Chapter 100: Prove Your Own Innocent
Wang Gege lowered her gaze. For a fleeting moment, she almost laughed.
’Upset?’
Was she upset?
No.
She was disappointed, disappointed in herself. She had promised herself she would never lower her guard so easily again.
But after only a few days of warmth, she had begun believing that perhaps this world was different, perhaps this marriage was also different and Xie Rong truly cared for her.
How laughable.
She slowly looked up and met his gaze. A gentle smile appeared upon her lips.
"No." Her answer came without hesitation, "Young Master has done nothing wrong."
Xie Rong frowned. For reasons he could not explain, those simple words sounded far colder than if she had admitted to being angry.
Wang Gege continued before he could speak again.
"This one merely remembered something from long ago... something life once taught this one." She paused, swallowing the lump rising in her throat before forcing the same faint smile back onto her lips. "That trusting others too easily is never a wise decision."
Her words left Xie Rong momentarily speechless.
Wang Gege lowered her gaze once more, her fingers quietly tightening around the edge of her sleeve.
"This one was simply being foolish." After a brief pause, she softly added, "So... please pretend this conversation never happened."
The carriage continued to sway gently as the sound of the horses’ hooves echoed outside, yet neither of them seemed to notice.
Those words lingered in the confined space.
At length, Xie Rong slowly shook his head, "I cannot."
Wang Gege’s eyelashes trembled ever so slightly. She looked up at him once more.
Xie Rong met her gaze without wavering. "I do not know what happened during the Flower Banquet—"
A soft laugh suddenly escaped Wang Gege’s lips.
The unexpected sound caused Xie Rong to stop mid-sentence. His brows gradually knitted together, "Did this one say something amusing?"
Wang Gege immediately shook her head.
"No." Her smile remained upon her lips, though there was no trace of joy within it. "Since Young Master said he does not know what happened during the Flower Banquet..."
She tilted her head ever so slightly, "Would Young Master like this one to recount everything?"
Silence.
Xie Rong did not answer.
Instead, he quietly observed her, studying every subtle change in her expression as though trying to understand what lay hidden beneath that calm smile.
Seeing that he remained silent, Wang Gege slowly continued.
"Does Young Master know Miss Zhao?"
After a brief pause, she spoke again. "Her betrothal pouch suddenly went missing. The entire Flower Banquet was thrown into chaos because of it. Everyone searched everywhere, yet no one could find it."
She lowered her gaze to her own hands, "Then Her Highness ordered everyone’s belongings to be inspected."
Another pause, "When my gift box was opened... Miss Zhao’s pouch was discovered beneath the silk lining."
She let out a quiet chuckle. "Isn’t that rather miraculous?" Her eyes slowly lifted to meet Xie Rong’s once more, "This one had no idea how it came to be there. Yet for a moment..."
She smiled faintly, "Everyone looked at this one as though I were a thief."
Wang Gege lowered her gaze, her fingertips absentmindedly tracing the delicate embroidery on her sleeve as the smile upon her lips gradually faded.
"Watching everyone look at me with suspicion today suddenly reminded me of something."
Her voice was calm, yet strangely distant, as though she were no longer sitting inside the carriage but had returned to a memory buried deep within her heart.
"It happened many years ago."
"I remember coming home after school one evening, only to find my mother packing her belongings into several old suitcases. I asked where she was going, and she smiled at me for the first time in a very long while. She said... she had finally found someone who was willing to take care of us... again."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"I was so happy that day. I even skipped dinner because I wanted to help her pack everything before it grew dark. I truly believed... that from then on, our lives would finally become easier."
She let out a soft laugh, though there wasn’t the slightest trace of amusement within it.
"How foolish."
Her eyes remained lowered as she continued.
"Before we left the house the next morning, she suddenly became frantic. She kept searching every room, turning drawers upside down, opening every cabinet she could find, saying that the envelope containing all of her savings had disappeared."
"I searched with her as well. I remember telling her not to worry because we would find it together."
A long silence followed before she spoke again.
"Then... she walked over to my school bag." Her fingers tightened ever so slightly, "She reached inside and pulled out the envelope."
The carriage fell into complete silence.
"I kept telling her it wasn’t mine. I hadn’t even opened my school bag after returning home. But she wouldn’t listen. She slapped me before I could finish explaining."
She gulped, continuing her story with a smile still on her lips, "She kept asking why I had become such an ungrateful daughter... why would I steal the little money she had worked so hard to save."
Her smile became increasingly fragile. "The neighbors heard the commotion and gathered outside our house. They all looked at me exactly the way everyone looked at me today. As though I truly was a thief."
She slowly raised her head, her eyes meeting Xie Rong’s.
"It was only much later that I accidentally overheard her speaking to the man she intended to marry." A quiet breath escaped her lips, "He told her he didn’t want another person’s child living under the same roof. So... She needed a reason to send me away."
She bit her lower lips, "The money had never gone missing. It had never been stolen. My mother was the one who placed the envelope inside my school bag."
Another soft laugh escaped her lips, though this time it sounded more like resignation than bitterness.
"That was the day I learned something I have never forgotten."
She held Xie Rong’s gaze, her smile remaining as gentle as ever. "It isn’t the accusations from strangers that leave the deepest wounds."
Her voice softened almost to a whisper, "It’s when the person you trusted the most is the one who quietly places the evidence in front of everyone... and watches as you try, desperately, to prove your own innocence."