♂?，，

  Qie Sao snorted and curled her lip, saying with a sniff: "You've been caught red-handed, you can't deny it."

  "Second Master, I didn't lie..."

  Li Mingyu raised his hand to stop her from speaking and frowned, saying: "What about that bag of silver?"

  A woman immediately stepped forward with a package of silver: "Second Master, this is the silver that Wen Li wanted to steal."

  Li Mingyu weighed it in his hand and said casually: "Wang Shu, is this silver yours?"

  Wang's wife hastily came out: "It's mine, I have an urgent matter at home and asked the sisters in the kitchen to borrow it."

  Li Mingyu slightly nodded: "Oh? Then how many taels of silver are there in total?"

  "Wang's wife said with a confident smile: 'In total, it is ten taels and five mace.'"

  "Oh! Are they all borrowed from the sisters in the kitchen?" Li Mingyun asked again.

  "Yes! It's just that a few close sisters lent it to me on ordinary days." Wang said with a grateful expression.

  Li Mingyun smiled slightly: "Hmph! Adding flowers to brocade is easy, sending charcoal in the snow is hard. The people in our kitchen are united and harmonious, very good indeed."

  Several old women didn't know what the second young master's words had to do with Wen Li stealing silver, so they could only smile and say: "It's all thanks to the mistress's good teaching, and it's only right that we servants help each other."

  "So it seems, everyone knows who borrowed how much money in their heart..." Li Mingyu calmly looked at Wang Shu.

  Wang's expression stiffened with a jolt, her smile frozen, and she stammered: "This... of course, I remember everything."

  Li Mingyun turned to Jinxiu: "Jinxiu, go with Wen Shan and Wang Sao next door, let her lend some silver to whoever, write down how much money and taels were borrowed, don't forget to get her fingerprint."

  Wang's expression changed suddenly, and Li Mingyu looked at her sideways, his mouth curling up: "What? Wang can't have forgotten so quickly, can she?"

  Wang's aunt secretly cried out in distress, but Deng's mother hadn't instructed her to do this, so how could she make things up? Wang's aunt didn't dare say that she couldn't remember, and with a flurry of rolling eyes, she could only awkwardly say: "This servant... remembers."

  Jin Xiu stepped forward: "Wang Shu, please!"

  Wang's sister listlessly followed Jinxiu next door, while Wen Shan stared at her like a guardian deity.

  Li Mingyun swept his eyes over the remaining crowd: "Who among you borrowed money from Wang's wife? Come out and give your name, report the amount."

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, poking me and pulling me, but no one dared to stand up.

  Li Mingyuan found a chair and sat down leisurely, propping up his legs, waiting to watch the show.

  Wen Li suddenly understood the meaning of Second Master, if this silver cannot even be explained by Wang Shu herself, how can she be framed for stealing it?

  Yun Ying immediately sneered, "Didn't you all just say that we should help each other? How come now you've forgotten whether or not you borrowed money from me? It's really hard to find good people like you."

  Everyone's face was even more embarrassed. How could they not have thought of this before? Deng Mama had miscalculated, and now who dared to come forward and admit it? What if they didn't match up, wouldn't that be like pouring dirty water on themselves? Asking for trouble?

  Li Mingyun looked at him for a while and smiled very warmly: "So, none of us have ever borrowed money from Wang Shu?"

  Still no one came out to speak, and several people secretly turned their heads to glance at the door behind them.

  Li Mingyun watched their every move, understood in his heart, and asked another question: "Are you sure none of you lent money to Wang Shu?"

  Everyone shook their heads.

  "Qie Sao, go get paper and pen." Li Mingyun instructed.

  Qie Sao pushed open the door behind her and took out paper and pen in a moment.

  Li Mingyun took over and wrote on the paper while saying: "We have not borrowed any silver from Wang Shu, nor do we know where Wang Shu's silver came from." Then he looked up and asked everyone: "Is what I've written correct?"

  Everyone did not dare to shake their heads nor nod them.

  Li Mingyun's face sank, his deep eyes suddenly became sharp, revealing a chilling glint, and he uttered a low "Hm?"

  Everyone nodded hastily. It would be better for Wang Shu to suffer alone than to have them accompany her in suffering.

  Li Ming allowed the sharp glint in his eyes to fade, and calmly took out a seal from his bag: "Fortunately, I had this with me, just in case. Cloud Ying, take it and have them press their seals on it."

  Just as they finished their work on this side, Jinxiu and Wenshan escorted Wang Shu back, her face pale.

  "Second Master, this is what Wang Shu left for you." Jin Xiu handed the note to Second Master.

  Li Mingyu couldn't help but burst out laughing as he looked at her: "Aunt Wang, your memory is quite good! You even remember that Wu Ma borrowed two silver coins."

  Wang Shu smiled wryly, her body emitting a chill, she was treating a dead horse as if it were alive, and had written down everyone in the kitchen.

  "Wu Ma, think carefully, have you ever borrowed two silver coins from Wang Shu?" Wen Li teased.

  Madam Wu hastily shook her head: "I have never borrowed it."

  Wang's expression changed: "Nanny Wu, has the old man gone senile?"

  Li Mingyan said slowly: "Wang Shu, I remember clearly, but can't all the sisters be confused? They all said they didn't borrow silver."

  Wang's wife became flustered and wanted to find someone to help her, but when she looked around, everyone either turned a blind eye or lowered their heads. She was already isolated and helpless.

  Li Mingyun's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he raised his voice to shout: "Wang Shu, where did this silver come from? Tell the truth!"

  Wang's wife was so frightened that she knelt down with a thud: "Second Master, this silver is really mine..."

  "Wang Shu, you didn't say that the silver wasn't yours, now Second Master is asking where this silver came from. You just said it was borrowed from the kitchen sisters, and now you're thinking of making up another excuse?" Jin Xiu said coldly.

  Li Ming Yun swept a cold glance over the faces of the maids and servants: "None of you know?"

  No one dared to respond.

  "Wang's silver is something she can't even account for herself, isn't it stolen?" Wen Li said with disdain.

  Yun Ying coldly smiled and said: "This is indeed a case of a thief shouting 'stop thief'."

  Wang's wife hastily said: "It was borrowed from Deng Mama."

  "Why didn't you say so earlier? Now there's a handprint on this paper, and if we take it to the authorities, it'll be a valid confession." Jin Xiu said calmly.

  Wang's sweat dripped like paste: "It was really given by Deng Mama."

  "What is she doing with Xinzhi for no reason? Is it a reward for framing Wenli?" Li Mingyun asked coldly.

  Wang's wife was so frightened that she kept kowtowing and saying: "I don't dare, I don't dare."

  "What else are you not afraid of? You framed Wen Li, then accused her of being a thief and beat her without saying a word. When Yun Ying Jin came to persuade you, you also beat him like a madman. Even if Wen Li had done something wrong, it should be up to the master to deal with it. Are you setting up your own private court? Do you think I, the second young master, am made of mud or dough?" Li Mingyu slammed his hand on the table in anger.

  The crowd was frightened and hastily knelt down.

  "Where's Aunt Deng? She's the one in charge of the kitchen, what's going on today that it's so chaotic and she's nowhere to be found?" Li Ming Yun sternly asked.

  Qiqie weakly said: "Deng Mama is not here today because of something."

  Li Mingyu's mouth twitched, and he let out a cold laugh: "Not here? Wen Shan......" Li Mingyu gave Wen Shan a signal with his eyes.

  Wen Shan strode into the back room, and a shrill cry was heard: "Ah! What are you going to do?"

  Only then did Deng's mother was dragged out by Wen Shan like a small chicken and thrown to the ground.

  Li Mingyun's lips curled up in a cold smile: "Deng Mama, are you enjoying the play inside?"

  Deng's mother looked embarrassed, everything had been exposed, what else could she say?

  "Mom Deng's hands and feet are not clean, full of lies, and gathering people to fight, it seems that this manager is doing a very poor job!" Li Mingyan said with a smile.

  Deng's mother was covered in sweat: "This old slave is unwell and just fell asleep, I didn't know anything."

  Li Mingyun ignored her for the time being and asked those family servants, "Who allowed you to come? Have you all forgotten the rules of the mansion? Gathering a crowd to fight is a serious crime, punishable by at least twenty lashes, or even death in severe cases."

  This is already a clear hint, if we don't come up with an explanation, today will not end well.

  The families hurriedly said: "It was Aunt Qi who called us to come, saying that Mother Deng had ordered it, and we must subdue the Wen Shan brothers."

  Qie Shu heard them calling out to her and hastily said, "Second Master, please be aware that I was indeed ordered by Mother Deng."

  Deng's mother said in alarm: "Nonsense, when did I ever ask you to go call someone?"

  "Second Master, today's events were all ordered by Madam Deng. She instructed us to deceive Wen Li and bring her here. As a lowly servant, I dare not disobey. Please forgive me, Second Master..."

  Wang's wife also came to her senses and hurriedly crawled forward: "That's right, the silver was also given by Deng Mama to me, telling me to frame Wen Li for stealing the silver."

  At this time, all the maids in the kitchen were accusing Deng Mama.

  Deng's mother looked as pale as death, staring at her subordinates in disbelief. Those who had once competed with each other to show their loyalty and determination were now betraying her one after another, each one faster and more ruthless than the last.

  Wen Li finally let out a sigh of relief, fortunately, there was Second Master to help her clear her name, otherwise she would have been so depressed that she could have died.

  Li Mingyu raised his hand, and everyone fell silent. The room was quiet for a moment, with only the sound of a needle dropping being audible. Li Mingyu said slowly: "Deng Mama, since there is no grudge between you and Wen Lixu, why go to great lengths to deal with her? Is it to lure out the mastermind behind the scenes to seek self-protection, or have you decided to take the blame yourself? It should be clear that now there are witnesses and evidence, and it's impossible to deny. According to the rules of the mansion, what punishment should be received, can Deng Mama bear the consequences...?" Li Mingyu paused for a moment before continuing: "This young master has always believed in 'a debt must be repaid', but if you insist on making me the scapegoat, I'd be happy to play along."

  Deng Mama was in a dilemma, the lady had instructed her to do this small thing, but she had messed it up. She was afraid that the lady would not use her again, and if she admitted it, she would be beaten half to death or crippled. Last time, those twenty big boards, she had lain in bed for more than two months... Deng Mama felt a wave of fear, forget it, no matter what, things wouldn't turn out well, she could only protect herself.

  "Second Master, I am willing to admit..."

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