The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 659 - 658: Continental Girl, You’re Dead for Sure!

Chapter 659: Chapter 658: Continental Girl, You’re Dead for Sure!

As soon as the second wife finished interrogating, the third wife quickly followed suit and approached Shen Mingzhu with a menacing tone, warning, "Girl from the mainland, you’d better watch your mouth. Each one of us standing before you is not someone you can afford to provoke. Be careful, or you won’t even know how you die."

Infuriated, the fifth wife spoke out in anger, "Fourth wife, don’t think I can’t see through your little trick, deliberately arranging someone to splash water on me, just to have an excuse to search me. This is simply bullying too much!"

"And you!" the fifth wife raged as she advanced on Shen Mingzhu, her finger nearly poking Shen Mingzhu’s nose, "Dare to slander me as a thief, and not even the king of heaven can save you! I will definitely pursue this matter to the end. You just wait to rot in jail!"

Facing the aggressive onslaught from the three women, La Shiran was at her wit’s end, but she still immediately moved to shield Shen Mingzhu behind her.

"Sisters Qun and Shaohui, Mrs. Cui, please, don’t get agitated. She did not explicitly name anyone as a thief. What she said was..."

Standing with the trio were also the La Family mother and daughter. La Shiran had thought to use her own mother as a shield, albeit not the most honorable move; however, it was the only solution she could think of at that moment.

To her surprise, Shen Mingzhu did not understand her well-intentioned plan and instead poured oil on the fire, "Slandering others maliciously indeed requires a price to be paid, but I have not slandered."

La Shiran’s forehead throbbed; she truly wished she could just cover Shen Mingzhu’s mouth with her hand.

Not to mention the fifth wife, who was fuming, even the arrogantly self-assured second wife, who had never deigned to give Shen Mingzhu a proper look before, couldn’t refrain from scoffing:

"You’re quite bold. But I can understand, you’re an outsider, you might not be fully aware of what kind of place this is, however, you must have heard this saying, ’Be careful or you might earn money that you won’t live to spend.’"

In her view, it must have been La Shiran who promised Shen Mingzhu enormous benefits that convinced Shen Mingzhu to willingly "charge into battle" for her.

"Thanks for the reminder, second wife. As an act of courtesy in return, let me tell you a story," replied Shen Mingzhu.

Shen Mingzhu glanced around at the people gathered, and began to recount in a voice clear and crisp as a jade stone dropping onto a plate: "There was a group of high-IQ professional jewel thieves. They made their living by stealing jewelry, famous paintings, and antiques."

"The reason why they were able to succeed time and again, escaping from the tight investigations of the police, lies in the fact that they did the opposite of what one would expect."

"After successfully stealing the treasures, they did not immediately take the items away like ordinary thieves. Instead, they cleverly hid them near the site of the loss."

"Once the commotion died down, they would send someone else back to the scene, to seamlessly carry away the treasure without anyone noticing."

As Shen Mingzhu told her tale, everyone present showed expressions of surprise and realization.

Such a sophisticated method of thievery was truly rare.

"Mrs. Cui, what do you think of my storytelling?" asked Shen Mingzhu.

Facing Shen Mingzhu’s pointed inquiry, Mrs. Cui’s face kept changing colors before she let out a cold sneer, "Trying to pin a crime on me? Bring the evidence then; without evidence, you’re just slandering!"

Shen Mingzhu smiled amiably, "Investigating a case is a professional matter, one that should of course be left to the police. I was merely telling a story. That’s not illegal, is it?"

La Shiran quickly added, "Of course it’s not illegal."

Shen Mingzhu then continued, "The problem is, I’m afraid certain people are feeling guilty, fitting themselves into the story I told. But that’s not my concern."

Everyone present could tell that Shen Mingzhu’s "certain people" was a veiled reference to Mrs. Cui.

For a moment, every eye in the room turned to Mrs. Cui, filled with suspicion and speculation.

Mrs. Cui laughed out of sheer rage, "Very well, very well. I hope you’ll be just as tough-talking in court as you are today!"

With that said, she took out her mobile phone on the spot and called her lawyer.

While Mrs. Cui was on the phone with her lawyer, the third wife nonchalantly spoke up, "Mainland girl, you told a nice story, but words alone prove nothing. You need to find the items to really show you’ve got skill."

Having said that, she then mockingly called out to the still stunned Manager Tang, "What are you standing around for? Get moving and search for the items. We’ll wait right here to see if things are as she has claimed..."

"With that," his gaze once again fell upon Shen Mingzhu, tinged with malice, "if the item is found today, fine. If not, mainland girl, you’re dead meat!"

Manager Tang looked to La Shiran. Seeing no objection from her, he immediately wanted to take people to search the VIP room.

"There’s no need to search. It can’t be found."

Manager Tang cast a confused glance at Shen Mingzhu: Wait, ma’am, didn’t you say the item was hidden in the jewelry store? And now you’re saying it can’t be found—are you playing games?

La Shiran also couldn’t figure out what Shen Mingzhu was really up to, but she had already braced for the worst. If it came down to it, she would hand over Ruili and take responsibility herself.

Therefore, seeing Shen Mingzhu stirring up trouble with such audacity, she felt more intrigued than panicked.

However, the next thing Shen Mingzhu said made her heart skip a beat.

"The item is on the Third Lady."

Manager Tang’s eyes circled around the Third Lady, not daring to make a move.

Even ten times his courage wouldn’t be enough to presume upon a member of the Cui Family.

The Third Lady certainly hadn’t expected Shen Mingzhu to turn on her; after a half-second of stunned silence, she flew into a rage, "You damn mainland girl, are you tired of living? Fourth Brother, where did you find such a brazen swindler? Her words are all over the place—just a moment ago she was suspecting Mrs. Wu, and now she’s pointing at me. I bet the next person she’ll suspect is Elder Sister."

The Third Lady intentionally tried to drag the Second Lady into the mess, aiming to prove that Shen Mingzhu was nothing but a lying fraudster.

However, the shrewd and seasoned Second Lady didn’t want to get involved in this murky affair. At this moment, it was best for her just to sit back and watch the fight unfold.

"Third Sister, since she dares to name you directly, she must have conclusive evidence. Why don’t you let her search you to clear your name?" The tone was unmistakably schadenfreude.

The Third Lady was furious, "What is she, that she thinks she can just search me based on her word alone?"

At this point, the person in the most difficult position was La Shiran.

Mrs. Wu was a suspect in the case, so searching her had some justification, but the Third Lady had nothing to do with the loss of the jewelry and she was family. La Shiran really didn’t dare to act just based on Shen Mingzhu’s word alone.

Just then, a modest, amiable, and distinguished middle-aged man walked into the jewelry store, followed by a group of people.

"Second Lady, Third Lady, Fourth Lady."

Seeing the newcomer, many faces in the room changed.

"You Zhong, what are you doing here?"

The Second Lady asked, her glance at La Shiran laden with significance.

It seemed that Cui Rumao had gotten wind of the incident, and now there would be drama to watch.

"Fourth Master heard there was some commotion here and sent me to have a look," You Zhong replied.

You Zhong, one of Cui Rumao’s secretaries, was trusted deeply by him. In ancient times, he would have been equivalent to the emperor’s chief steward.

His claim to merely look was surely not the whole truth—he had been ordered by Cui Rumao to come and resolve the issue.

Upon seeing You Zhong, La Shiran actually breathed a sigh of relief.

All she wanted now was to get the matter resolved quickly so she could go home and rest. As for whether Cui Rumao would be angry—whatever. Let him be, for all she cared. If he got so angry he dropped dead, that would be perfect, and she might even inherit a substantial fortune.