28 Probing

Lady Xie turned her head in surprise, following her gaze, and saw Shen Qinglü standing obediently behind her. "Ali, why are you here?"

"I saw Grandmother leave, and I was worried something had happened..." Shen Qinglü replied in a small voice, like a child who had done something wrong, fearing the elders might scold her.

"Grandmother!" Yu Liuzhu spoke up urgently. "Aunt just said it was her. Could it be that sister Ali pushed Aunt into the water?"

"Tang'er, what nonsense are you spouting? How could your sister Ali push your aunt into the water?" Shen Linlang's voice arrived before Lady Xie's. She walked over in a few quick steps to soothe Shen Qinglü. "Ali, don't be afraid. I know you are a good child..."

"Mother, look at her—she's soaking wet and covered in mud. No matter how much you pity her, you cannot keep shielding her like this!" Yu Liuzhu was filled with hatred, her gaze toward her mother brimming with resentment.

This was the person who claimed to love her the most!

Shen Qinglü pouted, looking pitiful. "I didn't push her. They are framing me."

The more Yu Liuzhu looked at her, the less she could stand it. She felt this way for herself, and for Yu Qingxue.

"Sister Ali, you cannot rely on your childish nature to do whatever you want. If we don't discipline you properly today, who knows what kind of disaster you will cause in the future!"

"I don't want you to teach me!" She acted even more like a petulant child, pointing at Yu Qingxue. "You are in cahoots with her."

Upon hearing this, Lady Xie felt her heart leap into her throat, and her body swayed.

Seeing this, Yu Zhiheng looked at Shen Qinglü with some displeasure and said, "Mother, in my opinion, this is a matter between Qingxue and Ali. It is not appropriate for others to interfere. Let them go back and resolve it themselves. What do you think?"

He was clearly trying to smooth things over for the sake of family harmony.

What a pity! How could Shen Qinglü let him have his way?

"I didn't push her." She had moved to Shen Linlang's side at some point, timidly tugging at her sleeve. "Why would they say such things about me?"

Those eyes, like ink-black jade, were filled with such trust and dependence that it was hard not to feel pity. For a moment, Shen Linlang's heart felt as though it had been soaked in sour water, aching and swelling.

"I believe you. You are a good child."

She was never a good child! She was not in her past life, and she was not in this one.

"Then why does no one like me?" She looked around at the others, appearing timid and fearful, yet her eyes were filled with coldness.

As she pressed tightly against Shen Linlang, the intimacy stung Yu Liuzhu's eyes and heart.

"Mother, you cannot listen to everything she says. Her mind is not sound; perhaps she doesn't even remember what she has done."

Before the words had even faded, Xia Chan hurried in. "Young Mistress, you walked too fast; I couldn't keep up with you."

She panted, explaining to Lady Xie, "Old Madam, the young mistress was woken up and saw you leave the courtyard. She was truly worried that something might have happened to you. She rushed over in such a hurry that she even fell on the way."

As soon as these words were spoken, an awkward silence fell over the room.

Yu Liuzhu's complexion turned a kaleidoscope of colors—red, white, and green. Finally, she lifted her chin, forcing herself to remain calm, and asked, "Xia Chan, before you left, was your young mistress sleeping the whole time?"

Looking bewildered, she nodded. "The young mistress was practicing calligraphy late and slept very soundly through the night. I was guarding her the entire time."

Lady Xie had no reason to doubt her words; she was a capable person she kept by her side, and she trusted her both in character and temperament. If she was trustworthy, then who was not?

"Qingxue, did you remember wrong?"

Yu Qingxue was startled and suspicious, becoming somewhat uncertain. Like Lady Xie, she did not doubt Xia Chan, but those eyes she saw while struggling in the water—eyes that burned with a dark, ghostly fire... Could it be that she had seen wrong?

"I... I felt as if I were possessed by a ghost, and it felt like someone pushed me. Perhaps, in the face of danger, my heart was preoccupied, and I imagined I saw Ali."

"Aunt, you cannot keep protecting her! If she dares to push you into the water today, she will dare to do something even worse tomorrow." Yu Liuzhu, believing her aunt was suffering in silence to protect her own daughter, spoke with undisguised heartache.

"Tang'er, stop talking. Your aunt knows what she is doing." Lady Xie's tightly clenched hands relaxed, and her pounding heart finally settled. She let out a long sigh, wishing to put the matter to rest. "It is fortunate that it was just a scare and you are unharmed. Falling into the water in this cold weather is no laughing matter. Go back, take a hot bath, drink a bowl of hot ginger soup, and sleep under the covers. Do not catch a cold."

Just as the farce seemed to be fading away, Shen Qinglü muttered to herself, "They framed me. Shouldn't they apologize?"

As she said this, she stared fixedly at Yu Liuzhu.

Yu Liuzhu was already unwilling to let it go; her attempt to keep the peace had been forced. Hearing this, she felt Shen Qinglü was pushing her luck, and she shot a glare at her like a dagger. Shen Qinglü did not dodge or avoid it; her ink-black gaze was inexplicably dangerous, as if some man-eating monster were hidden within that pool of blackness.

Neither was willing to yield—one was intentional, the other feigning ignorance.

Yu Qingxue was filled with hatred. "Ali, how can you be so unreasonable!" Then, she turned to Shen Linlang: "Sister-in-law, please don't be angry; it is my fault for not teaching her well."

Everyone, including Yu Liuzhu, assumed that with this, Shen Linlang would surely take the opportunity to step down.

No one saw the dark shadow that flashed through Shen Linlang's eyes.

"Being falsely accused is not a pleasant feeling. It is only right that Ali wants to get to the bottom of it."

The wind gusted in through the half-lifted curtain, carrying the dampness of the rain and the stagnation of the pond floor. It was cold and sticky, pressing against their faces and seeping into their hearts, eroding them.

The resentment and hatred of her past life flooded Yu Liuzhu's heart, and her bitterness toward Shen Linlang reached its peak. What made her even more uncomfortable was Shen Qinglü's gaze—mocking, yet also provocative.

Grief-stricken and provoked, she blurted out, "Fine! I'll go into the water to apologize to her! Is that enough?"

Having said that, she rushed out.

*Splash.*

"Tang'er!"

The sound of her hitting the water and Yu Qingxue’s gasp rang out simultaneously, followed by another splash as Yu Qingxue jumped in after her.

When they were rescued by the servants, Yu Qingxue held her tightly. "Tang'er, why are you so foolish... How could you take the words of that wicked child to heart..."

Shen Qinglü walked over at some point, looking stubbornly unrepentant. "I did nothing wrong. I am not a wicked child..."

*Slap!*

Yu Qingxue had used nearly all her strength in that blow.

The slap seemed to confirm Shen Linlang's suspicions. She caught Shen Qinglü, who had nearly been knocked over, her eyes dark and full of cracks. "What are you doing?"

The two pairs of mother and daughter stood in confrontation.

The rain enveloped them closely, looking misaligned, yet appearing as if they had finally fallen into their proper places—as if an invisible hand in the shadows was setting everything right.

"Why does she only like sister Tang'er, and not me?" Shen Qinglü asked weakly, like the drizzling rain.

Shen Linlang's heart was being torn apart, shattering piece by piece.

She glared at Yu Qingxue, speaking every word with sharp intensity: "You cannot tolerate her like this—is she truly your own biological daughter?"