บท 266: If the 2 Was a 6, That’s the Devil’s Number

Amongst all the chaos, someone had alerted Madam Zhang. A few moments later, Yujia found herself being led by a group of servants into the madam's courtyard, where she then knelt, her eyes cast down. By her side, the servant who had stolen from her was tied up with ropes and similarly kneeling.

Yujia glanced up for just a second, finding her eyes meeting with Madam Zhang's cold gaze. There was no sign of recognition found in the woman's eyes. She simply looked at Yujia with a blank stare, her eyebrows slightly raised in interest. In the dim candlelight, she slowly poured herself a cup of tea.

It was late. It was so late that only the madam of the household was awakened. Not even Yujia's father had been called for this.

Yujia thought back to that time she followed Madam Zhang's servant to the medicine shop, and discovered that Madam Zhang suffered from a bit of insomnia. Drinking tea would only keep her more alert and awake. So if she was an insomniac, why would she drink tea, knowing that it wouldn't help her sleep later? Yujia found herself puzzled by that.

The silence was tense. No one dared to say anything, waiting for the madam to speak.

Madam Zhang clearly felt the stares of everyone on her, but she proceeded with taking a slow, long sip from her tea. She then placed the cup on the table, the soft clicking of porcelain against wood echoing in the silent room. After that, she folded her hands in her lap.

And finally, at last, she spoke, her voice a slow drawl.

"You were caught stealing from this maid. So, you are the thief?"

Yujia viewed the thief, the man, through the side of her vision. He gulped, not even daring to look up. Yujia's eyes slid down to his hands at his side. They were shaking.

Seeing his lack of response, one corner of Madam Zhang's lips curved up. "Who would've known that the thief turned out to be a mute? You will not even spare the effort of arguing for your case? Very well; that makes things easier for me as well."

This urged the man to speak up. "Madam!" He threw himself to the floor as well as he could with his rope constraints, knocking his head against the wood. "I— I really am not the thief!"

Madam Zhang reached over to fill her cup of tea again while he spoke.

"I— I—" the man stuttered, "I was not stealing anything! I was just in… her room because— because—"

"Because what? I don't have all night to listen to you stutter," Madam Zhang snapped.

"Well…" he took a deep breath, "That maid is very beautiful, and I… had my eyes on her, so—"

Yujia felt her stomach lurch. Her eyes widened, threatening to pop out. The stares of the other servants in the room all fixed on her.

What bullsh*t was this?

She couldn't help herself but to call out, her tone fuming, "Stop lying! It's clear that you were trying to steal my pendant."

Her eyes turned to Madam Zhang, who was silent but displaying faint amusement through the look in her eyes.

Was it Yujia's turn to argue her case? She took a deep breath and directly turned to face the man. "Your lie won't help you. When I caught you stealing my pendant, I immediately called for help. Other servants must've seen how you were holding onto my pendant."

"Is that true?" Madam Zhang fixed her gaze on a maid in the back: Xin'er. The madam reached out a finger, beckoning. "You, over there, tell me."

Xin'er wrung her hands together, bowing deeply. "Madam, I… wasn't paying attention to the pendant at the time. All I know is that when they pulled away, the pendant… it was on the floor."

"Then!" Yujia immediately followed up, "If that evidence does not work, the entire time where I was yelling for help, I was clutching onto you to prevent you from running away. If you were truly harassing me in the middle of the night, do you not think that my first response would be to get away from you as far as possible? Why would I throw myself at you?"

"That—" the man scrunched his eyebrows together, at a loss for words.

Yujia was not finished yet. "And lastly! I just woke up, but my immediate response is to call you a thief and that you stole my pendant. As I am the victim here, I think that I have the most right here to say what you were doing versus what you were not doing. Never have I brought up the possibility that you were harassing me. All along, I have only been claiming that you are a thief. Why would I do that if you were doing anything else?"

Madam Zhang tapped her fingers against the table. "She has a point."

The thief threw himself onto the floor again. "Madam— I— really, I'm not the thief!"

"The evidence is clear," the madam waved her hand dismissively. "Tell me, were you also the thief who stole all those things from the villa prior? If you admit to your crimes, perhaps I can lighten your inevitable sentence."

"No, Madam, I was not! I swear, I wasn't!"

In a disappointed manner, Madam Zhang sighed. "Alright then, denial to the end. Come, someone take this man away and lock him in the shed. Tomorrow morning, send him to the magistrate to get both hands chopped off."

"Madam!" The thief exclaimed, his voice becoming a desperate cry. "No— I— I'm innocent! Please! Believe me, I am not the thief!"

Madam Zhang raised two fingers to her temple, rubbing it, her eyebrows furrowing. "So noisy. What are you all doing? Has sleep addled your brain? Take him away already," she commanded the servants standing at the side.

He continued to scream, "I wasn't a thief— this was all a—"

Two servants rose up, grabbing him and muffling his mouth, as per the madam's statement that he had been too noisy. He flailed his body as best as he could, but in the end, he was dragged away by the servants.

"Now," Madam Zhang smiled a malicious smile, watching the servant get dragged off, "Excellent job finding the thief." Seeing that there were still a few servants in the room, she mused, "What is your name, maid?"

"Ah, this maid is Shen Yuli—" Yujia began, but she was cut off by another servant hastily scrambling into the room, throwing himself on the floor.

"What is it?" Staring at this unexpected servant, Madam Zhang asked, her tone sharp.

"Madam!" the servant called out, a bit breathless, "Just now— just now, the Fifth Miss was awakened, saying that she heard a commotion! And that her matching jade bracelets have disappeared!"