The Double

Chapter 32: Yun Shuang

"So it was Xiang Qiao who coveted the treasures and framed someone else!"

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves—the guests immediately broke into discussion. They had originally thought it was a case of the Second Miss Jiang resenting the Third Miss Jiang, sisters at odds, with Jiang Li's vicious act of cursing Jiang Youyao. No one expected it to turn out that the personal maid, blinded by greed, had framed her mistress.

Thus, the matter became simple: it was Jiang Li's personal maid Xiang Qiao who had sticky fingers, wanting to steal the gift Jiang Li had prepared for Jiang Youyao. Afraid of being exposed, she had sought out a headdress of much inferior quality to swap in.

Xiang Qiao shook her head desperately, clutching Jiang Li's calf as she cried, "No, it's not! Those jewelry pieces were all bestowed upon this servant by Second Miss! This servant didn't steal them—Second Miss, please speak up for this servant!"

Indeed, those hairpins and ornaments hadn't been stolen by Xiang Qiao, but Jiang Li wouldn't admit to it either.

Jiang Li merely looked at her, speaking with profound disappointment: "Xiang Qiao, I've treated you well—why have you done this to me? Moreover, my own finances are hardly abundant. After spending all my silver to buy the headdress for Third Sister, what remained was all the jewelry I had left. While these pieces are valuable, giving you one or two as rewards would be understandable, but bestowing them all upon you? There are likely few in all of Yanjing City who could be so generous!"

The surrounding guests all nodded in agreement. Of course—when servants perform well, giving extra rewards is reasonable. But no one's money grows on trees. Such extravagance, gifting an entire case of jewelry to a servant, would require having lost one's mind. Besides, as Second Miss Jiang had just stated, she'd used all her silver to purchase Third Miss Jiang's hair-pinning ceremony gift—the remaining jewelry couldn't possibly be casually given away. The justification simply didn't hold up.

Xiang Qiao stared blankly at Jiang Li. Jiang Li's expression was so genuine without a trace of pretense that even Xiang Qiao nearly became convinced.

She had only been coveting Jiang Li's case of treasures. When Jiang Li generously bestowed them, she happily accepted without considering how abnormal it was for a mistress to give so many things to a servant. She had merely assumed Jiang Li was a country bumpkin unaware of social conventions, never expecting that what she had so readily accepted would become her death warrant.

Ji Shuran had instructed her to tamper with the hair-pinning ceremony gift from Jiang Li, but recently Xiang Qiao's tastes had been spoiled and her courage had grown. When she saw that headdress, she became tempted. Coincidentally, she overheard maids in the courtyard gossiping about a jeweler who specialized in counterfeits. She sought him out and spent a small sum to create an identical ruby headdress.

Apart from the difference in quality, they were superficially indistinguishable. Xiang Qiao thought that once Jiang Li became unable to defend herself and the Jiang family punished her, the headdress would naturally be disposed of as unlucky, and the matter would be over.

This way, she could both fulfill Ji Shuran's assignment to frame Jiang Li and gain a headdress for herself.

What Xiang Qiao never anticipated was that Jiang Li, in such a chaotic situation, could spot the difference in the headdress at a glance—especially since Jiang Li had only touched the real headdress once. How could she possibly tell them apart? Even more unexpectedly, that ruby headdress would end up appearing in her own room.

She had clearly buried the case containing the headdress in a safe place!

Who could have done this? Xiang Qiao looked up and met Jiang Li's gaze, a chill running through her heart.Could it be that Jiang Li had long known what she was going to do? She had been watching silently all along. Now, thinking back, those generously gifted jewels she had seemed indifferent to now only served to prove that she was a thieving villain.

Jiang Li had been scheming from the very beginning!

How could she be some ignorant country bumpkin? She knew everything, yet she pretended to know nothing!

A wave of despair suddenly rose in Xiang Qiao’s heart. She had messed up Ji Shuran’s plan, and Ji Shuran would certainly not let her off easily.

Just then, Jiang Li spoke again, saying, "There’s just one thing I don’t understand, Xiang Qiao. You could have swapped my headpiece and used a cheap counterfeit to fool Third Sister. If she received it, she would only think I didn’t have much money. But why did you take the risk of being discovered by deliberately carving extra scratches on the gemstone to frame me, nearly causing me to be despised by our parents?" Jiang Li spoke persuasively, "I’ve thought it over and over, and you had no reason to do this. Could it be that someone is guiding you from behind the scenes?"

As soon as these last words were spoken, the expressions of the guests turned subtle.

The idea of someone behind the scenes brought to mind the intricate and complicated relationship between the stepmother and stepdaughter in the Jiang family. Ji Shuran’s heart skipped a beat, and she wished she could tear Jiang Li to pieces. She turned slightly and secretly shot Xiang Qiao a warning look.

Xiang Qiao was terrified. Gritting her teeth and hardening her heart, she looked at Jiang Li and cried, "Second Miss, it was clearly you who told me to do this! You said Third Miss wasn’t worthy of wearing that headpiece and ordered me to find a similar one and carve the scratches myself…"

"What a pack of lies," Jiang Li sighed, shaking her head. She straightened up and looked down at her. "You’re contradicting yourself now—you can’t even lie properly. Besides, you still haven’t explained how you stole my entire jewelry box."

Jiang Li then turned to Ji Shuran and said, "Mother, you gave me this maid, praising her for her good character and diligence. I never dared to treat her poorly, but who would have thought she would turn out to be a thief who dares to frame her own mistress? Mother, it seems you misjudged her this time."

Ji Shuran felt as if her face were burning, as though she had been publicly slapped. Just moments ago, she had confidently vouched for Xiang Qiao’s character in front of all the guests, but now she had to retract her words.

Forcing a smile, Ji Shuran said, "It’s all my fault. I… misjudged her character and caused you to suffer."

How could a mistress of the household misjudge someone so badly and place such a despicable person by her stepdaughter’s side? The ladies who had previously sympathized with Ji Shuran now felt a sudden doubt.

Ji Shuran took in the guests’ expressions and felt furious. It was then that she understood Jiang Li’s intention: Jiang Li also wanted to use this incident to send Xiang Qiao back, removing a spy she had planted in Fragrant Garden Courtyard.

Jiang Li smiled inwardly. Did Ji Shuran think she was only removing Xiang Qiao as a spy? No, she didn’t have much time to waste on trivial matters in the Jiang family. Some things, if done thoroughly once, would save a lot of trouble."Mother isn't entirely incapable of judging people," Jiang Li smiled. "This matter actually owes thanks to the other maid you gave me, Yun Shuang. Had Yun Shuang not warned me, I wouldn't have known Xiang Qiao was someone who would betray her master." She looked directly toward Yun Shuang standing at the back of the crowd and said with genuine sincerity, "Thank you, Yun Shuang."

Xiang Qiao, kneeling on the ground, froze as numerous realizations flashed through her mind in that instant. But her mouth had already been gagged with cloth by the matrons, leaving her unable to speak.

Yun Shuang, hiding at the back of the crowd, stood stunned. Ji Shuran's gaze toward her made her feel an icy chill in her heart.

Yun Shuang, professionally sabotaging teammates for a hundred years~

(End of Chapter)