Douzi blinked and turned to ask Liang Baojing, "Baojing, is this the really annoying half-brother you told me about before?"
Liang Baojing nodded heavily, gnashing his teeth despite his young age, showing just how much he truly despised him. "Yes, that's him!"
Douzi let out an "oh" and shared his thoughts, "I think he's pretty annoying to look at, too. He obviously threw that pouch on the ground on purpose just now."
Liang Baojing's eyes lit up, almost moved to tears. "Right? Right? I wasn't exaggerating at all. Anyway, he's so annoying. Ever since I can remember, he's been pulling these stunts all day long. Just you watch, in less than half a quarter of an hour, my father and Concubine Xue will definitely come to interrogate and condemn me."
Douzi was startled, never having encountered such a situation. "Then, then what should we do?"
Liang Baojing curled his lips nonchalantly, but his words were uncharacteristically mature, like an adult's. "At most, my father will scold me a bit. Even though I don't have a mother, I am still the legitimate son of this estate. With my uncles from my maternal grandfather's family around, my father can forget about ever promoting Concubine Xue to be his legal wife in this lifetime. No matter how much they see me as a thorn in their side, they can only fret in vain."
Douzi didn't actually understand this. How would he know about the twists and turns of inner courtyard politics? However, he listened very seriously and tried to comfort him, "Why think so much? Just live your own life well. If your father comes to scold you, I'll say he broke it on purpose. There were only the three of us in the room; your father can't just believe his one-sided story."
Touched, Liang Baojing took out two of the most beautiful agate stones from the bottom of his chest. No matter how much Douzi refused, he eventually stuffed them into the pouch he gave him.
Sure enough, after a short while, a man and a woman arrived with Liang Baoyu.
The man with a gloomy face was none other than Liang Baojing and Liang Baoyu's father, Vice Minister Liang.
Following closely behind him was a beautiful lady and Liang Baoyu, who wore a wronged expression.
Liang Baojing decided to strike first. He pointed at Liang Baoyu and said loudly, "He clearly broke the item on purpose. It has nothing to do with me. Ah Dou can testify to that."
Douzi immediately straightened his small body and spoke up loyally, "Yes, I can testify."
Vice Minister Liang's face grew even uglier. He frowned slightly, gave Liang Baojing a seemingly very disappointed look, then flicked his sleeve and snorted, "Baoyu, you speak."
Liang Baoyu pursed his small lips and stared at Liang Baojing aggrievedly. "Brother, what are you saying? When did I ever say you broke the item? It's all my fault for being careless. Even though you only pushed me lightly, I accidentally dropped and broke it. I felt guilty, so I went to find Mother to prepare a new birthday gift for you."
As he spoke, Liang Baoyu carefully handed the item over with a fawning expression. "Brother, take a look, do you like it?"
Liang Baojing: ...
Douzi: ...
Liang Baojing's eyes widened, and even Douzi raised his eyebrows high.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment. This... this wasn't right...
But before the two could react, they heard Xue Baoyu say in an embarrassed tone, "I know Brother and Brother's friend don't like me, but, but..."
Xue Baoyu glanced at Douzi hesitantly. After saying "but" for a long time, he finally said to Douzi aggrievedly, "Little brother, whatever kind of jade pendant you like, I can have my mother give it to you. But the one just now was personally given to me by my father when I was born. I really can't bear to part with it. Please, give it back to me."
At the same time.
Vice Minister Liang finally couldn't hold back and shouted at Liang Baojing, "Baojing, Father has told you long ago that our family is a family of officials, and your maternal grandfather's family is equally wealthy and extraordinary. When you go to the Imperial College, you can't just associate with anyone. Look at what kind of bad crowd you've mixed with."
As soon as these words came out, Liang Baojing and Ah Dou froze on the spot. The development of this situation was really quite different from what they had imagined.
Douzi: ...
Douzi: !
They were practically naming names now. Although Douzi was young, he was definitely not stupid. He reacted first, immediately widening his eyes. "No, hey, what do you mean? Are you saying I took your jade pendant?"
Wu Da, who had silently moved to Douzi's side at some unknown point, shielded Douzi behind him. First, he met Vice Minister Liang's gaze with a gloomy face, making Vice Minister Liang's heart skip a beat. Then, he gave Liang Baoyu a chilling smile.
"Young Master, who gave you the nerve to falsely accuse my young master!"
Vice Minister Liang was startled by the sudden appearance of Wu Da. "You, who are you? Why did you suddenly appear here?"
Wu Da snorted and said faintly, "Naturally, I am accompanying my young master to celebrate your esteemed son's birthday. Furthermore, I have been standing at the door the whole time. Since Lord Liang's eyes are looking up at the sky, naturally you didn't notice me."
Vice Minister Liang frowned slightly. He indeed hadn't noticed him. His expression immediately turned unfriendly, but he decided not to argue about it. "The children are still young. As long as the item is returned, this official can let bygones be bygones."
At this moment, Concubine Xue, who had been standing to the side without speaking, suddenly gave a dry laugh. At the same time, she subtly exchanged a glance with her son, and then spoke amiably to Wu Da, "Oh my, may I ask which estate you are the manager and young master of? Perhaps it's just a misunderstanding, right?"
Liang Baoyu suddenly spoke up, "Mother, there is no misunderstanding. I clearly remember I was wearing the jade pendant when I came in, but when I went out, it was gone."
Liang Baoyu was very certain. "At that time, there were clearly only the three of us in the room. Brother definitely wouldn't care for this jade pendant, so he must have been the one who took it."
"If you don't believe me, Mother, just send someone to search him and you'll know."
Liang Baojing's face turned red with anger, and he immediately retorted, "Who took your jade pendant? Liang Baoyu, don't you spit blood and falsely accuse people!"
Concubine Xue tried to smooth things over. "The children are all still young. It's no big deal if he thought it looked nice and took it to look at. Perhaps after looking at it, he accidentally put it in his pocket. Little young master, if it really is on you, how about I exchange it with another jade pendant?"
Douzi was completely shocked. Children have quick tempers, and he immediately wanted to take off his outer coat to prove his innocence.
"Young Master, wait." Wu Da reached out to stop him. He narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze sweeping over the confident Liang Baoyu. His mind raced, and then he raised his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth curling into a smirk as if ready to watch a good show. "Let's report this to the authorities."
"Not for you to report the lost jade pendant, but for us to report to the authorities and sue your Liang Estate for falsely accusing an innocent person."
...
