At this moment, Dongfang Huaizhu was sitting in her room, lost in thought while holding her bamboo flute. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a woman's voice. She snapped back to reality, slowly raising her limpid eyes and looking towards the door.
"Who is making such a racket here?" Dongfang Huaizhu gently placed her bamboo flute on the table, then got up and walked outside.
As soon as she reached the door, a crowd of female relatives came into view. Dongfang Huaizhu looked around but recognized few of them, as she had just entered the mansion.
"What do you want with me?" Dongfang Huaizhu had no idea what was going on outside.
"What do we want? Look at her, still pretending to be innocent and pure!" Liu Xiayun was extremely caustic. Without any evidence, she dared to bring a crowd to slander Dongfang Huaizhu.
Dongfang Huaizhu was utterly confused, her mind in a whirl. She had no clue what they were talking about.
"If you have something to say, just say it straight!" Dongfang Huaizhu really didn't want to waste any more time with these women.
"A very precious treasure has gone missing from the Wangquan Family. Did you take it?" Liu Xiayun put her hands on her hips and spoke imperiously.
"Something is missing? I have no idea about this," Dongfang Huaizhu said calmly. Just by looking at their expressions, she could tell they were here to cause trouble.
Hearing Dongfang Huaizhu's words, Liu Xiayun and the other female relatives all wore expressions of disbelief and whispered among themselves.
Just then, Steward Fei happened to pass by the door. Hearing the commotion, he came in to see what was going on.
"What are all of you doing here in Miss Dongfang's room?" As soon as Steward Fei entered, he saw Liu Xiayun's malicious look.
"Something has gone missing from our Wangquan Mansion, and we all suspect that Dongfang Huaizhu stole it!" A female relative stepped forward and explained the situation.
"All of you, disperse. Miss Dongfang just arrived at the mansion, and she doesn't seem like a thief!" Steward Fei knew Dongfang Huaizhu's character well and didn't believe a single word they said.
"Steward Fei, the more a person pretends to be noble on the surface, the more likely they are to be a thief," they still refused to leave and were convinced that Dongfang Huaizhu was the thief.
Steward Fei tried to persuade them for a long time, but they outnumbered him, and he couldn't succeed on his own.
Dongfang Huaizhu had been standing outside for a long time, listening to their endless chatter.
"A clean hand wants no washing!" Dongfang Huaizhu left this sentence behind, not wanting to bother with them anymore. She turned around and walked back into her room alone.
Unexpectedly, just as she had taken a few steps, a black - clothed man wearing a cyan mask launched a sneak attack from behind and injured Dongfang Huaizhu.
"Pfft." Dongfang Huaizhu spat out a mouthful of blood. When she turned around, she only saw the black - clothed man fleeing, filled with doubts in her heart.
The next day, while Dongfang Huaizhu was strolling in the Wangquan Mansion, she ran into Liu Xiayun's friend and a few other female relatives.
"Look at that woman. She's not the real Dongfang Huaizhu! Her moves are different from the real Dongfang Huaizhu's!" Yunshang stepped forward, spouting nonsense in an attempt to provoke her.
Hearing this, Dongfang Huaizhu felt a bit nervous and guilty. She couldn't say a word. Suddenly, she felt that her body was out of her control.
Dongfang Huaizhu's eyes turned red, and her expression was fierce, completely different from her usual docile appearance. It was as if the original owner had returned.
"Am I not Dongfang Huaizhu, and are you? If you dare to talk nonsense in front of me in the future, don't blame my Dongfang Divine Fire for getting out of control!" Dongfang Huaizhu's words were so fierce that they scared Yunshang away. All the onlookers around scattered in a hurry.
Liu Xiayun was extremely dissatisfied with Dongfang Huaizhu's performance. She hated her from the bottom of her heart. Dongfang Huaizhu's always noble appearance really annoyed her.
"How can I swallow this anger if I just let her go like this!" There was fire in Liu Xiayun's eyes, and her hands were tightly clenched into fists.
After much thought, Liu Xiayun still decided to cause trouble for Dongfang Huaizhu. If she just let her go so easily, how could she still be the eldest daughter of the Liu Family!
Not long after, Liu Xiayun led a group of female relatives to Dongfang Huaizhu's door again.
"Dongfang Huaizhu, come out! This matter isn't over yet!" Liu Xiayun shouted at the door for a long time, but no one responded. She stood outside looking a bit embarrassed.
"Is she not in the room?" A female relative beside her felt that it was really strange that there was no response after Liu Xiayun had been scolding at the door for so long.
Liu Xiayun turned around and glanced at the female relative, thinking that what she said made some sense.
"Let's go in and take a look together!" Liu Xiayun didn't care about Dongfang Huaizhu's status at all and dared to ransack her room.
Liu Xiayun walked in the front, leading a group of people to push open the door of Dongfang Huaizhu's guest room. The door creaked open, revealing a room as clean as new. All the things were neatly placed in their proper positions, along with some of her personal belongings.
"Search it! While she's not here and no one is around, hurry up!" Liu Xiayun scanned the room, then gave a sinister smile and was about to start rummaging through things herself.
"Wait a minute! Isn't it a bit inappropriate for us to search someone's room so blatantly? What if something goes missing and she blames us instead?" A female relative who was about to help Liu Xiayun suddenly stopped halfway, looking a bit timid.
Liu Xiayun looked up and glared at her. The female relative didn't dare to say anything more and accompanied her in causing chaos in Dongfang Huaizhu's room.
The group rummaged through every corner of the room, not even leaving out the tiniest nooks and crannies.
"Found it! Found it! Is this the thing?" A female relative walked towards Liu Xiayun with an ancient box carved with patterns in her hand.
Liu Xiayun took the box from her and examined it carefully. But it was locked, and no one dared to open it.
"Yes, this is the box. It's a rare item that our old family head kept in the ancestral hall!" The maid saw the box in Liu Xiayun's hand and finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had finally found it; otherwise, they would have been criticized by the family head again.
"Now it's all right. With both the witness and the evidence, she won't be able to play any tricks!" Liu Xiayun looked extremely proud. She finally managed to ruin Dongfang Huaizhu's reputation.
After that, the news that Dongfang Huaizhu had stolen the rare item of the Wangquan Family spread like wildfire in the Wangquan Mansion. In an instant, Dongfang Huaizhu's reputation was in tatters. The people of the Wangquan Family avoided talking to her when they saw her.
"Look! Isn't that Dongfang Huaizhu? She stole our family's treasure just a few days after she came to the mansion. How dare she still stroll around the mansion at this time."
"Exactly. I've also heard about this. Why did the old family head invite such a person here?"
Dongfang Huaizhu heard their remarks from afar but didn't want to pay any attention. She just lifted her feet and walked away, not wanting to stay for a single moment.
On the way back to her room, she met Steward Fei and stopped him.