"I'm asking you. Where were you just now?" Father Huo stared at the two of them and asked.
The atmosphere was extremely tense. Everyone held their breaths, afraid to say a word for fear of breaking the atmosphere.
It was Huo Cheng who met Father Huo's gaze.
He replied, "On the fourth floor."
"What?"
Everyone present gasped. Could this matter be related to the fourth young master?
Just as Mother Huo was about to ask in confusion, Huo Cheng continued.
He smiled faintly. "Don't you guys wonder how we got in? We don't have the key to this room, you know."
The two onlookers let out a sigh of relief.
At such a crucial moment, he was still saying something irrelevant. They thought Huo Cheng had some ace up his sleeve.
But it was precisely this "irrelevant" remark that caught Father Huo's attention.
Indeed, there were only two keys to this room. One was on him, and the other was in... the butler's possession.
He didn't believe that Old Chen was involved in this, but at this point, it must have something to do with that key.
"Old Chen, where's the key on you!" Father Huo shouted sternly.
The butler, who had been standing behind them with his head down, slowly walked forward, bowed his head.
After a long while, he said, "Reporting to the master, the key is missing."
"What!" Father Huo was shocked.
Old Chen still kept his head down and said nothing.
Seeing that the focus had shifted, the second elder brother quickly stepped forward and said, "Since this person was determined to steal the treasure, they must have stolen the key in advance. It's reasonable that the key is missing."
Although it was said so, Father Huo, who had been getting along with Old Chen for so long, naturally knew that something was wrong with him.
He snorted lightly. "Then when did you lose it?"
"I don't know, sir." Old Chen continued with his head down.
"Don't know?" Father Huo retorted.
Now everyone present noticed something wrong with the master. Did he suspect that the butler was in cahoots with them?
"Dad! Stop dwelling on this. Old Chen didn't lose the key on purpose. If he were really in cahoots with them, he would have just made another key for them. Why would he arouse your suspicion?"
At this, Father Huo's face darkened even more.
Mother Huo said beside him, "This key was specially made by a craftsman back then by grandfather. It's impossible to duplicate it now."
"I see!" The eldest sister took a step back awkwardly, shouting in her heart.
She must have been distracted during the lessons before. She didn't even know such an important thing.
The second elder brother gave her a look: What a useless teammate.
The eldest sister replied angrily: Mind your own business!
They both turned their heads and didn't look at each other.
Although the focus had shifted, Huo Cheng obviously had no intention of letting it go. After all, they were still suspects.
"When I came in, the door was already open. Guess what?" Huo Cheng smiled faintly. Everyone around gasped. The anger under his expression could no longer be hidden.
"I actually saw my wife on the fourth floor." Huo Cheng continued. "My wife can steal keys, pick locks, and knows about the fourth floor. She's really a god-like person. However, she didn't know there was a crisis up there. If it weren't for me, she might have been turned into minced meat."
Huo Cheng's eyes swept across everyone. No one dared to meet his gaze. He looked at Father Huo. "I saved this person. My wife and I are indeed in cahoots."
After this veiled hint, Father Huo was extremely angry.
How could he not know that compared to the difficulty of duplicating the key, the difficulty of picking the lock was also incomparable. Without knowing the internal structure of the lock, even if one had the key, they wouldn't be able to open the lock.
"Old Chen! What on earth is going on?" Huo Cheng suppressed the anger in his heart. He needed the truth now.
Suddenly, the butler, who had been keeping his head down and silent, knelt on the ground.
"It's me, master. It's all my doing." The butler clasped his fists and pleaded. "I was greedy. I wanted to use someone else's hand to get the treasure. It has nothing to do with Miss Gu. I just wanted to use her."
"Old Chen! Are you crazy?" Mother Huo looked at him in disbelief.
In contrast, Father Huo gradually calmed down and shook his head. "You wouldn't do such a thing."
The butler was still kneeling. When he heard what the master said, he quickly crawled over, grabbed Father Huo's leg, and pleaded, "It's me, master. It's really me. I know I was wrong now. I was blinded by greed. I'm willing to accept the punishment."
Everyone's faces showed disbelief. No one would have thought that an old butler who had been in the Huo Mansion for so long would do such a thing.
Moreover, the butler had always been kind to them. Their faces showed struggle. Even though the butler had admitted his mistake, they still couldn't believe it.
Huo Cheng withdrew his gaze and continued calmly, "Why bother? There's no need to do this. Father won't believe it."
The butler was startled and looked at the master.
Father Huo said word by word, "I want the truth!"
The butler was struggling inside. He shook his head and couldn't say a word.
"Why not ask the person involved? My wife saw the real mastermind at that time."
The calm words dropped into the crowd and caused quite a stir.
Everyone's eyes turned to look. Gu Sisi subconsciously hid behind Huo Cheng.
"It's okay. Just say it. I'm here with you." Huo Cheng whispered softly.
Only then did Gu Sisi scan her eyes across everyone. "At that time, it wasn't the butler who brought me here. It was a young man."
These words caused an uproar. Father Huo saw the butler's face change as he knelt on the ground.
It seemed that there was indeed such a thing.
"Who is it?" Father Huo shouted sternly.
"I don't know his name, but he was wearing clothes similar to the butler's at that time." Gu Sisi whispered all the information she knew and shrank her neck.
The atmosphere at the scene became even more chaotic. The only person who wore clothes similar to the butler's was the butler himself! And it was a young man.
However, Father Huo gradually calmed down.
He spoke and looked at the butler. "Old Chen, is it him?"
Old Chen didn't say a word and turned his face away with difficulty. "He was just bewitched. It's my fault for not teaching him well."
All the information matched up.
Father Huo's face became increasingly serious. He tapped his walking stick a few times, and the scene became quiet again. The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
"Xue Zhiyao! Come here and kneel down!" Father Huo's face was as black as the bottom of a pot at this time.
A young man walked out of the crowd and knelt beside the butler.
Father Huo looked up at Gu Sisi and asked, "Is it him?"
Although Gu Sisi could only see his side face, she was very sure and nodded slightly.
That person was exactly the man who showed her around.
"I'll teach you a lesson today!" As soon as Gu Sisi finished speaking, Father Huo picked up his walking stick and hit him.
Mother Huo beside him tried to grab the walking stick and whispered, "Let's see what the child has to say first."
"What else can he say! One should be punished for doing something wrong." Father Huo snatched the walking stick back again and hit him hard. He didn't dodge and took the blows head-on.