In the end, Zhao Jingyu couldn't withstand Xie Nanjia's plea, so he called Wei Jun and Huangfu and brought the ghost-faced man back to Xikuoyuan.
Because he was worried about Xie Nanjia staying here alone, he suggested that Xie Nanjia go back with him.
Xie Nanjia wanted to know whether the man could be saved, so he followed him without refusing.
Wei Jun and Huangfu led an unconscious man over the wall and into the house effortlessly. After they climbed over, Zhao Jingyu did not ask for Xie Nanjia's opinion, put the man under his arm, and easily crossed the courtyard wall.
Xie Nanjia expressed dissatisfaction with this gesture: "You don't take me seriously."
"Do you want me to hold you?" Zhao Jingyu teased her, "How about we turn it over and do it again?"
Xie Nanjia: "...forget it, that's it!"
Zhao Jingyu laughed secretly.
He just liked to see her helpless and speechless.
…
Zhao Lanya waited until the fourth watch, and it was always quiet outside, just like usual.
According to the plan she and the man had discussed in advance, if everything went well, Xiu'er should be dead by now, and several courtyards in the backyard should also be disturbed by "ghosts" and cause commotion, but she waited and waited, But nothing happened.
Her mood also changed from confident at the beginning to uneasy, with a vague premonition of ominousness.
"Did you miss it? Did Xiu'er find out?" She worriedly greeted Haitang who was standing aside.
In order to plan this matter, Haitang worked all day long during the day and stayed up with her at night. Now, she couldn't stand it any longer and couldn't help but doze off while standing there.
Hearing the eldest lady's question, she managed to cheer up and replied: "Even if you are discovered, you shouldn't be so quiet!"
Zhao Lanya also thinks so. If it is really discovered that there are only a few women in Yilan Court, they must report it to the steward. The steward will naturally go over to check and report to the madam. How could there be no movement at all
"Otherwise, you can go over there and inquire about it." Zhao Lanya said.
Haitang looked at the dark night outside, a little timid, and hesitated: "Can I ask a mother-in-law to go with me?"
"That's not okay." Zhao Lanya said, "Only the two of us know about this matter, we can't let the third person know about it."
Haitang didn't dare to disobey, so she had to put on her coat and go out.
As soon as the door opened, a gust of cold wind blew in, almost blowing out the candle.
Both of them were a little scared;
"Don't go." Zhao Lanya suddenly stopped Haitang, "Assuming they are really discovered, maybe they are waiting to see who will come to their door!"
Haitangba had no choice but to go, and immediately returned, closed the door tightly, and asked, "Then what should we do now?"
"Go to sleep first and wait until daybreak." Zhao Lanya said, "Although no movement is not a good thing, it is not necessarily a bad thing. As long as we are not caught by someone, even if the person is caught and confesses us, we It can also be said that someone deliberately framed it.”
"Miss, you are so smart." Haitang sincerely admired her thoughtfulness, made the bed, and helped her sleep.
Zhao Lanya did not feel complacent because of the girl's praise. Instead, she felt that she might have been mistaken for her cleverness this time.
After staying half asleep until dawn, the girls and servants in the yard began to get up and do things one after another. After a while, grandma knocked on the door and asked Zhao Lanya to get up, have breakfast, and go to school.
Because the prince got married, the ladies got three days of leave, and classes will start again today.
Zhao Lanya got up with two dark circles under her eyes and saw that everyone was doing their own thing step by step. There was still no movement outside, as if nothing had happened.
Haitang went to the big kitchen to have a meal, and when she came back, she passed by Yilan Court. She happened to meet Xie Nanjia accompanying Zhao Lanzhi to the school. Judging from her complexion and energy, she didn't look like she had been frightened and had survived the night.
Haitang was puzzled and hurriedly went back to tell the eldest lady.
When Zhao Lanya heard that Xiu'er was fine, she felt that something was not right.
Nothing happened anywhere. It couldn't be that person who escaped from the battle, right
Logically speaking, no. The man was a gambler who was obsessed with losing money. She specially asked Haitang to spend a lot of money to find him from outside. The promised reward would only be given after the reward was achieved. She didn't believe that the man would be willing to give up such a huge sum. A piece of white money.
In order to clarify the situation, she originally wanted to pretend to be sick and take a day off from school, but she was worried that her abnormality would arouse the suspicion of interested people. After thinking about it, she felt that the matter was beyond her control, so instead of forcing herself If you don't hold on, it's better to seek help from your mother.
If her mother finds out, the worst she can do is scold her, but she will never ignore her.
With this in mind, she went to Yixinyuan before going to school.
Because the children had to go to school every day, Ms. Qin never allowed them to have breakfast with her. When she saw Zhao Lanya coming over at this time, she was very surprised and asked her what happened.
Zhao Lanya sent out all the servants serving the meal and asked Nanny Cao and Yun Yan to guard the door. Then she told her mother in detail that she had found someone to plot against Xiu'er.
Recently, all of Qin's thoughts have been on Zhao Jingping and Qin Wanru, and she really can't spare the energy to take care of her two daughters' affairs. Fortunately, her two daughters are very independent and have their husbands to teach them every day, so she has nothing to worry about.
Now when she suddenly heard that her eldest daughter dared to pay for a murder, she was so shocked that she didn't come back to her senses for a long time.
When Zhao Lanya saw that her mother was frightened, she knelt down and apologized: "My daughter was unfilial and frightened her mother."
Mrs. Qin came to her senses but did not ask her to get up. She asked in a deep voice, "Why did you kill Xiu'er? Why did she offend you?"
Zhao Lanya said: "She was arrogant, domineering and arrogant. She relied on her mother and father's trust in her to contradict my second sister and me many times. I was so angry that I wanted to get rid of her on impulse."
"I'm afraid it's not just because of this, right?" Mrs. Qin carefully observed her expression and was dubious about her words.
Zhao Lanya had no choice but to tell her mother about Zhao Lanzhi running into Zhou Yuncheng's arms on the day of the wedding banquet. She analyzed: "The fourth girl looked at her like a pimple, but she made such a bold move. Someone must be teaching her behind her back. She Among those people in the courtyard, besides Xiu'er, who else has such a scheme? "
"Even if it was taught by Xiu'er, this is not the reason for you to kill someone." Mrs. Qin felt a little irritated and subconsciously fiddled with the rosary beads. When she fiddled with the rosary beads, she remembered that she had not brought the rosary beads with her for several days.
Zhao Lanya defended: "She is so restless. I am worried that she has taught the fourth sister bad. If the fourth sister loses control and does something embarrassing, our family's reputation will be completely ruined."
"When did you become so considerate of the overall situation?" Qin was not convinced by her, but saw through her little thoughts at a glance, "Honestly, are you attracted to Mr. Zhou and are you afraid that your sleeve will be given to the fourth girl? He made a plan to steal your sweetheart, so you killed him? "
Zhao Lanya's heart skipped a beat, knowing that she could not escape her mother's eyes no matter what, she lowered her head and answered in silence.
As soon as Mrs. Qin saw her like that, she knew that she had guessed right. She couldn't help but sigh: "It's true that no one can stay in college. I told you before that when your brother gets married, he will look after you. What are you doing?" Why are you so anxious?"
Qin Wanru bit her lip and plucked up the courage to say: "My daughter is not anxious to get married, but she has admired Mr. Zhou for a long time and is afraid that someone else will take advantage of her first. If the fourth sister had hooked up with someone else, I would not treat her and Xiu'er either. Take action."
"Look, I'm just saying that you are not the one who cares about the overall situation, right?" Qin said, "Everything you do is just for your own benefit, and why are you worried about our family's reputation?"
When Zhao Lanya was exposed by her mother, she simply said: "Mother is right, her daughter is for herself, but there is no one in the world who doesn't do it for herself. Didn't her mother also say that her daughter's family will be married to the person she loves for the rest of her life? The greatest happiness is that a mother can devote all her energy to her cousin, but can’t she make plans for her daughter? "
"You..." Mrs. Qin looked at her confident look and was speechless for a moment.
"You go to the school first. You don't have to worry about this matter. I will take care of it." In the end, she rubbed her temples and reluctantly compromised.
The flesh that fell off his body, no matter how angry he was, he still had to protect her.
"Thank you, mother." Zhao Lanya suddenly felt relaxed, and the sadness on her face also disappeared.
She knew that her mother would not ignore her.
Mrs. Qin watched her leave and lost her appetite for the food on the table. She ordered Aunt Cao to take the food away and sat back on the couch, lost in thought.
She originally thought that everything would be fine if she married Wanru, but unexpectedly, there was a ghost on the wedding night. Before the ghost could be caught, her daughter came again and committed murder, which really didn't make her worry at all.
Talking about this girl Lanya, why is she so bold? She dares to bribe gamblers outside for her own use. Listen to what she said. Find people outside. If something goes wrong, it can be said that a thief broke into the house. If she is confessed, she will tell you. Someone framed him, and if it happened, he could kill someone and silence him to avoid future troubles.
He was so cruel and ruthless at such a young age, and he didn’t know who he was following.
But having said that, her personality makes her a good matron, and she will not have to worry about being able to control concubines and servants in the future.
Also, this girl has a very good taste. There are so many young masters in Beijing, but she only likes the eldest son Zhou. He is the only son of the princess of Anping. He has a noble status, handsome appearance, a big family, a big business, and a simple population. , is really a good family to get married to.
The fourth girl, a concubine, actually wants to climb such a high tree. It's no wonder that Lanya has murderous intentions.
But, why didn’t that person succeed? Even if he didn’t succeed, why would a living, healthy person disappear
She thought about it for a long time and came up with three possibilities. Either as Lanya said, the man was too timid and ran away; Others in the house were taken care of.
For a gambler, the first guess is unlikely to be true. Since he took this job, he is very eager for money, and it is impossible to run away without getting the money.
In the second case, even if Xiu'er discovered the man first, how could he capture a vicious knife-wielding gangster? Even if he was captured, he should have reported it to the supervisor. Why was there no movement at all
After much thought, she felt that the most likely scenario was the third one, where someone rushed to deal with the man before he acted.
At that time, who else could be there but the night watchman? If the night watchman caught the thief, it would be impossible for him not to report it, and the person who did not report it must have an ulterior secret.
So, who could it be
She frowned and thought hard for a long time, going over the matter several times, and finally targeted Zhao Jingyu and Xiuer.
Apart from Zhao Jingyu and his bodyguards, there would be no one else wandering around the house at such a late hour. He had always been unusual with Xiu'er. Maybe he happened to be having a private meeting with Xiu'er when the thieves went to commit murder. He captured or killed the person conveniently, and then, in order to take Xiuer's reputation into consideration, he asked the guards to take the person away unnoticed, so that no one would be disturbed.
Right, that is it! After thinking about this, Qin suddenly became energetic and sat up straight. Now, she was 100% sure that her guess was correct. The only uncertainty was that she didn't know whether the person was dead or alive.
If he was killed on the spot, everything would be fine, but if he was alive, it would be difficult.
"Mother Cao, hurry up and call for the chief steward!" she ordered urgently.
At this time, in a secret room in the West Cross Courtyard, the "ghost-faced man" with silver needles on his body was slowly opening his eyes.
(End of chapter)