Chapter 3: Catching a Scapegoat

She pretended to be sad, "What, is my sister not even willing to see me off?"

It's just a farewell, it should be fine. Once she leaves, the Su Family will no longer have a disgracing eldest daughter.

Su Pingping thought to this point and then changed to a smile, "How could that be? Even if you didn't mention it, sister, I would still come to see you off. Let's meet at the back door at the third quarter of the hour tonight."

"Okay."

After Su Pingping left, Cui Yan quickly came in. Su An'an understood her concerns and informed her of the earlier conversation.

Cui Yan widened her eyes, "That Second Miss actually encouraged you to elope!"

"No, Miss, you cannot do this. Once you leave, your reputation will be destroyed, and the consequences are far more severe than marrying into the Shen Family."

Cui Yan hurriedly elaborated on the dangers of leaving; Su An'an indicated her understanding and then whispered something into Cui Yan's ear.

Cui Yan was momentarily stunned, then her eyes showed a hint of relief, but she worriedly asked, "Is it feasible, Miss?"

Su An'an smiled lightly, "Feasible."

No one knew better than her the consequences of this matter.

Cui Yan saw the determination in her young mistress and no longer hesitated, immediately going out to prepare.

At midnight, the second watch of the night had sounded, and it was almost the third quarter.

Su Pingping was punctual; she appeared at the back door right on time.

The lanterns at the back door had inexplicably extinguished; only the light from the distant corridor shed a faint glow. Wanting to be safe, Su Pingping had brought no maidservants and sneaked out, but the darkness made her uneasy.

She glanced around but saw nothing; just as she was puzzled, she suddenly heard the back door swing open, and then a man came over and dragged her away without saying anything, muttering, "I waited a long time; you're finally here. Hurry, let's go. If we linger, your father might find out."

Su Pingping was startled and was about to scream when she realized the voice was Liu Yiran's.

Her first reaction was that Liu Yiran had mistaken her for someone else.

She couldn't scream; if she did, Liu Yiran and Su An'an wouldn't be able to escape. Swallowing her panic, she broke away and whispered, "Liu Yiran, you've got the wrong person," but before she could finish, lantern-bearing servants suddenly surrounded them from all sides.

The surroundings were instantly illuminated.

Su Sheng saw his second daughter being pulled away, and the man had a bundle in his hand; his chest trembled with anger.

Good, good, indeed his good daughter, he had trusted her enough to act on the information he received.

Su Sheng strode forward in anger and slapped her, "You unfilial daughter, how dare you."

To commit such a disgraceful act. If word got out, wouldn't the Su Family become a laughingstock in Luocheng? How could he hold his head up?

Su Pingping was slapped so hard that she saw stars and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. It took her a moment to come to her senses and realize her father's fury.

Where was Su An'an? Why had her father arrived?

Could it be?

She widened her eyes as she realized that that wretch had turned the tables on her!

Liu Yiran saw things turning awry and immediately tried to flee, but as soon as he took a step, he was seized by the family servants. Su Sheng stepped forward and kicked him, "What are you, trying to abduct my daughter?"

Liu Yiran, frail and thin, couldn't withstand the kick and coughed. He was stunned to see the Second Miss beside him. Wasn't Su An'an supposed to elope with him? Where was Su An'an?

Why was this setup waiting for him? Did Su Pingping want to harm him?

But wouldn't that mean Su Pingping couldn't escape either? Surely she wasn't that foolish.

Amidst the chaos, kicked by the servants, Liu Yiran could only beg for his life, hastily coming up with a clumsy excuse, claiming he was delivering something to the eldest daughter but mistakenly delivered it to the wrong person.

Ha, meeting privately in the middle of the night to deliver something, with a bundle, and dragging someone away in a hurry. Does he think they're fools?

Su Sheng flicked his sleeves and directly ordered the servants to escort him to the government on charges of theft.

Liu Yiran panicked upon hearing that; if he went to prison, how could he ever attend the imperial examination in the capital? He urgently tried to explain, but Su Sheng wouldn't listen. In desperation, Liu Yiran directly asked, "Su Pingping, what's going on? Didn't you say..."

"Father, you have wronged me."

Afraid that this fool Liu Yiran would say more, Su Pingping immediately knelt down with a cry, cutting him off.

Inwardly, she was cursing; this Liu Yiran was truly stupid. At this moment, instead of questioning her, shouldn't he come up with a better excuse to fool them?

Truly useless.

Unable to rely on Liu Yiran, she could only rely on herself. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears, and she cried, "Father, Father, you have wronged me. How could Ping'er do such a thing? I barely know this person, and eloping is even more absurd."

"I only saw this person once at a poetry gathering by Daming Lake, at that time, he was boating with elder sister, acting intimately. You always taught me to be dignified and gentle, with good virtues. Back then, I even advised my sister not to get too close to foreign men."

"Yet, sister didn't listen. I came tonight because I heard rumors that sister was planning to elope tonight. I feared the rumors were false and didn't want to alert others, so I secretly came to see for myself and planned to dissuade her if it was true."

"If you don't believe me, you can ask the maidservants from that time to verify. It was indeed sister who had affections for him, not me."

"I came here in the middle of the night only to protect the Su Family's reputation."

Her words were sincere, seemingly genuine, and Su Sheng frowned, appearing to evaluate the situation.

Su Pingping quickly pushed further, crying once more, "Young master, did you come here in the dead of night to wait for my elder sister and take her away?"

"If you did so, you were wrong. Even if you two love each other, you can't choose such a method. Her marriage is already arranged; your deep affection is useless. Quickly confess to my father."

Having said this, she subtly signaled Liu Yiran to cooperate, to portray it as mutual affection with Su An'an, to display himself as pitiful and earnest, to bind himself and Su An'an together.

After all, Su An'an was to be married the next day; damaging her reputation now would not lead to being sent to the government, only a private resolution, freeing him from prison.

In passing, she could also discredit Su An'an, making their father suspect Su An'an's improper conduct.

A plan achieving three goals.

Unfortunately, Su Pingping's hints were entirely misconstrued by Liu Yiran, who interpreted them as her distancing herself completely and pinning all the blame on him, asking him to admit to having an affair with Su An'an. Given the demeanor of Su Sheng just now, wouldn't he be immediately beaten to death?

As someone inexperienced in the complexities of household scheming, how could he make sense of this tangled mess? Seeing Su Pingping attempt to save herself and subtly urging him to admit, he fumed with anger, his eyes widening, ready to drag others down with him.

He shouted, "Su Pingping, you damn well tricked me."

Su Pingping was stunned. She had seen fools before but never one this foolish.