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Chapter 20
The embroidered emissary who went to search the stupid girl’s bedroom came back empty-handed.
“Hou’ye, the wing-room is square shaped, only possessing a few changes of clothes and basic necessities, nothing else.”
Since the stupid girl happened to be at where the murderer had appeared, it was natural that it would attract a great deal of suspicion, but her crippled leg was an undeniable fact. Regardless of how strange her pathing was, she could be ruled out for the time being since there was no forthcoming evidence either.
Huò Wēi Lóu looked towards Hè Chéng, “Is that Taoist priest done calculating?”
“Xiaguan just checked on him in the afternoon, one fears that it will require another half-day.” After looking at the sky outside, Hè Chéng said, “The calculation will be done by tomorrow.”
“What about Momo Yu?”
Hè Chéng replied: “After the change in her dwelling, she seems to be in the state where nothing is sadder than a withered heart. She has been chanting scriptures all day long and refuses to partake in food. The government hirelings are watching her, she hasn’t stepped out of the room door once for the whole day.”
The bottom of Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes was completely stagnant, “Question the servants in the residence tomorrow morning, and start asking from before tonight and after. Do not spare anything that sounds illogical. The murderer started acting on New Year’s Eve, and left behind such words; surely, they are seeking revenge. Perhaps among the people of this residence, someone did something in the past, it’s just that no one had placed it on their hearts.”
Since most of the masters within the residence had something to hide and they could not pry out those secrets, then they could only start from the servants. Moreover, the murderer had not been hiding in the residence for a short period of time, how could it be possible that they didn’t adopt any measures or do anything prior to this?
Bó Ruò Yōu’s heart moved slightly, feeling that it was logical as well.
Then, Huò Wēi Lóu stood up and strode out of the door to stand under the corridor before he addressed Zhèng Wén Ān and the rest, “The hour of night is already late, everyone can disperse now. Everyone should try and recollect their memories again: before Lao Furen met with her demise, did anything strange happen within the residence? Since the murderer has the audacity to commit homicide time and again, they must have a deep understanding of their targets, even standing before all of you in the past. Anyone could be the next target.”
This speech made everyone’s expression contort. Zhèng Yún Ní was standing at the frontmost position, and she looked especially nervous and fearful right now. She did not dare to look at Huò Wēi Lóu directly, and she subconsciously lowered her eyes to stare at the ground in front of her. She was very ill at ease, and it was also this expression, that rang alarms in Bó Ruò Yōu’s heart when she saw it.
Hastily, she looked at the stupid girl who was in the corner. With one look, an epiphany suddenly dawned on her, like the clouds had dispelled and she saw the sun.
It was no wonder why the stupid girl’s eyes induced a sense of familiarity at the bamboo forest… It turns out, it was because the stupid girl’s brows and eyes shared some similarities with Zhèng Yún Ní!
The auras of the two people in question were as different and apart as the Heaven and Earth; the stupid girl was dull-witted and foolish, while Zhèng Yún Ní was haughty and graceful, and in addition to the scar of the stupid girl’s face, it was hard to perceive any similarities from their countenances. But once they were wearing the same expression, the apparentness of those similarities multiplied instantaneously.
The more Bó Ruò Yōu internalised this realisation, the stranger it felt to her. Meanwhile, the others started to leave, having received Huò Wēi Lóu’s verbal permission. Bó Ruò Yōu stared at Zhèng Yún Ní, visibly restraining the urge to speak.
However, Huò Wēi Lóu turned towards her then. “No more travelling alone.”
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Bó Ruò Yōu came back to her senses and agreed. Huò Wēi Lóu did not utter another word as he walked out of the courtyard entrance with Hè Chéng. Bó Ruò Yōu stood there for a long moment, and when she turned her head, the stupid girl was still standing at the corridor. She ambled up to her and said in gentle voice: “Stupid girl, I’ll send you back.”
The stupid girl raised her eyes to give her a brief dazed look, then hunched her shoulders and started towards her own dwelling.
She was not truly a fool, just slower to react than normal people. Bó Ruò Yōu did not continue issuing any questions as they walked. Once they had distanced themselves from the crowd, the stupid girl relaxed by a smidgen, and they eventually reached her dwelling. Sure enough, the wing-room was as small as the embroidered emissary had described, and all of her effects could be seen with one sweeping glance.
The location of the servants’ courtyard was somewhat detached, and while she occupied this wing-room alone, it was close to the eaves gutter, which made the humidity of the room exceeding heavy, and there was the odour of dark sludge drifting in. Bó Ruò Yōu sighed, most servants and slaves suffered hardships. “The residence isn’t very safe, don’t run to the plum forest alone at night in the future.”
The stupid girl shrank her neck and nodded, not daring to look at Bó Ruò Yōu at all.
The embroidered emissary was standing guard outside, and they were the only two in the room, but it was apparent that the stupid girl was still slightly afraid of her.
Bó Ruò Yōu’s refined brows creased together abruptly. Although she was cowering and afraid to look into her eyes directly on the day she picked up the fruit for her, she clearly remembered that the stupid girl had looked at her when she took the fruit, and even nodded to express her thanks.
This irregularity caused Bó Ruò Yōu to feel stifled all over. She scrutinised the stupid girl for a second, but she could not comprehend it in the end. She scanned the room, only to see a scent sachet that was made out of silk and satin placed beside the pillow on the stupid girl’s bed. In spite of the expensive material, the overall embroidery was thinly spread and chaotic. Bó Ruò Yōu’s gaze changed a few times, “Was that embroidered by Da Furen?”
The stupid girl slowly turned her head look over, then nodded her head lightly.
Once Bó Ruò Yōu saw how messy the stitching was, she promptly guessed that it was Da Furen’s handiwork. It looks like Chūn Táo had spoken correctly, Da Furen did feel tenderness towards the stupid girl.
With her around, the stupid girl was bound to feel suffocated. Hence, Bó Ruò Yōu comforted her with a few more lines before leaving the room.
On the way back to the guest courtyard, that peculiar feeling lingered in Bó Ruò Yōu’s mind from beginning to end. The stupid girl was clearly timid in appearance, but when Bó Ruò Yōu was standing in that cramped small room, she was filled with an unexplainable sense of unease.
She returned to the guest courtyard with hundreds and thousands of thoughts circulating in her head. Chūn Táo had been waiting for her for a long time, and upon seeing her return, she welcomed her in a hurry, “Guniang has finally returned. It’s unknown what happened just now, but the residence was searched again.”
Bó Ruò Yōu responded with a bitter smile. After having a bath, she brought up the stupid girl to Chūn Táo, and Chūn Táo said: “The stupid girl is indeed pitiful. According to rumours, she came to these parts because she was fleeing from a plague, and her parents are gone. If it were not for Da Furen picking her up, one fears that she would not have survived.”
“Because of a plague?”
Chūn Táo nodded, “A plague happened in Luozhou seven to eight years ago, does guniang not know this? When Da Furen brought her back, Lao Furen felt that it was improper, so she ordered someone to investigate, and she was only left within the residence because her family background was proven clean.”
Seven to eight years ago, Bó Ruò Yōu was not even ten yet; she really didn’t have an impression of it.
Bó Ruò Yōu said, “I also saw the scent sachet that Da Furen made for the stupid girl today.”
Chūn Táo replied, “This would be why the maidservants envy the stupid girl. When Da Furen is well, she would do some embroidery work, and not just that, she would make two at once: one for the Oldest Young Lady, the other for the stupid girl. Look at that, this treatment is almost equal to the Oldest Young Lady, and it’s for the same reason that the Oldest Young Lady greatly dislikes the stupid girl.”
Bó Ruò Yōu’s heart jolted, “Makes two at once? The exact same?”
Chūn Táo nodded, “Yes, but ȳou can imagine the things that Da Furen makes. The Oldest Young Lady never uses it, choosing to reward it to her servants instead, so the maidservants have seen it from our fellow older sisters.”
Bó Ruò Yōu could not help but clench her hands into fists. After remembering Huò Wēi Lóu’s words, she questioned Chūn Táo again, “For the past few years, has anything strange occurred in the residence? For example… the masters, have they met with any danger?”
Chūn Táo furrowed her brows pensively before shaking her head, “Nubi has only been in the residence for two years… While she hasn’t heard about any of the masters being in danger, they would fall ill on occasion.”
Having said that, Chūn Táo’s eyes suddenly brightened, “However, nubi has heard the Momos talk about past matters. If [we] had to speak about which master is plagued with misfortunes, then the Oldest Young Lady was plagued with the most misfortunes. When she was five- or six-years-old, she became gravely ill, like she had been afflicted with hysteria, and before she completely recovered, she nearly dropped into a lotus pond again. The Marquis was still around at that time, and he promptly ordered for the lotus pond to be filled.”
Chūn Táo was still frowning as she sifted through her memories, “Allegedly, she was nearly burned by fire…”
The space between Bó Ruò Yōu’s brows twisted, “Burned by fire?”
Chūn Táo revealed hesitation on her expression, “It happened a long time ago, during the chaos of celebration for the New Year. The Momo who spoke about it also said that she wasn’t clear about it, so nubi is uncertain of its veracity.”
Seeing that Chūn Táo was struggling to remember more, Bó Ruò Yōu stopped pursuing the question. Chūn Táo proceeded to talk about the medical history of the other masters, and Bó Ruò Yōu did not perceive any causes for suspicion except the incidents that had happened to Zhèng Yún Ní’s person, unable to shake off the feeling that it was queer.
Those were incidents that happened so many years ago; if the murderer had acted then, it couldn’t be that they even murdered toddlers that were only a few years old, right?
But contrary to all reason, the stupid girl’s countenance was similar to Zhèng Yún Ní, the Da Furen was suffering from madness and yet she treated the stupid girl with such tender affection. It was plausible that she was treating the stupid girl as Zhèng Yún Ní, but apart from the similarities in their brows and eyes, their face contours were quite different, and with the scar on stupid girl’s face, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was ugly and frightening…
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All kinds of thoughts stirred in Bó Ruò Yōu’s heart. Before she went to sleep, Bó Ruò Yōu said: “Accompany me to see the lotus pond that the Oldest Young Lady fell into that year…”
ChĹŤn TĂĄo verbally agreed.
After a night of light sleep, Bó Ruò Yōu still woke up before the sky was fully brightened. She rubbed her temples, allowing the drowsiness to recede before she sat up. After washing up and waking Chūn Táo, she asked Chūn Táo to lead the way.
Chūn Táo kept moving in the east, and it was actually in the direction of the bamboo forest from last night. “After the lotus pond was filled, more black bamboo was planted because it was close to the bamboo forest. If someone was unaware of this, they would assume that this bamboo forest has always occupied this much land.”
There was an embroidered emissary following them today, but when Chūn Táo brought Bó Ruò Yōu to stand in front of the bamboo forest once again, she still felt a chill slowly creeping up from her soles of her feet. Was it truly that much of a coincidence…