Hearing Xie Ruzhuo's question at this time, Jiang Zhu quickly replied.
Xie Ruzhuo smiled coldly and said, "Go and bring Dongmei over. I want to have a good chat with her."
The smile on her face never reached her eyes, but instead seemed to be possessed by a ghost, which made Jiang Zhu shiver. Jiangzhu didn't dare to look anymore, so she responded and hurriedly left the yard to take Dongmei with her.
Dongmei had been locked in the woodshed for less than a day, but she was already in a very miserable condition. When she saw Jiangzhu, she immediately said with tears in her eyes, "Sister Jiangzhu, save me!"
Seeing the sadness on her face, Jiang Zhu comforted her, "Don't cry. Just wait until you see the lady and explain it clearly."
"But I didn't do anything. I don't know why I was tied up and locked up here. Sister Jiangzhu, you have to believe me." Dongmei said with a bitter look on her face.
Jiang Zhu was followed by several servants. Seeing the situation in front of them, they all looked at each other a little bit and felt a little sympathy for Dongmei.
Jiang Zhu immediately noticed the atmosphere and frowned, "What are you crying about? If you have done nothing wrong, Miss will certainly be fair. But if you do something you shouldn't do, then no one can save you, let alone No need to talk about me." After saying that, she turned back and told the boy, "Bring her out."
After hearing this, the boys turned Dongmei aside and took her out of the woodshed.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Dongmei came out of the woodshed, she started to cry. While crying, she shouted, "I really didn't do anything. Sister Jiangzhu, you have to believe me."
Although Dongmei didn't mention Xie Ruzhuo in her words, everyone still knew whose maid Jiangzhu was.
Seeing Dongmei like this, Jiangzhu made a quick decision and ordered someone to block her mouth.
It was the time to pay respects to the elders. Xie Ruzhuo fell into the water and was being consulted by the imperial doctor, so naturally he didn't need to go. But the ladies and ladies in other courtyards couldn't get through without pulling them.
What a coincidence, this road is the only way from Sanfang to the old lady's courtyard. Dongmei's shout immediately attracted the third room not far away.
"Hey, Jiangzhu girl, what's going on?" Mrs. Lu was walking leisurely with her daughter. When she heard the movement here, she was as excited as if she had been given a shot of chicken blood, but she also had a smile on her face. He looked a bit ferocious even though he was pretending to be concerned.
Jiang Zhu frowned and saluted, "The third lady is well. The girl made a mistake. The master wants to ask about the situation."
Mr. Lu's nose was the sharpest, and he immediately smelled an unusual smell. "What mistake did you make, and you deserved to cover your mouth to prevent you from making any sound? Don't do something shameful." As he said, She approached Jiangzhu again and smiled, "Jiangzhu, are you still hiding this from me? Your lady and I are the closest. What happened?"
Jiangzhu calmly took a step back and said, "She was blocked because she would disturb the masters in other courtyards by shouting loudly. I am a servant. I don't know what happened. You'd better not embarrass me." ”
After saying that, she obviously didn't want to say, "This slave is going back. Third Madam, please excuse me and leave."
Seeing Jiang Zhu hurriedly bring the person back to the yard, Mrs. Lu immediately frowned and said bitterly, "What a despicable little hooves, you dare to put on airs for me and don't let me know, let alone what your young lady has done." This is an embarrassing and disgraceful thing, so let’s kill someone and silence them!”
Xie Rulan immediately tugged on her sleeves and said softly, "Mom, please keep your voice down, it's not good for people around to hear you." As she said that, she glanced at Xie Ruzhuo's yard in the distance, and evoked a vicious smile. , "Fourth sister is hiding it from everyone, isn't it betraying our concern for her? I'll talk to my grandmother later, and we can go see it together."
When Mrs. Lu heard this, she immediately turned from anger to joy. She patted Xie Rulan's hand and said with a smile, "My daughter is still smart. Come on, let's go greet that old woman!"
When they arrived at Zizhuyuan, Xie Rulan said with worry, "Early in the morning, I saw the maid of the fourth sister helping a maid. I don't know what happened, and I wanted to ask the blame fiercely. The fifth sister was in the palace yesterday. What happened in Zhong that made Fourth Sister so angry?"
Although she was asking Xie Rufei when she spoke, her eyes were fixed on the old lady Ji.
Just as Xie Rufei was about to speak, she was pinched by the second lady. Xie Rufei was in pain. When she turned to look at her mother, she heard the second lady say lightly, "Of course you meet noble people in the palace. If someone is punished, it must be You bumped into someone because of your lack of etiquette. Third girl, I heard that the son of the Daotai family in Xuzhou came to discuss marriage a few days ago? This is a good thing. You should practice piano, chess, calligraphy and painting more diligently."
The implication is that you are still a young girl. Don't be a talkative woman and make so many blind inquiries.
Xie Rulan naturally heard something behind her words, and she felt hateful in her heart, but with a sweet smile on her face, "I care about my sister. After all, we sisters have to work together." As she said that, she changed her face to a sad one. , "It's a pity that I am the daughter of a businessman. I am afraid that I will never be connected to the palace for the rest of my life. I don't mind this, but I just wonder what kind of injustice my sister suffered yesterday, and why she is so angry today. Just worry about her."
When she mentioned this, Ji felt a little uncomfortable. After all, it was true that the third child did not have an official position, and Xie Rulan was usually filial when he was around him. He immediately felt compassion, hugged Xie Rulan to his side, and said angrily, "What do you mean, a businessman's daughter? You are my Xie family My daughter is also my biological granddaughter, and her status is very honorable, so you are not allowed to belittle yourself!"
After hearing this, Mrs. Lu immediately came up and said, "You girl, you are acting like a baby in front of your grandma again. Why did mother tell you to act like a lady? Although your father is a businessman, Xuzhou Daotai is As for the official family, after you get married, you will become the official wife, and you will still be able to visit the royal family during the New Year and festivals. You are better off than your mother."
At the end of Lu's words, there was a sour taste in his words.
As soon as Mr. Qiao came in, she heard these words and immediately smiled and said, "The third brother and sister have said it all. How can anyone compare their fate with their own daughter? Being the daughter-in-law of the Xie family is a top-notch fate, isn't it?"
As she said this, she said hello to Mrs. Ji, "Greetings to mother, I just heard from the girl that you coughed again last night. Can you take the Jade Dew Baihua Pills?"
Ji was about to get angry, but when she heard Qiao's words, she turned from anger to joy and said, "It's just a minor problem. It's hard for you to remember it when the autumn nights are cold." A secret recipe not passed down from outside the clan. Knowing that Mr. Ji had a problem with phlegm and cough, he went to a foreigner's house to ask for it. As the old man got older, he was particularly satisfied with the care of his children and grandchildren. Now that he saw Mr. Qiao asking again, he naturally smiled.
Mrs. Lu was robbed of the limelight by her, but she couldn't get angry. When she saw her daughter giving him a wink, she immediately brought up the old matter again, "What my sister-in-law said makes sense. Speaking of which, what happened yesterday that made you so secretive? I know that girl Ruzhuo, she can't possibly tie up her own maid for no reason, right?"
Hearing this, Mrs. Qiao's heart skipped a beat. She came over to say hello as soon as she got up, and she didn't know about Dongmei's treatment by Xie Ruzhuo. But my daughter's face must be protected by herself. "If the maid makes a mistake, she will naturally be punished. It has nothing to do with matters in the palace. Third brother and sister, if Rulan's servants make mistakes and have to be punished by her, I won't do anything. Just ask."
"Auntie, you misunderstood my mother." Xie Rulan said something, then looked at Ji again, "Grandma, why don't we go and take a look. What if that slave girl bullies the master? After all, the four My sister is still injured."
Ji was not worried about this, but she was also a little curious about what happened. After all, she had vaguely heard Dongmei's shouts just now.
"It's time to go there, but don't go if you don't have anything to do with it. Boss, wife, come with me."
Hearing Ji's words, even though she was unwilling to do so, Qiao had no choice but to hold Ji's hand and said, "Okay."
The second lady knew what was going on, so she took her daughter away immediately, but sent a girl to listen to Feng Yuan to inquire about the situation.
But Mrs. Lu thought she was not that "irrelevant person", so she didn't care what Mr. Ji said, she just pretended not to hear and took her daughter straight to Xie Ruzhuo's yard.
As soon as the group arrived at the door, they heard crying coming from the room, "Miss, this slave is unjust, I don't know what you are talking about!"
Dongmei knelt on the ground crying, her face was filled with tears, and she looked so pitiful.
Xie Ruzhuo did not accept this trick. If she had been in her previous life, she would have killed Dongmei directly. But she has a little more brains in this life. The person who knew about yesterday's scandal must have a lot of background. As for Dongmei, she was either a chess piece placed by that person in the Xie family, or she was cannon fodder used by the chess pieces. No matter what the situation is, she will dig out the person behind it!
"I just want to ask you, who asked you to come look for me at Ci'en Palace yesterday?" Xie Ruzhuo didn't even look at her, but took a slow sip of tea before asking.
Hearing this, Dongmei was startled and said, "What palace? I don't know."
Xie Ruzhuo sneered, "You can pretend as much as you want. Dongmei, I remember you signed a death contract, right? Your mother-in-law is addicted to gambling. She sold you to Xie's house for just one tael of silver back then. If you don't tell me today, To be honest, I accidentally beat you to death, but there is no one who can even bring you to court!"
After hearing this, Dongmei immediately kowtowed her head to Shanxiang, "Miss, I don't know what palace you are talking about. I am a person who doesn't know the way. Yesterday I admitted that I was just having fun, so I secretly followed you into the palace. But both Sister Jiangzhu and Qianbi knew about this. Later, Sister Qianbi asked me to go look for you. She said that you had gone in to change clothes, but she had to go to the toilet, so she asked me to pick you up for her. Follow what she said!"
Because yesterday's incident was very involved, Xie Ruzhuo had already asked all the irrelevant people to leave, leaving only two maids, Jiangzhu Qianbi, in the room. Hearing what Dongmei said at this time, Qianbi immediately pointed at Dongmei angrily and cursed, "Little hoof, you are so slanderous! After the lady fell into the water yesterday, you took it upon yourself to follow her. I was going to the toilet at that time." , so I gave you an opportunity to take advantage of it!"
Xie Ruzhuo believed in Qianbi more than Dongmei. After all, it was this girl who protected him until death in his previous life.
Xie Ruzhuo signaled Qianbi to be calm, then stood up, walked to Dongmei, and said slowly, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, then just take your secret to the underworld!"
When he said this, Xie Ruzhuo's face was filled with coldness, as if he was a ghost crawling out of the Nine Nether Hells. Dongmei was so frightened that she sat down on the ground, trembling and wanted to speak, but could not make a sound. .
No one in the room had ever seen Xie Ruzhuo look like this, and they all couldn't help but shudder at this moment.
At this moment, the door of the room was pushed open with a "squeak", and the third lady walked in first and said, "What's going on? Look, the doors are closed tightly."