Chapter 49: It Was Elder Brother Who Wronged You

It was at this moment that Luo Yunqiao pushed open the door.

Her gaze swept coldly over the people gathered inside the room.

To them, she was merely an outsider who had no business speaking out of turn, yet today, she was determined to demand justice for herself.

"Having illicit relations with a strange man is an unforgivable crime. That scoundrel blatantly smeared my innocence and reputation, clearly intending to drive me to my death. Mother, you constantly claim that I am flesh of your flesh, so why are you unwilling to seek justice for me?"

"Must you watch me thrown into a pig cage before you are satisfied?"

Luo Zefeng rushed forward, righteous and indignant: "Mother didn't give the order for this, what right do you have to point fingers at her? If you hadn't behaved in such a disgraceful manner earlier, would anyone have come to make trouble for you today? When all is said and done, you brought this entirely upon yourself."

*Crack!*

Luo Yunqiao glared at him and delivered a sharp slap straight across his face.

"Luo Zefeng, I have tolerated you for days on end!" Luo Yunqiao raged. "Time and again, you accuse me without distinguishing right from wrong, hurling insults at will without fulfilling your duty as an elder brother in the slightest. By what right do you lecture me now?"

She had long since stopped caring whose side this family favored, but she could no longer endure their repeated and incessant insults.

Having wandered outside for over a dozen years, she had never received their upbringing. Kneeling and chanting scriptures for three full months was more than enough to repay the debt of her birth.

She never owed this family a single thing.

"Audacious! You unfilial wretch! Even if Zefeng's words were harsh, he is still your elder brother. How dare you strike him today? Will you be riding roughshod over my head tomorrow?" Luo Chao panted, his chest heaving with rage. "Your sister has been framed for no reason, and as the eldest daughter of the Marquis's Mansion, you ought to uphold justice for her. Instead, your heart is filled only with your own interests! I should never have had you brought back here in the first place!"

"Did I ask to be wronged for her sake?" Luo Yunqiao shook her head with a cold sneer.

"Had I known it would come to this, I would never have let you bring me back."

This single remark completely infuriated Luo Chao.

He stood up, pointing directly at Luo Yunqiao: "Unfilial wretch! Unfilial wretch! Someone, fetch the family discipline rod! Today I will teach her a thorough lesson!"

The servants, ever adept at reading the wind and never acknowledging Luo Yunqiao as the eldest young lady of the manor, eagerly rushed off to comply.

Just as Luo Chao issued his command, an aged and authoritative voice rang out from outside: "Let me see who dares!"

Luo Zeting could be seen supporting Old Madame Luo as they entered the room.

"The matter has blown up to this extent, and countless people outside are waiting to see how the Marquis's Mansion of Jing'an will handle it. Instead of first investigating the truth, you are eager to resort to corporal punishment. Do you wish to make the Marquis's Mansion a laughingstock throughout the entire capital?"

Luo Chao bowed his head: "Your son wouldn't dare."

"Come, drag that man and Xique forward. I shall interrogate them personally."

At these words, Luo Yunzhen forgot even how to cry, her heart gripped entirely by terror.

She had never been favored by Old Madame Luo since childhood, and now that the Old Madame was partial to Luo Yunqiao, her own misdeeds would likely no longer remain hidden.

While they spoke, Xique and the man had already been dragged forward.

The man was still stripped to the waist, trembling violently from the bitter cold. He kowtowed and begged: "Have mercy, Old Madame! Spare my life, Old Madame! It truly was the Second Young Miss who ordered me to do this. I've done quite a few tasks for her, and she gave me plenty of silver. I've kept a detailed record of every single sum."

"You beast!" Luo Zefeng kicked him hard. "Have you grown a leopard's heart and a lion's guts, daring to slander the Second Young Miss of the Marquis's Mansion? Do you know what crime this is?"

"I am not slandering her! I am not slandering her!"

Naturally, Luo Chao refused to believe such words and hurriedly said: "Mother, Zhen'er is of a gentle nature and has always treated the servants leniently. He is simply dragging Zhen'er into this to find a way out for himself."

"If he is capable of telling falsehoods, would the servants of the Prince of Nanan's Mansion lie as well?" Old Madame Luo countered. "The steward of the Prince's Mansion specifically came by earlier to say he saw Xique leading a man into the back courtyard with his own eyes. Was he deliberately framing Yunzhen?"

At this, those who had previously protested were left completely speechless.

Luo Yunqiao's gaze, however, remained fixed on Luo Zeting.

In the past, it was always Luo Zefeng who protected Luo Yunzhen, while Luo Zeting only ever spoke up for her at crucial moments. Today, however, he remained silent.

Luo Yunqiao suddenly spoke up: "Eldest Brother currently serves in the Court of Judicial Review and is far more skilled at trying cases than any of us. Why don't you judge this matter?"

"Eldest Brother, you cannot simply watch these people slander me!" Luo Yunzhen cried out, clutching at the hem of Luo Zeting's sleeve as if grasping a straw to save her life.

Luo Zeting, however, directly pulled his hand away, his eyes filled with profound disappointment: "I never wanted to believe you were such a person, but the evidence is absolute..."

"Zhen'er, you had better confess to everything."

Luo Yunzhen's knees went weak, her eyes filled with panic: "E... Eldest Brother, what are you saying?"

"Has Eldest Brother uncovered something?" Luo Yunqiao asked.

Luo Zeting closed his eyes, a look of anguish crossing his face: "Qiaoqiao, your Eldest Brother wrongly accused you before. I truly had no idea you had suffered so many grievances. It was all my fault."

"Eldest Brother, what nonsense are you spouting? Luo Yunqiao has been nothing but a troublemaker ever since she returned home. Even if she suffered a few grievances, she deserved it! How can you reprimand Zhen'er on her account?" Luo Zefeng asked in disbelief.

Luo Zeting sighed and said: "I have already found the evidence—"

"The person who had Qiaoqiao thrown onto the Third Prince's bed, the one who bribed the monks of Zhaojue Temple to humiliate Qiaoqiao, and the one attempting to destroy Qiaoqiao's purity today, are all the same person."

Luo Yunqiao's eyes widened in sudden disbelief as she stared at him.

She had not yet managed to unearth the evidence herself; how had Luo Zeting found it?

Was her grievance finally going to be brought to light before the world?

"You're spouting nonsense! Zhen'er is kind-hearted; she wouldn't even bear to crush an ant in ordinary times. How could she possibly do such a thing?" Luo Zefeng threw himself forward to shield Luo Yunzhen.

Luo Yunqiao sneered: "Eldest Brother hasn't even mentioned who the culprit is, so why is Little Brother so quick to assume he means Sister Yunzhen? Or could it be that you knew it was her all along?"

"I... I..." Luo Zefeng stammered, utterly unable to get another word out.

Seeing this, Luo Yunqiao became even more convinced that Luo Zefeng was also implicated in these schemes.

Madame Luo was already dumbfounded.

The daughter she had raised with her own hands simply could not have any flaws in her character.

She asked in a daze: "Zeting, Zhen'er is someone you watched grow up since childhood. You know her nature better than anyone. How could she possibly do the things you claim? How could she ever let someone bully Qiaoqiao?"

Luo Yunqiao's body stiffened slightly.

*Bully*—not the matter of sneaking into a bed.

"Mother, I am just as reluctant to believe it, but the evidence is ironclad," Luo Zeting closed his eyes.

"Bring them in!" Old Madame Luo commanded.

The person brought forward was none other than the woman who had assisted in Madame Luo's childbirth back then—Luo Yunzhen's wet nurse.

She fell to her knees in terror: "Save me, Madam! Save me, Madam! Someone is trying to kill me!"