be quick to distance themselves from me. They would even publicly slander me, saying how terrible I am and bringing shame upon their family. They'd act as if I were never their daughter."Song Xining,...The little girl sat there in a daze, lost in thought. She seemed to be pondering something but her emotions were still relatively stable.

Gu Jingxi asked in a gentle voice, "Madam, can we speak now"

What do you say

Meng Jin Yao looked up at him, puzzled.

Gu Jingxi replied, "Tell me where you went today and what you did"

Meng Jinyao lowered her head, remained silent for a moment before softly replying: "I went back to my hometown."

The tone was laced with grievance, and a barely perceptible hint of hatred.

Gu Jingxi's face turned pale. The young girl seemed to have never felt wronged because of her family affairs. Because she didn't care, her heart was as calm as water, so she followed up and asked, "Why did you suddenly go back to your parents' home"

Meng Jinyao replied truthfully: "The housekeeper said that my grandmother was sick, so I went back to see her. Unexpectedly, it was for something else. My second brother passed the Ling Shan Academy assessment and is about to enroll. However, Meng Chengxing failed the assessment. My grandmother and the others learned that you are old friends with the headmaster of Ling Shan Academy, so they wanted me to ask you to find a spot from him, but I refused them."

Gu Jingxi knew she was telling the truth, but what could have caused such a big emotional reaction from her couldn't just be about this.

Seeing him silent, Meng Jinyáo questioned, "Husband, don't you believe me"

Gu Jingxi pursed his lips and smiled faintly, implying, "I believe so, but madam seems not to trust me."

Meng Jinyao fell silent again.

Gu Jingxi didn't force her, saying: "It's fine, Madam can tell me when she wants to."

Meng Jin Yao's lips moved, she hesitated for a moment, but finally remained silent. She instinctively wanted to clench her fists again, but was quickly stopped by the man.

Gu Jingxi grasped her hands as she wanted to clench them into fists, and smiled: "My lady, I've always thought you were a clear-headed and intelligent person. How could you punish yourself for someone else's mistakes"

Meng Jinyao countered, "What if I was wrong" Before Gu Jingxi could respond, she pressed further, "What if lives were at stake"

Her voice trembled, as if she realized she had said something she shouldn't have, and then pursed her lips tightly.

Gu Jingxi was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that such a young girl could be involved in a murder case. After a moment, he asked her: "Did you make a mistake voluntarily, or were you forced into it"

Meng Jinyao was just about to say "passive," but the words that came out of her mouth were: "What if I took the initiative Wouldn't my husband have to send me to prison"

Upon hearing this, Gu Jingxi was taken aback. He looked at her with the expression of someone looking at a mischievous child and smiled, "That depends on the situation, madam. First tell me, is this person deserving of death or not If it's someone who deserves to die, then madam is doing good deeds for the people."

Meng Jin Yao was stunned, incredulously saying: “The Minister of Dali Temple does not uphold justice Regardless of whether the criminal deserves to die, there are laws and regulations for disposal, it's not up to me to use corporal punishment.”

"Sometimes, being blind is not a bad choice," Gu Jingxi chuckled softly. "You, a little girl raised in a boudoir, could possibly commit mass murder What reason would you have to kill innocent people The ones who deserve to die are surely villains."

Meng Jinyao was surprised, but she did not have a reason to kill innocent people.

Gu Jingxi glanced at her. The little girl hung her head, as fragile as a porcelain doll that could be crushed with a single squeeze. He became a bit more patient and said in a soft voice, "Since it involves a homicide case, why not tell your husband about it I may not be able to help with other matters, but I've handled quite a few homicide cases, perhaps I can be of assistance to Madam."

Meng Jinyao suddenly felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her. She belatedly realized that the Dali Temple Qing wasn't just any official—he was in charge of investigations! As a woman confined to her home, she had no idea where to begin. But the Dali Temple Qing, who had solved countless cases, was a true expert.

She answered Gu Jingxi's previous question: "Passive"

No one forced me, but once the mistake was made, I realized I had fallen into a trap without any warning. By then, it was too late to fix it.

Gu Jingxi replied, "Ignorance is no excuse for a crime. It wasn't your fault, it was the mastermind behind this who is to blame."

Isn't it

Meng Jin Yao whispered softly, her eyes hollow and her expression somewhat dazed. Thinking of that icy, tiny body lying in the coffin, her heart ached with pain. Originally, Cheng Yu shouldn't have died.

Of course not.

Gu Jingxi gave a positive response. Seeing her whole being immersed in sorrow, self-blame and guilt, anger and resentment all mixed together, he could guess that the person was very important to her. He then asked her, "Madam, why don't you tell me what happened"

Meng Jin Yao looked up at the man in front of her, thinking to herself, "Gu Si Qing, with his righteous and noble bearing, shouldn't spread this matter outside."

She hesitated for a moment, but still chose to believe Gu Jingxi and spoke the truth: “My older brother Chengyu fell ill when he was two years old. It wasn't a serious illness at first, but Sun shi tampered with the medicine. The medicine I gave Chengyu became a deadly poison, and he died in the end.”

“Grandma said that Chengyu was killed by me. If I didn’t get close to him, he wouldn’t have died. Sometimes, I think the same way. If it weren’t for our close sibling relationship, I would personally feed him medicine and coax him into drinking it. Mrs. Sun would have had a hard time succeeding, maybe she wouldn’t have succeeded at all.

Gu Jingxi was stunned. He knew his stepfather had three sons, the eldest died young, but he didn't know the circumstances of his death. However, such underhanded affairs were common in the backyard, so he wasn't too surprised. Since Mrs. Sun could do something like embezzling her stepdaughter's dowry, it wouldn't be surprising if she had murdered a bastard son as well.

He looked into the little girl's eyes and asked, in a calm voice: "If someone poisoned the well in my house, but I was unaware of it, and you happened to pass by and ask for water, I kindly served you a bowl. Afterward, you drank the poisoned water and died, would that be my fault"

Meng Jin Yao was stunned for a moment, then carefully considered his words before finally shaking her head: "You're just being kind. If you knew the water was poisoned, you wouldn't offer it to strangers."

Gu Jingxi empathized, saying: “If the roles were reversed, you would do the same. You only want your brother to get better after taking medicine, so you coax him and feed him. If you knew there was something wrong with the medicine, would you still feed it to him”

Meng Jin Yao shook her head hastily. She wouldn't hurt Cheng Yu even if she were crazy.

Gu Jingxi continued, "Madam did nothing wrong. Why would you punish yourself for someone else's mistakes If you feel uneasy in your heart, then the culprit should be made to suffer. Seeing your enemy suffer would make you feel better, wouldn't it, Madam"

His words were persuasive, his tone gentle, soothing her with a calm and measured pace, like a spring rain nourishing her heart.

Meng Jin Yao's mood gradually calmed down, reflecting on her own behavior following his words. She suddenly realized she had made a fool of herself. How could the culprit remain unscathed while she was punishing herself It was unbearable in her heart; it should have been the culprit who suffered instead.

Seeing the little girl's eyes light up, as if she had suddenly understood, Gu Jingxi smiled helplessly. She didn't expect that such a clever girl would also have moments of being stubborn.

This is probably what people often say, those in power are often oblivious, while outsiders can see things more clearly.r family's situation as it is, in a few years several of the children will be getting married. I really had no choice but to do this," Mrs. Sun said, tears streaming down her face. "Ayao, please rest...