It was the old Mrs. Zhang who served beside the old madam. She pointed at Tian Yao with a trembling finger and screamed hysterically, “It’s her! Madam, this servant saw it with her own eyes! It’s this girl. She was flirting with the assassin just now. She is the insider!”
“Arrest her! Quickly arrest this bitch!”
Tian Yao: ????
Was there a mistake? She had almost died just now. How could she be related to these assassins?
Was she crazy or deranged? To kill the master she served, then all the times she went up the mountain to find medicine…
Wasn’t that insane? Unless someone deliberately wanted to push her away from He Ciyuan’s side.
【Stop stop stop. The people who wronged you know better than anyone that you are innocent. And why was it someone beside the old madam who identified you?】
There was only one possibility, and that was that they all knew about this assassin incident, but they just did not expect such a huge commotion, and that it would be easily resolved.
Now, the birthday banquet had turned into an assassination. Anyone would be shocked.
The servants were also unable to distinguish the situation, so they could only quickly come up and try to take Tian Yao away.
Just as the servant’s hand was about to touch Tian Yao’s sleeve, a cold voice rang out. It was not loud, but it suppressed the noise of the entire hall.
“Mrs. Zhang.” He Ciyuan spoke. His gaze did not even look at the servants, but landed on the old hag who had filed the complaint. “You said that you saw with your own eyes that she was flirting with the assassin?”
Mrs. Zhang shivered from his gaze, but relying on the support of the old madam, she still straightened her neck and said, “That’s right. Tian Yao’s intentions for staying by the young master’s side were never pure. I believe that this assassin was arranged by her. She must be up to something!”
The corner of He Ciyuan’s mouth lifted into a faint arc, as if in mockery. “Oh? At that time, everyone was in danger. Not only were you not frightened unconscious, but you also had the leisure to observe the eye contact of a servant girl?”
That truly made people find it quite laughable.
He paused for a moment, and his voice became even colder. “Or is it that you knew early on that those people were assassins, so you were not afraid at all and could observe so carefully?”
These words were like a basin of ice water, pouring down on her head!
Mrs. Zhang’s face turned pale, and she stammered in refutation, “This old servant was loyal to protect the master, so it was only by accident that I saw it. I definitely have no other thoughts.”
“Is that so?” He Ciyuan laughed lightly and no longer paid attention to her. Instead, he turned to look at the old madam whose face was ashen. “Grandmother, this grandson instead feels that this matter is quite strange.”
The old madam forced herself to remain calm. “What’s so strange? The assassins are extremely cruel. The most urgent matter is to seal off the Marquis Mansion and search the entire city!”
The Marquis’s wife also quickly tried to smooth things over. “Yes, Ciyuan, you were shocked. Why don’t you go back and rest first? Leave this to me and your grandmother to handle.”
They only wanted to quickly classify this matter as “revenge from the outside,” and then deal with Tian Yao, the “insider,” and everything would be considered as having passed.
After all, Tian Yao staying by his side would definitely attract a lot of trouble. They would never allow such a thing to happen.
As for the real mastermind being He Chengyu, no one would mention it.
【Sure enough, they are all in the same boat. In fact, they know the origin of these assassins better than anyone.】
Tian Yao sneered in her heart, but she also nervously looked at He Ciyuan to see how he would handle it.
He Ciyuan seemed to not hear the Marquis’s wife’s words and simply gave instructions to Mo Chen. “Then what are you waiting for? Naturally, you must inspect the bodies of those assassins to see where they came from. If you do not investigate clearly, how can you know the true purpose of these assassins?”
He Ciyuan said that this time, it was definitely aimed at him. He only said that if this banquet was destroyed by someone, then it would definitely attract trouble.
Mo Chen received the order and left. He returned a moment later to report, still holding a black boot that he had removed from an assassin’s foot.
“Young master, these assassins have calluses on their hands from holding a knife for a long time. They were still wearing the fast boots commonly used in the army this morning. There is still clay sticking to the soles of their boots. They do not seem like assassins, but more like… soldiers.”
He Ciyuan’s words were calm, but each word was like a hammer, hitting everyone’s hearts.
Soldiers?
To be able to mobilize soldiers, that was not an ordinary ability.
This matter was much more serious.
The old madam and the Marquis’s wife’s faces instantly became extremely ugly. Everyone in the mansion knew that He Chengyu had a group of bodyguards.
What a good move to pull out the bottom plank of the boat. He Ciyuan might have already anticipated all of this, so he took this opportunity to raise it to a new height.
【Now, let’s see how you can spin this!】
Just then, a clear and gentle voice interrupted.
“Old madam, Marquis’s wife, Young Master.” It was Bi Xi.
“In this concubine’s humble opinion, although the Eldest Young Master’s words are reasonable, there is currently no concrete evidence. The most urgent matter may still be to deal with the insider. After all, if there was no insider to respond, how could these assassins have quietly infiltrated the birthday banquet?”
Her words were gentle, but she had cleverly pulled the topic back to Tian Yao, and at the same time, she had also curried favor with the old madam and the Marquis’s wife.
She had long disliked Tian Yao. If she did not kill her this time, how could she get rid of the thorn in her side?
The Marquis’s wife immediately nodded in approval. “Bi Xi is right! First interrogate this bitch!”
【Here she comes, here she comes. The protagonist of the original book is here to give me a hard time!】 Tian Yao’s heart alarm bells rang loudly.
However, He Ciyuan laughed when he heard this.
He finally turned his head and looked at Tian Yao. There was no doubt, no scrutiny in those bottomless eyes, only a kind of… calmness when looking at one’s own belongings.
“Insider?” He repeated it once and slowly stretched out his hand.
Under the gazes of the entire hall, which were either shocked, jealous, or puzzled, he held Tian Yao’s small hand that was on the wheelchair and was cold from nervousness.
Then, he pulled her hand over and gently wrapped it in his warm palm.
Tian Yao’s head “boomed” and completely exploded.
【He he he… he held my hand?! In front of so many people?!】
She could feel that the old madam and the Marquis’s wife’s gazes were almost going to burn through her, and Bi Xi’s flawless smile had also frozen on her face.
She only heard He Ciyuan’s voice ring out again. It was not loud, but it clearly spread throughout the entire silent hall.
“My servant girl is timid. Just now, in order to protect me, her legs were so weak that she was scared.”
He raised his eyes. His gaze swept across the old madam and the Marquis’s wife, and finally landed on Bi Xi’s face. That look was calm, but it carried an undeniable sense of oppression.
“Who gave you the courage to interrogate my people? Instead, it’s this old servant girl. If she is not killed, how can we restore order? Do you want to let her slander others randomly?”
He Ciyuan’s words “Who gave you the courage to interrogate my people” were like an invisible wall that protected Tian Yao behind him and also blocked out everyone’s accusations and malice.
In the hall, even the sound of breathing became cautious.
Tian Yao felt that her wrist was about to be crushed by him, but what made her even more shocked was the temperature that came from his palm. It was so hot that it was almost going to burn her.
【It hurts, but it also makes me feel so safe. Is he protecting me?】
【Everyone knows that I am related to him. Then wouldn’t there be people who would once again view me as a thorn in their side? Then what should I do in the future?】
Her mind was in a complete mess. She wanted to pull back her hand, but he held it even tighter.
He Ciyuan did not even look at the two women on the main seat whose faces had already turned purple. It was as if they were just two insignificant ornaments.