The servant who had received the box was trembling with fear. Such a valuable item—what if it was dropped?
Seeing Xiao Mei take the initiative, she quickly handed the task over.
Yun Manxia was about to take a nap when she was startled awake by a knock. She got out of bed, opened the door, and saw Xiao Mei. She asked coldly, “What is it?”
Xiao Mei respectfully presented an antique-looking box. “This was sent by the Old Madam for Ninth Master. Since he’s not home, I brought it to Madam.”
Yun Manxia glanced at it and nodded. “Leave it there.”
Xiao Mei walked in, placed the box down, and then left respectfully.
Yun Manxia took a look but didn’t touch it. Without permission, one shouldn’t handle other people’s belongings—this was basic etiquette.
After her nap, Bai Hedu returned.
As she went downstairs, she heard Xiao Mei say, “The item is with Madam. Since Ninth Master wasn’t home and it’s so valuable, I didn’t want to leave it lying around, so I brought it to Madam.”
Realizing they were talking about the box, Yun Manxia said, “It’s with me.”
She turned back, brought it down, and handed it to Bai Hedu. Curiously, she asked, “Is it the jade Guanyin Grandmother sent you?”
Bai Hedu responded with a simple “Mm. Yes.”
Lin Shen added from the side, “This jade Guanyin was personally obtained by the Old Madam from a temple for Ninth Master. It’s said—”
His voice suddenly stopped.
Silence fell.
Bai Hedu’s expression turned icy.
Inside the opened box, the once flawless jade Guanyin had been shattered into several pieces!
The servant who first received the box turned pale and stammered, “It wasn’t me, Ninth Master! I didn’t take it—it was Xiao Mei!”
Xiao Mei looked utterly shocked as she turned to Yun Manxia.
“I—I delivered it directly to Madam after receiving it!”
Yun Manxia instantly became the center of attention.
Her gaze turned cold.
The moment she saw the broken jade Guanyin, she knew something was wrong.
The servants secretly looked at her with sympathy and pity.
This was bad. Ninth Master might not care about anything else, but he valued anything given by the Old Madam immensely—especially something she had gone through great effort to obtain for him!
The new Madam was finished!
Yun Manxia knew this too. She hurriedly looked at the man. “It wasn’t me! After I received the box from Xiao Mei, I didn’t touch it at all. I don’t know how it got broken!”
The item had been fine when delivered. Now it was broken. Since she hadn’t touched it, only one suspect remained—Xiao Mei!
Seeing her anxious explanation, afraid he might misunderstand her, Bai Hedu’s expression softened slightly. He was about to speak when—
“The Old Madam has arrived!”
Everyone turned toward the door.
An elegantly dressed elderly lady entered, supported by Wu Xiaoya.
“What’s going on?” the Old Madam asked, then saw the shattered jade Guanyin. Her face changed instantly as she hurried over. “What happened? Who broke it?!”
“Old Madam! You must stand up for me!”
Xiao Mei suddenly dropped to her knees.
Crying, she said, “I was the one who received the item, and then I gave it to Madam. Now that the jade Guanyin is broken, Madam will probably say I broke it… but I didn’t! If this blame falls on me, I couldn’t repay it even if I lost everything. This would drive me to death!”
Wu Xiaoya said, “To break it like this, it must have been smashed with force. How could it be Xiao Mei? She’s just a servant. Like she said, even if she lost everything, she couldn’t compensate for it. Why would she deliberately smash it? Has she gone mad?”
With Xiao Mei cleared, Yun Manxia became the most likely suspect.
The Old Madam looked at Yun Manxia, her expression displeased. “You’re Xiao Jiu’s new wife, right? Tell me honestly—did you break it?”
Yun Manxia hadn’t expected that her first meeting with the Old Madam after her rebirth would be under such circumstances.
She didn’t know if the Old Madam would form a bad impression of her because of this…
In her previous life, she wouldn’t have cared. But now, since she wanted to be with Bai Hedu properly, she had to consider these things.
At this moment, she had already calmed down. “Grandmother, it wasn’t me.”
Wu Xiaoya immediately said, “Do you have any evidence to prove it wasn’t you?!”
Yun Manxia shot her a sharp look.
The jade Guanyin broke suddenly. The Old Madam appeared suddenly. Everything was too coincidental.
Startled by her gaze, Wu Xiaoya subconsciously wanted to shrink back. But realizing Bai Hedu and the Old Madam were present, she forced herself to continue aggressively, “Without any evidence, how can you—”
“Enough.”
A deep voice interrupted—it was Bai Hedu.
Wu Xiaoya bit her lip. “Ninth Master?”
Ignoring her, Bai Hedu said to the Old Madam, “Let’s just assume someone accidentally dropped it. Don’t pursue the matter. It’s just a pity for Grandmother’s effort. When my leg injury heals, I’ll personally accompany you to the temple to request another one.”
Hearing this, Wu Xiaoya was furious inside. Ninth Master was actually protecting that woman!
Yun Manxia also looked at him in surprise, feeling both happy and disappointed.
Happy that he defended her, yet disappointed—did that mean he didn’t believe her and thought she had broken it?
The Old Madam’s anger instantly dissipated, replaced by surprise and joy.
Her grandson was actually pleading for someone!
She couldn’t help but glance at Yun Manxia. This girl really was different. If she could make Xiao Jiu spend his remaining days happily, like a normal person, then let alone one jade Guanyin—even ten or a hundred—she would let her break them all!
Her eyes reddened as she said kindly, “Alright, alright. We’ll listen to Xiao Jiu.”
Wu Xiaoya protested unwillingly, “Old Madam—”
At that moment, Yun Manxia gently tugged at the man’s sleeve. “I have evidence.”
Bai Hedu: “What?”
“I said, I have evidence to prove my innocence.”
All eyes instantly turned to Yun Manxia.
Standing beside Bai Hedu, she appeared poised and calm.
“You have evidence? What evidence?” Wu Xiaoya pressed.
Ignoring her, Yun Manxia looked at Xiao Mei. “After you received the item, you brought it straight to me. No one else touched it, right?”
Xiao Mei felt uneasy for no reason. But thinking carefully, she had smashed the box secretly—how could Madam have noticed?
So she said confidently, “Yes. I delivered it to Madam immediately. No one else handled it. And earlier downstairs, when it was handed over, everyone saw that the jade Guanyin was intact!”
Yun Manxia curled her lips mockingly and suddenly said—
“There’s a camera in my bedroom. After you gave me the box, whether I touched it or not—we can just check the footage.”
Wu Xiaoya and Xiao Mei’s expressions changed at the same time.
A camera? When was it installed? How did they not know?
Xiao Mei’s heart trembled as she instinctively looked at Wu Xiaoya.
Wu Xiaoya gave her a look—don’t admit anything!
Yun Manxia was probably just bluffing!