As the evening breeze blew, the grass and trees in the yard swayed in the wind, just like Xie Nanjia's wavering mood at the moment.
She had already planned to attack Lvliu tomorrow, but Lvliu suddenly told her these words, making her lost for a moment.
Hualou and Lvliu were the two girls she trusted the most, but now she didn't know which one to trust.
If Lvliu was really as she said, why didn't she tell Hualou these words? Or did she already tell Hualou, but Hualou didn't believe her like everyone else
Xie Nanjia decided to ask Hualou first.
"Mrs. Liu, thank you for your trust in me, but I can't help you with what you said." Xie Nanjia said, "First of all, I don't have that much ability, and secondly, I really wasn't sent by the General's Mansion. Everything I did for the young master was completely out of selfish thoughts, just to make myself stand firm in this mansion. I won't tell anyone what you said today, let's just pretend that we have never been here."
As she spoke, she turned and walked towards the gate of the courtyard.
"Wait a minute..." Lvliu hurriedly went to pull her.
The moment Xie Nanjia approached, she whispered two words: "Someone is there."
Just now a gust of wind blew by, and she saw a dark shadow hidden in the grass and trees not far away. When she looked closely again, the person had disappeared.
Lvliu was startled, then said calmly: "If that's the case, maybe I guessed wrong. Just ignore what I said before. It's getting dark, so please take me back!"
The two of them walked to the door hand in hand. Lvliu unbolted the bolt, opened the door, and after they went out, closed and locked the door again.
She did not let Xie Nanjia send her back. After they walked for a while, she let Xie Nanjia go back and said that she would go to see Xie Nanjia after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Xie Nanjia said neither yes nor no, and said goodbye to her, going back to Sijinyuan to find Hualou.
On the way, she thought of the dark shadow she had just seen and felt vaguely uneasy.
She didn't know whether the man came to monitor her or Lvliu. She also didn't know when the man followed them or how much of their conversation he overheard.
Although she never admitted or promised anything from beginning to end, it was inevitable that it would arouse suspicion from those who had ulterior motives. I am afraid that her actions would be even more restricted in the future.
When she returned to Sijin Courtyard, Feng Lun was waiting for her at the gate. When he saw her come back, he went up to her and asked her if she had been harassed by Aunt Liu.
Xie Nanjia said no, and then told him about being followed and asked him to help analyze who it was.
Feng Lun asked whether it was a boy or a girl.
Xie Nanjia thought about it carefully and was sure that the black shadow was undoubtedly a man.
Feng Lun analyzed, "If you are not seeing things, that person could disappear in an instant, he must be an expert. No outsiders are allowed to enter the inner house at will. I am the only one in the whole backyard who knows martial arts. And the guards of the second young master of the west wing, like Wei Jun and Huangfu, are all first-class."
"Zhao Jingyu?" Xie Nanjia's heart skipped a beat. "Why would he want to spy on me? I have no conflict of interest with him, and..."
And she also cooks delicious food for him every day. If it really is him, she won't even give him dog shit to eat.
Feng Lun said, "This is just my analysis. It is not ruled out that he was following Concubine Liu. Let's not worry about Concubine Liu. Assuming he was following you, judging from the people you have been in contact with, it is impossible for him to be the Marquis, nor the old lady. It is even less likely for the ladies and concubines. The only ones left are the Crown Prince, the Second Young Master, and his wife. The Crown Prince doesn't have many capable people around him, and there is no reason for him to monitor you. The only ones left are the Second Young Master and his wife. Who do you think is more likely?"
Xie Nanjia thought about it carefully. Logically speaking, Qin was definitely the most likely person. However, Zhao Jingyu was an unreasonable guy. From Zhuangzi to now, everything he did was willful and there was no logic at all. Who knew if he was just going crazy
"Forget about that for now. I still have something to ask Hua Lou." Xie Nanjia said, "Please keep an eye on the people around these two people later."
"I don't need to worry about that." Feng Lun said, "You should be more careful and cautious in the future."
Xie Nanjia agreed and went in to look for the painting building.
The little boy woke up and his wet nurse was feeding him. Hualou was sitting beside him watching him with a lonely look on his face. He didn't even notice Xie Nanjia coming in.
The child, on the other hand, was free of distractions and had sharp hearing. When he heard footsteps, he turned his head with his pacifier in his mouth to look at the door, causing the nanny to cry out in pain.
Hualou woke up with a start and looked towards the door. Seeing that it was Xie Nanjia, he smiled woodenly and said, "Did he send the person back?"
"Yeah." Xie Nanjia walked over, and the child recognized her, let go of the pacifier, waved his little hands, babbled and greeted her, asking her to hold him.
Xie Nanjia asked the nurse if the baby was full, and the nurse said, "It was full a long time ago. It was playing with it in its mouth. Maybe it's teething."
"So fast?" Xie Nanjia held the child in her arms, and while he was smiling, she looked at his little mouth, but found no signs of teeth growing.
The nurse said, "Some grow early, some grow late. They grow very fast. If you don't pay attention for a few days, they will show their heads."
Xie Nanjia felt it was magical, and her heart softened when she saw the child's innocent smile.
"Poor thing, you still don't have a name, and I don't know what to call you." She played with the child with her forehead against his, her heart filled with the warmth of maternal love.
It is said that the reason why the child still has no name is that Qin received advice from a master that he cannot be named before he is one year old, so as to prevent his mother from missing him and calling his name in the underworld, and to prevent people with ill intentions from harming him with witchcraft.
Marquis Dingyuan thought that these were all nonsense, but the old lady and Qin agreed with him and said that it was better to believe it than not.
So the child never had a name. The servants generally called him "Little Master", while the elders simply called him "Good Boy".
In front of him, Xie Nanjia couldn't call him "little master", and couldn't help but want to call him "baby, dear".
After the mother and child played for a while, Xie Nanjia returned the child to the wet nurse and asked Hualou to go outside to talk.
Hualou was still as dull as ever, as if he was so angry at Lvliu that he couldn't recover for a while.
"What's wrong with you?" The two of them went to the outer room, Xie Nanjia helped her sit on a chair, and personally poured her a cup of tea and handed it to her.
Hualou took the tea, but didn't drink it. He just held it in his hand in a daze.
"What happened? Did Lvliu say something hurtful?" Xie Nanjia asked.
When Hualou heard her mention Lvliu, his eyes couldn't help but become red again.
"My heart has been broken by her for a long time, no matter how hurtful her words are, they can't hurt me." She sighed, "I really hate her to death, how dare she come to talk to me about the Mid-Autumn Festival before the young lady got married."
Xie Nanjia was stunned for a moment, and quickly remembered that Mid-Autumn Festival.
At that time, her wedding date was approaching, and she was depressed all day because she didn't want to marry Zhao Jingping. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, she and Lvliu Hualou sat in the yard to admire the moon. The three of them swore to the moon that no matter what their lives would be like in the Marquis' Mansion, they would love each other, depend on each other, be good sisters for life, and never leave each other.
Today, although the oath is still there, things and people have changed. No wonder Hualou is so sad.
"Don't be sad." Xie Nanjia comforted her, "The moon is always changing, so the oath you make to the moon cannot be taken seriously. Let the past be the past!"
"You are right. The oath you made to the moon cannot be taken seriously." Hualou sighed again: "I am not sad because of the oath. I am sad because the young lady will never come back. Even if I think of her a thousand times or ten thousand times a day, she will never come back."
Before she came to serve the young master, Hualou's only thought was to kill Lvliu to avenge the young lady. However, since the old lady transferred her to serve the young master, she dared not act rashly.
The innocence of the young master made her heart softer day by day. She was afraid that if she failed, not only would she fail to kill Lvliu, but she would bring disaster upon herself. Who would then take care of the young master for the young lady
She felt that she was extremely useless and spent her days in indecision. Even when Lvliu came to her to cause trouble, she still took action.
She felt sorry for the young lady who was buried with hatred in her grave.
"Your young lady won't blame you." Xie Nanjia hugged her and said softly, "It's not that your young lady will never come back, but that she has never left. She has always been by your side and in your heart."
Hua Lou couldn't help crying. Through her tearful eyes, she suddenly realized that something was wrong. She broke away from Xie Nanjia's embrace and asked, "How do you know the oath we made to the moon?"
Xie Nanjia was stunned and quickly explained, "It was Aunt Liu who told me just now."
"She even told you?" Hualou became more and more dissatisfied with Lvliu. "What else did she say?"
Xie Nanjia hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively: "She said she was not the murderer of your young lady."
"She lied!" Hua Lou had forgotten her sadness and said angrily, "If she said it wasn't true, then it wasn't true. If there was no evidence, if she hadn't climbed into the prince's bed, how could the lady let her live to this day? Why did she tell you all this? Did she want you to persuade me to let her go?"
"No, she didn't ask me to persuade you." Xie Nanjia said, "But you also said there is no evidence. If there is no evidence, why do you insist that it was her?"
Hualou opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Xie Nanjia asked: "You don't trust me?"
Hualou shook his head.
It’s not that she didn’t trust Xiu’er, but she didn’t dare to recall the past. Every time she thought about it, her heart ached.
After struggling for a long time, she finally decided to tell Xiu'er the truth because she really needed to talk.
She remembered it very clearly. It was a hot and humid day. The young lady woke up early in the morning and went to the yard to enjoy the cool air with her big belly. She also asked someone to get some ice bowls for her to eat.
Green Willow disagreed, saying that it was just the beginning of summer and it was not the right time to eat a bowl of ice cream, so she should be careful not to catch a cold and upset the baby in her belly.
The young lady had no choice but to ask someone to put the fruit in the well to cool it down. When it was cold, she took it out and cut it into small pieces to eat.
After eating a few pieces, the young lady suddenly complained of stomachache. At that time, the wet nurse had gone to the general courtyard to recuperate because she had caught a cold. The mistress had sent an experienced old woman to live in the courtyard. After examining the young lady, the old woman said that she was about to give birth, so she sent someone to notify the mistress to prepare all matters.
Everything needed had been prepared long ago, and a midwife had been found in advance, so everyone was not panicked and everyone did their job.
Hualou's task was to boil water, decoct medicine and cook ginseng soup in the small kitchen.
This was something the young lady had instructed long ago. Before she went to the delivery bed, she solemnly instructed her to stay in the kitchen no matter what happened and not leave at all. Whether it was medicine, ginseng soup, or even boiled water, Lvliu had to get it herself and could not let anyone else do it.
As the young lady's personal maid, Hualou is fully aware of her responsibilities.
The prince is a playboy and has many concubines, and it is hard to guard against their open and covert struggles. She must always be on guard against those dark hands that may suddenly extend to her at any time, and she dare not even blink.
The young lady gave birth from morning till dark, and she stayed there the whole time, not daring to leave. She went to the toilet once during the day, and asked Lvliu to help watch over her while Lvliu was fetching water.
In this way, she kept her nerves tense for more than ten hours. Later, she could not hold on any longer and took a nap with her knees hugged. Fortunately, Lvliu came in and woke her up just as she closed her eyes.
She stood up hurriedly and asked what happened to Miss Green Willow.
Luliu said that the baby's head had already appeared, and the imperial physician asked the young lady to be fed some ginseng soup to boost her energy.
Hualou quickly packed the ginseng soup and handed it to Lvliu. Lvliu hurriedly took it and left. After walking two steps, she turned back and asked her if she had fallen asleep and if anyone had come in.
Hualou said, "No, you came just as I closed my eyes." Only then did Lvliu leave with the ginseng soup with peace of mind.
It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it seemed like just a moment. Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky, covering the few stars that were already there. A flash of lightning streaked across the dark night sky, followed by a rumble of thunder, and the first thunderstorm of the summer came down like a torrential rain.
Hualou was timid. When lightning struck, he covered his ears tightly, and only slowly let go of his hands after the thunder stopped.
Then she heard a thunderous wail in the delivery room, and someone ran out in panic, shouting that the prince's wife was gone and to bring the prince back quickly.
She hesitated for a moment, then shouted "Miss" at the top of her voice and rushed into the heavy rain like mad.
When she ran to the delivery room, there was a lot of crying inside. The lady was in the outer room and did not go in. She was holding a crying baby in her arms.
She rushed in regardless and saw the young lady lying on the bed with a distorted face, her eyes wide open, and her hands tightly grasping the sheets.
She fainted from extreme grief. When she woke up, her mistress had locked up all the maids in the delivery room and ordered them to be tortured and interrogated.
Finally, after examination, the imperial physician said that the Crown Prince's wife died from drinking poisonous ginseng soup.
Only she and Lvliu were able to come into contact with the ginseng soup. The lady also asked the imperial physician to check the remaining ginseng soup in the kitchen, and confirmed that there was no poison in the remaining ginseng soup.
So, everyone said that it was Lvliu who poisoned them halfway.
Luliu refused to admit it and would not utter a word no matter how she was tortured. Because she was the maid that came with the prince's wife as a dowry, the lady asked the general's mansion for instructions on how to deal with her.
The general and Master Nanfeng were determined to kill Zhao Jingping at the time, and they were having a huge fight in the front yard. The general's wife went to the backyard to see the lady and said that she didn't believe Lvliu would kill her master.
The lady had no choice but to release Lvliu temporarily, but even so, the rumor that Lvliu had poisoned the ginseng soup spread throughout the mansion.
Next, they were busy with the funeral arrangements, and the search for the murderer was put on hold. When the funeral was over, because the wet nurse's death aroused the suspicion of the general's mansion, the lady was furious and killed and sold most of the servants in the mansion, even the servants in the prince's wife's courtyard were not spared.
Lu Liu refused to plead guilty, and the lady planned to take the opportunity to expel her from the house, but unexpectedly she climbed into the prince's bed during the funeral.
The lady was almost angry to death and wanted to beat her to death with sticks. At the critical moment, the prince heroically saved the beauty and threatened the lady that he would not live alone even if Lvliu died.
The Marquis was furious and wanted to execute both of them, but his wife couldn't bear to leave her son behind, so she fought to the death to protect him.
The marquis scolded his wife severely and left in anger. In the end, neither of them died, and Lvliu became Aunt Liu.
In order to prevent the scandal from spreading, the lady killed all the servants who knew about it. The only one left was Hualou. The lady spared her life because of her loyalty to the Crown Prince's wife and let her choose to stay or leave.
At this time, she had already determined that it was Lvliu who poisoned the young lady, and she wanted to kill Lvliu to avenge the young lady. Naturally, she was unwilling to leave the house, so the lady asked the steward to reassign her a job.
But Lvliu was determined to drive her away. No matter where she worked, she always made trouble for her and pestered her like a mad dog.
Finally, she was left with nowhere else to go and had to hide in Qingqu Garden to wash the toilet.
"Tell me, if she was not the murderer, why would she have an affair with the prince, and why would she use any means to drive me away?" After Hualou recalled the dark past, tears welled up in her eyes again.
Xie Nanjia also cried.
Her life ended on the delivery bed, and she knew nothing about what happened afterwards.
She didn't know that her father and brother had made a scene in the Marquis' Mansion and wanted to kill Zhao Jingping, nor did she know that her mother was trying to protect Lvliu despite being so grief-stricken, and she didn't know that so many innocent people were implicated because of her death.
And as for Hualou, she couldn't imagine how this simple and honest girl had to endure such suffering till today.
"Thank you for your hard work." She wiped Hualou's tears with her sleeves and took the opportunity to say, "I have never seen a girl as loyal as you. Just for your loyalty, I will help you avenge your young lady!"
"Can you help me register?" Hua Lou asked blankly, "Why? You don't even know my young lady."
"I told you I was touched by your loyalty!" Xie Nanjia said, "I have always loved to stand up for the weak, and since I have nothing to do anyway, I might as well help you."
"Really?" Hua Lou asked happily at first, then shook his head, "Forget it, this is quite dangerous, I don't want to implicate you."
"It's okay. I'm smart enough not to be implicated." Xie Nanjia said, "From now on, I will help you find out whether Lvliu is the real murderer. Don't touch her until you find out the truth."
"Are you really going to help me?" Hualou held her hand and said excitedly, "Xiu'er, you are such a good person. If you can avenge my young lady, I will definitely work like a slave to repay you."
"What's the point of being a slave? Why don't you be my sister?" Xie Nanjia said with a smile.
Hualou also laughed: "Okay, I'll do whatever you want me to do."
On the way back to the Fourth Young Lady's courtyard, Xie Nanjia repeatedly thought about Hualou and Lvliu's words in his mind, trying to find new clues and directions from them.
Assuming that Lvliu was really wronged, then who is the real murderer
Judging from the words she heard before she died, the person who killed her wanted to compete with her for Zhao Jingping and the position of the Crown Prince's wife. So, that person was either Zhao Jingping's woman, or a woman who wanted to be Zhao Jingping's woman, and a very ambitious woman.
As a result, she had to check all the people around Zhao Jingping.
She had never cared about the women around Zhao Jingping before, and couldn't even call their names completely, so this task still had to be done by Hualou. That was why she took the initiative to tell Hualou to help her with revenge. Only in this way could she have a legitimate reason to analyze Zhao Jingping's women with Hualou.
It was quiet all around, with only the murmur of autumn insects. A full moon hung in the sky. Osmanthus flowers along the way were in full bloom, and the fragrance wafted in the wind.
Xie Nanjia suddenly remembered the scent of Zhao Jingyu, and thus thought of the person who was following her.
She didn’t know if it was a psychological effect, but she felt like someone was really following her.
She turned her head suddenly and looked behind her, but there was nothing where the moonlight shone.
"Huangfu! Come out, I see you!" she shouted into the darkness.
She didn't know Huangfu, but she heard Feng Lun mention this name and wanted to try it out to see if she could trick him into revealing the person.
Unfortunately, the surroundings were still silent, with nothing but the chirping of insects.
Xie Nanjia was a little disappointed, and returned to the fourth young lady in deep thought.
When she opened the door and entered the yard, a dark shadow silently passed over the treetops outside the yard and went to the west wing.
"Second Young Master, I seem to be exposed." The black shadow walked straight into Zhao Jingyu's room, took off the mask on his face, revealing a young and heroic face. It was none other than Huangfu, the master who was as famous as Wei Jun beside Zhao Jingyu as Feng Lun mentioned.
"How did you get exposed?" Zhao Jingyu glanced at him calmly, threw down the book, got off the couch, and stretched himself.
"I don't know either." Huangfu answered truthfully.
"I wonder how you knew you were exposed?" Zhao Jingyu frowned unhappily.
Huangfu hesitated for a moment and replied, "Just now on the road, she suddenly called my name."
"Oh?" Zhao Jingyu became interested. "What did she call you?"
"That's right. As we were walking, she suddenly turned around and called out in the direction where I was hiding, 'Huangfu, come out, I see you'."
"Did you agree?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"No." Huangfu said, "I didn't make any noise, nor did I show up."
"Then what?"
"And then she left."
"Then she deliberately deceived you." Zhao Jingyu said, "That girl is very cunning. Fortunately, you have good self-control, otherwise you would have been exposed."
"But how does she know my name?" Huangfu asked puzzledly.
"Yes, how did she know?" Zhao Jingyu also reacted, "Have you been following her closely?"
"Yes." Huangfu recounted all of his whereabouts for the day, including the private conversation between Xiu'er and Lvliu in the courtyard of the Crown Prince's wife, and repeated it to Zhao Jingyu word for word. After thinking for a while, he added, "The only thing I haven't been to is the young master's courtyard. Feng Lun is a master, and I can't get too close to him."
"That means Feng Lun discovered you and told Xiu'er." Zhao Jingyu concluded, "You should take a rest for the next two days while I go and test her opinion."
Feng Lun agreed, bowed and left.
Zhao Jingyu pondered for a while, then asked Wei Jun who was waiting on the side: "Do you think Lvliu's speculation about Xiu'er makes sense? Could it be that she was really replaced by someone from the General's Mansion on the way?"
(End of this chapter)