newbobooks Chapter 192 Despicable Means
Chapter 192 Despicable Means
Yan Wanwan walked out with a frosty expression, her plain long dress swaying slightly in the wind, but it couldn't hide the fierce aura surrounding her. She walked straight to the fallen man and looked down at him condescendingly, her eyes like a knife.
The man clutched his chest, his face pale as paper. He trembled as he knelt on the ground, kowtowed repeatedly and begged for mercy: "County Lady, please spare my life! I was only ordered to clean the room. I really didn't know you would suddenly come back!"
"Cleaning?" Yan Wanwan sneered, her voice so cold it seemed like ice could freeze. "When did it become a man's turn to clean this county lady's boudoir?"
Before she finished speaking, she raised her foot and kicked the man's shoulder hard. The tip of her shoe crushed his arm mercilessly, and suddenly a handkerchief belonging to a woman fell out of his sleeve.
"Ah——!" The man let out a shrill scream and curled up in pain.
Xiao Tao finally came to her senses and immediately glared at the maid guarding the door, scolding her harshly, "What are you doing? A man broke into the young lady's boudoir and stole things, and you didn't even notice? Are you blind?"
The maidservant was so frightened that she fell to her knees and kowtowed repeatedly: "Please spare my life, my Lady! I have been guarding outside the door the whole time and I really didn't see anyone go in!"
Xiao Tao frowned when she heard this, and looked carefully at the person who fell to the ground, and suddenly realized that something was wrong.
She narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "You are not from the County Lord's Mansion! Tell me, who are you? Why did you sneak into the young lady's boudoir?"
The man's screams echoed through the courtyard, heartbreaking, yet he simply kowtowed and begged for mercy, refusing to reveal a single detail of his origins. Xiao Tao rolled up her sleeves in anger and was about to step forward to interrogate him, but Yan Wanwan raised her hand to stop her.
"Don't bother." Yan Wanwan said coldly, her eyes like ice blades sweeping over the man curled up on the ground, and then ordered the maid beside her: "Go call the housekeeper."
The maidservant responded and left, the sound of her footsteps fading away. Yan Wanwan then slowly removed her foot from the man's body, turned around, and sat down on a stone bench nearby. Her skirt flowed like water, her posture elegant yet chilling.
"You are from Dongping Prefecture, right?" She spoke lightly, with a firm tone, as if she had seen through everything.
The man shuddered, his drooping face instantly draining of color, but he still forced himself to deny, "I... I'm from Nanping Prefecture, the county lady, please understand!"
Yan Wanwan ignored his excuses, her fingertips tapping gently on the stone table, creating a rhythmic sound, each tap seeming to strike at the man's heart. She raised the corners of her lips slightly, revealing a hint of sarcasm. "The Prince of Dongping is quite generous. He gave you a thousand taels of silver just to let you steal something from me."
The man looked up suddenly, his eyes full of horror, his lips trembling but he couldn't utter a word.
Yan Wanwan chuckled, and the coldness in her eyes became even stronger: "What a pity, you might not be able to survive after spending this thousand taels of silver."
Letting a man take your personal belongings is like ruining your reputation! Although I don't mind it myself, it's still very annoying.
When the man met her cold gaze, he felt a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. His body trembled uncontrollably, as if he were a prey targeted by a poisonous snake. Even breathing became difficult.
He opened his mouth, but found that he didn't even have the strength to beg for mercy, and could only collapse to the ground.
Soon, the housekeeper hurried over, beads of sweat on his forehead. Upon seeing the man huddled on the ground, his expression suddenly changed. He immediately stepped forward to carefully identify him. Then, turning and bowing to Yan Wanwan, his tone was filled with fear and self-blame. "County Lady, this man did work in the mansion, but was dismissed six months ago for his dishonest behavior. I truly don't know how he got in. This is my dereliction of duty. Please punish me, County Lady!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Wanwan's eyes darkened slightly, and she tapped the stone table lightly with her fingertips, making a crisp sound.
She didn't speak immediately. Instead, she glanced coldly at the man, then looked at the housekeeper. Her tone was calm but intimidating, "If someone has dishonest hands and feet, they should be dismissed. How could they have sneaked into the mansion so easily? When did the guards in the mansion become so lax?"
Beads of sweat rolled down the butler's forehead, and he quickly knelt down to apologize: "Please forgive me, County Lady! It was my negligence that failed to take strict precautions. This person must have sneaked in while the goods were being moved into the mansion today. I will thoroughly investigate all the personnel in the mansion and will never let such a thing happen again!"
Yan Wanwan nodded slightly, her tone still cold: "I'll record what happened today for now. If it happens again, you will accept the punishment yourself."
She paused, her gaze resting on the man again. "As for him... since he was once a member of the mansion, yet he colluded with outsiders and broke into the boudoir, his crime is even more serious. Take him away and interrogate him carefully. We must find out how he colluded with the Dongping Prefecture. As for his family..."
Yan Wanwan sneered and glanced at the other party, "Since they've spent the money, they should go to jail too!"
"No, County Master, you can't do this. I received the silver, and it has nothing to do with my family."
"Oh! It really doesn't matter. Then hand over the silver!" Yan Wanwan looked at him with a half-smile. "After all, the silver was exchanged for my personal belongings."
As a vested interest holder, there is no innocence or not.
Yan Wanwan ordered the housekeeper, "Take them away! Don't let them get in the way here. If his family can return all the silver, then let them go. If not, throw them all in jail. Nanping Prefecture doesn't need people who betray their own people."
The man's face turned pale when he heard this. He had already given the silver to his family, and he was afraid that they had used it to improve their lives, so how could they give it out?
"But if he can tell the truth, we can handle it as appropriate."
The man looked up in surprise, but only saw Yan Wanwan's departing back. The housekeeper waved to the guards behind him to drag the man away, and he quickly disappeared in the yard.
Yan Wanwan gazed deeply into the distance and whispered to himself, "Prince of Dongping...it seems your injury is not serious!"
She turned to look at Xiao Tao, "Didn't you say someone was planting it? How's it going?"
Xiao Tao finally came to her senses and hurriedly handed over the research materials in her hands with both hands, her tone filled with anxiety: "Miss, the crops of the farmers who bought fertilizers and seeds from Dongping Prefecture are growing very well. It looks like they will have a bumper harvest this year. The effect is comparable to our fertilizers!"
"Oh? Is it so powerful?" Yan Wanwan raised her eyebrows slightly, her tone calm, but she did not show too much surprise.
Xiao Tao nodded repeatedly, a hint of worry in her tone: "Yes! Now many farmers have switched to buying their fertilizers and seeds. After all, the price is half the price of ours! If this continues, I'm afraid our business will be taken away..."
Yan Wanwan didn't respond immediately. Instead, she stared down at the fertilizer and seed samples in her hands, her eyes deep, as if she was lost in thought. Seeing this, Xiaotao couldn't help but whisper, "Miss, should we switch to their fertilizer and seeds? After all, they're cheaper and the results aren't bad..."
"No need." Yan Wanwan interrupted her without hesitation, her tone firm and calm, "I will take these things back and examine them carefully to see what is mixed in them."
She put the sample into her sleeve, her eyes cold as ice. Even if the fertilizer and seeds in Dongping Prefecture were cheaper, she would not be easily swayed.
The fertilizer she processed in the apocalypse cost extremely low, practically free of capital, and no matter how much she sold, it was pure profit. Furthermore, she was always suspicious of the Prince of Dongping's motives and would never take risks for the sake of immediate gain.
Seeing her young lady's firm attitude, Xiaotao didn't dare to say anything more and just quietly stepped aside.
Yan Wanwan turned and looked out the window, a trace of deep thought in her eyes. Little did she know that this seemingly ordinary decision would avert a huge crisis for her in the near future, and even become the key to turning the tide.