C27 Facing Her Face to Face

The standoff continued on one side, while Yi Rui'er looked on with a face full of anxiety, unsure of what to do. She wanted to help Fang Yuan but was fearful of the scissors in Yi Lanyou's grasp.

At the height of the tension, the living room lights suddenly blazed on with a loud snap. The grand crystal chandelier flooded the room with a light as bright as daylight, illuminating all three of them.

"What on earth are you doing!?" Yi Haoen bellowed, his voice booming through the room. "Are you staging a mutiny?"

"Dad! Fang Yuan is trying to kill me!" Yi Lanyou cried out to Yi Haoen for help. "She's gone mad!"

"Yi Lanyou, I swear I'll kill you!" Fang Yuan clenched her teeth, her anger palpable. She had never experienced such humiliation in her life.

"What in the world happened here?" Fang Fang was utterly perplexed and demanded to know what had transpired. "Lanyou, put the scissors down first."

"If I put down the scissors, she'll kill me. I won't do it!" Yi Lanyou declared, pointing the scissors at Fang Yuan with a grave expression.

"Fang Yuan, enough with the antics. Come over to your aunt," Fang Fang urged, seeing that she couldn't calm Yi Lanyou down and turning her attention to persuading Fang Yuan instead.

"No! I have to kill her! I want her dead!" Fang Yuan spat out the words venomously.

"Why are you all just standing there? Separate them now!" Fang Fang, fearing for Fang Yuan's safety, sharply reprimanded the servants standing nearby.

"Yes, ma'am," the servants responded, promptly stepping in to pull Yi Lanyou and Fang Yuan apart, and confiscating the scissors from Yi Lanyou's hand.

"What exactly is going on here? Rui'er, explain!" Yi Haoen demanded, settling into the sofa and fixing his gaze on Yi Rui'er.

"Ah?" Caught off guard, Yi Rui'er bit her lip and confessed, "It's Yi Lanyou's fault! She cut her cousin's hair."

It was then that Fang Fang noticed Fang Yuan's usually neatly tied ponytail had been snipped off at the end of the hair tie. The scissors, not being sharp enough, had left some strands unevenly hanging, adding to her disheveled appearance. Seeing this, Fang Yuan lamented, "Oh my goodness! A woman's hair is her crowning glory. Lanyou, it's one thing to have a petty squabble, but how could you be so heartless?"

"Yi Lanyou, I swear I won't let you off the hook, even in death!" Fang Yuan seethed with rage.

"Auntie, why don't you ask how I managed to cut her hair while everyone was asleep?" Yi Lanyou retorted with a cold huff.

"Rui'er, your turn," Yi Haoen said, turning to Yi Rui'er.

Yi Rui'er was at a loss for words. She didn't want to admit that they had attempted to get back at Yi Lanyou, only to have their own hair cut by her instead. How could she possibly confess to that?

Upon seeing Yi Rui'er's demeanor, Fang Fang immediately realized they must have tried to deal with Yi Lanyou but ended up being outsmarted. Internally, she cursed them for their incompetence, yet outwardly she displayed a look of frustrated expectations, siding with them as she spoke, "Regardless, Lanyou, you shouldn't be so cruel! This is the Yi's mansion, not the kind of place you're used to. How can we have no rules?"

"Oh?" Yi Lanyou raised an eyebrow. "And what kind of place do I live in? What rules does the Yi's mansion have? You all sneaking into my room in the dead of night, that's considered having rules?"

"Yi Lanyou, who are you calling a thief? What did we steal from you? By what right do you insult us?" Yi Rui'er defensively argued, "I just wanted to play a prank on you! You obviously did it deliberately! Why else would you have scissors while sleeping?"

"What? Did I somehow invite you in with scissors?" Yi Lanyou couldn't help but find Yi Rui'er's logic amusing, given her lack of intelligence. She wondered how she could have ever been bullied by Yi Rui'er in a past life.

"It was you who invited us in!" Yi Rui'er quickly shifted the blame to Yi Lanyou, "You were the one who asked us to come in!"

"I invited you to my room in the middle of the night, and you just came? Then tell me, why would I call you to my room?" Yi Lanyou pressed on.

"You claimed you had something to show us!" Yi Rui'er blurted out, making sure to involve Fang Yuan, "Right, Sister Yuanyuan?"

"Correct," Fang Yuan confirmed.

"You're lying. I never summoned you here. In fact, I told you to leave my room!" Yi Lanyou's voice was icy, "I was standing at the doorway shouting. Surely a maid heard me!"

At that moment, all the maids had congregated in the living room, yet none dared meet Yi Lanyou's piercing gaze. They had indeed heard her, but that didn't mean they were willing to vouch for a mistress devoid of power and status.

With no one responding, Yi Rui'er smugly lifted her chin, "See? No one heard anything!"

Yi Lanyou, unfazed by the silence, her gaze growing frostier, said, "I was in my room after dinner, only stepping out between 8:00 and 8:30 PM." She glanced at Yi Haoen as she spoke.

He raised his head, looking into Yi Lanyou's eyes, a flicker of uncertainty in his own.

"That was the time!" Yi Rui'er, emboldened by the lack of witnesses for Yi Lanyou, declared, "It was 8:20!" She turned to Fang Yuan, "Isn't that right, Sister Yuanyuan?"

"Absolutely! It was 8:20!" Fang Yuan echoed.

"Are you certain?" Yi Haoen's face darkened.

"Positive!" Yi Rui'er and Fang Yuan chimed in unison. Yi Rui'er, perhaps concerned about the lack of evidence, added, "I remember a maid was passing by then!"

"Oh?" Yi Haoen raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

The servants exchanged uneasy glances. From the crowd, a man stepped forward, announcing, "It was me."

Yi Lanyou traced the voice with her eyes, a slight smirk playing on her lips. Lv Zheng truly was a brazen and shameless man, not fearing the consequences. She hadn't even confronted him yet, and here he was, walking right into the line of fire.

Lv Zheng stole a glance at Yi Lanyou, his fist tightening as he mocked her with a smile. He thought to himself, Yi Lanyou was nothing but a mongrel from the slums. She had the audacity to threaten him with dismissal before, but now he was aligned with the lady of the house and Miss Rui'er. He was curious to see what Yi Lanyou could possibly do to him now.

If he could earn his wife's trust through this ordeal, that would be ideal. The current butler, Zhou Li, had been gradually promoted after becoming a confidant of his wife. Zhou Li was getting on in years, so whether Lv Zheng would be his successor as the next butler hinged on how he performed tonight.

"Did you see it?" Yi Haoen tightened his grip into a fist. "Describe what happened at that time."

"Yes," Lv Zheng replied, though he hadn't witnessed anything. But at this juncture, all he had to do was fabricate a story—no one would come to her aid anyway. To help her would mean to oppose his wife and the true young lady of Yi's mansion. No one would dare take such a risk.