CHAPTER 355: CHAPTER 357: MISGIVINGS (1)

She sat in the chair with an angry expression, her fingers shaking rapidly as she held the teacup. As Xiqiu looked at her, she suddenly remembered the day when Xiao Yanji’s body was brought back to the mansion. The First Madam was the same, sitting quietly without crying or speaking, as if she were a soulless body.

She clenched her fist tightly and said to the First Madam, "Sister-in-law, rest early. If there is any news, I will send someone to inform you." With that, she stepped out of the main room.

Ziyang stood foolishly in the middle of the courtyard. When she saw Xiqiu coming out, she lost her way and followed behind Xiqiu as they left the courtyard.

Xiqiu didn’t even look at her and quickly returned to the courtyard.

After Xiqiu left, the First Madam called for her nanny and coldly instructed, "Call everyone in the courtyard here, I want to interrogate them one by one!" After a pause, she continued, "Take me to Zijuan’s room!"

Meanwhile, Xiqiu entered Chunyan’s room. Chunyan had already woken up and was leaning on the bed. Upon seeing Xiqiu, she wanted to get out of bed to greet her, but Xiqiu pressed her down. Seeing her face unchanged, Xiqiu knew she probably still didn’t know what had happened.

Indeed, Chunyan looked bewildered and pointed at Chunliu and Bihuai, asking Biwu, "Miss, what happened to them one by one, why do they look so mournful?" Then, looking at herself, she continued, "Why am I lying in the room? What on earth happened?"

Xiqiu tucked her in and said with a smile, "Nothing, you might be tired and don’t remember. We’ll talk about it when it gets light!"

Chunyan was skeptical, trying hard to remember the events of the afternoon. She only remembered entering the First Madam’s courtyard, where Zijuan poured her a cup of tea to drink, and she couldn’t recall anything after that!

The First Madam sat with a somber face in the Warm Pavilion. Nanny Tang sat on the edge of the brick bed nearby, sighed, and said, "Miss, the ones left in this courtyard are all old-timers. You have interrogated them all, and besides Zijuan not being here, nothing suspicious was discovered. In my humble opinion, these people might really be unaware of what’s going on."

The First Madam didn’t believe it. There were seven people left in the courtyard: two maids, four older servant women, plus Nanny Tang. It was impossible for Zijuan to bring someone in without anyone noticing; how could it be done so quietly and without a trace?

But after several interrogations, the answers from those servant women really showed no signs of suspicion!

"Nanny, whom do you think Zijuan is taking orders from? Could she be doing this just to suppress the Fourth Madam and have me rebuild the flower house?" The First Madam’s face, usually cold and clear, now showed a hint of a pained expression. "The master has been gone for so long, I just want to pass my remaining years quietly. Why won’t they leave us alone?"

Nanny Tang was shocked, and her expression changed dramatically as she interrupted the First Madam, "Madam, you mustn’t speak recklessly. If it’s as the Fourth Madam said, with someone orchestrating from behind, it might not be a sin committed by the Fifth Madam. Back then, the enmity between the now-deceased Second Madam and the Fifth Madam was so great, and this is the Fifth Madam taking her anger out on the Fourth Madam!"

The First Madam’s face turned extremely unpleasant. She waved her hand in frustration, "You don’t need to console me. I know exactly how capable Fifth Madam’s family is!" Finishing this, she walked into the room, picked up a scripture placed at the side of the table, and quietly started reading.

Nanny Tang looked worried, cautiously asked, "Miss, what about the Fourth Madam’s side, do we need to tell the Grand Dowager about Maid Chunyan’s matter?"

The First Madam’s eyes flickered slightly, and she softly replied, "How can we keep anything in the mansion hidden from mother? Instead of waiting for her to ask, why don’t we tell her directly? As for how to deal with it, let mother decide!" Nanny Tang nodded in agreement and added, "I’m afraid the Fourth Madam won’t easily let this go. When it comes to the matter of Zijuan..."

She had noticed the Fourth Madam’s demeanor tonight, and she wasn’t a person easily dealt with. She didn’t seem to be the simple and weak woman she appeared to be on the surface. Thinking of those eyes now, she even felt a slight chill.

She then thought of Fourth Master Xiao...

Perhaps, in the end, the ones the mansion would have to rely on would still be Fourth Master and the Fourth Madam!

The First Madam’s expression changed abruptly, slowly lowered her eyelids, and pondered for a long while: "She is a clever person. After her rage subsides, she will calm down. If she wants to protect her maid, keeping this matter concealed is the best way. How she will handle it in the future, that won’t concern us, and as for mother’s side, she undoubtedly has her methods!"

Nanny Tang, upon hearing this, refrained from speaking further. After tidying up, she took the servant women to the Grand Dowager’s room.

Xiqiu sat quietly in her room, watching the flickering candle in the corner, her eyes slightly narrowing.

Chunliu knocked on the door and entered, seeing Xiqiu’s somber face, her voice lowered, she whispered, "Madam, Tianyi is here!"

Xiqiu’s eyebrows rose slightly, and she turned to look at Chunliu, "Let him in!" With that, she got up and walked to the main hall. In no time, Chunliu brought Tianyi in, with Bihuai guarding the door.

Tianyi, who appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, was tall, thin, with very fair skin, and his gaze held intelligence as he lowered his eyelids slightly.

"You’ve been running around all night, sit down and talk." Xiqiu spoke, instructing Bihuai to make tea.

Tianyi dared not sit, cautiously looked at Xiqiu who was seated above, and replied, "Madam, that man woke up, and I extracted some words from him. He came into the mansion as a craftsman with Steward Liu, a Shandong person... said he remembers nothing of today’s events. He only recalled a little maid asked him to help block a mouse hole in the courtyard wall. He followed the maid into the courtyard. The maid was surprisingly courteous and even made him tea. He took a sip, and after that, he remembered nothing!"

It was indeed such a tactic.

Both were drugged with a concoction commonly used by thieves in the underworld, placed unknowingly in the same room after their clothes were removed, waiting for the First Madam’s servants to discover them.

"Did Steward Liu not notice anyone missing from his side? What explanation was given?" Doing work in the mansion requires verifying the number of people upon entry and counting them again upon exit, to prevent anyone from staying privately in the inner residence.

Tianyi lowered his head and slowly replied, "Steward Liu said someone had family matters to attend to and was escorted out of the mansion in the afternoon by someone from the consulate."

If this is true, then either Steward Liu or that man must be lying.

Xiqiu looked at Tianyi, her voice turned colder, "What did your investigation find?"

Tianyi was silently astonished; he hadn’t expected the Fourth Madam to be so meticulous. He indeed investigated further and even sent people to Shandong to verify this man’s claimed identity. He thought for a moment and replied, "I asked the doorkeeper carefully, and indeed someone left the mansion at noon!" Pausing, he continued, "So I went back to question that man again, and he finally confessed truthfully. A little maid gave him ten taels of silver, claiming that the mansion forbade hiring outsiders for personal work, hence she could only secretly hire him. She told him to leave the mansion first, then opened a side door to let him back in. I also asked what the maid who led him in looked like. His description matched Zijuan’s appearance closely!"