Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 484: Shifting the blame

When Xue Baochai looked at the tall and graceful Lin Daiyu, her face changed color instantly. Her originally fair and round face turned as pale as a piece of paper.

The events of the past two days flashed through her mind like a kaleidoscope, and she forced herself to recall many details that she had deliberately not thought about before.

Why can Ying'er go out so easily, why can Xiangyun come in so easily?

Why was Xiren found so easily, why was Baoyu able to get out so easily?

And why was it so easy for me to meet my mother and have a quiet cell where I could speak freely...

Therefore, this was a trap that Lin Daiyu had dug for herself and her mother by taking advantage of the situation, and she actually jumped into it without any hesitation!

Baochai felt a chill in her heart.

When they were in the Jia Mansion, everyone compared themselves with each other, and all said that they were generous, easy-going and amiable; but when they talked about Daiyu, they said that "she is smart and clever, but she is mean and intolerant."

I took that as a compliment back then and was quite proud of it!

But if I think about it carefully, doesn't this mean that I can't compare to others in terms of talent, so I have a good temper? !

Here she stood speechless with thoughts surging;

Aunt Xue's pupils shrank as soon as she saw Daiyu. She became panic-stricken and clutched her clothes at her chest, screaming:

"No! No! I don't admit it. I didn't say anything! I don't admit it!"

Xue Baochai was called back to her senses by this shout, and hurried forward to hug her mother's shoulders: "Mother, please calm down and speak softly."

Lin Daiyu didn't wait for Aunt Xue to react, and pointed at the supply paper in the officer's hand.

Chu Qian understood, reached out and took it, holding it in his hand.

"It doesn't matter if you don't recognize her. Someone will recognize her." Daiyu curled her lips and looked at the two female jailers standing respectfully in the corridor. "Lead the way. I'm going to see Madam Shihou."

The female jailer who had cleared herself in front agreed and led the way.

The one who had received the jade hairpin stayed behind, pulled out the shackles from his waist again, and waved them at Xue Baochai and her daughter, with no trace of gentleness on his face:

"Follow me! Are you still waiting for the master to invite you?"

The mother and daughter finally understood.

The gestures of feeling sorry for the filial daughter and being moved by the deep love between mother and daughter were all pretended on orders!

Xue Baochai lowered her head, bit her lip, and walked out with her mother without saying a word.

Aunt Xue, however, was filled with hatred. She glanced at Daiyu's back and shouted to the jailer:

"Sister Laozi, you just accepted a jade hairpin from my daughter! You can't just turn your back on me like this, can you?"

The female jailer raised her eyebrows and took out the hairpin from her bosom. She squinted at the torch in the prison and praised it:

"Transparent! It's obviously a top-quality product!"

He held it in front of Aunt Xue's eyes and waved it, then took it back into his arms and patted it, "So? The master will accept your filial gift!

"This is what Princess Zhaoqing ordered long ago! If I don't accept it, I'm afraid you won't take it seriously and will be on guard instead!"

The female jailer smiled sinisterly, pressed the shackles against Aunt Xue's shoulders, pushed her forward fiercely, and shouted, "Go!"

This is simply asking for humiliation!

Xue Baochai lowered her head, half covering her face, and desperately pulled her mother forward, whispering: "When you are under a low eaves, how can you not bow your head? Mother, don't be stubborn!"

Aunt Xue swallowed her anger and held her daughter's hand.

Standing at the prison door, Daiyu even looked inside with a hint of curiosity.

Four women. Two of them occupied a corner, leaning against each other for warmth.

One of them was lying on his side in bed, completely oblivious to the noise outside;

The last one left was staring at him closely and slowly stood up.

Daiyu looked at the person in front of her, her lips slightly curved: "Mrs. Xiao Shihou, long time no see, how are you?"

There was only an arm's length between Madam Xiao Shihou and Daiyu, and a prison door blocked the way, but it seemed as if there were a lifetime of mountains and seas, and twenty years of grievances and hatreds between them.

"Sister Lin... oh, I was wrong, now I should call you Princess Zhaoqing.

"Princess, do you feel comfortable with this empty title that was bought with the blood and flesh of your mother's family?"

If Mrs. Xiao Shihou's gaze could have become substance, Lin Daiyu would have become a sieve by now.

But can she?

She can't.

So Lin Daiyu asked her with a smile: "I was just about to ask my cousin uncle, after all, he is a marquis, but he can only incite his own wife, use insidious means, and harm the female family members. Isn't it embarrassing?"

Mrs. Xiao Shihou choked.

Lin Daiyu motioned Chu Qian to take out the confession, raised her finger and pointed at something casually, saying nonchalantly:

"In the early years, you were assigned by the Supreme Lord to be disciples of the deposed Crown Prince, so each of you thought that you were destined to be his successor, and you inevitably acted arrogantly and cruelly.

"Later, the deposed crown prince got himself killed, but you were still angry and moved yourself, thinking you were being loyal to your old master.

"In fact, he just knew that he had no future under the new emperor, so he followed the ambitious man to do stupid things and gave up everything.

“There are sober people in several families.

"The Jia family has become a monk, the Wang family has returned to their ancestral home, and your Shi family is the most interesting—"

Mrs. Xiao Shihou's face changed slightly.

“That one was killed by his own relatives.

"I think our little girl Yun's mother, your widowed sister-in-law, was also poisoned to death by you because she found out something later."

Lin Daiyu said with a curved mouth, but her eyes were infinitely cold, "As long as you start killing people, you won't have any other ideas if you encounter trouble again in the future.

"So, not only did you harm my mother, but you also used her to harm the late Empress Xiaodun."

"You, you are slandering me!" Mrs. Shihou was horrified. She looked tough on the outside, but she was weak on the inside.

Lin Daiyu laughed softly and pointed at the offering paper: "I didn't make this up. This is what Mrs. Xue Wang said herself."

After glancing at the other three people in the cell for a moment, Daiyu raised her handkerchief to cover her lips:

"The Western King issued a killing order, and the young Marquis Shi came up with a good plan. The Wang family asked the Xue family for the prescription, and the Xue family stupidly gave them everything."

After saying this, Aunt Xue opened her mouth in fear and was about to argue, but she saw Mrs. Wang Ziteng turned over and jumped off the bed:

"Bullshit! My family didn't know about this from the beginning! The Shi family bribed the traitor in my family!

"My family only found out about it later when my second aunt wrote to us and asked about the recipe.

"It was the Western King who ordered the Shi family to do this!"

Madam Xiao Shihou could no longer hold back her anger. She glanced at the West Princess and her mother-in-law who seemed to have accepted their fate, gritted her teeth, and snorted:

"This strategy was not made by our family! Our Marquis said that the King of the West gave all the instructions to the Wang family in front of him!

"What do you mean I didn't know? It was just something Wang Ziteng used to deceive you, a woman like you!"

After going around in circles, it turns out that everything just depends on obeying orders from others.

Lin Daiyu laughed softly: "So, the King of the West is the only one who is guilty of the heinous crime!"

We can't just take the blame now!

The West Princess also raised her head fiercely and said in a hateful voice: "You guys, were you guys right beside us when we were discussing the plan?!"

"If they're not here, can you be here?

"The King of the West has always looked down on women. I guess you can't enter the study room where the men have secret meetings, right?"

Suddenly, Xue Baochai, who was standing nearby, spoke up calmly and unceremoniously.