Chapter 814 - 816: Investigate the Matter of the Jade Pendant_1
Wan Caiyue was not someone who acted impulsively, but a sudden appearance of a young girl pleading desperately for her husband and even presenting his jade pendant had initially left her inevitably stricken with doubts.
However, after listening to Bai Ruozhu’s explanation, Wan Caiyue calmed down, and her complexion gradually improved.
Bai Ruozhu, seeing that her sister-in-law’s eyes had reddened but she had not cried, understood that she was gentle on the outside but tough on the inside. She also knew her sister-in-law’s steadiness, and now seeing her completely calm, she too breathed a sigh of relief.
A short while later, Bai Zehao was found and brought back. It seemed that he had already been informed of the situation on the way, for he stormed into the yard with a livid face, only to see Xiaoning with a bruised forehead, kneeling and looking back at him with tears staining her face, a pitiable sight.
If these events hadn’t unfolded, he might have felt some pity for the girl before him, but since she intended to harm his wife, who was pregnant, and made his wife feel heartbroken and misunderstood, potentially ruining the Bai Family’s reputation, he certainly couldn’t pity her any longer—he was no saint!
Upon seeing Bai Zehao, Xiaoning made herself look even more pitiable, her body swaying as if she were about to faint, and then she pitifully called out, "Young Master!"
Bai Zehao glared at her furiously and said, "I kindly lent money to your father for his treatment, and this is how you repay my kindness? You try to slander me, insisting I am responsible for your troubles, well let me make this clear to you once more: I do not have the slightest fondness for you, I will not take a concubine, least of all you, one wife is enough for me, and there are no such disgraceful matters in my family!"
Xiaoning looked at Bai Zehao in disbelief, thinking, how could the Young Master be so heartless? Didn’t he have any sympathy at all? He must be afraid of that formidable young miss, that’s why he’s treating her this way!
"Young Master, you can’t treat me like this, you just can’t..." Xiaoning cried and crawled towards Bai Zehao, blocking his path into the house. As she approached, he quickly seized the chance to circle around her. But as his leading foot crossed the threshold, his trailing foot was clutched by Xiaoning.
Disgust crossed Bai Zehao’s face as he shouted harshly, "Let go!"
"I won’t let go, Young Master. You gave me your jade pendant, how can you deny it now? I live as the Young Master’s person, and I’ll die as your ghost. Once I leave this door, I won’t survive anyway, so you might as well kill me!" Xiaoning clung tightly to Bai Zehao’s leg, crying out.
Flushes of anger passed over Bai Zehao’s face, and he was infuriated. He didn’t want to be publicly seen struggling with another woman, especially one who had taken hold of his leg when he wasn’t looking. With that thought, he lifted his foot and kicked, "Don’t touch me! I never gave you anything!"
Xiaoning was kicked away, tumbling to the ground, and then passed out with her eyes rolling back.
Bai Zehao was startled, wondering if he had kicked too hard and feeling somewhat panicked. But he was more concerned that Caiyue might overthink the situation. He hurriedly went into the room and said to Caiyue, "My dear wife, don’t listen to Xiaoning’s nonsense. I really was just trying to help someone, and it ended up like being bitten by a dog."
Having already calmed down significantly, Wan Caiyue smiled at him and said, "Ruozhu has already explained everything to me. I won’t wrongly accuse you. It’s so hot today, you should sit down and rest. I’ll have the maid bring you a bowl of Green Bean Soup."
Bai Zehao was anxious all the way home, expecting to face his wife’s tears and her questioning. Instead, he was greeted with his wife’s understanding and a bowl of cooling Green Bean Soup that relieved the summer heat. His heart, which had been held high, finally settled down completely, and he looked at Wan Caiyue with even more tenderness and affection. Marrying Caiyue was indeed a blessing from his past life.
Bai Ruozhu blinked at her parents, signaling that everything was fine, her eldest brother and sister-in-law were getting along well.
Bai Zehao sat down next to Wan Caiyue and asked in a low voice, "You weren’t frightened just now, were you?"
Wan Caiyue’s face turned red, embarrassedly she said, "At first I was terrified, and that Miss wouldn’t leave. What should we do about her now?"
Only then did everyone remember Xiaoning, who had fainted in the Yard. Bai Zehao said, "Just throw her out, I have a clear conscience, so I’m not afraid of shadows. If she continues to make a fuss, she is only ruining her own reputation."
"Wait!" Bai Ruozhu called out to stop the indignant maids in the Yard and said to Bai Zehao, "Eldest brother, we can’t let this matter end so easily. She has your Jade Pendant, and we must get to the bottom of this. I’ll call for the people from the Shop to come over. I refuse to believe we can’t find the truth."
Bai Zehao nodded, "You’re correct, my Jade Pendant went missing a few days ago, and I thought I had misplaced it somewhere. Since it was not that important, I didn’t investigate. Now we need to see if someone found it or if she stole it from me."
This time, Bai Ruozhu sent Wa San to call for the people, saying, "Hire a few more horse carriages and have everyone come over in carriages."
Wa San immediately went to do as told and, passing by Xiaoning, he snorted in disdain.
It wasn’t just Wa San who looked down on Xiaoning, even the maids of the Residence didn’t bother with her as she lay fainted on the ground, exposed to the harsh sunlight overhead and occasionally receiving contemptuous glances. The maids in the Residence knew well the deep affection between the Young Master and Young Mistress, and with their kind and modest behavior, who wouldn’t like them?
But does being nice mean they should be taken advantage of? Is it wrong to do good deeds?
Bai Ruozhu pulled out her pocket watch to check the time and said, "Let’s start the meal first. It will take some time for the people from the Shop to get here. I’ll ask the Kitchen to prepare more food so we can provide lunch for the Shop’s people too."
After finishing her sentence, she made eye contact with Jianqi, signaling him to keep an eye on Xiaoning.
Soon, delicious food from the Bai Family was brought into the Main house. Bai Zepei was not coming back for lunch that day, and Jiang Yichun’s timing was uncertain, so they called Aunt Lin, Aunt Zhang, Niuniu, and Rongrong to come and join them for the meal.
After all the morning’s commotion, everyone knew Xiaoning’s situation. Aunt Lin and Aunt Zhang, however, didn’t like to join in the excitement or interfere with others’ family affairs and deliberately kept their distance when passing Xiaoning. Entering the Room, they didn’t bring up Xiaoning to avoid burdening Bai Zehao and his wife.
The family enjoyed a hearty meal, and the aroma wafted outside, reaching the nose of Xiaoning, who was "unconscious" on the ground. She felt both envious and jealous, thinking the Bai Family always ate so well for just an ordinary meal. She hadn’t even had much for breakfast, so no matter what, she was determined to enter the Bai Family, even if just as a Concubine Maid, which would still be a better life than she had now.
With that thought, her stomach disobediently grumbled, and she jumped, afraid of being heard. Fortunately, there seemed to be no reaction from people in the Yard, so it appeared no one had noticed.