TGCFNM -Chapter 415 He Said It With a Smile

Wu Huan thought of the shocked expression she had seen on the young master at that time. “Back then, the young master came with an invitation from the Si family, asking my father and brother to attend without fail.”

Chu Ling hurriedly asked, “Was the invitation genuine?”

“It was genuine, but it seemed the Si family didn’t expect us to come. That invitation was meant for the Si family’s young master’s friends, so I was counted as one of his friends too,” Wu Huan explained.

Chu Ling then asked, “How did you persuade your father to let you go instead?”

Wu Huan shook her head. “I didn’t persuade him. My brother had been confined for too long and wasn’t feeling well. To avoid gossip, Father brought me along. After I took my seat, a little maid accidentally splashed water on me. When the maid took me to clean up, that’s when I ran into the young master. He personally escorted me to the storeroom.”

“There was no one in the storeroom. After I took the jade Guanyin, the young master personally sent me to the back gate, and I rode the carriage back home. When I returned, I followed the young master’s instructions and gave the jade Guanyin to my brother, and I said…”

At this point, Chu Ling continued, “You told Wu Ting that the little maid had splashed water on you, and her brother was very sorry, so he helped you clean your clothes. When you came out after cleaning, you happened upon an unlocked storeroom, took the least conspicuous gift, and secretly brought it back for him?”

Wu Huan didn’t know how Chu Ling had figured it out, but she nodded. “Yes.”

“Wu Ting didn’t suspect you?” Chu Ling furrowed her brows.

Wu Huan shook her head. “The young master said that as long as I followed his instructions, my brother would forget that I had gone to the Si family in his place. He would only remember that he himself had gone.”

Chu Ling was startled. “But your father knew?”

Wu Huan bit her lip. “I told Father that my brother was pretending to be sick and later had me act as a cover while he secretly went to the Si family to steal something… Since my brother was indeed a gambler and had stolen things from home many times, Father and Mother believed me.”

“I thought the worst my brother would get was a beating. I planned that when the household erupted in chaos, I could take the money the young master gave me and secretly run away with my nanny. But I didn’t expect the Si family to report it to the authorities…”

Chu Ling pressed her fingers to her forehead and carefully pieced it together.

So, the one who actually stole the jade Guanyin was Wu Huan. After stealing it, she handed it to Wu Ting. When Wu Ting pawned the jade Guanyin, the pawnshop staff must have hypnotized him into thinking he had stolen it himself. That’s why he spoke to Lord Lu the way he did—because the process of “stealing” felt so real to him, as if he had personally done it.

And Wu Ting did indeed take the money to the gambling den, so the evidence and witnesses were all consistent.

As for the Si family… they must have noticed something unusual. They didn’t continue investigating because if they did, it wouldn’t just implicate the Wu family—possibly the Si family would be entangled as well. That’s why they reported it simply as a theft, and once the jade Guanyin was recovered, the Si family stopped pursuing it.

Considering the main backer behind the pawnshop was that same young master, a cold sweat ran down Chu Ling’s back.

Just how meticulous must someone be to design such a plan—no one knew who he was from start to finish, yet the Wu family had still been targeted by the Si family.

Chu Ling looked at Wu Huan. “Then afterwards, how did you end up taking the fall for Wu Ting?”

“I heard from my wet nurse that Father had given his treasured ancient painting to the Si family, so my brother was released, and I felt relieved… But when I secretly went to Father’s study to see my brother, I found the painting still at home. Father hadn’t actually given it to them, yet my brother returned.”

“Later I realized that the Si family wanted my brother dead. They said only if he died could the Wu family be saved; otherwise, the Wu family would be destroyed. Then Father said that since he had raised me for sixteen years, I should repay the Wu family… The wet nurse begged him while crying, and he killed her. I begged Father, and he ordered me strangled… After I died, I saw the Wu family gradually leave.”

Chu Ling looked at Wu Huan: “That young master said he would help you and your wet nurse escape. Why didn’t he save you?”

Wu Huan stared blankly, tears of blood streaming down her face: “I never saw him again after that.”

Chu Ling exhaled sharply, frowning: “That young master never intended to save you from the beginning. He only wanted to destroy the entire Wu family. He deceived you.”

From start to finish, that young master’s goal was the Wu family. He planned every step, pushing until the public face of Wu Ting was dead. The Wu family, probably due to the Si family’s influence, was stripped of its title. With its only heir gone, they had no choice but to leave the capital.

Moreover, the Si family, fearing that the secret of the Jade Guanyin would be exposed, still could not rest even after Wu Ting’s death. They ambushed the Wu family, and the Wu family was utterly destroyed.

Ghost Scholar shook his folded fan lightly: “If you dig deeper, Wu Ting suddenly developed an obsession with gambling at sixteen. That doesn’t seem normal either.”

Bai Su shook her head slightly: “What hatred… step by step, it destroyed an entire Wu family.”

Chu Ling felt a chill deep in his heart. After a long pause, she spoke: “The Wu case is finally completely understood. It wasn’t an ordinary theft—it was a premeditated setup. But now the Wu family is gone. The only witnesses besides Wu Huan’s ghost are the Si family, who will never testify, and the secret inside the Jade Guanyin remains unknown to anyone.”

“This case… can’t be overturned…”

However, this young master, who might have been reborn, must be considered a dangerous person, someone to watch constantly.

“Is it possible…” Ghost Scholar looked at Chu Ling. “That young master, after orchestrating all this, also knew this case could only be closed and could never be overturned?”

Chu Ling tilted her head back and exhaled wearily: “Unless Wu Ting comes back to life, there’s only the slightest chance of overturning the case. Otherwise, it can’t be done.”

Ghost Scholar turned to Wu Huan: “Miss Wu Huan, did that young master ever inadvertently reveal anything? For example, something about the Jade Guanyin, enough to make the Wu family die a hundred times?”

Wu Huan thought carefully, then spoke slowly: “I was frightened at the time. I said ‘die a hundred times?’ He looked at me smiling and said, ‘Not just that. Many people will be implicated and die. You can only blame my father’s greed for causing the deaths of those who shouldn’t have been harmed…’ He also said that in the future, he could use that thing to clear away a lot of obstacles. This time, no one could harm him.”

Chu Ling repeated the last sentence in his mind: “This time, no one could harm him.”

So that means the last time, he was killed, and the Wu family might have been one of the culprits? That’s why, after starting over, he designed the complete annihilation of the Wu family. Is this revenge?

“What was his expression when he said those who shouldn’t have been harmed died—angry, sad?” Chu Ling asked.

Wu Huan shook her head: “He said it with a smile.”