Chapter 223: Perfect Counterattack

She thought very simply; in any case, Alisha couldn't speak, so framing her wouldn't matter.

It was better than saying out loud in front of everyone that she was poaching from the Zhu Family.

"Slap!"

Shi Youxuan pulled a long face, slammed the table, stood up, and said sternly to her: "What do you mean? Are you saying I condone Alisha stealing your things?"

The Zhu Family is the richest in L Country, while the Zhang family is just a minor official in a clean-handed department.

Any item Shi Youxuan could take out would be enough for the Zhang family to earn in a lifetime; saying she stole Lady Zhang's things was a huge joke, and no one would believe it.

People looked at each other; some whispered, some covered their mouths to giggle, some prepared to watch the drama, but in any case, not a single person believed it.

Lady Zhang's face turned red then white; she didn't expect Shi Youxuan to leave her no face at all and accuse her directly.

She explained sheepishly: "Lady Zhu, you misunderstood. That's not what I meant. Someone else saw that Alisha picked it up, so I was just asking, is that not allowed?"

"I didn't say she stole my things, and I certainly didn't say Lady Zhu instigated it. Who doesn't know your family is wealthy enough to rival a nation, and any item you take out is worth a fortune? How could you take a fancy to the cheap necklace I'm wearing?"

On the surface, Lady Zhang pretended to be pitiful and took the initiative to show weakness, but in reality, she was hiding needles in silk, implying that Shi Youxuan was arrogant and overbearing, possessing money but lacking substance.

Shi Youxuan smiled slightly: "Asking is certainly allowed, but it can't be just whatever you say goes."

After saying this, she asked Alisha: "Did you pick up Lady Zhang's necklace?"

Sheng Hanyu had been keeping his head low and sitting there very quietly just now.

From the moment Lady Zhang started the provocation, he knew this woman was going to be in trouble!

Since childhood, many people have tried to frame Shi Youxuan; who does she think she is?

All her little tricks were things Shi Yuke had finished playing with years ago. Xuanxuan was at a disadvantage back then and didn't suffer the slightest loss under Shi Yuke; now that her status and position were both better than that Lady Zhang, it was even more impossible for her to suffer a loss.

So he didn't step forward, quietly waiting for Shi Youxuan to completely crush Lady Zhang.

Now that the question was directed at him, he knew it was time for him to take the stage.

Thus, he shook his head.

Seeing Alisha just shake her head, Lady Zhang immediately breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at once: "It's not even anything good, so forget it if it wasn't picked up. Such a small matter isn't worth getting to the bottom of. Eat, eat."

She wanted to downplay it and muddle through, but there are no such easy things in the world.

Alisha suddenly raised her head, her gaze filled with terror, anger, and resentment!

She shook her head and waved her hands, then used gestures to say she was lying!

The reason she looked for her wasn't about a necklace at all, but to make her go to a place with her. He thought there was still a lot of work left to do, so he didn't agree.

Some people understood, and some didn't.

He asked for paper and a Hallucinogenic Pen again, and wrote the process on it in a crooked hand!

The national language of L Country is also the Jiangzhou dialect, just using traditional characters. Sheng Hanyu had learned them from his grandfather when he was a child; although he couldn't write them well, it happened to fit his current identity.

There were typos, but it didn't matter; now everyone could understand.

"You, you are talking nonsense."

Exposed, Lady Zhang was immediately embarrassed and angry; she came over furiously and raised her hand to slap Alisha.

Alisha is a servant of the Zhu Family; no matter how big a mistake she made, there was no reason for her to discipline her directly.

Shi Youxuan grabbed her wrist and sneered: "Lady Zhang, what good upbringing you have. My family's servant, you hit her just because you want to? You really don't treat yourself as an outsider; you haven't even done anything yet and you're already disciplining her as one of your own. Are you acting as if I don't exist?"

"I didn't mean that..."

Shi Youxuan would not give her time to explain and immediately pressed on step by step: "That's not what you meant? Then what does Lady Zhang mean?"

"First you made insinuations and spat blood, then you framed and slandered—what exactly do you mean?"

Lady Zhang panicked completely, her composure shattered: "Your servant slandered me; she just stole my necklace and didn't want to admit it. Lady Zhu, I advise you that it's best not to keep such a person in your home, lest she steal your things and then run off with everything."

Shi Youxuan: "You say Alisha stole your things, where is the evidence?"

"Someone saw it." She used the same old trick again.

Shi Youxuan said: "Fine, since someone saw it, then who saw it? Tell us, and we will confront them face to face."

The clothes on Lady Zhang's body were already soaked through with sweat. Who saw it? How would she know who saw it?

But at this point, the mask had already been torn off; even if she softened her stance now, it would be useless.

She had to carry the framing to the end. Her gaze swept through the crowd, hoping someone could help her.

Several people who were familiar and on good terms with her lowered their heads or turned away, fearing she would point at them.

They didn't want to go against Shi Youxuan; behind her was the Zhu Family, and their husbands couldn't afford to offend them.

"Lady Zhang wouldn't be unable to find anyone at all, would she? Zhang Xiansheng is known for his rigor outside, but Lady Zhang's words are very imprecise..."

Shi Youxuan had already mentioned her husband, and she could no longer hold it together.

She didn't even want her face anymore; no matter how important her face was, it wasn't as important as her husband's future.

"Lady Zhu, I was wrong. You are a great person who doesn't hold grudges against small people; spare me this once..."

Shi Youxuan still kept a long face, very displeased: "What does this mean? Wrong is wrong; you have to explain clearly where you were wrong. You want me to spare you without saying anything? Could it be that I am bullying others by relying on my power?"

"No, no."

Cold sweat kept pouring out of Lady Zhang. Now she finally knew how formidable Shi Youxuan was.

She no longer dared to play tricks and told everything, word for word, about what she had said to Alisha at the time.

"I lied. I didn't lose any necklace at all. It's just that I saw the Zhu Family's servant was so capable and loyal to her master, so I wanted to poach her to our house to take care of my children..."

Her peripheral vision swept over a few pairs of gloating eyes, and she hardened her heart, dragging them all into the water.

"I'm not the only one who had this idea. Lady Li, Madam Wang, and Madam Huang all approached Alisha, but Alisha didn't agree to any of them."

She wanted to drag a few people down with her even in her own death. Although the Furen and Taitai who were named didn't say anything, they held a grudge against her in their hearts.

Lady Zhang had also let go of all caution; this time she didn't hide anything.

She said everything about the initial idea of provocation: "I felt uncomfortable after being rejected by Alisha, and I was jealous that Lady Zhu is better looking than me, has a better family background than me, and even the servants she hires are a hundred times better than mine. I was momentarily possessed by a ghost and talked nonsense... Lady Zhu, you are a person of great stature, please don't hold it against me..."

Shi Youxuan was satisfied.

Shi Youxuan was not the type of person to refuse to let someone off once she had the upper hand; since that woman already knew how formidable she was, her apology now was sincere, and she would not provoke her again in the future.

It is better to be forgiving when one can, so she decided to just let it go.

"Everyone, please eat."

She did not directly say whether she forgave her or not, but instead picked up a chopstick of greens and placed them in Lady Zhang's bowl, saying softly, "Seeing you covered in sweat from the heat, eat some greens to cool down."

The sweat was real, but it was not from the heat; it was from fear.

"Thank you, thank you, Lady Zhu." Lady Zhang had not expected Shi Youxuan to stop pursuing the matter so easily, and she was immediately filled with gratitude, tears of being moved almost falling.