“Kelly, Yun is also my friend,” Faye pleaded.
Kelly’s attitude was understandable. Yun Xiangxiang’s necklace was indeed expensive, but it wasn’t something they couldn’t afford.
Faye’s pleading made everyone think that she was a kind lady who was willing to bow down and take a lesser item for peace.
Kelly nodded reluctantly as if she was doing this for Faye’s sake. “I accept their apology.”
When everyone thought that was the end of it, Yun Xiangxiang didn’t give her necklace away.
Faye thought Yun Xiangxiang was too embarrassed to do so. Faye went up to her, extending both of her hands, looking earnest and respectful.
“Miss Faye, if my friends did something wrong, I hope they will admit their mistakes. I am also willing to bear the consequences for them. But from what they told me, them splashing the desserts on Miss Kelly was an accident. Someone tripped them.”
Everyone gasped in astonishment. They whispered, talking about the possibility of this. Most didn’t think this was possible.
Kelly was a wealthy aristocrat. She didn’t have to make life difficult for a couple of employees. Even if it was a twisted hobby, it was unbefitting of her identity as an aristocrat.
If this started because of a careless mistake, then this would be Kelly’s fault. They knew the girls couldn’t pay up, and yet they were still adamant about the girls paying them. That would be classless of Kelly.
Everyone would think Kelly was a mean bully. As the matter had now escalated to her social standing, Kelly had to defend herself. “They’re lying!” She shouted.
Yun Xiangxiang looked at everyone. “Everyone’s saying different things. On the one hand, it’s Miss Kelly, Faye’s friend. One the other hand is my friends. I hope you can settle this matter as the host, Miss Faye.”
Faye didn’t expect Yun Xiangxiang to kick the ball into her court. She couldn’t say she believed in Kelly. She would be seen as being unfair.
Even if most people disbelieved Song Meng and Li Xiangling, Faye had to come up with a plausible reason to boot them out.
“Miss Kelly was not the only person at the scene,” Li Xiangling reminded everyone.
Faye gazed at Li Xiangling. Yun Xiangxiang wasn’t as easy as an eighteen-year-old should be. She was calm and collected, overturning all the disadvantages step by step.
Yun Xiangxiang’s best friend didn’t seem like a normal nineteen-year-old either. If it were not for her, Song Meng would have already fought these people. Faye wouldn’t even need to make her appearance.
Now that Li Xiangling mentioned this, Faye had to find the guests who were there. “Are these people there back then?”
Song Meng and Li Xiangling nodded.
Faye asked the witnesses, “Did any of you see this miss getting tripped earlier?”
The three witnesses looked at each other. Two of them shook their heads. The last one said she didn’t pay attention to it.
Yun Xiangxiang asked. “Ladies, can you swear on your faith that you did not see her getting tripped?”
“This is an insult to us,” one of the ladies was furious.
The guests frowned at Yun Xiangxiang, but she didn’t think she crossed any line. “Ladies, your testimonies can make or break a couple of girls here. I think integrity is more important than an oath.”
“If none of you lied, why would you be afraid of making an oath?” Qi Jun supported Yun Xiangxiang. The onlooking guests agreed with him.
The lady who said she didn’t pay attention to what was happening made the oath promptly and maintained her earlier stance.
“I am sorry, but I am not going to get insulted like this,” the furious lady refused.
The other lady refused too. Everyone thought it was reasonable. Refusing was well within their rights.
The situation was now in a stalemate. Eric was alerted to this matter and came over. He asked about the event and looked at the ones involved sagely.
“Yun, I don’t think this is too much of a problem. You are all young children. This is just a misunderstanding on both sides,” Eric told Yun Xiangxiang.
Eric knew his daughter was acting unusual on this day. He didn’t want to play favorites, but he had to protect his daughter.
Faye dragged a lot of people into this. If she were exposed to be doing this on purpose, their family would be offending more than a few aristocrats.
But Yun Xiangxiang wasn’t about to back down. “Mr. Eric, when I came here, I heard someone saying that the Chinese are all liars. I heard that your wife and mother are Chinese. I trust that you will not demean us.”
“If I had not heard that, I wouldn’t want to disrupt Miss Faye’s birthday party either. It’s a happy occasion. But the three of us are Chinese. Even if we can’t make our country proud, we can’t shame it either. All the guests are here. We have to get to the bottom of this.”
“But what if they’re lying to get out of this?” Someone questioned.
“If someone proves that I’m lying, I will kneel and apologize to this missy here in public!” Song Meng was adamant.
Song Meng’s ferocity made the guests double-guess themselves. Song Meng wore her heart on her sleeve. She hid nothing.
“How do you plan on proving your friend’s innocence?” Eric asked Yun Xiangxiang.
“Can I ask you to give me some papers and a pen for drawing?” Yun Xiangxiang answered the question with a request.
Eric mulled over it for a moment and asked his servants to prepare what Yun Xiangxiang requested. They worked fast. When Yun Xiangxiang went to where the incident happened, they handed her the items she needed, and they even threw in a drawing board.
Yun Xiangxiang thanked the servant sincerely. She asked about the person who cleared the spot. “Mr. Eric, I need to speak with these ladies in private for a while,” she said.
“Do please be quick, Miss Yun. We still have a lot of guests,” Eric still agreed to her request.
“Give me one hour. I will find out the truth by then,” Yun Xiangxiang smiled confidently.
It was a bright smile. With the resplendent castle being her background, her smile shone brighter than the sparkling diamond on her ears.
To ensure fairness, everyone else stood at a farther place, where they couldn’t hear what was happening at the spot. As Li Xiangling and Qi Jun were here, the people there couldn’t talk freely.
Yun Xiangxiang made a simple outline of the place with a pencil. She asked the cleaners about the desserts they cleaned after they fell to the ground. She thanked them after she was done outlining the process according to their testimonials.
She took another paper and asked the first witness to come in. Yun Xiangxiang told her to describe what she saw when the desserts splashed Kelly.
Yun Xiangxiang only let the lady go after she reconfirmed what the lady said was correct. She did the same thing with the other witnesses. For each witness, Yun Xiangxiang drew what they saw on the papers given to her.
Her last two witnesses were Song Meng and Kelly. Song Meng didn’t change her answer, but Kelly did. More than one time, even.
But no matter the changes Kelly made, Yun Xiangxiang patiently made the changes for her.