Wen Heyu quickened his pace towards the "Shen Linyi" who was still enjoying her meal.
Suppressing his anger, he grabbed the "Shen Linyi" up and quickly tore off the veil on her face.
When he saw the weather - beaten face of the old woman, Wen Heyu was stunned on the spot. "You... Who are you? Are you Miss Shen??"
The old woman was very unhappy at being interrupted. "What Miss Shen? I'm Mrs. Mo. Everyone calls me Granny Mo. You young man are so unreasonable. I was enjoying my meal. What are you bothering me for?"
Granny Mo's imposing voice left Wen Heyu completely dazed.
It turned out that he had been ridiculed for so long, but this person was not Shen Linyi at all.
At this moment, Wen Heyu completely lost his composure and couldn't hold back anymore. He roared loudly, "Uncle Lao, what's going on?!"
Uncle Lao was obviously shocked too. Ignoring the pain on his face, he walked up to Granny Mo, scanned her up and down, and even rubbed his eyes, as if he had seen wrong.
"Sir... I... I don't know what's going on either. I did pick this person up from Jingxin Nunnery. All the clothes on her were bought by you, sir. I couldn't have picked up the wrong person!"
Uncle Lao quickly explained, afraid that Wen Heyu would slap him again in a fit of anger.
He desperately tried to recall which step had gone wrong. It was clearly the person brought by Liuyun. After arriving at Qin'an Tower, he had never left Shen Linyi's side for a moment.
Could it be... Could it be that Miss Liu had switched the person?
Uncle Lao was on the verge of tears, filled with great panic.
He had picked up the wrong person and made Wen Heyu a laughingstock. He didn't know how he would be punished when he got back.
Wen Heyu stared fixedly at Uncle Lao, lowered his voice and said menacingly, "When you get back, go and receive thirty strokes of the rod."
Then he glared at Granny Mo and sternly questioned, "You'd better tell me the truth. The clothes on you were all for my concubine who hasn't entered my mansion yet. How did they end up on you? If you don't tell the truth, I'll send you to the Prefectural Office right away."
Granny Mo sneered. "Oh?" She showed no sign of fear. Instead, she provocatively puffed out her chest. "You've got quite a big mouth. You keep accusing people of theft. Do you have any evidence?"
Granny Mo was aggressive. Years of hard work had given her a fearless attitude.
Wen Heyu didn't expect to be retorted like this. He was so angry that his face turned red. "You still say you didn't steal. What about these clothes?"
"These were all bought by me!"
After saying that, Granny Mo turned up her sleeve, revealing an embroidery with the character "Mo". "Take a good look. There's a custom - made pattern on this sleeve. I did it to prevent theft. I didn't expect I'd have to use it to prove my innocence."
"And these." Granny Mo took out a gold hairpin from her hair and forcefully thrust it in front of Wen Heyu.
Wen Heyu frowned and took a half - step back. He saw the character "Mo" carved on the hairpin.
"See clearly? All these have my name on them. If you dare to slander me for theft again, you so - called top - ranked graduate. Bah!"
"You blind fool. With you in office, I'm sure you'll be even more blind. You might as well give your official position to me. At least I'm not blind."
Wen Heyu was red - faced and neck - thick, but he didn't know how to refute. The anger seemed to be stuck in his throat, and his whole chest felt like it was on fire.
"And you, Uncle Lao, right??"
"I was just waiting at the gate of Jingxin Nunnery for the rented carriage to pick me up to reunite with my son. But you, after a tug - of - war with another maid, just took me away. I thought you were the one I rented!"
"Bah! Bad luck!"
"Both of you, old and young, are fools!"
After Granny Mo had pointed at Wen Heyu and Uncle Lao and scolded them to her heart's content, she turned back, grabbed two fat hairy crabs from the table and stuffed them into her sleeves. Then she swaggered out of Qin'an Tower.
Uncle Lao opened his mouth to explain, but didn't know where to start. He wished he had several mouths so that he could refute Granny Mo's words.
But by the time Granny Mo's figure completely disappeared at the door of Qin'an Tower, Uncle Lao still couldn't think of a retort.
Granny Mo's words made sense, but he felt that something was off.
"Sir... sir..."
After watching the good show, Shen Linyi didn't care how Wen Heyu scolded Uncle Lao later. She left the corner with Liuyun and went downstairs.
As there were fewer onlookers, if she stayed any longer, there was a risk of being discovered by Wen Heyu.
When she reached the first floor, it was much livelier than the third floor.
In the garden on the first floor, all kinds of entertainment items were thoughtfully arranged. The young masters and noble ladies of the aristocratic families gathered together in a proper manner, playing arrow - throwing games, writing poems, or tasting tea.
Those who got a good score would be cheered by those around them. The atmosphere of the whole place was just right.
Shen Linyi was thinking about how to approach Wen Heyu without making it seem abrupt when she didn't notice that someone had stood beside her.
"Miss, do you want to try the arrow - throwing game?" A clear and gentle voice sounded beside Shen Linyi. Only then did she come back to her senses.
When she was thinking just now, her eyes were fixed on the double - eared pot not far away. No wonder the person thought she wanted to play.
Shen Linyi turned her head and found that the person was actually Zhou Xiaohe, the top scholar. He was looking at Shen Linyi with great interest, his eyes full of scrutiny but without any frivolity or malice.
"No... I'm just joining in the fun."
Hearing this answer, Zhou Xiaohe laughed heartily.
Zhou Xiaohe was different from Wen Heyu. Wen Heyu always maintained an elegant and gentle persona, while Zhou Xiaohe was much more real.
After all, he came from a prominent aristocratic family. With a solid background, he didn't need to deliberately maintain a superficial dignity.
"Miss, why be shy? How about having a game with me? If you win, the prize will be yours."
Shen Linyi followed Zhou Xiaohe's gaze and saw that the referee had put out a new round of prizes. It was a delicately crafted dagger with various gemstones inlaid on the handle. It was more for ornamental purposes than practical use.
Actually, Shen Linyi didn't like this dagger very much. Fancy things were not very useful.
But Zhou Xiaohe had a special status, and Shen Linyi wouldn't refuse the possibility of having one more bargaining chip in her hand.
So the coldness in Shen Linyi's eyes turned into eagerness. She blinked at Zhou Xiaohe. "Since the young master has invited me, I'd better accept the invitation."
No matter what Zhou Xiaohe's motives were for approaching her, she would turn everything to her own advantage. Feelings between people were developed through interactions.
For revenge, Shen Linyi would do her best to seize everything she could.
Seeing that Shen Linyi had agreed, Zhou Xiaohe was overjoyed. He quickly raised his hand. "We'd like to participate!"
The referee saw this and registered Zhou Xiaohe's name.
When the people around saw that the top scholar was going to play, they sensibly didn't try to steal the limelight. So this round, it was Zhou Xiaohe and Shen Linyi's turn to play.