“Yes.” Steward Ji curled the corner of her mouth and instructed the male assistant to take Fu Huaishan to the hospital.
Then she immediately took out her phone to send a message. Since she had already communicated with the surveillance room attendant beforehand, the other party replied very quickly.
Ji Wanyun’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Old Mrs. Fu, a portion of the surveillance footage is missing—exactly the segment where the Second Young Madam was pouring water in the kitchen. Moreover… today, only the Second Young Madam entered the surveillance room.”
For a moment, the servants’ contemptuous gazes fell on the woman sitting on the sofa. They sneered inwardly—she had done something wrong herself and still tried to pin the blame on them.
“Old Mrs. Fu, when I was organizing Master Fu’s study, I would often see… some left-behind women’s clothing, all of it from the LA brand.”
At these words, everyone knew exactly who those things belonged to. LA sold complete women’s outfits and bags—expensive, and exclusively in youthful styles.
In the entire Fu household, only Li Qianqian was decked out in that brand from head to toe.
“Speaking of which, I also often saw lipstick marks on the shirts Master Fu had changed out of, and shirts would go missing from time to time… And the Second Young Madam’s room—she never allows anyone in to clean it.”
One after another, the servants stepped forward, their words all pointing the finger of suspicion at Li Qianqian.
Old Mrs. Fu still showed no emotional fluctuation. She asked calmly, “Qianqian, do you have anything to say?”
Li Qianqian remained composed. She raised her head and stared at Old Mrs. Fu with neither humility nor arrogance, then continued:
“Mother, I occasionally go into Big Brother’s study to borrow books. My memory isn’t great, so sometimes I forget to bring my coat out. As for Big Brother’s missing shirts, I’ve also been keeping an eye on that and investigating. I was planning to wait until everything came to light before telling you…”
Li Qianqian paused, swept her gaze across the servants around her, and let out a low chuckle.
She spread her hands, looking somewhat helpless. “But clearly, the servants in our household can’t stand to see you idle. They have to trouble you over every trivial little matter.”
Old Mrs. Fu was a shrewd old fox. The latter two sentences were already enough for her to discern the servants’ contempt toward Li Qianqian.
Her sharp gaze swept over the crowd of servants. “Yun Li is no longer with us. From now on, all matters in the household, big or small, will be handled entirely by you. Firing a few loose-tongued servants is hardly a big deal.”
The servants who had spoken immediately lowered their heads, panic churning in their hearts.
“Second Young Madam, we were just worried and confused…”
Ji Wanyun could tell that Old Mrs. Fu was deliberately protecting Li Qianqian. Naturally, she wouldn’t let go of this chance to make Old Mrs. Fu completely lose faith in Li Qianqian with one blow.
“Second Young Madam, you still haven’t given a reasonable explanation for not allowing anyone into your room. I’ve also been looking into this—all the servants’ rooms have been thoroughly searched, except yours…”
“Whether my room is open to others or not—do I need to explain that to a steward? If Big Brother’s things can go missing, then mine certainly can too. Before the thief is found, is there anything wrong with me being a little cautious?”
Li Qianqian let out a cold laugh. Her tone remained gentle and soft, but the mockery in her words was unmistakable.
Even with all the evidence stacked against her, she remained perfectly composed.
“That’s not what I meant. Old Mrs. Fu, I just…” Steward Ji was extremely displeased, hearing herself called a servant one moment and a steward the next.
“Enough. We’ll discuss this when Huaishan returns.” Old Mrs. Fu’s expression turned displeased.
Steward Ji’s several remarks had already made her sense something off. She turned to look at this young and beautiful steward, who was said to be highly educated.
Clearly a talent that major companies would fight over, with boundless prospects—yet she willingly settled for being an obscure steward. The purpose behind that made one wonder.
She withdrew her gaze and let it fall on Li Qianqian, whose bearing was outstanding.
Even when targeted by everyone, she could still maintain her composure. No wonder she was the daughter-in-law Old Mrs. Fu had insisted on bringing in for her second son despite all objections.
Unfortunately, her second son’s fate was too poor—he couldn’t hold onto his wife’s good fortune and died young.
Suddenly, the door was knocked on. A male servant stood at the entrance.
“What is it?” Old Mrs. Fu said flatly.
“Old Mrs. Fu, Master Fu has a fever of thirty-nine degrees and is already on an IV drip. He’ll need another hour before he can return. Young Master Qi asked me to inform you so you wouldn’t worry.”
The male servant finished speaking.
Ji Wanyun’s eyes were filled with utter disbelief, and she reacted intensely. “Just a fever? How is that possible…”
“Judging by your tone, it sounds like you really hoped your superior would have something worse than a fever?”
Li Qianqian raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall behind her with a languid posture.
Old Mrs. Fu looked at Ji Wanyun thoughtfully. “Steward Ji, do you think Huaishan should be showing other symptoms?”
Ji Wanyun’s face turned deathly pale in an instant. Her fingertips unconsciously clenched into fists, nails digging hard into her palms. She knew that if she didn’t topple Li Qianqian today, Old Mrs. Fu would likely start suspecting her instead.
“Old Mrs. Fu, I happened to uncover something—the Second Young Madam purchased an aphrodisiac from someone. Yes, that glass of water definitely had something in it. We can test—”
Ji Wanyun’s words were cut off as she suddenly remembered that the water had already been shattered by Li Qianqian, and by now, the servants had long since cleaned it up.
“Steward Ji, our Fu family hired you to fulfill the duties of a steward, not to point fingers at your employer.”
Old Mrs. Fu spoke coldly, clearly having lost all interest in listening to her nonsense.
“Old Mrs. Fu, you have to believe me—Li Qianqian is absolutely not that well-behaved. That water definitely had something wrong with it! There must be something wrong in her room too!”
Ji Wanyun grew frantic, speaking urgently, even reaching out to grab Old Mrs. Fu’s arm.
“That’s enough. I’ll tolerate this one outburst of yours, but if there’s a next time, the Fu family will have no place for you.”
Old Mrs. Fu cut her off impatiently, taking a subtle step back.
Ji Wanyun’s heart sank instantly. She could tell that Old Mrs. Fu intended to shield Li Qianqian—or rather, that she trusted her completely.
If she said anything more, it would only make Old Mrs. Fu even more disgusted with her, so she could only withdraw her hand awkwardly.
A flash of darkness passed through her eyes. Someday, she would make the old woman understand that Li Qianqian harbored ill intentions and wasn’t worth this kind of protection at all.
“Yes.”
“Qianqian, you’ve been wronged. I’ll have Huaishan give you an explanation regarding Steward Ji’s matter. Come with me.”
Old Mrs. Fu sighed softly, feeling even more pity for her daughter-in-law who stood alone and helpless in the family.
“I’m not wronged—after all, I have Mother to back me up.” Li Qianqian followed with a beaming smile. Though she had narrowly escaped this time, she would need to quickly deal with Fu Huaishan’s clothes in her room later.
“You’re just too easygoing.” Old Mrs. Fu shook her head in amusement.
In the study
Old Mrs. Fu took the initiative to place a stack of contracts on the table. The Fu family didn’t lack this kind of money.
But Qianqian hadn’t produced any results yet, so she had been weighing the matter. After today, however, she was fully convinced that Qianqian was a capable person.
“Qianqian, I know you’ve been wronged—widowed at such a young age. I said before that once you bring in a trending artist and make a name for yourself through your achievements, Rose Entertainment will be yours.”
“I also know it’s not easy. It requires connections and resources to pave the way, but Huaishan won’t allow me to help you openly. These are all the assets under Yun Li’s name, plus two hundred million from my personal investment. I’ll have everything transferred to your name.”
“I’ll be waiting for you to take over Rose Entertainment with full legitimacy.”