Chapter 146: Chapter 146: The Truth Comes to Light
There’s no way, Qu Fulan couldn’t bear being misunderstood by others.
If she didn’t know, it was fine, but knowing meant she had to defend herself with a few words.
Otherwise, wouldn’t all her efforts have been in vain?
However, after she returned, she didn’t see Heir Pei and didn’t know where he had gone.
Forget it, she’ll wait for an opportunity to explain to him tomorrow; there’s no rush right now.
The next day, Qu Fulan was shown around by a maid from Jin Mansion.
Actually, this maid was chosen by her specifically; Mr. Jin was hospitable and instructed the steward to treat her well, so the steward took her requests seriously.
Qu Fulan expressed her wish to have a maid from the main household guide her around to properly enjoy the scenery in Jin Mansion.
The reason for wanting a maid from the main household was that they had lived there longer and understood Jin Mansion better; the steward thought it reasonable, so arranged for a maid from the main household to accompany her.
Qu Fulan took the chance to ask some harmless questions, and the little maid was unguarded, telling her everything without even realizing it.
Through the maid’s words, she learned about the illness of Madam Jin, saying that she used to be healthy, but inexplicably her health deteriorated until she couldn’t get out of bed, and even the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
Qu Fulan casually inquired about the relationship between the Jin Mansion’s eldest and second sons. The maid said the eldest son didn’t like playing with the second son, but out of respect for Mr. Jin, the eldest son tolerated the second son clinging to him and taking his belongings.
The maid appeared to dislike the second son, saying many unpleasant things about him.
The gist was that Jin Pan was ill-mannered, frequently harassing the maids, and they privately complained about him, feeling very annoyed.
The two walked to a courtyard near the water, where they saw a woman in her mid-twenties bending over to soothe a six- or seven-year-old boy, followed by several servants, creating quite a scene.
"That’s the concubine and her son," the maid explained, her tone mixed with disdain.
Qu Fulan naturally picked up on this and once again inquired about the reason, guessing the little maid was charmed by her handsome male disguise and couldn’t resist, revealing everything.
"Originally, she was just the lady’s personal maid, but she climbed into Mr. Jin’s bed while the lady was pregnant and was elevated to a concubine. Although she serves the lady humbly as before, she still can’t make it to the front stage."
While talking, the concubine collided with Second Madam Jin. Second Madam Jin was arrogant, not considering the concubine, who sensibly lowered her head and stood aside with her child to let Second Madam Jin pass.
As Second Madam Jin passed by, perhaps due to the narrow path or her reckless walking, the child fell into the water, causing chaos on the bank.
Someone jumped in to save the child, but even those who couldn’t swim jumped in too, creating chaos in the water, delaying the rescue effort until the guards arrived to pull everyone out.
Then followed a series of steps to save the child and call the doctor; ultimately, the young master’s life was saved, but he was quite frightened.
Although he was a concubine’s son, he was still Mr. Jin’s son, so his water accident and unconsciousness naturally worried Mr. Jin.
Then the boy cried, saying Second Madam Jin pushed him into the water on purpose.
The concubine quickly covered her son’s mouth and explained that the child was talking nonsense.
But in the eyes of adults, a child wouldn’t lie, and Second Madam Jin instantly became the wicked aunt, evoking Mr. Jin’s intense anger as he interrogated her on why she would harm his young son.
Second Madam Jin found it difficult to argue, abruptly recalling the maid from the main household had seen the incident, and ordered someone to summon the maid as a witness to prove she didn’t push anyone.
The maid in question was naturally the one accompanying Qu Fulan on her garden stroll. Although she disliked Second Madam Jin, she also didn’t favor the concubine, merely claiming the distance was far and she didn’t see clearly.
Second Madam Jin rebuked the maid for not telling the truth, slapping her, but Mr. Jin stopped her.
"If you are so insolent in my presence, it shows just how audacious you are usually—it’s disgraceful!"
Second Madam Jin felt unjustly wronged and angry, intending to defend herself but realizing there was another witness besides the maid.
That witness was naturally Qu Fulan, who was soon invited over for questioning.
"It was Second Madam who pushed," Qu Fulan said.
The maid looked at Qu Fulan in shock.
Qu Fulan kept calm, firmly repeating, "I saw with my own eyes her pushing someone into the water."
This sentence directly established Second Madam Jin’s guilt.
Second Madam Jin grew even angrier, getting up to fight with Qu Fulan, only to be restrained by others.
The blame thus fell on Second Madam Jin.
There’s no helping it, Qu Fulan, an outsider, wouldn’t falsely accuse Second Madam Jin without reason; she must have seen the truth and just spoke honestly.
Even though Second Madam Jin pushed the concubine’s son into the water, leading to no fatalities, Mr. Jin’s style usually meant minor rebukes; after all, the incident was over.
Sure enough, by noon, the verdict came out; Second Madam Jin’s stewardship was temporarily revoked, her monthly salary cut for half a year, and the matter was done.
This result left Feng Mei’er quite dissatisfied, seeking out Qu Fulan for sarcastic jibes.
"You’re lying; I actually saw it myself when it happened, and Second Madam didn’t push anyone!"
"Oh, then go ahead and expose me," Qu Fulan coolly replied.
"You..." Feng Mei’er naturally wouldn’t expose; she wanted Second Madam out of the Jin Family, or else her management rights would eventually fall into her hands, "It’s all your fault for not cooperating with me, or this matter wouldn’t have ended so lightly!"
Qu Fulan smiled, "Since you know she set fire to the study, go ahead and reveal it to Mr. Jin now, it’s still in time."
Feng Mei’er gritted her teeth, speechless.
Qu Fulan knew her guess was right; the evidence Feng Mei’er had wasn’t crucial, or she would have acted long ago, not waited until today.
But Qu Fulan had her plans, and sure enough, before the day was out, things reached a resolution.
Later that evening, the evidence of Second Madam Jin’s arson in the study was presented to Mr. Jin.
Someone from Second Madam Jin’s courtyard confessed, admitting she had ordered it, along with physical evidence like Superior Sandalwood found in her room.
With witness testimony and physical evidence combined, Second Madam Jin had no further grounds for argument.
Mr. Jin was greatly shocked, realizing he couldn’t keep such a menace in the house, fearing for both his elder and younger sons’ lives.
Originally, he considered settling it by banishing Second Madam Jin and her family due to brotherly ties, but with Heir Pei and others present, he couldn’t handle it privately, promptly reporting to the authorities.
When the authorities came to arrest, Qu Fulan added, "There’s another person involved, isn’t it, concubine?"