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"Miss Lin, I’m really sorry, it was me who lost something, so, so..."

Lin Yuan had no interest in listening to Miss Han’s pale explanation, especially since this woman was indecisive and always followed others’ opinions.

"Miss Han, is it?" Lin Yuan gave her a mocking smile, then swept an expressionless gaze over Cheng Yuexiu and Guo Mei, "I heard everything you all just said, no need to say more. My question for Miss Cheng is, how are you so certain that the hairpin was picked up by my two sisters?"

Cheng Yuexiu had learned from past experience how sharp Lin Yuan’s tongue could be, and this time she was smarter and knew to think first, but it was of no use because she wasn’t the only one who had spoken about it—Guo Mei had also mentioned it.

Seeing that Cheng Yuexiu was not speaking, Guo Mei hurriedly said, "Yes, because the only ones who went to the outhouse were your two sisters. If it wasn’t them who picked it up, then who else could it be?"

As soon as Guo Mei spoke, Cheng Yuexiu felt something was off, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. Anyway, it wasn’t just her alone involved, and since Guo Mei had spoken, she might as well let her take the blame.

"Actually, it might not have been Miss Lin’s sisters who picked it up. Perhaps, perhaps it was me, maybe I carelessly dropped it somewhere else."

Lin Yuan looked at Miss Han and shook her head secretly, realizing that Miss Han was not one of their group. She was just an unfortunate person who had been chosen on the spot by the two to deliberately target Lin Wei and Xiao Linshuang.

"Miss Han, whether your hairpin was lost here is no longer important." Lin Yuan said with a faint smile, "Because you have already insulted my two sisters. If I don’t help you find the hairpin today, won’t the dignity of the Lin family be trampled forever?"

Finished speaking, she turned to Guo Mei and asked, "Miss Guo, how can you be sure that only my two sisters went to the outhouse just now? Did you see them?"

Guo Mei pursed her lips, "How would I see them? I wasn’t guarding here. It was the maid who saw them."

Saying this, she beckoned to the maid standing to one side, who, upon hearing her, moved quickly and came over to bow to them.

"Since Miss Lin doesn’t trust us, you can ask this maid! We all heard what she just said—about whether there were any others who went to the outhouse, you can ask her, so it doesn’t seem like we are bullying you outsiders!"

Guo Mei looked at them disdainfully, the corners of her lips curled in an indelible sneer.

The expressions of the two were very sincere, clearly not lying.

Lin Yuan curled her lips and looked at the maid, asking, "Are you from Yao Mansion?"

The maid nodded, "Yes."

Lin Yuan, understanding the situation, then asked, "You said you only saw my two sisters go to the outhouse and saw no one else?"

The maid nodded, "Yes, only the two Miss Lins, I didn’t see anyone else."

"Are you sure?"

"This servant is sure; I have been guarding here all along, not going anywhere else, so this I am certain of."

Lin Yuan scoffed, "Since you’ve been guarding here all this time, then didn’t you see Miss Han’s hairpin fall?"

The maid was taken aback, looking up in surprise with a gasp.

Lin Yuan pressed on with her questioning, "How so, you didn’t see it?

Since you didn’t see it, isn’t it possible that Miss Han’s hairpin wasn’t lost here?

If you had seen it, why didn’t you pick up the hairpin and return it to Miss Han, but waited until the two Miss Lins arrived to come forward as a witness claiming they found it?

Also, since you saw the two Miss Lins go to the latrine, did you see them pick up the hairpin? "

With three consecutive questions, the maid was rendered speechless.

How should she answer? Was she supposed to admit she saw it? If she had seen it and not picked it up, wouldn’t that clearly suggest she had ulterior motives?

The maid glanced at Cheng Yuexiu unconsciously and blinked, saying, "Oh, I remembered, halfway through, I went somewhere else for a moment, I didn’t see Miss Han dropping the hairpin."

Lin Yuan smirked, "Since you say you left for a while, how do you know that no one else passed by here during the time you were away? But you only accuse the two Miss Lins, could it be that you were instructed by someone?"

As soon as the maid heard Lin Yuan say she had been instructed, she panicked completely, her face noticeably changed, and she quickly waved her hands, "No, no, no one instructed me. I, I really saw it with my own eyes."

"You’re lying!" Lin Wei, who had already sensed something was amiss, pointed at her and huffed, "You’ve been saying all along that you saw it with your own eyes, and now that my older sister has questioned you, you don’t know what to say anymore, you’re clearly making things up!"

Of course, she was making things up; she had not seen Miss Han lose the hairpin, let alone seen Lin Wei and Xiao Linshuang pick it up.

The maid felt sweat beads forming on her forehead, lowering her head, she timidly glanced at Cheng Yuexiu, but Cheng paid her no attention at all. Suddenly feeling bereft of support, the maid panicked even more.

Seeing her own bribed maid was of no further use, Cheng Yuexiu cursed under her breath, "Useless," and glanced at Guo Mei beside her. But Guo Mei, too, disappointed her, standing there dumbly, completely unsure of what to say.

Cheng Yuexiu frowned, cursing herself for teaming up with such inefficacious partners today.

Steadying her mind, Cheng Yuexiu snorted coldly, "Miss Lin is quite skilful with her words, turning established facts into utter nonsense."

Nonsense?

Lin Yuan narrowed her eyes. This was only because she was in the Capital; she minded the reputations of Xia Zheng and her elder brother and chose not to stoop to the level of these officials’ daughters. If this had been back in Lin family’s hollow or Zhuma Town, she would have already slapped her!

Moving her fingers slightly, Lin Yuan raised her eyebrows. It was just about underhanded tricks, who couldn’t play those?

"Miss Cheng calls me nonsensical? Ha, that’s a first. Without any evidence, to so confidently accuse others of not returning what they picked up, surely it’s you who is being unreasonable?"

Not giving Cheng Yuexiu a chance to retort, Lin Yuan continued, "Well, since you’re so certain my sister picked it up, and we’re not admitting to it, may I ask Miss Cheng, what do you plan to do to resolve this issue?"

Although Cheng Yuexiu knew Lin Yuan wouldn’t so easily capitulate, she had no better idea at that moment. She raised her eyebrows and said, "Then let’s search them. Whether they have the item on them or not, a search will reveal the truth."

A search!

Lin Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly, finally understanding the intentions of the two. Whether or not they found the hairpin on Lin Wei and Xiao Linshuang, just by searching them in front of so many people, the reputation of the Lin family would be thoroughly trampled upon.