After Nangong Yue left Yingxue Residence, she went straight back to Bixiao Hall.
There was the sound of bells and the little guy's "giggle" laughter from the west room, Nangong Yue immediately followed the sound, and the little guy was indeed playing inside.
Sitting next to the little guy was a familiar figure from the back, she was teasing little Xiao Yu with a copper bell.
Nangong Yue blinked, and blurted out with a smile: "Sister Fei."
Xiao Fei turned her head when she heard the sound, stood up and greeted Nangong Yue: "Sister-in-law."
She took a step forward, handed a few pieces of tissue paper to Nangong Yue, and said solemnly: "Sister-in-law, I've read all of these."
Nangong Yue just glanced at it casually, and knew that the pieces of paper in Xiao Fei's hand were the ones she had given to her before.
She took the few sheets of tissue paper that were full of writing, and the corners of her mouth slightly curled up, beckoning Xiao Fei to sit down and talk.
Nangong Yue looked at Xiao Fei eagerly, and asked in a low voice, "Sister Fei, what do you think?"
But still didn't see any shyness on the little girl's face.
"Sister-in-law, they are all very well." Xiao Fei said seriously, her black eyes were as clear as a mountain stream, and as cold and bright as a silver moon in the night sky.
"..." The corners of Nangong Yue's mouth froze for a moment, and she almost rubbed her temples with a headache.
After a while, Nangong Yue took Xiao Fei's plain hand, looked at her four eyes, and said seriously: "Sister Fei, a woman's life is not easy. She has been bound by three obediences and four virtues since she was a child. Husband is respected, but also filial piety to the elders of the husband's family, feeding in cooking, managing the inner courtyard, spreading branches and leaves... There is a saying: 'Men are afraid of entering the wrong profession, women are afraid of marrying the wrong man', but life is less than a hundred years, If a man makes a mistake, he can start over, but what about a woman?"
Once a woman marries the wrong man, it is very difficult to look back!
Choosing a son-in-law is a matter of life.
Xiao Fei listened intently to Nangong Yue's words, but her expression was still confused.
She knew that sister-in-law was doing it for her own good. After pondering for a while, her expression became more serious, and she said, "Sister-in-law, I think the people you picked for me are not bad."
She is definitely not being perfunctory, and she also knows that marriage is a matter of life. Since her eldest sister-in-law gave her these lists last month, she has read them countless times, and now she has almost memorized them by heart.
It was also because of this that she knew that these sons were all dragons and phoenixes among the people, no matter in terms of talent, learning, character, family background, etc., they were all one in a million, and they could be good sons-in-law.
From each piece of paper, she could feel how much thought the sister-in-law had put into it.
That's why she said they were all good, really good!
Xiao Fei looked at Nangong Yue without blinking, trying to convey her heart to her.
Outside the window, a gust of wind blew past, making the branches and leaves rustle, and a few gusts of breeze blew into the room, gently brushing on Xiao Fei's cheeks, messing up her hair at the temples, making her look extra Stubborn and nimble.
Meeting Xiao Fei's pure and clear eyes, Nangong Yue was amused, helpless, and touched.
Her sister Fei still makes her feel bad!
After Nangong Yue thought for a while, she said again: "Sister Fei, there are so many men in the world, but they just belong to the same family and are nice, that's not enough to make a good relationship. Whether the two get along depends on fate, otherwise, even if they are human No matter how good the family is, no matter how innocent the family is, the husband and wife are just treating each other as guests..."
Xiao Fei blinked, still half understanding.
Her years of education told him that husband and wife only need to respect each other as guests, but the sister-in-law obviously meant that this was not enough.
So what should couples do
Xiao Fei naturally thought of Xiao Yi and Nangong Yue, and the most exemplary couples in her mind were elder brother and elder sister-in-law.
Thinking about how her eldest brother and sister-in-law get along with each other on weekdays, Xiao Fei seemed to have grasped something out of a daze and understood a little bit. What she sees now is only the four sons in the text, she still doesn't know what kind of temperament they are, and whether they can talk to her, so...
"Sister-in-law," Xiao Fei raised her eyes to Nangong Yue thoughtfully, and said, "I want to meet these four young masters, and then make a decision."
so good. The corners of Nangong Yue's mouth curled slightly, she looked at Xiao Fei gently, and responded with a smile.
It seems that I still have to prepare another blind date banquet for Sister Fei, but now three of these four sons are going out with the army, so I have to wait until January to arrange this...
"Giggle..."
The little guy's crisp laughter resounded in the West Room again, attracting the attention of the two of them.
I saw that the little guy had a branch of pink plum in his right hand, and he walked towards the two of them unsteadily, smiling very happily.
"Mother... mother!" The little guy wanted to run before he learned to walk, so that the silk mother who followed him was trembling, until the little grandson walked in front of Nangong Yue, and Nangong Yue supported him in his creaking nest Only then did Juan Niang secretly heave a sigh of relief.
The little guy eagerly sent the pink plum to Nangong Yue, and Nangong Yue accepted it with a smile, but he refused to let go, waving "ah".
Nangong Yue was confused by him, but Xiao Fei, who was on the sidelines, saw it clearly, and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, brother Yu wants to give you hairpins." After saying that, Xiao Fei smiled at Xiao Fei. Xiao Yu praised, "Our brother Yu is so obedient and filial!"
Xiao Fei walked over deliberately, grabbed the little guy's fleshy and chubby fists and helped him insert the branch of plum blossom into Nangong Yue's hair.
The little guy looked at his mother like a mother, seemed very satisfied, finally smiled again, Nangong Yue couldn't help but bowed her head and kissed him on the cheek.
The little guy finished his work and walked back, and after a while, he instructed Juanniang to take another branch of pink plum from the vase on the tall table in the corner, and walked towards Xiao Fei this time, and helped her put the hairpin on it again. flowers.
Xiao Fei felt that her heart had been turned into water, with ripples, and kissed the little guy on the face, praising her little nephew again and again.
A pot of silver frost charcoal was burning in the room, which was warm, like a mild spring day.
An afternoon passed in a blink of an eye, and night fell on Luoyue City as usual. At night, the weather suddenly became much cooler.
Xiao Yu, who was tired from playing, went to bed early, and the night was quiet, Nan Gongyue and Huamei were in the small study, flipping through the account books sent by the shop and Zhuangzi during this period.
After watching for more than half an hour, Nangong Yue raised her eyes tiredly and rubbed the center of her brows. An eager sound of curtain picking just happened, causing Nangong Yue to raise her eyes subconsciously.
Baihui came suddenly, with a rare seriousness on her handsome face, and even her footsteps seemed a little messy. Even the thrushes could see her abnormality, and they looked at each other in blank dismay.
"Prince Concubine, Housekeeper Zhu spread the word that Bai Yi from the dungeon was rescued." Baihui saluted and reported straight to the point.
This unexpected news caused an instant silence in the small study, and the atmosphere suddenly became solemn.
Nangong Yue frowned slightly, she couldn't hide her surprise, and asked, "What's going on?"
Ever since she took Bai Yi away, she locked her in the dungeon of Bixiao Hall, and planned to wait for Xiao Yi to come back after a year later to deal with it. Unexpectedly, Bai Yi would be rescued!
Bixiaotang has always been heavily guarded, not to mention the dungeon. Since she and Xiao Yi came back, there has never been such a disturbance in these years...
Thinking about it, Nangong Yue's lips were pursed into a straight line, and her heart was full of surprise.
Baihui hurriedly replied: "Returning to Shi Zifei, it is said that someone broke into the dungeon quietly tonight, but the clothes were gone."
That is to say, she doesn't know the other party's identity... Nangong Yue frowned tightly, stood up, and said in a deep voice: "Baihui, Haitang, you two follow me to have a look."
Hearing this, Lily and Haitang couldn't help but glanced at each other quickly, hesitated slightly. This thief is definitely called a daring man of high skill. He even dared to break into the Zhennan Prince's Mansion, and even broke through the dungeon to take him away. If the thief hasn't left...
Lily and Haitang were alert, but they agreed with one voice.
At the same time, Huamei quickly put a thick cloak on Nangong Yue. After that, the three master and servant walked out of the house and went all the way to the outer courtyard.
It was already half past Xu hour, and it was pitch black outside. Baihui and Haitang each held an octagonal palace lantern in their hands, and the dim light illuminated the road ahead...
The dungeon is located in the northeast corner of the outer courtyard of Bixiao Hall. On the surface, it is just a deserted yard, because a big tree in the yard was cut off by lightning in one year, and the fallen tree crown crushed the house, and the yard was abandoned after that up. The servants in the mansion feel that it is unlucky, and they rarely come here on weekdays.
At this moment, there is a lot of noise around here.
Zhu Xing, Ren Zinan and several guards were also in the courtyard. The courtyard was illuminated by torches one by one. The flames were burning and jumping, showing a little restlessness. The air was filled with a strong smell of blood. Entering the yard, the smell of blood hits the face.
Nangong Yue couldn't help but frowned, and quickly glanced around the yard, seeing pools of blood on the bluestone floor were dazzling red.
Nangong Yue's gaze stayed on the blood for a moment, and she unconsciously clenched her fists in her sleeves.
She is a doctor, even if she didn't see the corpse with her own eyes, from the amount of blood loss on the ground, it can be roughly judged that at least three or four people died here...
Thinking about it, a cold light flashed in Nangong Yue's eyes, and the gentle temperament around her became sharp at this moment.
Zhu Xing was a little surprised when he saw Nangong Yue coming. Worried that the mess here would scare the imperial concubine, he hurried forward to block Nangong Yue's view.
"Concubine Shizi." Zhu Xing and Ren Zinan clasped their fists together and saluted.
Nangong Yue asked solemnly, "Zhu Xing, how many people did we lose?"
Zhu Xing was stunned, the gentle and elegant appearance of the princess always made him forget that their princess is not a spoiled canary, and the concubine experienced a lot of storms when she was in the capital...
Now that the eldest son is not here, they should look forward to the eldest son and concubine.
Zhu Xing's expression froze, and he replied with a slightly difficult tone: "Concubine Shizi, five people...someone killed our five guards guarding the dungeon."
While he was speaking, he and Ren Zinan beside him released coldness. To them, these guards were not only subordinates, but also brothers.
Nangong Yue closed her eyes, and said: "Take good care of their families!"
"Yes, Shi Zifei." Zhu Xing replied forcefully.
After that, Nangong Yue asked Zhu Xing to take her into the dungeon.
The dungeon was pitch black, much colder than the outside, a gust of cold wind was blowing from bottom to top, it was gloomy, as if suddenly being in an ice cellar.
Holding a torch, Zhu Xing led the way and walked down the stone steps, reminding Nangong Yue to be careful on his feet from time to time. About halfway through, there was another smell of blood, which became stronger and stronger... When I walked down the last stone step, I saw a puddle of undried leaves on the ground next to a wooden table on the right. bloodstains...
"Elder Concubine, this way please..."
While talking, Zhu Xing continued to walk forward until he stopped in front of the third dungeon, pointed to the bottom of the prison door and said, "Shi Zifei, look..."
The torch in Zhu Xing's hand moved towards the direction he pointed, and Nangong Yue's eyes fell on the iron lock on the ground. The iron lock was split into two, and the smooth cut showed that it was cut by some kind of iron A sharp weapon like mud is cut by a knife or a sword.
Obviously, the iron lock must have been broken from outside the cell, and then the cell door was opened.
Zhu Xing also looked at the iron lock and talked about what happened tonight.
About an incense stick, the guards who came to change shifts tonight smelled the smell of blood outside the courtyard, and then found four corpses in the courtyard. The guards inside were also killed, and there was no one in the cell where the clothes were placed...
The only thing that can be deduced at present is that Bai Yi did not escape by himself, someone should have sneaked into the Bixiao Hall and killed the four guards outside with lightning speed, so fast that they did not call for help Then he entered the dungeon and killed the last guard, broke the door lock, and rescued Bai Yi.
While speaking, Zhu Xing's body was almost tensed into a big bow, and the jumping light of the torch formed a dark and strange shadow on his face, half-bright and half-dark, and his eyes were even more bloodthirsty. Murderous intent, and deep self-blame.
The son of the world trusts himself, so he entrusts the guards of Bixiao Hall to him, but now under his nose, even the dungeon has been broken into and robbed!
Thinking about it, Zhu Xing's eyes were covered with a layer of haze.
Not to mention the robbery of the clothes, the most important problem now is that there is a major loophole in the guards of Bixiaotang, which will give some malicious people an opportunity to make one or even a group of people People of unknown origin sneaked into Bixiaotang quietly, doing whatever they wanted...
Zhu Xing couldn't imagine that if this group of people was not targeting the clothes, but targeting the concubine and the grandson...then he would be doomed!
Originally he thought that the defense of Bixiao Hall was like an iron bucket, water could not get in, needles could not get in, it seems that he was too careless!
Who rescued Bai Yi
Could it be the remnants of Baiyue? !
The question is how did the remnants of Baiyue sneak into Bixiaotang? !
One question after another appeared in Zhu Xing's mind, and he couldn't get an answer for a while.
The top priority is to arrest people first!
Zhu Xing took a deep breath, calmed himself down a bit, and then said: "Concubine Shizi, my subordinates have used the token of Shizi Lord to dispatch a team of guards to patrol the city and start searching in the city. Now at night, the city gate is closed, and the clothes are taken away. The people must still be in the city and not go out!"
After Nangong Yue pondered for a moment, she nodded and said, "Try not to disturb the people. Also, if no one is found before dawn, I will ask the prince to seal the city!"
When she said the last few words, Nangong Yue's tone became sharp and powerful.
Zhu Xing's eyes lit up, the anxiety in his eyes eased a little, and he hurriedly said, "Thank you, Shi Zifei."
He was also worried that when the city gate opened at dawn, the thief might take the opportunity to escape. Now that there is a concubine who is willing to come forward to ask the prince to seal the city, then he will have more confidence in doing things.
Without further ado, Zhu Xing hurriedly obeyed his orders.
At this time, it was already the second watch, and in the dark night, some sharp gongs and drums sounded from time to time in the streets and alleys of the city.
"Boom! Boom!"
The people were about to change their clothes and go to bed, but they found the sound of chaotic footsteps outside, and the streets outside were illuminated by torches like daylight.
Someone quietly peeped out through the window, and immediately found that the patrolling guards were searching for something in the city. All kinds of noisy voices were mixed together, and the momentum was huge.
The patrolling guards put up such a big battle, there must be another big event. Most of the people suspected that there were Nanman spies in the city again, and they cursed the eighteen generations of the ancestors of those Nanman people in their hearts, filled with righteous indignation.
This night, the streets of Luoyue City were full of noise, and it was even busier than during the day. How could those common people sleep peacefully? Persuaded...
Until the sound of gongs and drums in the middle of the night, the houses in the city were still brightly lit.
It's bound to be a sleepless night!
The sounds of horseshoes and footsteps all around could be heard one after another.
After that, the gongs and drums of the fourth watch also sounded "dong dong"...
Teams of city guards are still expanding the search area non-stop, but Luoyue City is too big, so many streets and alleys cannot be searched in a short time.
Seeing the ray of dawn light up the eastern sky, many people frowned. The sky is about to dawn, which means that the city gate is about to open...
"Captain," a young patrolman slowed down his horse, and said to a square-faced man in his thirties, "It's almost dawn, and he hasn't been found yet. Send someone to notify Steward Zhu..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw the captain of the city guard raised his hand, motioning him to keep silent.
The patrol captain's nose moved, he looked forward thoughtfully, and said, "Xiao Guo, do you smell something?"
The patrolling guard known as "Xiao Guo" was stunned, and sniffed vigorously with his nose... At this time, a cool morning wind blew in front of him, bringing the smell from ahead.
"It seems... It smells like blood."
Before Xiao Guo finished speaking, the captain of the patrolling guards rode out first, and the four patrolling guards behind him immediately followed closely behind. Everyone vaguely sensed something. With a trace of anticipation and sharpness.
Several fine horses turned left at the next street and turned into a small alley. When they galloped to the middle of the alley, the captain of the city guard slowed down the speed of the horse first.
This alley is very narrow, just enough for two people to walk side by side. There are no obstacles around, so the vision ahead is clear at a glance.
The alley was half-dark at dawn, and one could see at the bottom of the alley at a glance, a woman in white was "pinned" to the wall by three daggers, blood flowed from the wound on her neck to her dress, Most of the white dress was dyed red.
The orange-red light of the first day shone on her body, making the blood on the white clothes dazzlingly red...
Even if it is still more than ten feet away, they can be sure that this woman is dead.
"Da da… "
The horse's hooves lightly stepped on the ground, and when they got closer, they could clearly see that the woman's once beautiful face had no trace of blood on it, it was horribly white, and her blue eyes, which were no longer radiant, were staring wide open. How unwilling and desperate she was at the moment of her death.
This woman must be the Baiyue person that Butler Zhu was talking about!
The sound of horseshoes around stopped, and fell into a brief silence...
"Quick! Xiao Guo, go and report to Butler Zhu!" the patrol captain hurriedly said.
After Xiao Guo responded, he rode away immediately, and the sound of horse hoofs gradually faded away... After a while, it gradually became louder again, and the messy sound of horse hoofs moved from far to near...
When Xiao Guo returned to this alley with Zhu Xing and others, the sky was already completely bright.
Zhu Xing stared unblinkingly at the blue-eyed woman who died tragically. He could be sure that this woman was Bai Yi who was rescued from the dungeon of Bixiao Hall last night!
I didn't expect that she would be tortured and killed here!