The whole family of villains listens to my heart, the Regent Prince treats me dearly.

Chapter 41 My benefactor, do not act impulsively!

Under Madam Gu's orders, the servants began digging.

Gu Wan instructed someone to bring over a rattan chair. "Mother, the sun is too strong. You should sit in the shade and watch from here. Please don't get sunburned. If you get heatstroke, it will be my fault."

Madam Gu sat down in the rattan chair, feeling comforted.

They were increasingly unwilling to believe that Wan'er was such a ruthless person.

Zhai Rongyu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Gu Wan kneeling on Madam Gu's lap. The two were talking about something. Gu Wan looked obedient and demure, with tears welling up in her eyes. She looked like she was about to cry and it was heartbreaking.

She caught Zhai Rongyu out of the corner of her eye, lowered her head, pressed her forehead against the back of her hand, and slightly curled the corners of her mouth where no one else could see.

Amidst the sweltering heat, Zhai Rongyu felt a strange chill.

She turned her head and stared at the busy crowd in front of her, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

The servants dug for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and looking at the empty pit, they all began to have doubts.

Soon, they all started whispering among themselves.

"Is what Miss Zhai said accurate or not? We've been digging for ages and haven't found anything."

"Isn't it possible that Miss Wan'er has been wronged?"

"I knew it! Miss Wan'er is the most virtuous and obedient of women. How could she possibly plot against her sister?"

"This Miss Zhai has no real skills, yet she comes here to show off her power."

"I truly feel sorry for Miss Wan'er!"

"I heard that Minister Zhai doesn't get along with our master. Could he be deliberately playing a trick on us?"

The whispers reached Madam Gu's ears, and she said sternly, "What are you all muttering about instead of working properly!"

Gu Wan took a palm-leaf fan and fanned her.

"Mother, please calm down. The summer heat can easily cause liver fire to rise. Don't get angry and ruin your health."

A servant dropped his hoe and came to report.

"Madam, we've been digging for ages, but we haven't found anything. Madam, look..."

A hint of smugness flashed in Gu Wan's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

She feigned a wronged expression, her eyes reddening, and said, "Mother... now that the facts are before us, will Mother believe Wan'er?"

She lowered her eyes, tears welling in the corners, threatening to fall but not quite; even a deity would feel sorry for her.

Madam Gu got up and walked to the tree. Looking at the hole that had been dug, she unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good that it's not Wan'er.

Perhaps our benefactor has made a mistake.

"My benefactor, look at this..."

Looking at Madam Gu's expression, Zhai Rongyu sighed inwardly.

Her relieved expression showed her unwillingness to believe that Gu Wan was the instigator.

I don't know if it's right or wrong for me to interfere in other people's affairs...

[But my future sister-in-law... she's so pitiful.]

She felt a pang of pity when she thought of Gu Xiruo's pale face.

Gu Wan's momentary nervousness was genuine; she was absolutely certain that the evidence was right there in the courtyard.

She stared quietly at the big tree in the yard.

After bowing his head and pondering for a moment, when he looked up again, his eyes were clear.

Gu Wan spoke up at this moment.

"Mother, this young lady has framed me so cruelly. Please, Mother, do justice for me! Make her kneel down and apologize to me in public!"

"Kneel?" Zhai Rongyu's lips curled into a mocking smile. "I'm afraid you can't handle it."

She raised her right hand and shouted, "Han Guang Sword, come forth!"

A sword gleaming with blue light suddenly appeared in her delicate hand, radiating a chilling aura in the sunlight.

Gu Wan screamed and threw herself into Madam Gu's arms.

"Mother! Mother, save me! She...she's enraged and wants to kill her daughter!"

Her delicate body trembled slightly, and Madam Gu became anxious.

"My benefactor! My benefactor, please don't act rashly!"

The servants were terrified and scattered in all directions, dropping their hoes with a clanging sound.

Zhai Rong raised her sword and swung it, the cold sword intent instantly enveloping dust and smoke, slashing towards the big tree behind Gu Wan.

"Ah!!" Gu Wan closed her eyes, her face turning pale with fright.

With a loud crash, the old tree in the yard fell to the ground, and a wooden box the size of two palms fell out of the trunk.

After the initial shock, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Zhai Rongyu walked over, bent down and picked up the wooden box. "May I ask, Miss Wan'er, what is this?"

Gu Wan opened her eyes, still reeling from the ordeal, and saw the wooden box in Zhai Rong's hand.

Her pupils contracted sharply, and her face turned deathly pale.

“Mother…Mother…” She gripped Madam Gu’s sleeves tightly with both hands, trembling uncontrollably.

Zhai Rongyu gave a soft hum and opened the wooden box.

Inside lay a small puppet doll, no bigger than a palm, covered with sharp needles.

Madam Gu pulled her sleeve away from Gu Wan's hand and rushed over. She took the wooden box from Zhai Rong's hand and looked at the puppet doll in disbelief. "This is...this is Xiruo's birth date and time!"

She turned to look at Gu Wan, her eyes filled with a mixture of disappointment and surprise.

"Wan'er! It really is you..."

After saying only a few words, Madam Gu couldn't hold back her tears and choked up, unable to speak.

"Why, why?!"

Madam Gu was unsteady on her feet, her plump body swaying slightly.

Zhai Rongyu reached out and supported her arm.

Gu Wan covered her face and collapsed to the ground, large tears streaming through her fingers. As she cried, she burst into wild laughter.

"Hahahaha...Why...Why? You actually have the nerve to ask me why?!"

"We're both daughters of the same father, so why does Gu Xiruo get so much more love than me!"

"I was born before her, so blame yourself for getting pregnant in the first place!"

"Everything in this mansion should have been mine!"

"But the moment she was born, I became a concubine's daughter!"

"She stole what was rightfully mine!"

Madam Gu stared at her in astonishment: "What did you say?"

She said with heartache, "All these years, haven't I treated you like my own child? Although you're not my biological child, you have a share of everything I have! How could you say such a thing!"

"Heh," Gu Wan sneered, a chilling hatred lurking in her eyes, "Treat her like your own child?"

"If you hadn't killed my mother, why would I be living under someone else's roof!"

Madam Gu was stunned.

"I killed your mother?"

Gu Wan's eyes were bloodshot as she shrieked, "You and my mother gave birth at the same time, so why did she have to die from postpartum hemorrhage?"

"You dare say that you didn't instigate this?!"

Mrs. Gu was shocked and heartbroken. "How could you think that!"

Gu Wan harbored hatred and resentment, and was convinced of her own guess.

"My mother was beautiful and delicate. If she had lived, she would have posed a threat to your position. That's why you got rid of her!"

"You're the vicious one, not me!"

Madam Gu felt a chill run through her body. "So all these years, you've been faking it."

She actually kept such an ungrateful wretch by her side...

It even nearly cost Xiruo her life!

Gu Wan's eyes were bloodshot. She suddenly stood up and rushed towards Madam Gu, snatched the wooden box from her hand, and started frantically stabbing the puppet doll with the sharp needle!

"It's all because of you...it's all because of you..."

In the courtyard in another corner.

Gu Xiruo suddenly coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, her small face filled with pain.

The maid screamed.

Hearing the commotion, Zhai Sangjie rushed into the house.