Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 17 Framed
"Lord!"

"Mother!"

Wei Xiaoniang, along with several people from her own courtyard, first paid their respects to the two masters of the Sheng family and gave them a curtsy.

"Hmm~"

Sheng Hong waved absentmindedly, indicating that he already knew, and did not say anything more. As for Wang Ruofu, he did not make a fuss, but simply nodded slightly.

In fact, Wang Ruofu didn't have any major issues with Wei Xiaoniang, or rather, she ignored her somewhat.

Although she didn't like her, Wang Ruofu didn't have any ill intentions towards her. After all, for Madam Wang, her only enemy in life was that bitch Lin Qinshuang!
"The Wei family's younger sister!"

Lin Qinshuang greeted Wei Xiaoniang warmly, seemingly unaffected by the incident.

"Sister Lin!"

Knowing that the eldest daughter-in-law disliked Lin Qinshuang, Wei Shuyi only replied quietly and dared not say more.

"Humph!"

Sure enough, even with such caution, it still displeased Madam Wang!
However, Wang Ruofu only hummed and didn't say anything more. After all, she was exhausted because of Sheng Hualan's marriage and didn't want to talk to these cunning people anymore.

"Boom!"

The servants searched everywhere, meticulously examining each room. They thoroughly searched not only the rooms of the old lady and the two mistresses, as well as some guest rooms, but also Lin Qinshuang's Linxi Pavilion, checking each one carefully.

Finally, they even went into Wei Xiaoniang's courtyard and searched it.

"Ha! How ridiculous!"

Seeing this, Xiaodie, the girl beside Wei Xiaoniang, muttered under her breath with displeasure, "Since when have they started searching our yard like this!"

"What treasures could we possibly find in these few courtyards where things have been confiscated?"

"Little Butterfly!"

Seeing Xiaodie's indignant expression, Wei Shuyi quickly pulled her aside and whispered, "Don't be rude!"

Fortunately, Xiaodie knew her limits, and only a few people in the nearby courtyard could hear her, so it didn't cause any serious harm.

"Yes, young lady!"

"Whee!"

The two young maids, Minglan and Xiaotao, were still quite young and didn't understand much. However, they were surprised to see their usually mature and composed sister, Xiaodie, being scolded by Wei Xiaoniang. For a moment, a smile appeared on their faces.

"Humph!"

Seeing this, Xiaodie felt a little unhappy!

So she glared angrily at Xiao Tao, displaying her domineering nature, thinking to herself, "It's fine if the young lady is the master, but can't I retaliate against you?"

Because Xiao Tao was Sheng Minglan's personal maid, she and Xiao Die had a very good relationship, like sisters and mother and daughter. Therefore, none of them thought much of this little thing.

On the contrary, because of Xiaodie's angry glare, Xiaoxiaotao laughed even more happily!

"Boom!"

At that moment, the servants who were searching for things suddenly made a discovery.

"Boom!"

"My lord, my mistress!"

A burly old woman carrying a bag of things ran up to Sheng Hong and the others like she was showing off a treasure, saying as if she wanted to claim credit: "We've found something!"

"Ok?"

Sheng Hong was overjoyed and hurriedly stepped forward to ask, "Tell me the details!"

"Yes!" Not only were Sheng Hong and his wife excited, but even Lin Qinshuang, who had been "confident" all along, couldn't help but feel a little scared, wondering if her arrangements were perfect and if there were any flaws.
While everyone's attention was focused on the old woman, Lin Qinshuang secretly glanced at her "strategist" Zhou Xueniang.

"Will anything go wrong?"

Lin Qinshuang, relying on the tacit understanding between master and servant over the years, signaled with her eyes.

"rest assured!"

Zhou Xueniang returned a reassuring look, her face becoming even more composed, as if she had everything under control.

"That's good!"

Lin Qinshuang silently told herself this, and put her worries aside. Then she quickly stepped forward and pretended not to know, pricking up her ears to listen carefully to the other person's answer.

"My lord, my mistress, these things were found under Miss Xiaodie's bed in Wei Xiaoniang's courtyard!"

The strong and sturdy old woman lifted the bag, which weighed over ten kilograms, with one hand, and with the other hand, she untied the drawstring and opened it to show the contents to the masters, saying, "Look! It's all top-quality silver frost charcoal!"

Silver Frost Charcoal, because of its white frost-like appearance, smokeless nature, difficulty in ignition, and slow extinguishing, was selected for use by the Imperial Household Department for the emperor's purposes. The rest, middle and lower grade, were selected by officials and wealthy households. They would fill a basin to the brim, sprinkle ash into the gaps, and cover it with copper wire to keep it burning. This would last for a day and a night, making the room warm as spring. Therefore, it was widely loved by wealthy families and was their favorite type of charcoal.

In short, the charcoal distributed by the Sheng family was of medium quality, Silver Frost Charcoal. It was not only valuable but also difficult to obtain. No one but officials could get their hands on it.

"what!"

Everyone in Wei Xiaoniang's courtyard was utterly shocked!
Especially Xiaodie, who was the most important among them, never expected that such a thing would involve her!
"This...this isn't mine!"

"It's not mine!"

Xiaodie panicked and spoke up to defend herself!

"Okay! Okay!"

Sheng Hong gritted his teeth, his anger almost reaching the heavens!

“I really didn’t expect that!”

"My house has really been burgled!"

"Oh!"

Upon hearing Sheng Hong's words, the servants around them, without waiting for their master's orders, rushed towards Xiao Die like wolves and tigers, and restrained her.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Xueniang quickly stepped forward and immediately sealed the matter.

"You wicked, shameless woman!"

"You've taken your master's things and then claimed they belong to our mistress!"

Zhou Xueniang added fuel to the fire by interjecting, "It's all thanks to the wise decision-making of the mistress and her mother, who demonstrated their ability to solve cases, otherwise our young lady would have been unjustly killed!"

At this moment, Lin Qinshuang, who was standing to the side, also began to deliver her "lines".

"Thank God!"

"Honglang, I have finally not let you down!"

Lin Qinshuang, whose injustice has been redressed, wiped away her tears as she revealed her true feelings.
However, Wei Shuyi spoke up after witnessing this scene!

"This was definitely not Xiaodie's doing!"

Wei Xiaoniang stepped forward and went straight back to the guard.

As Xiaodie's master, Wei Shuyi naturally understood her character. Based on what Xiaodie had done in his courtyard, Wei Shuyi was certain that Xiaodie could not have done this!
"Little girl~"

"Help me!"

"I really didn't do this!"

At this moment, Xiaodie, who had never experienced anything like this before, was nowhere to be seen as the fierce woman who had snatched the charcoal earlier. Now, she could only be held firmly to the ground by two burly old women who exuded the aura of "warriors," unable to move at all!
(End of this chapter)