Shangguan老爷 felt some resentment towards the Lin family. He thought that if Miss Lin had not dodged back then and married Xu Wentao directly, it would not have been so difficult for him to handle the situation. However, he still had some reason, knowing that he could not blame others for this matter.
He only instructed the housekeeper to pass on a message to them, telling them to be careful when going out in the future and not to let such a thing happen again, otherwise, others might not be as understanding as their Shangguan family.