Chapter 33: Can I?

  Lotus White hung her head, wishing she could shrink into a ball. How was she supposed to say anything? In fact, Yuxiang had grabbed Ping'er to threaten the young mistress, but Yuxiang didn't directly want to kill the mistress. Looking at Madame's fierce and intimidating gaze, and then at Qingge's cold and stern face, she was afraid of both Madame and the young mistress. What could she say? If only she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have spoken up earlier and just served the young mistress obediently. Now, whatever she said would be wrong!

  "Lotus White, just say what the fact is!" Mu Zong Pei looked at Lotus White's flickering eyes, and hesitated for half a day without speaking.

  His voice was stern and oppressive, and Lianbai, who was already entangled in her heart, jumped in fright, her small face turned white, and her eyes widened as she stared at Qingge and stuttered: "It was the young lady who killed Yuxiang, Yuxiang... Yuxiang didn't go to kill the young lady..." She didn't dare to look up at anyone, lowering her head, her eyes fixed on the tip of her shoes, as if she wanted to stare a hole through them. She still prioritized protecting her own interests first, and maybe in two days, the young lady would return to normal again.

  As soon as the words fell, Qin Yelian's eyes were full of pride. "Master, you see, Lianbai also testified that I didn't lie." She glanced at Qingge and saw that she was not panicked or flustered, standing calmly in the courtyard, even after being accused by Lianbai, her expression remained calm and composed, as if she hadn't done anything wrong. Qin Yelian continued, "Qingge, no matter how well you pretend, the facts are right in front of us, we have both witnesses and evidence!" She didn't expect Qingge to be able to lie so smoothly, without even a hint of guilt on her face.

  Qing Ge seemed to have anticipated her words, and smiled slightly. Her eyes sparkled with a hint of mockery as she said, "Madam, who in this courtyard is not your person? They receive their salaries from you, how dare they speak the truth? Your usual sternness is deeply ingrained in their hearts, who would dare to reveal the facts?"

  What is dignity, isn't it just bullying and oppression in daily life? Upon hearing this, Zhuo Jing's eyes flashed with anger, her furious expression already apparent.

  "You! Mu Qingge, don't go too far... Did I force you just now?" Qin Yelian shouted, turning her head to glare at Lianbai, her eyes filled with bloodshot lines. "Lianbai, tell me, did I force you?"

  Lotus White flipped her eyelids, coincidentally meeting Qing Ge's iron-blooded cold gaze, and swept past the bloodstains on Madame's embroidered shoes, startling in her heart, and bowed her head even lower.

  Qin Yanlian's loud voice echoed through the courtyard, piercing people's eardrums. Mu Zongpei's eardrums ached from listening, her eyebrows furrowed as if they could rival mountains.

  Madam saw Lianbai only lowering her head, grasped her arm and said fiercely: "Lianbai, speak!"

  "What are you doing?!" Mu Zongpei's face was red with anger, scolding harshly. He reprimanded in front of him, beating and scolding the servant to force a confession, what kind of behavior is this? Yanlian's temper really has no restraint, not even a bit of warmth or gentleness like Qing'er.

  Qin Yanlian saw Mu Zongpei get angry, and reluctantly withdrew her hand. She glared at Lianbai with a fierce gaze, "You little brat, just you wait and see how I'll deal with you later!" She glanced sideways at Qingge, still fuming, and forced herself to ask, "Don't even think about denying this fact today!"

  Everyone in the yard is your person, Madam. Whom can you find as a witness? Qing Ge's heart doesn't accept it. Unless you can find an outsider to prove that Qing Ge indeed took the initiative to kill Yu Xiang." Qing Ge said lightly.

  She must calm down the crowd in the mansion today and let them know that she is not to be trifled with. She instructed her servants to inform Mu Zongpei, having made up her mind, and promptly cleaned up the mess to avoid another disturbance in the courtyard.

  As she thought about it, her eyes swept over Ping'er lying on the rattan chair, and she looked out of the courtyard, thinking to herself: Why hasn't the doctor arrived yet?

  "Are you doing this on purpose? There's no outsider here!" Qin Yelian saw that she was still calm and collected, her temper had always been bad, and she couldn't help but raise her voice.

  At this moment, a man's voice came from the rooftop, abruptly inserting itself into the tense atmosphere of Chun Yanyu.

  "Yo, Hua Rong, look at the commotion below, it's not over yet, what are you still doing?" The voice made one think of a serene lake on a clear moonlit night, with ripples gently lapping against the shore, and an undercurrent of soft, seductive tone that was almost fatal in its allure.

  "The master, they're looking for witnesses and saying who started the fight first." Another voice immediately responded, with a youthful tone that was neither masculine nor feminine, having the softness of the man in front but lacking his innate lethal charm.

  "Oh... finding witnesses, I love being a witness..."

  Along with the post-meridian sunlight, everyone slightly raised their heads and looked towards the source of the sound.

  The first thing that caught my eye was a pair of absolutely white jade hands, each finger resembling a jade shoot, with smooth and transparent fingernails like thin jade. In her left hand, she held a golden folding fan, slowly fanning herself as the breeze blew gently. The golden surface of the fan was adorned with vibrant peony flowers in full bloom, and the entire person seemed to be shrouded in an aura of elegance, as if she had just emerged from a painting.

  Looking again, the man wore a peacock blue brocade robe with smooth and clean lines without any wrinkles, on which were embroidered large peonies in national colors, mainly tender red and secondary deep purple.

  He descended from mid-air as if there were stairs in the air, walking slowly and steadily, his backlit face gradually appearing before everyone.

  The scorching sunlight of summer made everyone squint slightly, but what shone brighter in their eyes was not the afternoon sun, but the man's appearance.

  A head of black hair as black as ink was combed to the left, with three small braids woven from it, each braid strung with a string of crimson, purple and sapphire jade beads. The remaining black hair was coiled into a simple bun, on top of which were inserted three peacock feathers of the same color as her clothes. Below the hair, her eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips were exquisitely beautiful, her eyebrows like autumn water, her eyelashes like butterfly wings, her pupils clear and bright. Her shoulders were slender and elegant, her neck like jade, with a small red mole between her eyebrows, which seemed to be dripping with blood, adding a touch of seductive color to her already resplendent beauty.

  The man stood in the courtyard, a golden fan in his hand, his eyebrows and eyes filled with smiles, hiding a hint of elegance, his eyes slanted, a pair of amber-colored pupils slightly turned, everyone's heart skipped a beat, he opened his lips lightly, smiled slightly, and asked: "Can I testify?"

  This smile, the entire courtyard was filled with a thousand reds and purples, the majestic and elegant peony. In this instant, its dazzling beauty overshadowed all the light. Only he, dared to wear a peony robe as a man, not losing any radiance, but instead, his human charm became even more resplendent.

  Lotus White heard the sound, originally prepared to take a glance and continue bowing her head, but when she saw the man, her wide-open mouth could almost fit an egg, forgetting to close it, her two eyes were about to be stunned.

  If it wasn't for his deep voice, she really wouldn't have known whether the person standing in front of her was a man or a woman!

  Her eyes swept back and forth between Qing Ge and the man, one was as cold as frost, the other was as beautiful as a hibiscus, she didn't know who stood out more.

  Not to mention the big sister, even men can give birth to such beauty, can this second miss still hold the title of the first beauty?

  My goodness, can there be a man as handsome as him? It was the first time she knew that the word "handsome" could be used to describe a man.

  The song was not over yet, but she was already stunned. Although she had seen many celebrities who were known as "flower boys" on TV commercials in her past life, she had never seen a man as beautiful as an elf, with every step he took seeming to create a new lotus flower, making it impossible for people to discern his character. Even after many years, when she thought back to the first time she saw this person, the scene was still vividly etched in her mind, and she couldn't help but exclaim:

  Among the piled stones there is jade, the lined-up pines are like green jade, the handsome gentleman is uniquely elegant, unparalleled in the world.

  At that moment when the maidservants, including Qin Yannian, were staring intently, a familiar yet youthful voice rang out with a scolding tone:

  "Hey, our master is asking you questions... how come every one of you looks like a fool!"

  It wasn't until then that the crowd awoke from their dreamlike trance, looked down and discovered that behind the man stood two children wearing light blue embroidered robes, with faces as identical as twins. They also had outstanding looks, fair skin, red lips, and faces like flower petals. However, because they were standing beside the man, their beauty was overshadowed by his dazzling appearance.