“Who said this clothing was bought from a shop? This outfit was clearly gifted by me to Sister Ying. I still have many clothes given by my former masters. I never paid much attention to their quality, simply feeling it wasteful to keep so many unworn garments, so I thought to gift them as favors. Are you suggesting I harmed Sister Ying, thereby indirectly harming you?”
The moment Bai Lan stepped forward, all eyes focused on her.
As everyone knew, Bai Lan had been sold by her family to a wealthy household as a maid since childhood, serving there for ten years, and had only returned two days ago with numerous belongings.
There was nothing unusual about her giving clothes to village sisters of similar age. Moreover, she bore no grudges against the Su sisters, making it impossible for her to be the one who applied the poison.
Seeing Bai Lan speak up for Su Ying, Su Miao immediately turned pale with shock, her face filled with panic.
“How could this be? This clothing was clearly a gift prepared for me by that bitch Su Ying! How could it have been from you? Are you planning to take the blame for her? What benefits did she offer you?”
She was panicked! Of course she was panicked!
The Bai family now had money and stood tall. How dare she oppose them?
Furthermore, if there was something wrong with Bai Lan’s clothes, either Bai Lan had applied the poisonous juice herself, or her former master had intentionally given her poisoned clothes to harm her. Was she insane or foolish enough to challenge Bai Lan’s former masters?
Therefore, she could only desperately insist that Bai Lan was taking the fall for Su Ying, that the clothes must have been purchased by Su Ying, so she might still have a chance to turn things around.
“Hah! What nonsense are you thinking all day? Since you’re always imagining others want to harm you, why did you steal someone else’s clothes? Don’t believe these clothes are mine? Let me tell you—every servant in wealthy households has an identification number. Mine was seven. Check the inner lining of that garment—see if there’s a ‘seven’ embroidered in one corner.”
Upon hearing this, Su Miao felt as if struck by lightning. If Bai Lan could provide evidence that the clothes were hers, it would be enough to condemn Su Miao irrevocably.
Su Ying refused to admit she had bought the clothes, Bai Lan testified they were hers, and Su Miao had already confessed to stealing them—no matter how she twisted it, she had brought this upon herself. Yet she had still blamed others; now her reputation was truly ruined.
The crowd had already made up their minds, and their gazes toward Su Miao grew even colder.
Still, they were people who valued evidence. To make Su Miao accept defeat wholeheartedly, they asked her to show them the clothes.
When Su Miao remained motionless, a woman stepped forward, snatched the garment from her hands, and turned over the inner lining. Sure enough, there was a “seven” embroidered inside.
Seeing this, everyone pointed at Su Miao and whispered among themselves, their words full of contempt and disdain.
Su Miao could no longer hold back her breakdown and burst into tears. Her face was disfigured, her reputation destroyed—how could she ever marry into a good family now? The wealthy destiny her grandmother had secured for her had been completely ruined by her own actions!
As she cried, she cast a resentful glare toward Su Juan and Su Ying.
She had become like this entirely because of these two sisters. If she couldn’t have a good life, then these two bitches wouldn’t either!
She suddenly reached out to scratch the faces of the two sisters. Su Juan and Su Ying had long been on guard against her. As soon as she made a move, they immediately hid behind several aunties.
Su Miao had intended to scratch off a piece of skin from the sisters’ faces with a deadly force, but with the sisters hiding behind others, she couldn’t retract her strength in time and ended up scratching the face of one of the aunties in front, drawing blood.
The auntie covered her face with a cry of pain, pointed at Su Miao, and angrily scolded, “You blind fool! At such a young age, you have such a vicious heart. Look what you’ve done to my face! If you dare to use such deadly force on me openly, who knows how you’ve been bullying the two sisters in secret!”
Everyone gathered around the auntie, wiping the blood from her face while occasionally chiming in with curses directed at Su Miao.
“Exactly! Having a daughter like this is a great misfortune. She seemed decent at first, and I even considered asking for her hand in marriage for my nephew. Thankfully, I didn’t bring it up earlier!”
“Don’t even think about it! A woman with such a fierce temper would bring bad luck to any family she enters. Let’s all spread the word so no one falls victim to her!”
“Right, right! The second branch of the Su family isn’t any good either. No wonder they raised a daughter like this. Marrying off this girl is a small matter, but having Mrs. He as an in-law would be a disaster. Who knows, she might even try to take all the family’s farmland for herself!”
“…”
Word by word, the comments left Su Miao pale-faced. Unable to withstand the relentless attacks from the aunties and wives, she finally broke down, covered her face, and ran back home in tears.
Mrs. He, hiding in the crowd, had hoped to see Su Miao turn the situation around. Instead, she witnessed Su Miao’s utter defeat. Furious, she clenched her fists but didn’t dare step forward, slinking back home secretly.
Su Juan and Su Ying exchanged a glance before emerging from their hiding spot. They apologised guiltily to the injured auntie.
Their polite and respectful demeanor stood in stark contrast to Su Miao’s earlier viciousness, instantly earning them the crowd’s affection and pity.
“That Su family is truly despicable! They usually put on a good act, but now I see them for what they are. If I ever associate with them again, I’ll write my name backwards!”
“Me too, me too!”
After a few more remarks, everyone noticed it was almost noon and began to take their leave, heading home to prepare lunch.
Su Ying and Su Juan waved generously at them from the doorway. Before leaving, Bai Lan even winked at the two of them.
Backhill.
Su Mo peered into the snare he had set and was overjoyed to find a small deer trapped inside. He immediately jumped into the pit and pushed the deer out.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the little deer leaped out of the pit, it bolted. Su Mo, both angry and anxious, scrambled out and grabbed his slingshot to shoot at the deer.
Someone in the tree chuckled at the sight. Su Mo, startled, turned around and was taken aback. “It’s you?”
Qi Mohan smiled and tossed him a bow and arrow. “Kid, try using this!”
Su Mo caught the bow and arrow, thanked him, and immediately drew the bow, aiming at the little deer.
Unaccustomed to using a bow, each time Su Mo shot, he either missed the mark or misjudged the force, always falling just short of hitting the target.
With only one arrow left, Qi Mohan jumped down, took the bow, and demonstrated. “Watch closely: draw the bow, aim at the target, don’t rush, steady your mind, concentrate and gather your energy, and shoot!”
“Swish!” The arrow plunged directly into the little deer’s throat, and it fell to the ground instantly.
“Wow! You’re amazing! Since you hunted this deer, it belongs to you!” Su Mo exclaimed with admiration.
“I don’t want it. You carry it home!” Qi Mohan put away his bow and arrows, instructing Su Mo to retrieve the arrows he had shot.
Su Mo thanked him repeatedly and eagerly ran over to gather all the arrows for him.
“Great hero! Can you teach me archery? I see your skills are excellent—I’m sure I can learn a lot from you!” Su Mo looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
“Hmm? Why do you want to learn this? Is it purely out of interest?” Qi Mohan placed the bow and arrows into a bamboo tube, wiped the blood-stained arrow with a cloth, and tossed it gracefully and accurately into the container.
“No, I want to protect my two older sisters. If I had your skills, I wouldn’t have to worry about them being mistreated!” Su Mo’s words inadvertently reminded Qi Mohan of that girl.
He cleared his throat lightly. “Tell me honestly, what did your second sister do with my waistband?”