Transmigrated into the fat wife of the future prime minister

Chapter 51: Rogue
Grandma Sun glared at Xu Qingmeng fiercely and said through gritted teeth, "I...I'm too old to remember so clearly. It's just that I saw your business was so booming and I was thinking that you needed more manpower. How could I, an old woman, lower myself to be disliked? Since that's the case, I'll leave."

She turned to leave, but Xu Qingmeng stopped her.

"Grandma Sun, you haven't explained things clearly yet. This gold hairpin is a valuable item. One minute you say my mother accepted your hairpin, and the next you say you misremembered. Aren't you just making fun of my Gu family?"

Grandma Sun hesitated for a moment; this was entirely fabricated.

"I...I...I'm getting old, I'm bound to forget things sometimes..."

Granny Zhao, a woman living next door to the Gu family, couldn't stand it anymore and stood up to defend them, saying, "Grandma Sun, you're slandering the Gu family without any evidence, and now you're saying you made a mistake. Isn't this obviously extortion? Don't you think about it? The Gu family has a scholar who will definitely become an official in the future. Aren't you afraid of retribution for ruining his reputation like this?"

Old Mrs. Sun was so embarrassed by what Granny Zhao said that she had not only failed to get the job but also failed to extort any money and lost face. How could she accept this?

Her eyes darted around, and she started crying out again at the top of her lungs, "Oh dear, this is outrageous! This Gu family is truly heartless! They're bullying a lonely old woman like me!"

"Grandma Sun, your eldest grandson is perfectly fine, isn't he? How come he's all alone now? Aren't you cursing your precious grandson?"

Someone shouted something from the onlookers, causing them to burst into laughter.

While crying and shouting, she secretly glanced at Xu Qingmeng and Gu Yunyi's expressions, hoping to find a trace of weakness.

"You're talking nonsense!" Old Mrs. Sun spat in that direction and cursed, then turned to Wang Zhe, Xu Qingmeng, and the others: "Your Gu family is making so much money now, yet you still embezzled my old woman's hairpin. And your Gu family even has a scholar among them, yet you know nothing of accumulating virtue. Poor old woman like me..."

Xu Qingmeng looked at Old Lady Sun's shameless appearance and sneered inwardly.

She knew that dealing with this kind of person required a firm hand.

“Grandma Sun is right,” Xu Qingmeng said coldly, “Since you insist it was…” She paused, her gaze sharp as she looked directly into Grandma Sun’s eyes, and said, word by word, “My mother accepted your bribes, my mother took your gold hairpin, then…”

“…Then please produce the evidence!” As soon as Xu Qingmeng finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent, and everyone’s eyes were focused on Old Lady Sun.

Grandma Sun trembled at Xu Qingmeng's sharp gaze, and her cries stopped abruptly, like an old hen with her neck being strangled, unable to make a sound. Where did she get any evidence? Even the hairpin was fabricated out of thin air.

Her eyes flickered, her gaze shifted uncertainly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Seeing that Xu Qingmeng had taken control of the situation, Gu Yunyi stepped forward and said politely, "Grandma Sun, everyone in the neighborhood knows what kind of person my mother is. She is kind-hearted and charitable, and would never steal. If you have any evidence, please present it; our Gu family will not shirk our responsibility. But if you are making baseless accusations, we will not tolerate it." He paused, his tone becoming more serious, "We will definitely report this to the authorities and let them judge the truth and uphold the reputation of my Gu family." He glanced at the crowd of onlookers, "and we also ask all of you neighbors to be witnesses."

Gu Yunyi added, “Since Grandma Sun has no evidence, and my Gu family can’t explain ourselves either, to prevent Grandma Sun from saying that our Gu family has connections with the government, today the Gu family can apply to the county government for a public inspection. If my Gu family can find the gold hairpin that Grandma Sun mentioned, we will definitely compensate her with one hundred taels of silver. If not… according to the laws of our dynasty, the crime of defaming and damaging someone’s reputation should be judged according to the law.”

Seeing the Gu family's firm stance, Granny Zhao secretly felt smug.

She already had some grudges against the Gu family, and when she saw Old Lady Sun causing trouble, she wanted to take the opportunity to kick her while she was down.

She feigned to mediate, saying, "Yunyi, we're all neighbors, why make things so tense? Old Mrs. Sun is getting old and her memory isn't good; perhaps she really made a mistake. Why don't we just let it go and make a small matter disappear?"

Xu Qingmeng sneered and retorted without any politeness, "Granny Zhao, you're wrong about that. My mother-in-law is an innocent person, why should she suffer such injustice? If we don't get to the bottom of this today, who will dare to eat at our restaurant in the future? How will we maintain the reputation of the Gu family?"

Her gaze was resolute. "Today, we must report this to the authorities and clear my mother-in-law's name!" Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Old Mrs. Sun's eyes darted around, then suddenly cried out, "Ouch!" and collapsed to the ground, wailing and wailing, "Ouch! My leg... my leg is broken... the Gu family beat me... the Gu family bullied me..."

Everyone was stunned by what they saw.

This old lady Sun, her face changes way too fast!

He was standing perfectly fine just now, how did his leg suddenly break?

Xu Qingmeng looked at Old Lady Sun, who was throwing a tantrum on the ground, and sneered inwardly.

She had long anticipated that this old lady Sun would act like a rogue, so she was prepared.

He stepped out from the crowd, her face grim and her eyes sharp as knives, piercing straight at Old Mrs. Sun, who was throwing a tantrum on the ground.

"Since you say your leg is broken, why don't you call a doctor to take a look, and while you're at it, report it to the authorities so that the officials can also judge the matter?" Her tone was icy and devoid of any emotion, like a cold winter wind that sent chills down Old Mrs. Sun's spine.

When Grandma Sun heard that she needed to call a doctor and report to the authorities, she panicked.

Her leg wasn't broken at all; she was just faking it. If she called a doctor, wouldn't she be exposed?

She struggled to her feet, stammering, "No...no need to call a doctor...my...my leg...my leg is fine..."

Upon seeing this, Xu Qingmeng's lips curled up slightly, revealing a cold smile.

"Grandma Sun, your broken leg healed so quickly! You were rolling around on the ground just now, and now you're fine again? And you're saying my mother-in-law took... well, bribes from you, and even your gold hairpin? You really are..."
Grandma Sun was speechless after Xu Qingmeng's words, her face turning pale and then red, like a magician's ball.

"I...I..." She stammered for a long time, but couldn't get a coherent answer.

When Grandma Sun realized that her lie had been exposed, she panicked. Knowing that her extortion attempt had failed and she would instead face legal trouble, she tried to slip away as fast as she could.

"Xun-ge'er, go report to the authorities!" Xu Qingmeng gave the order, and Xun-ge'er immediately turned and ran.

"No...no need to report to the authorities...I...I was wrong..." Old Mrs. Sun's face was pale as she grabbed Xun Ge'er's sleeve and pleaded bitterly.

Xu Qingmeng looked at Grandma Sun's pitiful appearance, but felt no pity whatsoever.

She knew that she couldn't be soft-hearted with this kind of person.

"Too late!" Xu Qingmeng's tone was icy. "There must be an explanation for what happened today!" She turned to Madam Li, "Mother, please help Grandma Sun into the front hall..."

Bonus chapter for the Winter Solstice! There's one more chapter for you all!



(End of this chapter)