Chapter 388 Betrayed by the Most Trusted

Chapter 388 Betrayed by the Most Trusted

Zheng Jinyu turned to look at her, then glanced at Lady Zheng.

Lady Zheng, who had originally been expressionless, now looked at her in disbelief.

Seeing her expression, Zheng Jinyu understood. She still subconsciously wanted to believe Fang Jinxiu, didn't she?

No wonder she was raised by her; the favoritism was outrageous.

The deeper she got entangled with Fang Jinxiu, the more confused Lady Zheng became.

"Fang Jinxiu, isn’t what you’re saying ridiculous? When did Zhang Dezhi’s incident happen? When I first returned to the residence, I was busy every day. The princess's maids and Teacher Ji can both testify to what I did."

Her words pulled Lady Zheng back to a bit of sanity.

That's right. When Jinyu first came back, there were maids from the princess's residence teaching her etiquette in a closed environment. Even she couldn't see her, and could only leave things at the door. There was no chance for her to contact the outside world.

After that, Teacher Ji taught her, and within a year, she completed so much coursework. How hard it was, Teacher Ji had told her. There was no time to interact with the servants in the outer courtyard.

At this moment, Zheng Jinyu added, "Besides, how long had I just returned to the residence? I didn’t even know who Zhang Dezhi was. How could I have colluded with him to harm you? If I wanted to harm you, why would I use my own maid?"

Fang Jinxiu panicked and blurted out, "It's because you knew they were people I assigned to you. You wanted to use Zhang Dezhi to get rid of them."

Clang! It felt like someone had hit Lady Zheng's heart with a hammer.

Seeing her reaction, Zheng Jinyu smiled.

Fang Jinxiu, realizing belatedly, also saw Lady Zheng's darkened face and paled, falling to her knees.

"Mother, those two maids were chosen by me, as you know. But I never asked them to harm Jinyu. Chunmei's words can't be trusted. They never reported anything about Jinyu to you, right?"

She was panicking, explaining incoherently, saying whatever came to mind.

"I was jealous that she was born to Mother, but I never asked Chunmei and Qiujú to harm her. And... and I didn’t know about my wet nurse."

Well, Zhou Shi’s milk was given to her, and now she decided to abandon Zhou Shi.

"Waaah, Mother, when she came back, I was just too scared, which made me do many foolish things."

"Again?" Zheng Jinyu sneered. "As long as you claim you were too scared, any crime is forgivable, right? After all, you didn’t mean it; you were just too scared, wasn’t that right?"

These words also woke Lady Zheng up.

At this moment, Lady Zheng's face was dark, staring fiercely at Fang Jinxiu.

"How many more things are there that I don’t know about?"

Fang Jinxiu cried out, "None, really none."

Lady Zheng closed her eyes in regret. "It's my fault; I didn’t raise you well. How could you do such things? How could you, at such a young age, dare to harm others and frame them?"

"I really didn’t know about Qiujú," Fang Jinxiu said, clinging to her leg.

"Enough. I don’t want to guess how the three of you conspired together. Since you’re so capable, you won’t need me anymore. Don’t come to me again. Our mother-daughter relationship ends here."

With that, Lady Zheng pushed Fang Jinxiu away and stood up to leave.

Fang Jinxiu sobbed uncontrollably and immediately chased after her.

"Mother, don’t go. My wet nurse is gone; don’t abandon me."

But she was stopped by Concubine Luo. "Young Lady Lu, please stop."

"Luo Aunt," Fang Jinxiu clung to Concubine Luo's arm, as if grasping a lifeline. "Luo Aunt, you and Mother always loved me the most. You wouldn’t want to see me suffer, would you? Mother listens to you; please plead for me, okay?"

Concubine Luo, seeing Lady Zheng had already left, pushed her hand away. "I am just a servant; I cannot make decisions for the mistress. I only listen to Lady Zheng."

With that, she hurried away, fearing being entangled by Fang Jinxiu.

Zheng Jinyu watched the scene unfold as if it were a farce.

Meanwhile, Lord Yu had his own methods of questioning and had already called each of them separately to interrogate them.

They had a way to discern who was lying, making the liar admit their guilt.

Seeing Lady Zheng and Concubine Luo leave without helping her, Fang Jinxiu broke down in tears.

Once they were far enough away, she stopped crying, turned to Zheng Jinyu, and glared at her venomously.

"You win, are you happy now? Right?"

Zheng Jinyu calmly nodded.

"You..." Fang Jinxiu, enraged, pointed at her. "Why did you come back? Why did you take everything from me?"

Zheng Jinyu didn’t like this. "Are you stupid or just delusional? Why did I come back? I am the daughter of the Zheng family. Anyone with a normal mind would return. Ha, your things? Ask yourself, what truly belongs to you?"

Fang Jinxiu gritted her teeth, staring at her intensely.

Zheng Jinyu looked at her calmly. "I have never been your enemy. In a sense, I should be your benefactor. Without me, you would be Fang Daya, sold by your parents to Ma Yuanwai as a concubine."

"Hmph, wanting me to see you as a benefactor, dream on. I remember having loving parents and a brother, and an engagement to the only son of the esteemed Princess Changgong. All because of you, I married Lu Shen and lost everything."

Zheng Jinyu sneered. "If you think that way, you deserve your fate."

If she had a normal mind and accepted the true daughter's return with gratitude, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.

As for Prince Chen, she could never reach him anyway.

Thinking about how she blamed her marriage to Lu Shen, Zheng Jinyu smiled as she presented her with a grand gift.

"Do you know who revealed your visit to the temple to Lu Shen?"

Fang Jinxiu was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Think about why Lu Shen showed up so conveniently and even knew which meditation room you were in. The drug that you were given was administered in advance—by whom? And yet, you didn't suspect anything. Without an insider, do you think Lu Shen could have succeeded so easily?"

Zheng Jinyu's words exploded in her mind.

She glanced at Zhou Bo, who had just returned after being questioned separately, and her smile carried a profound meaning. "Do you really believe that someone in this world genuinely cares for you? It's all just an exchange of interests."

With that, Zheng Jinyu left the room.

She kindly left Fang Jinxiu alone in the space to ponder over these thoughts.

Fang Jinxiu looked through the room at Zhou Bo, kneeling before the hall.

This man, only a few days older than her, though the son of a wet nurse, had always treated her like a younger sister and cared for her deeply.

The wet nurse had once said that they, mother and son, were different from the Zheng family. The Zhengs shared a blood bond with Zheng Jinyu, which might make them treat her better due to their kinship, but she and Zhou Bo would not be bound by such ties.