In the evening, Etta Heda sat under the grape porch in her garden, staring blankly ahead, with no focus in her eyes. There were three or four wine bottles lying staggered on the ground.
Nearly half a month has passed since he was persuaded by his father and brother to "return" to the family's normal life. Looking back on this period of time, I seem to have received a lot of attention at home. My mother's portrait was hung back on the wall of my father's study for the first time after her death. The two younger brothers would also say hello when they saw him, and the servants' His attitude became much more respectful, and on the Cavaliers side, his boss even hinted that he was willing to write a book for him and let him transfer to the Royal Cavaliers.
However, he always felt that this was not what he really wanted...
He wanted to gain the king's recognition based on his own ability, rather than relying on family power. If he did this, how would he be different from other noble playboys? So what does his hard work count
Also, the situation at home made him feel something was wrong. He has been drinking heavily recently and is in a depressed mood. However, his father only cares about his work and keeps asking him about his daily tasks. He doesn't care about other things. His eldest brother, Esparo, seems to come to him often, but every time he has something to ask him. He even asked him to help deploy a large number of men to guard the city; although his stepmother, Mrs. Helen, was more kind than before, her eyes were still as contemptuous as before; even the housekeeper and servants, he felt that they did not really respect them. He seemed more like the result of obeying the orders of his mistress and mistress. As for the Cavaliers? The kind and friendly looks in the past have almost disappeared, and what remains are whispers, disdain, and fear. Everyone is whispering that he framed his friend.
Why is this happening? Isn't Anlong the one who betrayed friendship? Why is everyone's attitude saying that it's him who's wrong
He is not wrong, he is right. Damn it Anlong!
He grabbed a wine bottle and poured it into his mouth, but nothing came out. He threw the bottle away and grabbed another one, but all the bottles were empty. He angrily threw the bottle to the floor and shouted: "Someone! Bring me the wine!"
There was a whispering voice behind him. When he turned around, he saw a little girl wearing low-end maid clothes, about eleven or twelve years old, with flaxen hair. Blue eyes, thin and small, were staring at him timidly: "Third Young Master, what are your orders?"
Etta narrowed her eyes: "Where are you from? Why haven't I seen you?"
The little maid lowered her head in fear: "I...I am a handyman in the garden...I just came here not long ago..."
Etta never took these little people to heart and waved her hand casually: "Go! Bring me a bottle of good wine!"
The little maid responded in a low voice and retreated. He sat slumped in boredom, feeling that everything he did was boring.
There were footsteps behind him, and he didn't look back, but the person who came was obviously looking for him: "Brother, what are you doing? Are you drinking again?" It was Esparo.
Etta asked sadly: "Who is going to join the city guard again? As I said, there were too many people arranged in the past few days, and the team is already dissatisfied."
Esparo smiled: "That's not the case. Little Fox is here. He wants to see that person and ask where else the missing little mouse can go. He said that the thing has probably fallen to us. into the hands of the enemy."
"What are you afraid of?" Etta frowned, "Didn't you say that it was all false accusations? The evidence is also fabricated. Even if they show it, it will be exposed sooner or later."
Esparo paused and said with a smile: "That's true. But no one knows whether those people will attack us in front of His Majesty the King. Although we are innocent, it is also very troublesome to get into this kind of thing. , it is better to eliminate the hidden dangers as soon as possible." He put his hand on his brother's shoulder: "Come on, my dear brother, let's meet your old friend together and let him know that there will never be anything wrong with those who betray their friends. Good ending."
Etta sat there expressionless, unresponsive. When Esparo saw this, he leaned into his ear and asked, "What? You can't bear it? Do you still think he is your friend?"
"I don't have such friends." Etta said lightly, stood up and walked towards the mansion. Esparo smiled evilly. He also followed.
The little maid who appeared just now ducked out from behind the flowers and looked at the two brothers who were walking away. Sneering slightly, the timid look just now has completely disappeared.
She is Minna.
After hearing that her parents were in danger that day, she repeatedly requested and finally got the permission of the white-haired man to learn the whereabouts of her parents without revealing their true identity.
It turned out that Anlong and Dora successfully escaped from the city and were preparing to take a boat back to the Port of Matt at the dock area. However, they were accidentally discovered by the Hedda family. During the fierce fight between the two sides, Veronica and two other people were safe. The department staff was seriously injured and is still unconscious in the infirmary. However, the mother Dora refused to leave her husband and was taken away by those people.
People from the Security Department went to all the prisons in the city and found no one similar to Anlong and his wife. However, there was no news about Anlong's arrest from the Legal Affairs Department and the City Guard Knights. The latter was still in prison. Worried about the disappearance of the two soldiers, I had no time to care about anything else for the time being. The Intelligence Section of the Security Agency analyzed that Anlong was most likely taken to the private cell of Heda's house. From what they said when they captured Anlong, it can be inferred that they have no plans to kill anyone yet. Therefore, the Security Bureau decided to find a way to find out the location of Hedda's private cell so that people could be rescued more easily.
Ming Na participated in the rescue plan as a temporary intelligence agent. The Security Agency prepared all background information for her. With the help of magic potions, she changed her hair and eyes and sneaked into the Heda family mansion to become a trainee maid. She had been here for seven or eight days, and had visited the entire mansion, but she could never find the location of the private cell. She even almost revealed the secret. Mallory, the white-haired man, sent a note to her, severely condemning her. Being reckless, he also taught her some tips for finding clues, and she finally managed to calm down and pay attention to the clues around her.
As a result, she discovered that almost every evening or night, one or two people from the head of the Heda family, the eldest son Esparo, and the third son Etta would come to the greenhouse and stay for a long time before leaving. During this period, no one is allowed to approach the greenhouse. She suspected that there was something special in the greenhouse, so she tried to move herself to the garden.
She was originally assigned to do cleaning work - to facilitate walking around the mansion. After giving the original gardener's assistant several packs of laxatives, he was finally fired for slacking off at work. Ming Na took the opportunity to show off her "talent" for gardening, and successfully became the old gardener's assistant candidate.
On the first day she was transferred to the back garden, she quietly sneaked into the flower room to investigate, but found nothing. However, just last night, she unexpectedly discovered Etta entering the flower room. He actually walked out of the mansion drunk. Could it be that there was a secret passage in the greenhouse connected to the mansion
Today is a rare opportunity, she must seize it!
Ming Na regained her dull and innocent expression and walked towards the wine cellar. On the way, I met another maid who came in with a guest. She recognized it as little Fox, whom she had met once in Anchor City. She lowered her head timidly, pretending to be timid, and stood aside to respectfully ask the guest to go ahead. Little Fox was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice a little maid walking swaggering towards the small living room in the southeast corner of the mansion. Ming Na secretly noted his whereabouts. He ran to the wine cellar and asked for a bottle of wine in the name of the third young master. Then he quietly avoided other people and slipped to the small living room. When passing by a certain living room, he heard several young maids talking about the young masters and glanced at their mouths. , taking advantage of them when they are not prepared. Flashed past. Arriving outside the small living room, she hid in a blind corner of the corridor without making a sound. They waited until Brother Etta and Little Fox finished talking and left before quietly following behind.
Taking advantage of the dim dusk, she dodged several groups of servants along the way and followed the three men to a corridor in the northeast of the mansion. She dug up the floor plan of the mansion in her mind and found that this place was only seventy or eighty meters away from the greenhouse, almost in a straight line.
Esparo turned a pot of flowers placed at the end of the corridor. The wall at the end of the corridor opened, revealing a low doorway, which seemed to be a downward staircase. Ming Na was delighted. Knowing that he has probably found the location of the private prison.
At this time. There were footsteps not far behind her, and Ming Na felt a chill in her heart. He hurriedly took a few steps back and came to the intersection of another corridor. He looked around and pretended not to know the way, and deliberately picked up the bottle of wine in his hand.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?!" A man who looked like a guard shouted sharply when he saw her, and attracted Brother Etta who was about to walk out of the secret room. Esparo stared at Minna closely and asked gloomily: "How did you come here? Who asked you to come?"
Ming Na looked stupid: "The third young master asked me to get wine..."
Esparo frowned and turned around to look at Etta. The latter thought for a while and nodded: "Yes, there is such a thing, but that's what I said half an hour ago." Esparo turned back and stared at Minna: "Why did it take you so long to come? And how did you get here?!"
"I don't know the way to the wine cellar... and I couldn't find the third young master... I heard that the third young master was in the small living room. When I went there, the third young master walked away again, so I followed him..." Ming Na said timidly. Lower your head. Little Fox didn't seem to notice anything wrong with her, which made her feel more at ease.
"I'm sorry, what happened?" The butler ran over, and when he saw Ming Na, he scolded: "This is not the place you came from, why are you so bold?!" He apologized to the young master and guests: "It was all my negligence. , this is a trainee maid doing chores in the garden, not waiting in the mansion, I will let her leave immediately." Turning around, he yelled at Ming Na: "Why don't you get out?!"
Ming Na held up the wine bottle with a puzzled look on her face: "The third young master wants it..."
"Just put it in my room!" Etta looked impatient. She was a stupid girl and he had no time to care about her. On the other hand, Esparo looked at Minna several times. Seeing her childish look, he felt that he was overthinking and waved his hand: "Go ahead."
"Third Young Master's wine..." Ming Na was still chattering, but the housekeeper snatched the bottle away, twisted her ears and dragged her away: "You don't understand, do you? Come with me!"
After walking all the way to the entrance of the garden, the housekeeper let go of Ming Na and called the old gardener to scold her. The old gardener scolded Ming Na again: "You are not working in the big house now. Don't you know that it is not your place?" Have you gone in?"
"But the third young master wants me to deliver wine." Ming Na tilted her head pretending to be stupid and asked, "The second housekeeper said that you must do what the master tells you to do."
The butler rolled his eyes at the side: "You can ask other maids to do it, why send it yourself?"
"I originally wanted to ask other maid sisters to give them to me, but they ignored me... They were talking about the second young master giving Dorothy a pair of gemstone earrings."
The housekeeper narrowed his eyes: "Dorothy? Humph!" He looked at Minna: "Okay, get back here! I won't get permission in the future. You are not allowed to come to the mansion again! Do you hear me?"
Before Ming Na could answer, the old gardener took the lead and said, "Don't worry, I will never let her do it again. I will definitely teach her a lesson."
After the housekeeper left, the old gardener glared at Ming Na: "It's all you who caused me to be scolded. Why are you so stupid?!"
Ming Na lowered her head and said nothing. The old gardener looked at her well-behaved look and couldn't help but sigh. The original assistant was a bit clever, but unfortunately she was lazy all day long and teased the young maids, even Dorothy. Now this little girl. Although he is willing to work, he is a stupid and dull person. But thinking about it carefully, he really would rather his assistant be dumber than causing trouble.
Ming Na didn't take his words to heart at all, and was even punished by him to collect the dried rose buds. Went happily. Watching the old gardener sighing and smoking from a distance, Ming Na curled her lips and carefully squeezed out the juice of a blue fern she had picked before and applied it to part of the rose buds.
This kind of blue fern grass has a lovely color and is a common foil for flower arrangements. It is very common in the gardens of noble families. Its juice is colorless and odorless and can enhance the fragrance of roses. But mixed with roses, it will produce a side effect, making people drowsy, sleeping soundly, and not feeling anything when they wake up. This was part of a formula created by a potion master decades ago to coax his daughter, who hated medicine, to drink cold medicine. Few people knew about it, but Minna happened to have seen it.
Lady Helen, the hostess of the Heda family. It is a custom for all the family members to have a cup of rose tea every day after dinner and chat at the same time. She would not allow anyone to be absent, even Etta, who was always disliked by her. I will also participate every day. This habit provides Ming Na with a good opportunity to take action.
Minna put the rosebuds into a large glass bottle, carefully placed the tampered ones on the surface, tightened the bottle cap, said hello to the old gardener, and then carried it to the side door of the mansion and handed it to the maid who had been waiting for a long time. It was Dorothy, a famous beauty among the servants. She rolled her eyes: "Why did it take so long? It's a waste of my time!" After that, she took the glass bottle and left. Minna didn't care. Go back to the garden and continue working.
She went to bed early at night. In the middle of the night, he suddenly opened his eyes. She got up. Putting on her soft-soled cloth shoes, she quietly walked out of her hut. Overhearing the old gardener's loud snoring, she smiled slightly and walked towards the mansion.
When she came to the window of an empty room in the mansion, Ming Na pointed at the window and softly recited a spell, and the window opened. She jumped in, still closing the window, and carefully stood by the door to eavesdrop, making sure no one was outside before ducking out.
The corridor was quiet, no one passed by, and Mingna knew that her preparation had worked. The masters all fell into a coma, and the servants were sleeping in the servants' rooms on the periphery, not in the mansion at all.
She walked quietly towards the northeast corridor in her memory. Suddenly she saw a light approaching at the corner in front of her. She retreated quietly and hid in a room. When she heard loud snoring in the room, she frowned and covered her head. Door. After the light passed by, she saw that it was the third housekeeper, who was probably on patrol at night. She secretly thought that it was unlucky. This guy had always worked hard, and it was his turn to be on duty tonight! If it were anyone else, they would only patrol twice before midnight and early in the morning.
The light disappeared around the corner, and the surroundings fell into darkness again. Minna slipped out of the room, groping forward in the darkness, and finally arrived at her destination. Gently turning the flower pot at the end of the corridor, a doorway was revealed in the wall. It was dark inside, but there was a faint light from the fire underneath. Mingna only hesitated for a short moment, then walked in, and the door quickly closed.
She couldn't see her fingers on the stairs. Ming Na didn't know what was going on below, and she didn't dare to use lighting, so she carefully touched the wall and walked slowly down. Gradually, there was light. When she got close to the bottom of the stairs, she saw, There is a large space below, with a few dim oil lamps lit. There are many prison-like fences in the depths, and a large stone jar next to it contains red-hot charcoal.
Just as she was about to go down further, Ming Na was suddenly frightened by a moan and stopped. Looking from a distance, she found a black figure hanging not far from the charcoal tank. Reflecting the light of the fire, she could vaguely see that it was a person, Whip. There were injuries and bloodstains all over his body, and there was no intact place on his body. She was shocked, and when she looked carefully, she found that the man was a bit short, and was obviously not her father, so she breathed a sigh of relief. Turning her head to look at the rows of prisons, she couldn't help but feel a little worried. Can she find her father without alerting others
While she was worried, footsteps suddenly came from above her head, walking down step by step, and Ming Na was immediately shocked.