In Yixin Courtyard, Qin's aunt and nephew were discussing countermeasures for the sudden rumor. Qin Wanru's dowry maid Tingxue suddenly came in a panic and said that Yunying had been in trouble.
"What happened?" Qin Wanru asked, "Isn't she resting in the servants' room?"
"She was resting at first." Tingxue replied breathlessly, "Then she sneaked out by herself when we weren't paying attention. The maid who lived with her went back to her room and found that she was not there, so she told Aunt Lu. Aunt Lu was afraid that something had happened to her, so she asked us to look for her everywhere. Later, Tingzhu and I found her outside Ci'an Residence. If we were a step later, she would have rushed in."
"Ci'anju?" Qin and Qin Wanru were shocked and stood up at the same time. "What is she doing in Ci'anju?"
"I don't know. She was like possessed, claiming that she wanted to confess her crimes to the old lady. Tingzhu and I had to work hard to drag her back. The nanny said she was crazy and locked her in the woodshed, asking the lady and the prince's wife to go and see her quickly."
The four words "confess your crimes" were like a bolt from the blue exploding over the heads of the aunt and nephew. The blood drained from their faces at the same time and cold sweat broke out on their backs. Not daring to delay any longer, they asked someone to carry a lantern and hurried to Nuan Yu Pavilion.
Yunying was locked in the woodshed, with her hands tied tightly behind her back, a rag stuffed in her mouth, her hair disheveled, her eyes red, and her expression ferocious, just like a ghost.
Qin Wanru was so frightened by her behavior that her heart choked and she hurriedly snuggled up to Qin.
Qin also frowned. How could the girl suddenly become like this after only two or three days of not seeing her? Could she have been frightened silly
After all, she was a girl who had been with her for many years, so she patiently asked, "Yunying, what's wrong with you?"
Yunying was speechless, making a humming sound with her mouth and looking anxious.
"Let her talk." Qin ordered.
Nanny Lu stepped forward and took the rag out of her mouth.
Yunying took a few deep breaths and said in panic, "Madam, Madam, please let me go. I want to see the old lady, otherwise I will die."
"Why?" Qin asked in confusion, "Why would he die if he didn't see the old lady?"
"It was the Crown Prince's wife who asked me to go." Yunying cried out, "The Crown Prince's wife appeared in spirit, she knows our crimes, and she said that as long as I confess to the old lady, she will spare my life."
She was so scared that she simply called the former prince's wife the prince's wife.
Everyone present knew who she was talking about, and their expressions changed at the same time.
"Are you crazy? There are no ghosts in this world. You are just scaring yourself." Qin Wanru stepped forward and slapped Yunying, trying to wake her up.
"I'm not crazy, what I said is true..." Yunying seemed to feel no pain and kept shouting, "The prince's wife is really back. As soon as I burned the paper, she appeared. I heard her voice clearly. She knows everything. Cousin, we can't hide it from her..."
"Shut up!" Qin Wanru kicked her to the ground, "Madam Lu, quickly shut her mouth, quickly, quickly!"
Nanny Lu hurriedly stuffed the rag back into Yunying's mouth.
“Um, umm…” Yunying struggled in vain.
Qin's heart was in a mess. Now that she knew the reason, she didn't want to stay any longer. She asked Madam Lu to keep an eye on the person, and then went back to the upper room with Qin Wanru.
"Aunt, Yunying can't stay." Qin Wanru said impatiently as soon as the door closed.
Qin glanced at her, hesitated and said nothing.
Qin Wanru added: "I know my aunt can't be cruel, but she has obviously been targeted by someone and has even betrayed us. Keeping her will sooner or later be a disaster."
"I understand. I understand everything you said." Qin sighed, "But she has been with me for many years."
"If you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences." Qin Wanru said, "Aunt, think about it. If Tingxue hadn't found her just now, we might have been called away by the old lady. Also, the current situation is that the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light. We still have important things to do next, and we don't have the energy to take care of too many things. If someone sneaks in in the middle of the night and takes Yunying away, it will be a disaster for us!"
Qin raised her hand slightly, signaling her not to say anything more. She paced back and forth in the room in a state of annoyance for a few times, and finally made up her mind and gritted her teeth: "I'll do as you say!"
…
That night, many people in the Marquis' Mansion did not sleep well. The increasingly intense ghost rumors hung over the Mansion like a huge dark cloud, making it hard to breathe.
The next day, Xie Nanjia did not accompany Zhao Lanzhi to the school. She wanted to stay and see if there would be any movement from the old lady.
As a result, before the old lady could make any movement, Jixiang came to find her first.
Jixiang said that Hualou delivered midnight snacks to the Marquis last night and has not returned yet, so he asked her if she knew what happened.
Xie Nanjia's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously thought of the worst.
She called Feng Lun away last night, so Feng Lun was unable to accompany Hualou to the front yard. It couldn't be such a coincidence that something happened to Hualou, right
No, no... She comforted herself while going back to the house to put on her jacket. She asked Jixiang to ask Lvliu while she went to the front yard to inquire about the situation.
She didn't know if it was because the weather was getting colder or because she was afraid, but she felt that today was particularly gloomy and even the sun had disappeared.
She wrapped her padded jacket around her and walked quickly to the front yard. When she arrived there, Marquis Dingyuan had already gone to the government office. The gatekeeper recognized her and asked her what she was doing there at this time.
Those who could enter the front yard to serve were all the confidants of Marquis Dingyuan. Xie Nanjia did not beat around the bush and asked him directly whether Hualou was there.
The servant shook his head and said she was not there: "Last night, Miss Hualou served the Marquis a midnight snack and left. Didn't she go back to Sijin Courtyard?"
Xie Nanjia's heart seemed to be struck by a huge stone, and it sank to the bottom of the valley.
"I really haven't returned." She said, "I will go look for it somewhere else. If I can't find it, I'll have to trouble you to go to the government office and tell the Marquis."
Hualou was not in the front yard, and he had not returned to Sijinyuan. The only possibility was that he was kidnapped on the way. No matter whether the perpetrator was Qin or one of the concubines, they had to ask for help from Marquis Dingyuan to rescue him.
"Okay, okay. Go and go look for it. If you can't find it, let me know." The servant agreed readily.
The Marquis treats Miss Hualou differently from others, and everyone around him knows it.
Xie Nanjia thanked him and left in a hurry to Sijinyuan.
When they arrived at Sijinyuan, Lvliu was already there. When Xie Nanjia saw her, she knew without asking that she had never seen Hualou.
Lvliu was the same. As soon as she saw Xie Nanjia's face, she knew that she hadn't found the painting building. She came forward and asked anxiously, "What should we do? How can a living person just disappear like that?"
"Don't worry, as long as you don't leave the house, you can always find it." Xie Nanjia didn't know whether to comfort her or herself. After looking around and not seeing Feng Lun, she asked Jixiang, "Where is Brother Feng?"
"Take Xiaofu and Xiaoxi out to look for someone." Jixiang said, "Except for me and the nurse, everyone else in the courtyard has gone out to look for someone."
"I have also sent out my two maids to look for him." said Lu Liu.
"Okay, then you guys wait here and keep an eye on the young master. I'll go out and look for him too." Xie Nanjia said.
As soon as I reached the door, I ran into Feng Lun.
Feng Lun was worried about the safety of the painting building and no longer cared about avoiding suspicion. He directly used his lightness skills to search every place in the backyard, but found nothing.
As he was speaking, Xiao Xizi ran back panting and said that he didn't find anyone.
Xie Nanjia had a bad feeling in his heart.
"Keep looking. I don't believe that a living person could just disappear like that." She shook her head to drive away the panic in her heart, and sent Xiao Xizi to the front yard to inform the gatekeeper, and she and Feng Lun continued to go out to look.
Feng Lun had already searched all the places he could go. The only places he couldn't go to were the residences of several concubines and Qin's place.
She thought that Qin was so troubled by the ghost story that she would not have the energy to pay attention to the painting building. However, the concubines might take advantage of the situation to rob her. So she decided to check the concubines' residences one by one.
The first place she went to was Qingfeng Courtyard, because the Fourth Aunt was a jealous person. Although she was close to her, she might not let go of Hualou for her sake. In her eyes, nothing could compare to the favor of the Marquis, and anyone who competed with her for favor was her enemy.
When they arrived at Qingfeng Courtyard, Fourth Aunt was sewing in the room with Qinghong. Seeing Xie Nanjia coming over, she said happily, "What brings you here? I was planning to make a cotton robe for the Marquis. I drew a few designs. Can you help me choose which one looks good?"
Xie Nanjia saw that she didn't look fake, so he said, "I'm sorry, Auntie, I don't have time to advise you today."
"Oh, then is there anything important that you need my help with?" The Fourth Aunt asked, restraining her smile.
Xie Nanjia told the truth: "Hua Lou is missing. I'm looking for her everywhere. I can't find anyone else to discuss it with, so I came to ask Auntie for some advice."
"The painted building is gone. When did it happen?" the Fourth Aunt asked in surprise.
"I served the Marquis a midnight snack last night and left the front yard. I haven't returned to Sijin Courtyard yet." Xie Nanjia said.
The fourth concubine smacked her lips and said, "You see, I have already warned you that it is easy to get into trouble if you do this in Hualou, but it's a pity that you didn't listen."
"So, who do you think is most likely to have done this, Auntie?" Xie Nanjia asked.
The fourth concubine thought for a moment and speculated, "Madam probably doesn't have time to take care of other things right now. The second concubine is not brave enough. Without help, she doesn't dare to do it herself. The most likely person is the third concubine."
"But the third concubine is under house arrest." Xie Nanjia said.
"She doesn't need to do it herself. She can just find two strong maids to knock her out with clubs and put her in a sack." The fourth concubine said, seeming to be very experienced. "Besides, the reason why she was confined to the house was because of the painting building. Isn't this the motive for her to do it?"
Xie Nanjia thought it made sense: "In that case, I'll go to her place now."
"Do you want me to go with you?" asked the Fourth Aunt.
Xie Nanjia didn't want to cause trouble for her, so she declined her offer and left with Feng Lun.
When we arrived outside the Third Aunt's courtyard, the slightly old gate was closed. It was quiet inside and there was no movement. One could feel the sadness of falling out of favor through the door.
"Could it be her?" Feng Lun asked.
"Should we go in and take a look first?" Xie Nanjia stepped forward and knocked on the door, and said to him, "Once we get in, I'll be in charge of holding Third Aunt back, and you'll be in charge of finding someone."
Feng Lun nodded in agreement.
After a while, there was the sound of footsteps, and someone inside asked, "Who is it?"
Thinking about what Fourth Aunt said about the club and the sack, Xie Nanjia was very worried about the safety of the painting building. Not wanting to waste words, she shouted at the door, "I'm here to visit Third Aunt on the orders of the Marquis. Open the door quickly!"
The door creaked open, and a little girl poked her head out to look outside. She recognized Xie Nanjia and blinked in confusion: "Why did the Marquis send you here?"
Xie Nanjia rushed in without saying a word, taking Feng Lun with him, and went straight to the upper room.
The little girl wasn't sure whether what she said was true or not, so she ran after her, shouting "Hey hey".
When they arrived at the upper room, Third Aunt was lying on the couch chatting with the servants. She was startled by the two people who suddenly broke in. She sat up and asked, "You, what are you doing?"
Without saying anything, Xie Nanjia took out the tiger-patterned waist pendant of Marquis Dingyuan from his bosom and said in a deep voice, "The Marquis asked me to take Hualou away. Please ask Third Aunt to hand him over quickly."
The Third Aunt stared at the waist pendant and recognized that it was indeed the Marquis's token. She felt sour in her heart, but was also confused: "What do you mean? Why don't I understand?"
Xie Nanjia did this to catch her off guard and observe her reaction. Seeing that she did not admit it, she lied to her, "Third Aunt, why are you pretending? Since I have come to your house, I have solid evidence. If you still play dumb, I can only ask the Marquis to come to you in person to ask for the person."
The Third Aunt and the servants looked at each other and finally understood what Xie Nanjia meant. They immediately became angry: "You are slandering me. Which eye of yours saw me tie up Hua Lou? I wanted to tie her up and kill her, but how could I get out? You are going to call the Marquis, right? Go ahead. If the Marquis doesn't believe me, I would rather die in front of him than let you dogs humiliate me!"
While listening to her temper, Xie Nanjia secretly observed her. The servants' attention was all on the two of them, and no one noticed that Feng Lun was missing.
After a while, Feng Lun suddenly appeared again and shook his head at Xie Nanjia almost imperceptibly.
Xie Nanjia bowed to the Third Aunt and said, "Since you are not my aunt, I will take my leave. Please forgive me if I am disrespectful."
After saying that, he turned and strode away.
Everyone in the room was stunned by this abrupt turn, and by the time they reacted, the two had already walked out the door.
"Stop right there!" The Third Aunt chased after him, angrily saying, "Who do you think I am? You can come and go as you please!"
But Xie Nanjia had already walked away without looking back.
"Someone, stop her!" The third aunt jumped up and shouted.
The maids and old women hurriedly chased after them to stop them.
"Who dares to come over!" Feng Lun turned around and shouted angrily with raised eyebrows.
The whole group of people stopped in fear, no one dared to move forward, and watched the two people walk away.
"Didn't find it, right?" Xie Nanjia asked after leaving the hospital.
"No." Feng Lun said, "This courtyard is not big. There is no secret room or cellar. I have checked all the rooms. The painting building is not here."
Xie Nanjia nodded, walked for a while in silence, and suddenly stopped: "We are going in the wrong direction. The disappearance of Hualou is not due to the concubines competing for favor."
"If it's not vying for favor, what is it?" Feng Lun asked.
"It's a ghost story." Xie Nanjia looked up at the gray sky and said faintly, "They are coming for me. They are using the painting building to test me."
So, both she and the Fourth Aunt were wrong. The most unlikely person was actually the most likely person.
"Let's go see the madam." She turned around and strode towards Yixinyuan.
Now that she has been suspected, there is no point in hiding anymore. She might as well tear off her disguise and have a head-on confrontation!
(End of this chapter)