The Double-Chapter 35 - 33 Yunshuang

35: Chapter 33 Yunshuang

35 -33 Yunshuang

“So it was Xiangqiao who coveted the treasures and framed others!”

A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples, and the guests immediately began to discuss.

They had originally thought it was Miss Jiang the Second who despised Miss Jiang the Third, a case of sibling rivalry, with Jiang Li cursing Jiang Youyao’s vicious actions.

Unexpectedly, in the end, it turned out to be the personal maid, blinded by greed, who pinned the crime on someone else.

The matter seemed much simpler now.

It was Jiang Li’s personal maid Xiangqiao who had sticky fingers and wanted to steal the headdress Jiang Li had given to Jiang Youyao as a meeting gift.

Yet, fearing the theft would be traced back to her, she decided to switch it with another headdress of much inferior quality.

Xiangqiao shook her head desperately, clinging to Jiang Li’s legs and said, “No, not at all!

Those pieces of jewelry were given to me by the Second Miss!

I didn’t steal them, Miss Li, please say something for me!”

Those pieces of jewelry and hairpins indeed weren’t stolen by Xiangqiao, but Jiang Li would never admit it.

Jiang Li just looked at her and spoke with deep regret, “Xiangqiao, I have treated you well, why have you done this to me?

Besides, my own finances aren’t ample, and after spending all my silver to buy the headdress for my younger sister, what’s left is all there is.

These pieces of jewelry are valuable, rewarding you with one or two pieces is one thing, but giving them all to you, in Yanjing City, there are probably very few who could be so generous!”

The surrounding guests all nodded in agreement.

Indeed, rewarding a servant who performed well was nothing to criticize.

But no one’s money came from thin air, rewarding an entire case of jewelry to a servant, one would have to be out of their mind to do so.

Furthermore, as Miss Jiang the Second just said, all her silver was used to purchase Miss Jiang the Third’s coming-of-age gift, so it was even less likely that the remaining jewelry would be given away so freely.

It clearly showed a lack of confidence.

Xiangqiao stared blankly at Jiang Li, whose expression carried an unfeigned sincerity that almost confused Xiangqiao herself.

She was simply blinded by greed for Jiang Li’s case of treasures, and when Jiang Li bestowed them generously, she happily accepted.

However, it never occurred to her that a master giving away so many things to a servant was already extraordinarily abnormal.

She merely thought Jiang Li, being a country bumpkin, didn’t understand the ways of the world.

Yet, the things she so eagerly accepted turned into her death warrant.

Ji Shuran had instructed her to tamper with the coming-of-age gift Jiang Li was to give, but recently Xiangqiao had become spoiled and emboldened.

Seeing that headdress, her own desires flared up.

Coincidentally, she heard maids in the courtyard mentioning a jeweler who specialized in forgeries.

She sought him out, spent a little money, and had an identical set of gemstone headdresses made.

Apart from the quality of the gemstones, there was no difference on the surface.

Xiangqiao thought that once Jiang Li was caught in an indisputable situation, the Jiang family members would punish Jiang Li, and that headdress, being unlucky, would be disposed of, and the matter would be considered closed.

In doing so, not only would she have fulfilled Ji Shuran’s instruction to frame Jiang Li, but she would also gain a headdress for herself, free of charge.

What Xiangqiao did not expect was that in such a chaotic situation, Jiang Li still managed to notice the discrepancy in the headdress, although Jiang Li had only handled the real one once.

She didn’t expect that the real 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 could have done this?

As Xiangqiao looked up, her eyes met with Jiang Li’s, sending a chill through her heart.

Could it be that Jiang Li had known all along what she had planned to do?

She had been watching without a word, and now those generously awarded jewels, when reflected upon, seemed even more like evidence proving her own thievery.

Jiang Li had been plotting from that moment on!

She was not some clueless bumpkin who knew nothing; she knew everything, yet still pretended to be ignorant!

Xiangqiao’s heart suddenly filled with despair, knowing she had botched Ji Shuran’s task, and Ji Shuran certainly would not let her off easily.

It was at this moment that Jiang Li spoke again.

She said, “There’s just one thing I still don’t understand, Xiangqiao, you could have just switched my headdress and used an inferior imitation to deceive the Third Miss, who, upon receiving it, would have merely thought I was short on silver.

But why would you take the risk of being discovered by deliberately carving additional marks into the ruby, framing me and almost causing me to be disdained by our parents?” Jiang Li gently prodded, “I’ve thought it over and you have no reason to do this deed.

Could it be, someone has been instructing you from behind?”

The moment the last sentence was uttered, a subtle shift occurred on the guests’ faces.

The complicated relationship between the Jiang family’s stepmother and stepdaughters instantly came to mind.

Ji Shuran’s heart skipped a beat, and she longed to tear Jiang Li to pieces.

She shifted slightly, giving Xiangqiao a covert warning glance.

Scared to the extreme, Xiangqiao gritted her teeth, steeled her heart, and looked at Jiang Li as she cried out, “Second Miss, it was clearly you who told me to do this.

You said the Third Miss did not deserve to use that headdress, and you instructed me to find a similar one and carve my own marks into it…”

“Nothing but lies,” Jiang Li sighed, shaking her head.

She stood tall, looking down at her, “You now contradict your own earlier words, and can’t even lie properly.

Moreover, you haven’t explained how you stole an entire case of my jewelry.”

Jiang Li then turned to Ji Shuran and said, “Mother gifted me this servant, claiming she was of good character and diligent.

I’ve never dared to neglect her, and yet this servant turned out to be unclean in her actions and dares to frame her own master.

Mother, it seems you were mistaken this time.”

Ji Shuran felt a burning shame on her face, as if she had been slapped in public.

She had just vouched for Xiangqiao’s character in front of all the guests, and now she had to retract her own words.

Ji Shuran forced a smile and said, “It is all mother’s fault, mother…

has misjudged people and caused you to suffer an injustice.”

How could a matriarch of the household misjudge people so gravely, allowing such a despicable person to stay by her stepdaughter’s side?

The ladies who had previously sympathized with Ji Shuran suddenly had a startling revelation.

Ji Shuran took in the guests’ expressions and was extremely annoyed.

It was then that she understood Jiang Li’s intention.

Jiang Li also wanted to use this incident to send Xiangqiao back, eliminating a spy Ji Shuran had planted in Fangfei Garden.

A smile flickered in Jiang Li’s heart.

Did Ji Shuran think she was merely removing a spy like Xiangqiao?

No, she did not have much time to waste on the Jiang family’s trifles.

Some matters, if dealt with cleanly in one go, would save a lot of trouble.

“Mother is not completely wrong in her judgment of people,” Jiang Li said with a smile.

“Thanks to another servant Yunshuang, whom Mother sent to me, I was able to see Xiangqiao’s true nature.

Without Yunshuang’s reminder, I would have remained unaware of Xiangqiao’s betrayal.” She looked directly at Yunshuang, who was standing in the crowd, and sincerely said, “This time, I have Yunshuang to thank.”

The Xiangqiao on the ground was stunned, lightning-quick in realizing many things, but her mouth was gagged by the matron with cloth, rendering her speechless.

Yunshuang, hiding behind the crowd, was dumbfounded.

Ji Shuran’s gaze towards her made her feel a chill in her heart.