The cousin's family is extremely wealthy; she deserves to be a concubine.

Hua Sirong was fairly satisfied with how things were going, and a faint smile appeared on her face. "It's good that my cousin-in-law doesn't blame me for meddling."

She turned and stared at Dujuan, "Sister Dujuan, you think you can get away with this by saying you're blind and distrustful of the wrong person?"

Do you know that you almost ruined my reputation?

I have no grudge against you, yet you not only smear me, but also try to drive a wedge between me and my cousin's wife!

That's truly hateful.

Du Juan hesitated for a long time, gripped by the fear of death, and could no longer utter a single word.

Hua Sirong didn't make things difficult for her, a woman on the verge of death. Today, she had managed to break Yuan Tiaotiao's arm, which could be considered a gain.

She turned her attention to Fei Yan, who had only coughed twice at the beginning and hadn't made a sound since, and said, "Actually, I'm quite curious, did Miss Fei Yan really jump into the lake herself?"

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

"What? Could it be that that little slut didn't jump on her own?"

My goodness, this performance is even more exciting than what's on stage!

At this moment, Madam Yuan could no longer maintain her composure. "Cousin, watch your words! Feiyan didn't jump on her own. Who else could have forced her?"

She hoped that Hua Sirong would understand her unspoken message and take the opportunity to back down and let the matter drop.

The previous slander against Hua Sirong was also covered up by the onlookers themselves.

On the contrary, she, the young mistress of the Marquis's mansion, not only lost a head maid, but also caused further discord with He Zhizhang and even the entire Marquis's mansion because of Feiyan's affair.

Just thinking about it gives Yuan a headache!

She regretted bringing Feiyan to the manor to cause trouble today. Ultimately, it was because her plan wasn't thorough enough and she acted impulsively.

Those watching the spectacle, however, were eager to stir things up and immediately chimed in, "We wealthy families value human life the most, and we would never arbitrarily beat or kill our servants."

"That's right. I think this lowly maid must have jumped down on her own. It's impossible that she couldn't survive and had offended her master, so she was deliberately pushed down."

"..."

Yuan felt as if the poisoned arrows that had been aimed at Hua Sirong were now stabbing back at her. She gritted her teeth and said, "Enough!"

On the verge of losing his reason, he still couldn't help but defend himself: "If I really wanted to kill her, would I have bothered to kill her in public?"

She's just a lowly bed warmer; if I don't like her, I have plenty of ways to humiliate her.

Today is the old lady's birthday banquet. Even if I were incredibly foolish, I wouldn't do anything so outrageous on such an important day.

This makes a lot of sense, and at least most people believed Yuan's explanation.

Du Juan quickly distanced herself from the situation, saying, "Miss Feiyan's makeup was outrageous, and Miss Biao caught her red-handed. The young mistress didn't want to cause any trouble today, so she instructed me to send her to the estate."

Ultimately, it was Feiyan herself who couldn't stand being treated unfairly; upon seeing the lake, she wanted to jump.

I was just not paying attention and failed to stop her. It's not like what you said, that I deliberately pushed her.

This servant admits that I had many misunderstandings about Miss Biao because of Feiyan's makeup, which is why I said a few ambiguous things and caused Miss Biao to suffer.

"This servant apologizes to Miss Biao. It's all my fault for misjudging people and being deceived by Feiyan." After saying this, she kept kowtowing to Hua Sirong.

Zuo Feiyan's eyes were half-open, her life hanging in the balance. She remained silent for a long time, so we might as well just pin all the blame on her.

Hua Sirong dusted off her sleeves and looked at Du Juan with a smile, "I didn't say that you pushed her."

You two, a maid and a bed warmer, both serve my cousin and his wife. What grudge could you possibly have against each other?

You say, isn't it? "

Ignoring the expressions of Yuan Shi and Du Juan, Hua Sirong once again shot her cool eyes at Fei Yan.

"My cousin-in-law is very generous. She originally said she would let Miss Feiyan leave the capital. But Miss Feiyan took it upon herself to do so and narrowed her own path."

"Miss Feiyan, do you know that even if you survive this jump, you won't live any longer?"

This statement implies that the Yuan family was intolerant of others.

Some people in the crowd began to speak up for Yuan Shi, the legal wife, but Hua Sirong did not give them the chance.

She seemed to only then notice the distraught Zeng Ke beside her, saying, "Oh dear, if this young master Zeng were willing to take responsibility for Miss Feiyan, perhaps she could still have a way out."

Feiyan's half-open eyes finally stirred.

She glanced sideways at Zeng Ke, who was also soaking wet, and only then did she belatedly realize that she had been rescued by a stranger.

In a daze, I seemed to hear something about passing on one's breath.

Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she almost couldn't catch her breath. Her throat, which had already been choked by water, was now even more painful and tight, and a chill instantly crept up her spine.

It's true that one wrong step leads to another. A tear silently slid down Fei Yan's cheek.

Hearing Hua Sirong's instigation, Jin Yaoyao glared at her angrily, "You, surnamed Hua, stop talking nonsense here."

"My husband was clearly just trying to save her, so why should he be responsible for her?"

Even if she were stupid, she would know that Du Juan's identity was problematic. It involved the Marquis's heir and young mistress, so how could she and Zeng Ke, two small fry, afford to offend her?

Nowadays, her aunt, Jin, no longer helps her maternal family as she used to.

She still had some self-awareness, but she regretted that Zeng Ke was blind and chose to save a used woman who had been slept with by someone else.

If he were to actually save a noble lady, she would look at him with new respect and happily drink the cup of tea offered by her younger sister who had just entered the room!

If the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, Hua Sirong would have thanked Jin Yaoyao for her help.

She parted her lips slightly, "Miss Feiyan, you see, it seems your plan to serve Young Master Zeng is not going to work." After all, he has a tigress in his family.

Jin Yaoyao, who also had a sense of shame, immediately retorted, "It's not that I'm jealous and don't want this Miss Feiyan to come in. It's just that a woman shouldn't serve two husbands, and she's clearly already taken."

How could I possibly ask her to abandon me because I saved her?

How could she possibly live with herself like that!

That's a good saying. A good woman doesn't remarry, but Feiyan has lost her chastity to the man beside her today. Could it be that her former master would still look at her?

In Fei Yan's unusually clear mind, Jin Yaoyao's words kept echoing, "How can I have the face to live on?"

She glanced at the shimmering lake in the distance. Could it be that she was really going to perish here today?

She only wanted a title, which is why she followed Madam Yuan's wishes, came to the Marquis's mansion, and staged this disgusting drama.

Hehe, no, that's not right either. The title that the Yuan family promised her was indeed acknowledged in front of everyone just now.

Unfortunately, it seems she wasn't fortunate enough to accept it.

Just then, Madam Yuan came out again, pretending to be a good person, "Cousin, please stop scaring Miss Feiyan. Even if she loses her innocence today, our Marquis's mansion can afford to support an idle person."

"It's not like you've reached the point of certain death. Our Marquis's family has always been a kind and generous family; otherwise, we wouldn't have taken in my cousin who was still in mourning."

Cousin, do you think I'm right?

Hua Sirong couldn't help but want to applaud and cheer for Yuan Shi.

But she vaguely saw several mistresses of the Marquis's mansion coming this way, so she swallowed back the words that were about to come out.