The onlookers were all laughing.
Madam Haitang on the dais also showed a hint of pride on her face.
But there was only one person who remained unmoved, and that was Situ Yun. After witnessing Zhao Shuning's tactics in Qingning, he knew that this little girl must have something more to say.
She never made mistakes in her actions.
Since she said there was a problem, then there must be one.
"Alright, everyone, please be quiet. Children just talk nonsense. Don't take it seriously."
Seeing Madam Haitang being so magnanimous, the onlookers naturally got even more indignant.
"Madam Haitang, you're the mistress of the Lin family. When have you ever suffered such injustice? Regardless of whether this girl killed Lüwu or not, just the fact that she tried to maliciously frame you is unforgivable."
"Exactly. She doesn't even know her own place. She always wants to show off wherever she goes."
Madam Haitang said kindly, "Everyone, I think this little girl was just frightened out of her wits by Lüwu's death. I'm sure she didn't mean to harm me. The cause of Lüwu's death hasn't been investigated yet. It's understandable that the little girl is eager to exonerate herself, although it's a bit inappropriate."
"Madam Haitang, this stinky girl is so despicable. Why are you still speaking up for her?"
"Exactly. Look at her glib-tongued look. She's so vengeful. In my opinion, there's no need to investigate. Lüwu just had a conflict with her yesterday, and then met with misfortune the next day. This must have been done by her."
"You're just being magnanimous and don't want to argue with this girl. In our opinion, this arrogant stinky girl deserves to be beaten with a hundred boards, and that would still be light."
"This kind of stinky girl deserves to die."
"Exactly, exactly—"
Everyone was chattering away, trying to take advantage of the chaos to trample on Zhao Shuning.
It was understandable. Most of them had suffered setbacks at the hands of this little girl last night. Now that they had the opportunity to kick her when she was down, they naturally wouldn't be polite.
Situ Yun looked at Zhao Shuning worriedly.
With so many people ganging up on her, he wondered if she could handle it.
But at this moment, Zhao Shuning seemed completely unfazed. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and watched those despicable villains cursing out dirty words one by one.
"Are you done?"
Zhao Shuning dug at her ear.
Everyone stopped and looked at her.
She simply found a seat and sat down, crossing her legs. "If you're not done, you can continue."
They should really be thankful that Mo Bai wasn't woken up today. If Mo Bai saw them splashing water on her, these onlookers wouldn't be standing here so comfortably.
"You're so shameless at such a young age."
"Madam Haitang, this girl doesn't show any sign of remorse. In my opinion, extreme punishment should be imposed on her."
"This—"
At this time, Concubine Xiao jumped out and pointed at the onlookers, scolding, "You sycophantic villains, how noble are you! Just because there was a little argument last night, you're eager to throw a child into the eighteenth level of hell. The onlookers Sister invited are really something."
Zhao Shuning didn't expect that Concubine Xiao would speak up for her.
"Concubine Xiao, didn't you want me to die before?"
"If you really killed Lüwu, then it's only right that you pay with your life, isn't it?"
Zhao Shuning spread her hands and didn't reply.
Now it seemed that Concubine Xiao was just a bit mouthy, but her heart wasn't too bad. No wonder she could raise a son like Lin Siyuan.
Thanks to Concubine Xiao's intervention, the onlookers quieted down a lot.
Out of respect for Lin Siyuan, who wasn't easy to deal with, and considering that the Lin family might be in his hands in the future, they didn't dare to say anything more.
Thanks to Concubine Xiao, these people finally quieted down.
Zhao Shuning jumped down from the dais and walked to Lüwu's body.
"Madam Haitang, you never touched Lüwu from beginning to end, did you?"
"Of course not. What's our Madam Haitang's status? Lüwu was just a maid in the Fifth Madam's room. How could our madam have any contact with her?"
It seemed that the maid beside Madam Haitang was really loyal to her master.
But this maid probably didn't realize that what she was saying now wasn't actually exonerating her madam. From another perspective, it was actually confirming Madam Haitang's guilt.
"Since that's the case, everyone, please take a look."
Zhao Shuning gently pushed aside Lüwu's hair, and one or two specks of gold powder were shining at the root of her hair.
That gold powder was from Madam Haitang's clothes.
"What does this prove? Little girl, you said before that Lüwu went to my yard yesterday. Maybe she accidentally got it on her then. Does this mean that I'm the murderer?"
"Of course, it's not enough."
Zhao Shuning picked up Lüwu's right hand. Her hand was clenched tightly.
It had been like this since she was fished out of the water.
Zhao Shuning struggled to open Lüwu's hand, and there was a lot of gold powder in it.
"Surely this amount of gold powder can prove something."
Madam Haitang staggered and almost fell.
"Madam Haitang, I saw that the clothes you wore yesterday weren't this one. Although the colors were similar, the styles were slightly different. If I'm not mistaken, you called Lüwu to the pond side. When you pushed her into the water, her hand instinctively grabbed the corner of your clothes, and this gold powder must have been grabbed off at that time."
"Whether I'm framing you or not, let's go to your room and look for the clothes you wore yesterday. Then we'll know."
"If the clothes are missing, it means you have a guilty conscience. If they're still there and the gold powder is intact, it means my speculation is wrong and I've wronged you."
Madam Haitang's face had now turned extremely ugly.
Concubine Xiao said, "Someone, come with me to Sister's room. We can't let someone wrongly accuse Sister."
Although she said so, everyone knew exactly what Concubine Xiao's real purpose was.
But before Concubine Xiao reached the door, Madam Haitang gave a wink to the people around her, and the door of the main hall slammed shut.
Suddenly, there was an uproar among the crowd.
Did Madam Haitang's actions mean...?
At this time, the woman on the main seat slowly stood up. With a strange look on her face, she said, "I've been in the Lin family for so long. I thought I had always been careful and never made mistakes. I never expected to stumble so badly because of you, stinky girl."
Purple light was emanating from around Madam Haitang's body.
She was actually an alchemist.
Judging from her aura and the color, it wasn't hard to tell that Madam Haitang was at least a fourth - rank alchemist.
Day suddenly turned into night.
Everyone was instantly panicked.