Chapter 5: Uncovering the Truth

  "Auntie, don't be childish, just take the medicine and rest assured. After all, Auntie was hurt because of me, if anything unexpected happens, I will feel guilty for the rest of my life!" Pei Yuange refused to let her off easily, smiling as he insisted on applying the medicine for her.

  Zhang Yun's heart was racing with anxiety, if she were to be exposed in front of Pei Zhuo Cheng, the consequences... She quietly pinched Pei Yuan Rong's arm, wanting her to help resolve the situation.

  Pei Yuangong hastily said: "Fourth sister, please sit down first. We are all here to visit you, if we let you labor, it would go against our intention. Besides, fourth sister is still seriously ill, how can she see blood again? This is too inauspicious! It's better to let Yiniang of the Fourth Virtue Institute apply medicine again!"

  Her words of concern immediately won Pei Zhucheng's praise and nod of approval.

  "Three sisters, this statement is not correct. Auntie is my stepmother, and this time she was injured to save me. Such great kindness and virtue, from now on, I can only treat Auntie as my biological mother. Tell me, where is the mother who gets hurt but doesn't take medicine because her daughter is ill? If I still care about these things at this time, wouldn't I be worse than a beast?" Pei Yuange said with righteous words and a stern expression, "Besides, with Auntie's precious medicine, my illness will surely get better. Let's quickly remove the bandage and reapply the medicine, lest we delay."

  Her words were severe and reasonable, instantly rendering Pei Yuanrong speechless.

  Pei Zhucheng nodded and said, "Song'er is right. Since she doesn't mind and it's her own home, the injury takes priority. Yuner, don't decline."

  Seeing Pei Yuansong easily take over Pei Yuanrong's army, Zhang Yun was greatly anxious in her heart and secretly scolded Pei Yuanrong for being useless. But since the words had already been spoken, she couldn't decline anymore, so she could only force a smile and say: "Thank you, sir, for your concern. Then I'll just wait for the medicine to arrive and apply it."

  The little maid happened to be tactless and was frightened by Pei Yuansong, quickly fetching the medicine for burns and knife wounds.

  Zhang Yun didn't bother to think about how to deal with this foolish maid, wanting only to delay the time, but unexpectedly had no excuse to push her away, and could only slowly lift up her sleeve, preparing to untie the bandage, feeling anxious and uneasy in her heart, not knowing how she would explain things to Pei Zhoucheng later.

  Just as it was about to be exposed, Gui's wife suddenly said: "Aiyo, the madam and the fourth miss are both noble ladies, who has ever given them medicine? Moreover, in front of so many people, with the old master present, how could the madam possibly expose her arm like this? This is too improper! It's better for me to take the madam behind the screen to apply the medicine!"

  Zhang Yun's mind was greatly settled, and she immediately followed Gu Yiniang to the back of the screen.

  Just as success was in sight, it was ruined by Gui's meddling. But she spoke reasonably and was hard to refute, leaving Pei Yuange seething with anger.

  Behind the screen of eight panels with flowers, birds, insects and grass, Zhang Yun finally let out a breath of relief, looked at Gui Nu with appreciation, took off the agate bracelet inlaid with red gold on her wrist and rewarded it to her. However, she came in to change the dressing, if there was nothing on the bandage that had been changed, it would be suspicious. Moreover, an intact arm was too easy to reveal flaws...

  A fierce glint flashed in her eyes, Zhang Yun suddenly pulled out the golden hairpin from her head, fiercely stabbed it into her left arm, and then bit her teeth to make another slash.

  Bright red blood flowed down from the golden hairpin.

  I didn't expect Aunt Zhang to do this, and Gu Yini was startled, exclaiming: "Aunt Zhang!" She immediately realized her mistake and hastily added, "Auntie, this injury is not light, look, it's all blood!" Her voice trembled slightly as she hurriedly helped Zhang Yun apply medicine to the wound, wrapped it with a bandage, pulled down her sleeve, and helped her insert the golden hairpin. Only then did she support Zhang Yun as they walked out from behind the screen.

  Pei Yuansong keenly noticed Zhang Yun's pallor and then thought of the scream behind Gu Yehuo's screen, vaguely feeling that something was off.

  No matter what, she had to expose the truth about Zhang Yiniang's self-mutilation in front of her father at this time. Otherwise, with her cunning and cleverness, she would definitely think of a way to take advantage of the situation, and it would not be easy to catch her off guard again later. Suddenly, Pei Yuange spoke out anxiously, "Aunt's complexion is even worse than before, has her injury worsened? It's really terrible, why hasn't the doctor arrived yet? If anything happens to Aunt, I will never forgive myself!"

  "Don't talk nonsense!" Pei Zhucheng frowned and scolded Pei Yuange, seeing that Zhang Yun's expression was indeed not right, he couldn't help but worry, "Yuner, are you okay?"

  Zhang Yun had not spoken, and Pei Yuange had already said: "Father looks at Aunt's face, how can it be good? Unfortunately, no one in the mansion understands medicine, what to do is good?" The worried and anxious appearance was more like Zhang Yun's biological daughter than Pei Yuanrong. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she grasped Pei Zhoucheng's arm, saying: "Father, you are a general, often at war, you must know how to deal with wounds, why don't you take a look at Aunt first, and then the doctor can make a detailed diagnosis when he arrives?"

  Zhang Yun was slightly startled in her heart and pinched Gu Yehuo hard.

  Guizhi nodded in agreement and hastily accompanied a smile, saying: "Fourth Miss is really flustered. Although it's true that Master and Madame are husband and wife, there's no need to be overly cautious, but this is still Fourth Miss's courtyard, isn't it? I think Madame is just weak, why not let her return to Si De Yuan to rest first, and wait for the doctor to arrive before treating the wound?" The doctors invited by the Pei Manor had all been bribed by Zhang Niangniang, so when the time came, wouldn't they still do whatever Zhang Niangniang said?

  "Mother is so muddled!" Pei Yuange scolded loudly, "How can you be so careless with Aunt's body? It's not just a minor injury, what if something unexpected happens, can you take responsibility?" As she spoke, she went to coax Pei Zhucheng again, "Father, I'm really worried about Aunt, please help her check how serious it is, so that my sister and I can be at ease, okay?" In order to add weight to her words, she also pulled in Pei Yuanrong, who had long been at a loss.

  It's no use arguing with his beloved daughter, and he was also genuinely worried about Zhang Yun. Pei Zhucheng nodded and said, "Yun'er, come here and let me take a look at your injury!"

  Zhang Yiniang secretly congratulated herself on her ruthless decision behind the screen, but for some reason, she still felt anxious in her heart. She could only sit down next to Pei Zhoucheng and stretch out her left arm. Don't worry, now that her left arm was indeed injured, Master would see it and praise her kindness, and he would never know it was fake!

  Bai Zhucheng carefully helped her unwrap the bandage, and as the layers of gauze fell away, a wound stained with fresh blood was revealed.

  Seeing the wound, Pei Yuange understood why Guizhi would lose her voice and scream. This Zhang Yun was indeed ruthless enough to do such a thing to herself! However, this time she had suffered in vain. Zhang Yun had been in the back house for a long time, and was skilled at playing tricks, but after all, she had been pampered and thought that all injuries were the same, as long as there was a wound and blood flowed, she could deceive everyone. But Father Pei had experienced many battles and seen various wounds, he must be able to distinguish between them.

  As expected, after seeing Zhang Yun's wound, Pei Zhucheng's face suddenly sank.

  "Huh? This wound——" Pei Yuange said with feigned surprise, her face full of suspicion, clearly having already harbored doubts. Pei Zhucheng's expression turned slightly solemn, and he gave her a heavy look before imperceptibly shaking his head. Pei Yuange understood what he meant, and changed her tone to say, "The wound looks very serious!"

  "It's nothing, it just looks serious." Pei Zhucheng gently stroked her hair and said softly, "Good child, rest well, Father will come see you again tomorrow." Then he turned his head to face Zhang Yun, but had already changed his expression, saying in a deep voice, "You shouldn't disturb Song'er's rest either, come with me! I want to have a good talk with you about your injury!"

  Zhang Yun knew something was wrong, but didn't know where the problem lay, and could only anxiously follow along.

  When Pei Zhucheng saw the wound, his face suddenly changed. Adding to that was Pei Yuange's stiff change of tone, and then hearing Pei Zhucheng speak in such a cold manner, even the most obtuse person would be able to sense that there was something wrong with this situation. Could it be said that Zhang Niangniang's so-called "cutting flesh to cure illness" had some ulterior motive? Moreover, now it has clearly been detected by Master, could it be said that Zhang Niangniang is going to be unlucky this time?

  Especially Gu Yiniang, who knew the inside story, thought about the cause and effect of things, and couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart: today's events were probably not a coincidence, but rather Fourth Miss intentionally trying to expose Zhang Niang! Moreover, when it came to the matter of breaking off the engagement, Fourth Miss hadn't followed her instructions either, and had suddenly become close to Old Master. And then there was Bai Zhi, who had been beaten a few days ago... Under Gu Yiniang's "wholehearted guidance", Fourth Miss had no autonomy at all, believing everything she said, and was basically just a puppet in the hands of Gu Yiniang and Zhang Niang, doing their bidding. How could she have suddenly changed into a completely different person?

  Thinking of Bae Won's words and actions today, Gwiyeo's heart was shocked, and the gaze she looked at her was both surprised and fearful.

  Feeling someone was watching her, Pei Yuange turned around and met the suspicious and frightened gaze of Gui Yatou. She gave a faint smile, with eyes as cold as ice and snow. Gui Yatou was obviously the leader of Jingxuan Zhai, cunning and treacherous, colluding with Zhang Niang and Fang Hua Yuan's servants to manipulate her like a puppet on strings, almost ruining her plans today.

  With her around, being restricted everywhere and having to guard against her causing trouble, a solution must be thought of to first pull this nail out from Fang Hua Garden!

  Looking at the silent and quiet Pei Yuange, with his eyes slightly lowered, Gu Yidao suddenly felt a bad premonition rising in her heart...