Hei Xin swept a glance at everyone’s expressions: “This is the Dragon Bone Nail and Imprisoned Ghost Flute. They are weapons personally handmade by our master, you can see that my master’s name has been carved onto them. In addition to that, these two weapons were also part of the betrothal gifts that were given to the madam, before our master and the madam were wedded. However——”
His tone changed, becoming incomparably stern: “Our madam and qinjia master said they’ve never seen these two weapons before.”
When Wu Xuanran, Wu Qianjing, and the rest heard the two words ‘betrothal gifts’, their expressions flickered with a flash of unease. None of them dared to look Hei Xin straight in the eye.
Wu Bofang’s eyelids twitched, he had a faint idea of what Hei Xin had come for.
Wu Qianqing didn’t understand: “Head Steward Hei, you say that these two weapons were betrothal gifts sent before the wedding? But how is it that I never received any gifts like these? Xiao-Ruo, did you privately receive these?”
Wu Ruo feigned an expression of ignorance, shaking his head: “I’ve never seen these two weapons either. Dad, could it be that you forgot?”
Hmph!
Today, he wanted to let his dad and mum see these people’s true faces.
Wu Qianqing’s eyebrows creased: “I personally received and checked the betrothal gifts, how could I forget? Even if I really forgot, I would still have an impression of the two weapons on the table, but it’s not just that I don’t have an impression of them, I didn’t see these two weapons on the betrothal gift list either. If all of you don’t believe me, I’ll take the list out for all of you to see, there are no such weapons on the list at all.”
He really hadn’t seen these two weapons before, and he believed Hei Xin when he said that these two weapons had been given as betrothal gifts. Then, how come these two weapons hadn’t ended up in his hands, and why had they now ended up back in Hei Xin’s hands?
Wu Qianqing thought back to the situation when Hei Xin requested to take a look at the gift list. He couldn’t help but glance at his relatives seated there. Suddenly, in his heart, he gained a different perspective.
When Wu Qiantong heard this, he panicked, he worried that the matter of him stealing the betrothal gifts would come to light, and hurriedly spoke up to ask: “Head Steward Hei, you said that the two weapons on the table had been given to Wu Ruo as betrothal gifts. But why is it in your hands and not in my sange‘s storage? I think you must’ve made a mistake yourself.”
He was sure that even if the weapons were in Hei Xin’s hands, there would be no evidence that they had been taken by them.
Wu Qianbin’s eyebrows creased tightly, feeling that this little brother of his was really such an idiot. The other party was just waiting for him to ask this question, and he still stupidly threw himself into the net.
Hei Xin gave a slight smile: “Fifth Master has asked a good question. This matter is indeed extremely fishy. I think only these two written pledges can answer your question.”
He took out the written pledges that Wu Shi and Wu Bo had signed, placing them onto the table: “These are written pledges that the bodyguards of our Hei family accidentally came across. As for where they were discovered, it starts from today, when they went to the gambling dens for some petty gambling on their day off.
“At the time, they had lost some money from gambling. As they had decided to leave the gambling den, when they were going down the stairs, they accidentally bumped into two young masters. A dark blue jade flute fell out of one of the young master’s sleeves. The bodyguards from our manor felt that this flute was very familiar, so they followed behind these two young masters.
“It was when the two young masters handed over these two weapons to the gambling den’s Manager Yu that they confirmed these weapons were the ones made by our master. The bodyguards of our manor felt that it was extremely strange that these weapons would fall into the hands of others, so they brought the people, weapons, and written pledges back to the manor to ask our madam.
“Who would’ve known, our madam didn’t recognize these two weapons. This old one felt that it was strange, so I brought them here to ask Qinjia Master. I never would’ve thought, Qinjia Master also didn’t recognize these two weapons. So that’s why I’ve come to look for Clan Leader Wu. I hope that Clan Leader Wu can investigate this matter clearly, and give us an explanation.
“All of you can take a look at the names signed on the written pledge first.”
Notes: Watching the Wu family step onto every landmine Hei Xin sets up for them is absolutely hilarious. I’m just imagining the ‘thug life’ meme with the background music and the pixelated shades dropping down over Hei Xin’s face, with his smug grin.