Their Scheme, Her Response (3)

"You shut up! This is not your place to talk!" Azer bellowed at her, seemingly still remembering how she threw a vase at him.

"How dare you slander my daughter and ask me to shut up?! You..." Riya continued to storm at him, but Iris tugged the hem of her dress and shook her head.

Knowing her daughter did not wish to see her involvement in the matter, Riya quietened down and quietly glared at Libera.

"Father, there is a limit to accusations without evidence. If you say that I stole it, then I stole it? Then, if I say First Sister stole my jewelry, you would interrogate her as well?"

"You..."

"Right, why would you? As such, I suggest properly investigating the matter before declaring the culprit. It is common sense, surely you would know of the correct course of actions."

Azer couldn't refute her so easily. Her way of talking left no path to challenge.

Looking at his speechless face, Iris calmly turned to face Libera.

"Also Madam and First Sister, if you wish to slander someone, please at the very least try to come up with a crime that doesn't have any loopholes in it."

"When did I slander-"

"Firstly, if I had to steal, why would I steal the jewelry that you treasure more than anything, the jewelry that the whole manor knows the importance of? Just to be investigated and caught? At the very least, try to make the subject of crime more believable."

"That-" Libera widened her eyes slightly, she forgot to respond.

"Secondly, Sister, you say you saw me running around after stealing the jewelry. Why do you think I would be dumb enough to run away so blatantly after stealing the jewelry, to the point that I could easily be noticed by anyone? And why are you the only one who saw me, not any other servants? And even if some other servants saw me, why didn't they report up until now?"

Iris looked at her like looking at a fool.

"You...you, Fourth Sister, it's not...that's not what I-"

"Right, that's not what you intended. Leaving it all aside, Father why do you think that I would feel the need to steal jewelry anyway?"

"That's because, you...you don't have any for yourself, so..."

"Hahaha..." Iris laughed mockingly. "So you admit that I have been maltreated, to the point where I don't have decent jewelry despite being the daughter of the Prime Minister of the country?"

"You...this..."

Looking at everyone's blank expressions, Iris smiled a little. As she turned towards The Matriarch, she put down her cold face, and made a wronged expression.

"Grandmother, granddaughter insists that I didn't commit any thievery! I really didn't steal any of the jewelry of Madam!"

Looking at her aggrieved eyes, The Matriarch regained her wits and scolded Azer,

"Azer! How could you so blatantly blame your own daughter for crime without any evidence?"

Azer looked at his mother, "Mother...your son did not.."

Saying that Azer blamed Iris without evidence, wasn't it equivalent to slapping Aria's face? Aria was the one who began the slander, and now she didn't count as "evidence", leaving her words to be untrustworthy, didn't that mean that her directions were all nonsense?

Aria's face had turned slightly red from embarrassment.

Knowing that Azer couldn't stand against the Matriarch and further realizing that the situation had turned with just a few words form Iris, Libera shot a glance at Liu Jiao and signaled towards her.

Understanding the implication, Liu Jiao moved forwards, and knelt towards The Matriarch.

"Old Madam, this servant can testify for Madam. This servant has seen it all!"

"What..?" The Matriarch squinted her eyes slightly with everyone's eyes moving towards the kneeling maid.

Iris didn't even glance at her, looking at her food.

"This servant was just recently assigned to Fourth Young Miss. A few days ago, this servant...this servant was carrying Fourth Young Miss's lunch over, and happened to witness Young Miss burying a bag in her courtyard under...under the small tree. Initially, servant didn't say anything but servant..."

Liu Jiao's words trailed off into silence.

Hearing everything, Azer turned to Iris with anger once again.

"Iris, you!"

"Forget it, there's no use explaining. Leaving aside First Sister, you would even believe the words of a maid over my own. So much for blood being thicker than water. Without interrogating me, wouldn't the matter be resolved if my courtyard was just searched and investigated?" Iris waved her hand, as if saying "They really are hopeless", slapping Azer's face in the process, and faced her grandmother.

"Grandmother, granddaughter asks for justice. If after searching my courtyard, nothing is found, I hope everyone can compensate me for all the mental damage. It's only natural, right?"

Once again, Iris cornered her father using words. He could only nod at her compensation under his mother's strict glare.

"If nothing is found at your courtyard, you will be compensated-"

"Compensation is a matter of course, but father, surely you will punish First Sister for slandering me, right?"

"You..."

"Indeed, if I am proven wrong, I-I will accept any punishment!" Aria interjected timely. She didn't loose her confidence, ensuring Azer of the credibility of her words.

"Then it's settled, shall we go?" Iris calmly got up along with everyone else and with her mother, moved towards her courtyard.

...

Arriving at her courtyard, Azer ordered his servant boy to dig up the area under the small tree. Digging very deep, yet nothing was found.

Looking at this, along with everyone's pale expressions at the failed slander, Iris hummed,

"Oh my~ Nothing was found! Why is that, I wonder? Oh, isn't it because nothing was there from the start?"

She looked at Aria with a smile.

"Now then, for maliciously slandering me without any evidence, what punishment will First Sister receive, father?

"Iris, you...I...this..." Aria who had been consumed by immense confusion and surprise at finding nothing, couldn't speak properly.

"Just because it's not here, doesn't mean it's not somewhere else!" In order to free her daughter of her accusation, Libera stepped in and spoke to Azer.

"You're right! Search the entire courtyard! Leave not a single stone in finding Madam's jewelry!"

And with the order given out, the search continued.

Naturally, after an hour of searching, still nothing was found. The dilapidated courtyard was turned inside out without fail. Not to mention jewelry, not a single penny was discovered.

Looking at the mess they made, Iris formed a new idea in her heart.

"Great. Now, if you think you've searched every last pebble, can we carry on with the punishment and compensation, Father?" Time for extortion~