“Second Young Madam, without any evidence, slandering a student about to take her college entrance exam in front of so many people is going too far. Think of the psychological shadow this will cast on her…”
Ji Wanyun also stepped forward to help, her words dripping with sympathy for Xinxin. She deliberately used the same rhetoric to retaliate, avenging their last confrontation.
Li Qianqian was foolish enough to think she could use defamation to vent her anger on a student about to take her college entrance exam. If this got out, netizens’ spit would drown her.
The Old Madam also detested this kind of behavior, which made Ji Wanyun somewhat excited.
“Exactly! Xinxin’s grades are good enough for a top-tier university. It’s all my fault for introducing her to this part-time job, only for her to be humiliated like this.”
Wang Chunhua sat on the ground and began wailing, slapping her thigh in feigned regret.
After her fake crying, she didn’t forget to glare fiercely and threaten: “If this affects her college entrance exam, I’ll fight you to the death!”
Li Qianqian calmly watched them make a scene, then said slowly: “There’s surveillance in my room.”
Hearing this, Ji Wanyun and Wang Chunhua couldn’t help but panic inwardly.
They both instinctively looked at Xinxin. Having completely trusted her before, they now felt uncertain. Could that well-behaved girl really have stolen something?
Xinxin’s heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might leap out of her throat. No, impossible.
She had carefully checked every corner of the room. There was clearly nothing there. Li Qianqian was bluffing!
If she really had evidence, she would have brought it out directly. Why would she be wasting time arguing with them here?
After sorting through her thoughts, she said with full confidence: “Then please show it. Otherwise, I’ll sue you for defamation!”
“I really can’t produce surveillance footage.” Li Qianqian’s lips curled up slightly.
Ji Wanyun and Wang Chunhua’s suspended hearts instantly dropped. Wang Chunhua seemed to see a money-making opportunity.
She was afraid the young woman would be too naive and just settle for an apology—that would be useless.
So she chimed in: “There’s no high or low in any profession. Even if we’re servants, you can’t just slander us like this. Think of the psychological damage to this child. Who knows how long it’ll take her to get over this trauma. The follow-up therapy will cost a fortune too!”
“Steward Ji, you’re the only one here who doesn’t bow to power—you’re an upright and kind person. Li Qianqian has humiliated us like this. You have to testify for us!”
“Of course. Second Young Madam, if you can’t resolve this properly, it might affect the Fu Corporation’s image. Why not go and ask the Old Madam?”
Ji Wanyun’s mouth was asking, but her feet were itching to run to the backyard and fetch the Old Madam immediately.
“No need. Although there’s no surveillance in my room, I do have a video here.”
Li Qianqian opened a video on her phone, connected it via Bluetooth, and cast it onto the large TV screen.
In the video, Ji Wanyun was seen carrying a black bag, sneaking around the room’s entrance and looking around furtively. She then pushed the door open, went inside, stayed for a long while, and came back out with the bag.
The video continued to show Xinxin’s figure. She entered the room, picked through the jewelry box, took several pairs of earrings and necklaces, then went straight to the second wardrobe, opened it, and pulled out several shirts.
After watching, all three of their faces turned dark.
“You…” Ji Wanyun felt a surge of anger at being played. She felt like Li Qianqian had completely changed as a person, as if she had everything under control from the very beginning.
She clearly had evidence but refused to show it, instead watching them make fools of themselves like clowns, only revealing it after enjoying the show.
Ji Wanyun clenched her fists, extremely displeased. She felt that the joke should have been on Li Qianqian, not on herself.
The atmosphere in the living room was strange.
Wang Chunhua was the first to lose it. Thinking about how the astronomical compensation for emotional distress had slipped away and how she’d made a complete fool of herself, her gaze at her niece turned hostile.
“So you really did steal! Are your hands just too itchy?!”
“I… I didn’t mean to…” Xinxin stammered, her face flushed red with shame and indignation.
She had originally thought that with the family busy dealing with the scandal between the eldest son and his sister-in-law, they wouldn’t have time to pay attention to the jewelry for a while.
By the time anyone noticed, she would have already quit and left. No one would suspect her.
But she never expected this madam to have such sharp eyes, and to even have video footage. Who had recorded it? There was clearly no one in the room at the time…
“Not planning to return them?” Li Qianqian’s lips curved upward, silently urging her on.
“Stealing someone’s things and still having the nerve to play the innocent victim, even threatening to sue? Too ridiculous.”
“With that kind of character and skin as thick as a wall, she’s going to claim a few harsh words affected her college entrance exam? Pfft.”
The servants couldn’t help but join in, snickering and whispering among themselves.
Xinxin felt even more embarrassed, mortified beyond belief. She couldn’t help but resent this madam. She was so rich—why make such a fuss over a few pieces of jewelry?
She turned and walked to the staircase, pulled out her handbag from the side, opened a palm-sized square coin purse, and handed over the earrings and jewelry.
She didn’t want to stay there a moment longer, and her tone had lost all its earlier gentleness.
“Can I leave now?”
“You haven’t returned everything yet, what do you think?” Li Qianqian looked down at her from above, asking in return.
“I don’t have anything else. I only took these pieces of jewelry. You can’t frame me!” Xinxin couldn’t help but grow anxious.
Li Qianqian reminded her, “There’s still one shirt.”
Only then did Xinxin remember. Her expression darkened as she slowly raised her head to look at Ji Wanyun.
Ji Wanyun felt her hair stand on end under that gaze. From the moment she saw the video, she had felt nothing but disgust toward this light-fingered young woman.
She had gotten Ji Wanyun caught on camera. Although Ji Wanyun hadn’t done anything, if she couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation, who knew how Li Qianqian would make things difficult for her later.
Now that Xinxin was looking at her, she instinctively felt it was both a plea for help and an attempt to drag her down.
This useless, good-for-nothing brat actually had the nerve to try to implicate her.
Ji Wanyun’s face darkened. “Whatever you stole, return it. Master Fu’s shirts are all custom-made. If it’s lost, I’m afraid you can’t afford to compensate for it!”
“I thought highly of your aunt for her diligent work, and she trusted you completely. But you—you made me misunderstand the Second Young Madam so badly. You’ve disappointed me greatly!”
Ji Wanyun’s two speeches made Xinxin feel extremely displeased. Clearly, it was Ji Wanyun who had wanted to harm this lady, yet now she was trying to wash her hands clean of everything.
And Xinxin had even thought of Ji Wanyun, knowing she had a secret crush on Master Fu, and had kept a shirt for her as a favor.
Xinxin stopped caring about her. “No matter how much you say, it won’t change the fact that the shirt is in your room.”
Ji Wanyun was greatly alarmed, her composure instantly crumbling. Her first thought was that this bitch was trying to drag her down with her.
“Impossible! And you call yourself someone with a higher education—did all your schooling go to the dogs? Just now I thought you were innocent and spoke up for you, but instead you turn around and splash dirty water on me!”
Hearing these harsh words, Xinxin suddenly no longer felt like explaining things for her.
She deliberately led people to misunderstand, saying, “I saw it with my own eyes. How could it be false?”
“Housekeeper Ji, is that so?” Li Qianqian raised an eyebrow and smiled with amusement.
Ji Wanyun found that smile blindingly irritating. She had dealt with all kinds of people and had seen plenty of such framing incidents, so she was always on guard.
Her room was always locked. No one could get in except herself.
Li Qianqian wanted to follow Xinxin’s slander and splash dirty water on her—not a chance!
“Second Young Madam, I am utterly loyal to Master Fu. How could I possibly steal his shirt? My room is spotless. You may search it. After you do, it will also clear my name!”