CH 25

“Zhèng Yún Ní is missing?”

The embroidered emissary nodded before turning back to look towards the plum forest.

Huò Wēi Lóu glanced over with narrowed eyes. Sure enough, he saw an anxious maidservant standing outside.

Huò Wēi Lóu immediately said: “Call for Zhèng Wén Ān and Zhèng Wén Róng.”

The embroidered emissary departed with his order. By then, Hè Chéng and the other embroidered emissaries had climbed up from the well bottom, and the embroidered emissary responsible for investigating the other byways said: “Hou’ye, the other byways lead southwest of the residence, there are two lotus ponds in the northwest, and the northern path connects to the residence outside, though it has already blocked off with sludge, and there weren’t a lot of human traces found at these exits.”

Huò Wēi Lóu nodded, “Seize everything inside the secret room under the ancestral hall and bring it up.”

At that moment, Bó Ruò Yōu stepped forward to speak: “Hou’ye, Zheng da xiaojie would never disappear for no reason at all.”

When the murderer killed Zhèng Wén Yàn and Zhèng Wén Chén the previous two times, both of them had been lured away from their usual dwellings before she dealt with them. And with Zhèng Yún Ní’s sudden disappearance, Bó Ruò Yōu was very worried in her heart, whereas Huò Wēi Lóu’s countenance was still an image of self-composure. He instructed a few embroidered emissaries to stand guard here before bringing the rest of his entourage out of the plum forest.

The close maidservant of Zhèng Yún Ní was called Huà Yì, and upon seeing Huò Wēi Lóu approach in quick strides with his men, she immediately knelt on the ground: “One pays her respect to Hou’ye.”

Huò Wēi Lóu stared at her from a higher point of elevation, “When did Zhèng Yún Ní go missing?”

On the verge of tears, Huà Yì responded with red eyes: “Just two double-hours ago. The Oldest Young Lady said that she wanted to take a stroll outside on her own, and she refused to allow the maidservants to follow her, so the maidservants stayed behind in the courtyard. It was only when the skies became dark whilst the Oldest Young Lady still remained outside, that the maidservants went out to search. Who could have thought that when [we] went out of the door to ask the government hireling older brothers who were stationed along the roads, all of them would say that they didn’t see the Oldest Young Lady at all? The Oldest Young Lady disappeared shortly after she left the courtyard…”

Huà Yì wiped away a handful of tears, fear brimming in her eyes as she looked at the abysmally dark forest around her.

“Was she acting oddly before she left?”

Huà Yì shook her head, “No, there were no oddities…”

Although Huà Yì expressed that with her mouth, her eyes drooped down. Huò Wēi Lóu’s tone of voice became frigid, “The murderer is currently hiding in the residence, and it’s extremely likely that your Oldest Young Lady is in danger. If you are hiding something, do you know what the consequences are?”

Huò Wēi Lóu was imposing and oppressive to begin with, and now that his manner of speaking was glacially cold, Huà Yì only felt that his gaze was akin to a knife dangling above her head.

Shoulders quivering slightly, Huà Yì pursed her lips and raised her head, “Oldest Young Lady… Oldest Young Lady’s temper has been terrible for the past few days. After the Third Master died, Oldest Young Lady said that the murderer was going to kill her next and told the maidservants to stay in the same room together with her for two consecutive nights. This afternoon, after Oldest Young Lady was informed that Hou’ye had led his men to dig this well opening, her complexion changed instantaneously. She stayed inside the room anxiously for a while, before saying that she was going to see Da Furen, and with this departure…. With this departure, she did not return again.”

She heard that they were digging the well before she chose to leave.

Bó Ruò Yōu’s brows scrunched, Zhèng Yún Ní actually knew about the existence of the underground secret room?

Huà Yì shrank her shoulders, her visage coloured with dread. At this moment, Zhèng Wén Ān and Zhèng Wén Róng rushed over from the distance. When the pair reached Huò Wēi Lóu, they cupped their hands and bowed first. Zhèng Wén Róng was merely wearing a grave expression, but Zhèng Wén Ān looked past Huò Wēi Lóu’s shoulder to scrutinise what was behind him, his complexion distorting slightly soon after.

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Zhèng Wén Ān said: “Hou’ye, one wonders what instructions Hou’ye has?””

Zhèng Wén Ān kept his head lowered, some nervousness lining his tone. Huò Wēi Lóu gazed at him, “Zhèng Yún Ní has disappeared.”

Zhèng Wén Ān snapped his head up, a hint of fear emerging on his typically good-natured face. “Why would Zhèng Yún Ní disappear… Could it be… Hou’ye please save Yún Ní, it must be… it must be that the murderer wants to hurt her!”

Zhèng Wén Róng was slightly anxious as well, “Yún Ní was perfectly all right, how did she disappear…”

“Why would the murderer hurt her?” Huò Wēi Lóu glowered at Zhèng Wén Ān with eyes that were akin to cold swords.

Zhèng Wén Ān’s back stiffened, the hands that had fallen by his side curling and relaxing, loosening and clenching into fists. In the end, he said: “The murderer… The murderer has enmity towards the people within the residence. Yún Ní is the Oldest Young Lady, it’s a matter of course that she would be one of the murderer’s targets.”

A chilling glint rose from the depths of Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes, and Bó Ruò Yōu wrinkled her brows too. Fu gonggong heaved a sigh, but his gaze became indifferent as well.

Huò Wēi Lóu’s lip corners curved into an ice-cold arc, “It has already reached this stage and yet you still refuse to confess. The reason why you believe that Zhèng Yún Ní will be harmed by the murderer, is because… Zhèng Yún Ní’s birthday is not February the Seventh at all, but February the Fifth.”

Zhèng Wén Ān’s pupils trembled violently, “Hou’ye… What does Hou’ye mean by those words, Yún Ní’s birthdate was sent to the Capital early on, it’s not… not possible that it was falsified…”

Zhèng Wén Róng was slightly doubtful; he looked at Zhèng Wén Ān, then looked at Huò Wēi Lóu, but he did not open his mouth to vocalise his questions.

However, Huò Wēi Lóu was not done talking. He expounded on each word as he said: “And in the Fifteenth Year of Jianhe, on February the Fifth, halfway past yin shi, it happened to be a Yin year and Yin hour.”

Zhèng Wén Róng’s complexion changed, but he continued to hear Huò Wēi Lóu say: “Furthermore, not only was Zhèng Yún Ní’s birthdate falsified, but she also has a twin sister.”

The words were like deafening thunder as it left Zhèng Wén Róng and Zhèng Wén Ān dumbstruck.

Zhèng Wén Róng was shocked, Zhèng Wén Ān was petrified.

Huò Wēi Lóu’s utterance was cold and hard like iron. No matter how Zhèng Wén Ān tried to conceal it, he still could not resist lifting his head, panic and disorder brimming in his eyes. His lips were trembling, but he could form a proper sentence, “How… How could…”

The expression that Huò Wēi Lóu regarded Zhèng Wén Ān with became even colder, “Sixteen years ago, because of the birth of the twin daughters, all of you changed all the servants in the Marquis Residence. After learning that the murderer left behind the four words ‘Yin Year Yin Hour’ as the case progressed, you knew that the murderer must be aware of the inside story that took place in the past. After having a discussion with Momo Yu, both of you decided to destroy the secret room underneath the ancestral hall to ensure that we couldn’t investigate it, because there was evidence there; not a piece of paper or an article of clothing, but an entire house of rooms where a living person was once trapped in. Your family couldn’t get rid of all the traces in time, so you could only burn down the ancestral hall.”

The blood in Zhèng Wén Ān’s face receded completely, “Hou’ye, without any evidence…”

“You want evidence?” Huò Wēi Lóu’s voice was devoid of emotions, but the more emotionless it was, the more chills it induced, “The ancestral hall was deliberately burned down, and the majority of the secret room underneath has collapsed, but none of you expected that the secret room was linked to the buried culvert that was left behind in the earlier years. Not only did the person that your family try to hide not die, but she even escaped on her own. And she, has come seeking revenge against her cold-blooded kin.”

Zhèng Wén Ān abruptly raised his eyes to look at Huò Wēi Lóu, fear and dread evident in his eyes, as if his most terrifying conjecture had been confirmed but was incapable of accepting it. The bend of his knees softened, and he retreated two steps, wanting to collapse to the ground.

Zhèng Wén Róng, being keen sighted and deft handed, supported him with his arm. “Fifth Younger Brother, what on earth is going on?”

Zhèng Wén Ān swallowed his saliva with much difficulty, his pupils shifting rapidly, but he did not utter a single word from start to end. Cold sweat dripped down from his forehead, and his entire person was pervaded with a sense of exhaustion like he had reached the end of his allocated lifespan. “Don’t ask me, I don’t know… I don’t know anything…”

Huò Wēi Lóu glanced at Zhèng Wén Róng, “You once said that, being born as twins was already inauspicious, but if they were born during a Yin year and Yin hour, they would wreak havoc. Your mother, and your older and younger brothers, chose to hide a person in a dark room underground, for the sake of protecting the Marquis Residence’s high position and great wealth. For all these years, she has lived without daylight, and she is far more miserable than you.”

暗无天日 (pinyin: an wu tian ri) – fig. a world without justice.

Zhèng Wén Róng was born a twin, and he, who had never enjoyed a single bit of the riches and honours that a Marquis Residence’s noble son deserved because he was sent away from birth, had once lamented that fate was unfair, but he never thought that the child which Da Furen delivered sixteen years ago, was actually a pair of twin daughters, and that in order to secure the marriage with His Second Highness, the Marquis Residence would choose to hide one of them in a secret room underground, and lock them up for a full sixteen years.

When he thought about how Da Furen had gone insane that year for no apparent reason, the doubts that had lingered with Zhèng Wén Róng for many years finally had an answer as well. Waves raged and seas stormed at the bottom of his eyes as he turned to observe at Zhèng Wén Ān’s visage. Even if he persisted in being hard-mouthed, Zhèng Wén Róng could perceive that everything that Huò Wēi Lóu said was true.

He gnashed his teeth hard, “Then right now, she… Where is that child?”

Huò Wēi Lóu said, “There was no one underground and it can be assumed that she is still hiding in the residence right now. Since this place has been discovered, she’s bound to suffer a shock as well. Concurrently, Zhèng Yún Ní left her courtyard on her own and vanished after learning that we were digging the well.”

He peered at the two brothers, “Speak, the both of you. Where did she go? What is she trying to do?”

Zhèng Wén Ān immediately said: “This matter is unrelated to Yún Ní, she doesn’t know anything.”

As Zhèng Wén Ān spoke, the rims of his eyes were red, though it was unknown if he was feeling guilty as he remembered what had happened in the past, or he was heartbroken as he thought about how the Marquis Residence’s glory and splendour could not be protected. “What happened that year, was only known by the older generation, she doesn’t know anything, it must be because the murderer wants to hurt her…”

It was at this point where Zhèng Wén Ān finally stopped being hard-mouthed, practically confirming everything that Huò Wēi Lóu had said just now, “One entreats Hou’ye to dispatch his men immediately to conduct a search, and stop any harm from befalling her. This matter has nothing to do with her, I… I don’t want to see another person die in the residence ever again.”

Zhèng Wén Ān’s voice was low and hoarse, his expression mournful, as if he was going to cry in the next second.

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Seeing that he was genuinely unaware of the inside story, Huò Wēi Lóu scrunched his brows, “Get someone to search the stupid girl’s dwelling, the stupid girl also disappeared without a trace in the afternoon, she needs to be investigated as well, Zhèng Yún Ní…”

Huò Wēi Lóu was commanding the embroidered emissaries when his eyes carelessly swept past Huà Yì, who was still kneeling on the ground. After he stated that the stupid girl had also disappeared, he noticed that Huà Yì’s expression went through a visible change. Huò Wēi Lóu directed his gaze towards Huà Yì, “You know something, don’t you?”

Huà Yì’s whole body was shaking nonstop, and her mouth parted several times, as if she was hiding a huge secret but she didn’t dare to divulge it. Zhèng Wén Róng became anxious as he said: “What do you know exactly? Do you want to see something bad happening to your Oldest Young Lady?”

Huà Yì’s tears dripped down immediately as she cried: “Nubi… Nubi thought that, if someone was going to harm the Oldest Young Lady, maybe it’s the stupid girl… it’s the stupid girl who wants to seek vengeance against Oldest Young Lady…”

The stupid girl wants to seek vengeance against the Oldest Young Lady?

Zhèng Wén Róng said in surprise, “Why would it be the stupid girl? The stupid girl was a child picked up from the roadside. Although she gained Oldest Sister-in-law’s tenderness through a freak combination of factors, it would be going too far to say that she’s the person who was hidden away…”

Similarly, Bó Ruò Yōu knitted her brows in response. The stupid girl’s family background had been investigated by Lao Furen before. If the stupid girl was the child from that year, how could she be allowed to stay inside the residence? Furthermore, her leg injury was real, it was not possible for her to commit a violent crime, and Da Furen’s logic behind bringing her back was simply because she remembered that she had twin daughters in her heart, which was why she treated her as her other child.

Additionally, the stupid girl had fallen inside the well and miraculously survived, and the marks on the plum tree beside the well also indicated that someone frequently tethered a rope there to get up and down. Since the rope needed to be tied to the tree and someone was climbing up and down, who tied the rope above the well? And if someone went down to the well, who kept the rope that was being tied to the tree? After considering all the options, only the stupid girl bore that possibility. Under the pretext that she was picking plum flowers for Da Furen, her regular trips to the plum forest would draw little to no suspicion, and what strengthened this point was the fact that she was also the one who appeared to draw away the embroidered emissaries’ attention, which aided the murderer in her escape.

Huà Yì cried and shook her head: “No… It’s because… it’s because when the stupid girl dropped into the well two years ago, it… it was Oldest Young Lady who pushed the stupid girl down—”

Once those words were uttered, the expressions of everyone present changed collectively. Having revealed her master’s secret under the forceful questioning, Huà Yì was scared to the extreme. She prostrated herself on the ground and said: “Nubi isn’t lying, the stupid girl managed to win Da Furen’s favour for some unknown reason and Oldest Young Lady wasn’t happy about it at the bottom of her heart. That time… That time, the stupid girl happened to arrive at the plum forest to pick flowers, Oldest Young Lady was seized by a cruel impulse and she pushed her down. Nubi was following Young Lady then, this incident… this incident is only known by nubi and the Young Lady.”

After finishing her speech in one breath, Huà Yì was already terrified to the point she went limp on the ground. Since those words had been spoken, it was no longer possible for her to stay in the Marquis Residence and serve by the Oldest Young Lady’s side.

A chill swept through the bottom of Bó Ruò Yōu’s heart. The stupid girl was ugly and dull-witted, and apart from Da Furen’s occasional tender affection, she was practically struggling to eke out a living. If Da Furen hadn’t been ill then it would have been fine, but her madness was hard to treat, and her loving care, scarcely gave any benefits to the stupid girl, and it might even incur disasters and troubles. Not only did the servants bully her because of this, but even the high and mighty Oldest Young Lady of the Marquis Residence harboured murderous intentions towards her.

When Chūn Táo previously mentioned that the stupid girl dropped into the well, Bó Ruò Yōu naturally assumed that it was a result of the stupid girl’s clumsiness, but the thought that she had been a victim of deliberate cruelty had never occurred to her, and that the perpetrator would be Zhèng Yún Ní. Did she want to kill her only because Da Furen showered her with a lot of affection?

“You… what drivel are you spouting? How could Yún Ní act against a lowly slave?”

Up until now, Zhèng Wén Ān was still protecting Zhèng Yún Ní. Zhèng Yún Ní was someone who was going to marry His Second Highness, and she was like the moon that was cupped by stars ever since she was born. Even if the plot was exposed, and this marriage had become an unknown variable, Zhèng Wén Ān still insisted on protecting Zhèng Yún Ní till the end.

Huà Yì cried and shook her head, “Nubi hasn’t lied once, nubi is doing this for the sake of saving Oldest Young Lady as well. When the entire episode happened, the stupid girl saw the Oldest Young Lady, and when she was rescued later, Oldest Young Lady had assumed that she would out her, but she seemed to have forgotten about that incident, which allowed the Oldest Young Lady to eventually settle her heart. But it was never clear if she had truly had no memory of it, and suddenly giving rise to the desire for revenge is not completely impossible.

“Oldest Young Lady’s identity is respected and noble. If [you] are asking who might harm the Oldest Young Lady, nubi can only think of the stupid girl, or… or that murderer…”

Bó Ruò Yōu’s brows scrunched slightly. It wasn’t that the stupid girl had forgotten that memory; rather, she didn’t dare. Her position was low and inferior, how could she possibly have the courage to admit that the Oldest Young Lady had committed a violent crime?

That being said, not only did the stupid girl know who the murderer was, but she also had this unsettled grievance with Zhèng Yún Ní, and the latter was in actual danger. Huò Wēi Lóu beckoned Hè Chéng with his hand, “Recall the government hirelings from the ancestral hall, and start searching outwards from Zhèng Yún Ní and that stupid girl’s courtyard. Do not dismiss a single place, especially the corners and deserted areas.”

Hè Chéng verbally complied. Now that the truth of the case was gradually emerging above the water surface as the Marquis Residence’s old affairs were exposed, Hè Chéng was honestly out of his wits as well. However, with Huò Wēi Lóu overseeing the situation, he just needed to be a good lackey.

When Bó Ruò Yōu saw Hè Chéng instructing the government hirelings, she stepped forward and said to Huò Wēi Lóu: “Hou’ye, min’nü would like to go to the stupid girl’s dwelling again to look around.”

She was insinuating that she could just follow the government hirelings, but who could have anticipated that Huò Wēi Lóu would glance at her and say, “Come along with benhou.”

Regardless of how much was left in doubt, asking more was redundant. Zhèng Yún Ní left her courtyard on her own, the stupid girl had also vanished in thin air, and that murderer – whose entire life experience was full of frustrations and dashed hopes, and yet so vicious and merciless – was hiding within the residence somewhere. The cold night was dark, and Huò Wēi Lóu was also unwilling to see another person die in the Marquis Residence.

Since Huò Wēi Lóu wanted to personally visit the place, Bó Ruò Yōu followed along, of course. He ordered the embroidered emissaries to guard the well rigorously once more, then made his way towards the servants’ courtyard with large strides. When Zhèng Wén Róng and Zhèng Wén Ān saw that, they followed in his footsteps as well.

The sudden changes mobilised all of the government hirelings and embroidered emissaries with the Marquis Residence as they searched everywhere in a strict and urgent manner. Most of the servants were constrained to their various courtyards and pavilions, and they were currently looking outside through the door seams.

The cold night was vast, it was a clear and boundless sky during the day and yet not a single star could be seen right now. The embroidered emissaries were holding fire torches as they went forward, lighting up a few metres of their surroundings like it was daytime, but any further than that was dim, akin to the irresolute shadows of evil spirits, as though it was hiding something.

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Upon reaching the servants’ courtyard, Bó Ruò Yōu saw the wing-room she visited last night again. An embroidered emissary stepped forward to open the door, but the room was quiet and uninhabited. Huò Wēi Lóu took the lead in entering, his gaze scanning the space in a clockwise motion. The bed, table, and chair inside the room could be covered at a glance. Certainly, nothing abnormal could be observed.

Bó Ruò Yōu followed him inside, her gaze landed on the bed once more. That scent satchel with crude needlework was still lying next to the pillow on at the head of the bed, but apart from this, nothing else in the room seemed to be the stupid girl’s personal possession. Eyebrows slightly furrowed, Bó Ruò Yōu caught sight of a slightly shabby and old cupboard on the left of the bed.

It was the only cupboard in the room, there was a crack above the cupboard door, and what was stored inside was unknown. The stupid girl was not suspected last night, but it was vastly different tonight. Bó Ruò Yōu stepped forward and opened the cupboard door.

Once the cupboard door opened, Bó Ruò Yōu’s gaze proceeded to change slightly, since she saw some old clothing being stored inside, and placed in the topmost compartment, was actually a lantern that was identical to the moon rabbit lantern which had been found inside the secret room just now. The stupid girl had one, the secret room had another. Bó Ruò Yōu pursed her lips, a shred of a complicated and indescribable feeling inundating in the recesses of her heart.

She was becoming increasingly certain that stupid girl had been saved at the bottom of the well.

As someone who lived underground all year round, it was natural that she had never seen such lanterns. The common moon rabbit lantern was still considered a treasure to her even if only children would be fond of them.

When Huò Wēi Lóu saw that Bó Ruò Yōu was squatting in front of the cupboard without moving, he walked over, and his gaze changed too. He originally assumed that Bó Ruò Yōu would feel sentimental for a few seconds, but she regained her composure at swift speeds, taking out the moon rabbit lantern before she started flipping through the old clothing in the bottom compartment.

There were just seven to eight articles of clothing, with all four seasons accounted for. After flipping through them briefly, Bó Ruò Yōu did not discover any oddities, but just as she was going to stand up, her pupils shrank a little. She saw a plain cyan lined robe.

The plain lined robe was collectively worn by the servants of the Marquis Residence. Chūn Táo had been wearing a similar winter lined robe for the past few days, and during her first encounter with the stupid girl, the stupid girl was also wearing this winter lined robe, but when she saw the stupid girl again later, she was clad in an indigo blue winter lined robe instead.

A thread of peculiarity slid past the back of Bó Ruò Yōu’s mind. Subconsciously, she flipped and turned that winter lined robe, but she didn’t manage to unravel anything. However, without any prior warning, her nose caught a faint whiff of a dark and moist odour…

A spark flickered past her mind, causing Bó Ruò Yōu to freeze on the spot.

This smell was exceedingly faint, but she had just come out of the underground culvert, so she could not be more familiar with this smell. She froze for a short moment, then abruptly rose to her feet and stood in front of the back window of the stupid girl’s wing-room, pushing open the back window with one hand.

Once the back window was open, an open space filled with junk entered her view. The accumulated snow was half-melted which made everything wet and cold, but that nose-assailing smell of sludge wasn’t present.

Where did the odorous sludge she smelled yesterday come from then?

Bó Ruò Yōu’s heart shook lightly, her gaze pacing back and forth unconsciously. Suddenly, her gaze slid downwards, shifting below the back window, close to the soil ramparts of the steps that were next to the foot of the wall. Bó Ruò Yōu’s breath hitched, and she belatedly realised that her hands and legs had gone cold.

Because of the shelter provided by the eaves, the steps had yet to dry. At this moment, there was a pair of muddied footprints on top, and those footprints were the same size as the footprints that she carefully measured in the wintersweet forest behind Zhèng Wén Yàn’s study courtyard. As she stared at those footprints, Bó Ruò Yōu could imagine that when she entered the room last night, someone was leaning against the window trim and standing under the back window.

Bó Ruò Yōu only felt the hair on her arms standing.

And very quickly, she abruptly conceived another possibility that could make all her hair stand on its ends.

Chūn Táo once said, the stupid was very unusual as well.

The details of her first encounter with the stupid girl surged into her brain again. In a short moment’s work, Bó Ruò Yōu only felt a formless and large hand strangling her throat, lodging the air in between.

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It was at the same moment where footsteps sounded outside the door, but it was the embroidered emissary who was in-charge of searching the outer areas that stepped across the courtyard threshold in quick strides.

“Hou’ye, the Oldest Young Lady has appeared! She went to Da Furen’s place, saying that she wanted to bring Da Furen to pick plum flowers.”

Bó Ruò Yōu snapped back from her reverie, and when she reached the door, she heard Huò Wēi Lóu reply with a deep voice, “Pick plum flowers? Did she explain where she went just now?”

The embroidered emissary shook his head, “No. This subordinate did not personally see Zheng da xiaojie just now, it was Da Furen’s close maidservant that made the report because she knew that a search had commenced for the Oldest Young Lady. Currently, Da Furen has been led away by the Oldest Young Lady, and the maidservants originally wanted to follow, but the Oldest Young Lady refused to let them follow.”

Everything was fine and well, but why was Zhèng Yún Ní bringing Da Furen to the plum forest to pick flowers on her lonesome?

When Zhèng Wén Ān heard that Zhèng Yún Ní had re-appeared, his heart eased, “Yún Ní is extremely filial towards Oldest Sister-in-law. Oldest Sister-in-law has a predilection for plum flowers, there’s nothing wrong with her bringing Oldest Sister-in-law to pick flowers.”

On the contrary, Huò Wēi Lóu asserted, “Dispatch someone to the plum forest to have a look and tell them not to leave their dwellings without authorisation again.”

That embroidered emissary responded in the affirmative and departed. Once Huò Wēi Lóu turned around, he noted that Bó Ruò Yōu’s complexion was slightly pale, which made his brows wrinkle, “What did [you] discover?”

Bó Ruò Yōu’s mouth corners thinned, as if she did not know how she should phrase it, but when she was confronted with Huò Wēi Lóu’s dark and deep pupils, it made her stuttering heart calm slightly. Thus, Bó Ruò Yōu said: “Last night, might not necessarily be the first time min’nü saw the murderer.”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyebrows raised instantaneously, and Bó Ruò Yōu rasped out with much difficulty, “On the morning of the day Zheng san’ye (3rd) was murdered, min’nü might have already seen her.” Her eyes drifted towards Fu gonggong, who was standing outside, before she added, “Fu gonggong saw her too.”

When Fu gonggong heard the latter sentence, he immediately stepped forward to stand at the door entrance as he asked: “Zajia saw her too?”

Huò Wēi Lóu and Fu gonggong were both looking at Bó Ruò Yōu, and she said: “From the very beginning, there was something min’nü could never comprehend: although the stupid girl’s brows and eyes shared a three-part similarity to Zheng da xiaojie, her scar is so big, and no matter who it is, it would never occur to them to link her appearance to Zheng da xiaojie, and Da Furen should never have brought her back to the residence, and cherish her like a daughter.”

Let alone Bó Ruò Yōu, even the others could not make sense of this question.

Bó Ruò Yōu paused, “But what if, in Da Furen’s heart, the other daughter already possessed a scar on her countenance?”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s expression contorted instantaneously as he twisted around to glare at Zhèng Wén Ān, “When Da Furen gave birth to a pair of twin daughters, and all of you decided to hide one, did you specifically ruin that child’s face when you were hiding her?”

Once those words came out, even Fu gonggong revealed intolerance on his face.

A small infant that was just born, how could they be so heartless as to ruin the child’s face?

But Zhèng Wén Ān shook his head, “No… We didn’t. Our residence doesn’t only have one pair of twins, in our great-grandfather’s generation, there was a pair of twin sons too. In the past, they would always be sent away, but when it came to Yún Ní, we didn’t dare to send her away… if someone discovers that they looked identical after they grew up, we would be guilty of deceiving the monarch, so we chose to hide the child.

“When Oldest Sister-in-law was pregnant, she managed to obtain an early marriage betrothal with the Guifei niangniang in the Capital, and she arrived further south in Qingzhou later. Guifei niangniang would frequently dispatch someone to visit, and after being made aware that Oldest Sister-in-law was on the verge of giving birth, she dispatched a Momo to take care of Oldest Sister-in-law. Seeing that the Momo was going to arrive soon, and with no other recourse, we could only choose to hide the child in the ancestral hall, we didn’t ruin the child’s face…”

Zhèng Wén Ān’s voice became lower the longer he spoke. It was quite apparent that he found it slightly difficult to speak about, but if they didn’t ruin that child’s face, where did the scar that Bó Ruò Yōu was talking about come from?

Huò Wēi Lóu looked towards Bó Ruò Yōu, and Bó Ruò Yōu shook her head, “Min’nü has yet to figure out this point, except…”

Before Bó Ruò Yōu could finish her words, Hè Chéng entered the room hastily with two government hirelings, “Hou’ye, the stupid girl has been found! The stupid girl was hiding in the kitchen in the south, she was actually stealing food…”

Before Hè Chéng finished his words, another embroidered emissary walked in from outside.

“Hou’ye, the Oldest Young Lady and Da Furen didn’t go to the plum forest, the comrades standing guard at the plum forest said that Da Furen and the Oldest Young Lady did not go over at all. Additionally, two government hirelings in the east saw the stupid girl, and when they went up to question her, the stupid girl said that she was going to look for Da Furen and the Oldest Young Lady…”

After the embroidered emissary was done recounting, he suddenly realised that everyone’s expression had changed. He was slightly baffled, but Hè Chéng could no longer suppress the urge to speak: “Where did you just say the stupid girl was seen? The government hirelings under me found the stupid girl in the south, and the stupid girl was stealing food in the kitchen. She has already been arrested, soon to be detained in the front courtyard. How did you manage to see the stupid girl in the east?”

The embroidered emissary was also visibly surprised when he heard that, “It was two government hirelings from the east side who reported it…”

Everyone was stunned, how did two stupid girls manage to appear at the same time?!

“Hou’ye, Daren, it’s because there are indeed two stupid girls.”

Bó Ruò Yōu suddenly interrupted, which caused Huò Wēi Lóu to glance back at her. Bó Ruò Yōu stated: “This was what min’nü meant just now. The person hidden underground, is also a girl who has a burn scar on her face like the stupid girl. Their physiques are similar, and owing to the scar on their faces, it’s enough for her to pass off as the genuine.” She directed her gaze towards Fu gonggong, “Gonggong, the stupid girl we met the first time, probably wasn’t the real stupid girl, but the murderer who was hidden underground.”

It was only then that Fu gonggong’s complexion changed a few times, “Back then… Back then, she was following the other servants to deliver funeral offerings. She was helping out in Lao Furen’s mourning hall that day, which was how she managed to steal the demon-capitulating pestle ceremonial tool?!”

Bó Ruò Yōu nodded, and Fu gonggong responded by covering his mouth, “Skies above, zajia actually met the murderer face-to-face so early on…”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes were severe, and he did not have the mind to acknowledge Fu gonggong’s retrospective fear. “The stupid girl that was looking for Da Furen and the Oldest Young Lady, where is she right now?”

One stupid girl was stealing food in the south, while the other stupid girl was looking for Da Furen and Zhèng Yún Ní. The real stupid girl feared Zhèng Yún Ní so much that she couldn’t avoid her fast enough, so why would she go and look for her? Furthermore, judging from how the murderer would stop at nothing to harm people, it goes without saying that the one in the east was the fake stupid girl.

The embroidered emissary said: “She was found in a byway in the east which was leading towards Moon-viewing Pavilion, it’s highly likely that she’s heading for Da Furen’s courtyard right now.”

Huò Wēi Lóu marched outwards without missing a beat, “The murderer has appeared, order the government hirelings in the other directions to scatter towards the east, in preparation of taking down the murderer.”

Upon seeing him depart, Bó Ruò Yōu immediately followed in his footsteps hastily. Huò Wēi Lóu’s gait was fast, and she basically had to break into a small jog. After coming out of the courtyard, Huò Wēi Lóu immediately headed towards Da Furen’s courtyard. The murderer knew the residence’s layout like the back of her hand, and she naturally knew where the watchmen were. If she wanted to evade the eyes of the government hirelings, it would not be very difficult for her, and she had the night to act as her concealment. If they allowed her to escape tonight, it was unknown how much time they would have to waste again. Huò Wēi Lóu’s countenance became strict, and his hand grazed past the dagger at his waist reflexively.

Since his pace was extremely fast, the others did not dare to be negligent in keeping up with him, to say nothing of the Zheng brothers, whose hearts were alarmed as they trembled with fear. As they were visibly closing in on Da Furen’s courtyard, Huò Wēi Lóu came to a sudden halt. His cold and strict phoenix eyes first glanced past Da Furen’s courtyard in the distance, then he looked in the direction of the Moon-viewing Pavilion.

With the byway that the stupid girl was discovered in acting as the central axis, Da Furen’s courtyard was inclined east, the Moon-viewing Pavilion was inclined northwest, and between the Moon-viewing Pavilion and Da Furen’s courtyard, was the most convenient escape route since it was a small path leading into the eastern bamboo forest.

Huò Wēi Lóu’s heroic stature slanted as he peered in the direction of the bamboo forest.

Amidst the night colours that was like ink, the entire northeast corner of the Marquis Residence was shrouded in darkness. Apart from the plum forest which had people stationed there, the huge bamboo forest and empty lotus pond was not being watched over by anyone right now, and the bamboo forest was adjacent to the plum forest. The most dangerous place was the safest place; hiding someone inside the densely packed bamboo forest could not be more opportune.

“Go to Da Furen’s courtyard to take a look, the rest will continue towards the bamboo forest.”

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Once Huò Wēi Lóu’s words landed, an embroidered emissary accepted his order and left, while the rest followed Huò Wēi Lóu towards the east.

Bó Ruò Yōu looked in that direction as well, an ominous sense of the foreordained emerging in her heart inexplicably. It was the eastern bamboo forest again… Then she thought about those two unlit moon rabbit lanterns, which made Bó Ruò Yōu feel more distress. Was the murderer chasing after Zhèng Yún Ní and Da Furen because she harboured loathing in her heart towards her mother’s inability to protect her, and she was dissatisfied with Zhèng Yún Ní who was completely different from her – like they were heaven and earth – despite being sisters, hence why she wanted act against them?

A gust of cold wind suddenly curled up and rose, lifting Huò Wēi Lóu’s robes as he walked at the very front. The gold-coloured dark patterns on the robes were intermittently visible, and under the flickering fire torches and night lanterns, his broad back figure appeared all the more powerful and threatening. No one knew what Huò Wēi Lóu was doing or thinking, nor did he bother to explain why he was searching in this direction, but Bó Ruò Yōu never once questioned whether his directional decision was right or wrong, as if she had always trusted Marquis Wuzhao from the very start.

Bó Ruò Yōu was very familiar with the road in the east, but once they turned around the corner, Huò Wēi Lóu’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt in front. Bó Ruò Yōu killed her momentum too late, and she nearly slammed into Huò Wēi Lóu’s back. Huò Wēi Lóu was a lot taller than her, and she couldn’t understand why Huò Wēi Lóu had stopped in the tracks in the moment, but once she looked past Huò Wēi Lóu’s shoulders and at the eastern sky, she first saw that underneath the eastern sky dome, thick smoke was rising from the tongues of flame that were flying everywhere—

“Put out the fire.” (救火)

Before Bó Ruò Yōu could come to her senses, she heard Huò Wēi Lóu put down those two heavy words.

He lifted his feet and ran forward, with the embroidered emissaries behind him mobilising in full force. After Huò Wēi Lóu took a few steps forward, Bó Ruò Yōu’s range of vision was no longer restricted, and she finally saw a scene that shocked her.

Inside the eastern bamboo forest, a huge fire had started burning some time ago, and the intense fire was engulfing the dried leaves and weeds to rise up, and in addition to the fact that most of the accumulated snow had melted, half of the bamboo forest had become a sea of fire with the aid of the wind.

Fire! Unexpectedly, there was another fire!

Huò Wēi Lóu had already darted into the fire forest, and Fu gonggong and Hè Chéng were similarly dazed. Hè Chéng immediately ordered the government hirelings to mobilise and put out the fire, and then he shot a look at Zhèng Wén Róng and Zhèng Wén Ān, “Not calling for the young male servants in the residence yet, if this fire spreads out, the ancestral hall will be nothing compared to…”

The ancestral hall was practically isolated from the front courtyard; besides the hundred-year pine and cypress trees wrapping around it, there were no buildings constructed at the side. This bamboo forest, however, was different; the bamboo forest was close to the front courtyard, and once the fire picked up momentum and spread outwards, the surrounding rockery, forests, plus the winding corridors and high buildings, was enough to allow the huge fire to spread across the entire Marquis Residence. Zhèng Wén Róng and Zhèng Wén Ān’s expression underwent a huge change simultaneously, but Zhèng Wén Róng was steadier than Zhèng Wén Ān as he immediately pivoted on his heels to call for the servants, while Zhèng Wén Ān was staring at the huge fire stupidly, unable to react.

Bó Ruò Yōu, Hè Chéng, and the others rushed towards the periphery of the forest fire. Just as they got closer, they saw the embroidered emissaries from the plum forest gathering outside the bamboo forest. The cold winds of the night were strong, and the fire’s intensity was going to be hard to contain, and in addition to the fact that there was no water in the buried culvert and lotus pond, how this fire was supposed to be put out, was honestly a difficult problem.

Yet, they heard Huò Wēi Lóu speak in a deep voice: “First excavate and break the forest trees in the east and west, using the sandy soil as a barrier, then order the servants within the residence to bring water, and douse the fire from an escape point upwind.” As he said that, Huò Wēi Lóu raised his eyes to look at the sky, “It’s fortunate that it’s a western wind today.”

If the wind direction changed, it would bring the fire towards the residence, and that would be much harder to control. Bó Ruò Yōu was staring at the blazing bamboo forest, but she was wondering how the fire started. While it was true that the bamboo forest had a lot of dried leaves, most of the accumulated snow had melted during the day today, hence most of the dried leaves were wet, and even if a meteorite dropped on it, it might not even ignite. But right now, a huge fire had started in the forest.

Just as Bó Ruò Yōu was processing that thought, a figure suddenly flashed out from the fire forest. Her surprise was setting in when she realised that the person running out of the forest was actually Zhèng Yún Ní! In the next second, the expressions of all the people standing outside the forest altered greatly.

“Yún Ní?!” Zhèng Wén Ān was the first to step forward and yell in shock.

Zhèng Wén Yàn had brought Da Furen to pick plum flowers, but she disappeared halfway through and never made it to the plum forest. But at this moment, she was actually running out of the fire. Let alone Zhèng Wén Ān, even Bó Ruò Yōu could barely contain the urge to exclaim in surprise.

Zhèng Yún Ní was essentially carrying the fire with her as she ran out of the bamboo forest: there was black soot on her face, the jacket and skirt on her person had big and small holes from the sparks, some strands of her hair had been singed. Just as she ran out, she promptly collapsed to the ground, and when she raised her head, her face was full of tears. “Fifth Uncle, save Mother quickly, that person… That person wants to burn me and Mother to death, Mother was forced to stay inside the forest in order to save me!”

Her voice was hoarse, her visage was coloured with dread, and she was trembling as she spoke, looking all fearful and miserable. It was essentially pity invoking on first sight. Zhèng Wén Ān turned pale with fright as he looked into the fire, “What? Oldest Sister-in-law is inside?”

Huò Wēi Lóu glowered at Zhèng Yún Ní from a higher point of elevation, raising his hand towards the two embroidered emissaries by his side. The pair immediately entered the fire from where Zhèng Yún Ní ran out from. Zhèng Yún Ní was still limp on the ground, sobbing to near incoherence, “Yes… Mother is still inside…”

She turned her body back, her tears falling like rain as she stared into the forest, “Mother is still inside, please save Mother quickly ah…”

Zhèng Wén Ān looked rather distressed, and he went forward to help her up, “Yún Ní, what happened exactly? Why did both of you come here?”

Zhèng Yún Ní cried as she said, “I was bringing Mother to pick the plum flowers, but as we were walking there, there was fire light flickering inside the forest and Mother was drawn to it, and she started running towards this side. I couldn’t pull her back on my own, so I could only chase after her. Just as we entered the forest, I caught a whiff of a strange smell inside the forest, and that was when that person appeared…”

“Which person?” Zhèng Wén Ān asked anxiously.

Zhèng Yún Ní’s voice was trembling, “It was… It was Zumu’s departed spirit ah… That person was wearing Zumu’s gown as she stared at us with dead eyes. She said that she had been waiting for us for a long time, and before she finished speaking, she threw the fire-starter on the ground, and that was when I realised that the surrounding forest was actually full of tung oil…”

Zhèng Yún Ní was crying like her heart and lungs were being torn apart. Although she was being supported by Zhèng Wén Ān, she could barely stand on her own. Presently, she was gripping onto Zhèng Wén Ān’s arm tightly, “Fifth Uncle, hurry up and save Mother ah…” As she spoke, she turned around to look at Huò Wēi Lóu again, “Hou’ye, Hou’ye please save Mother, Mother is currently ill… she… how is she supposed to run out ah…”

Zhèng Yún Ní’s tears were akin to a bursting dam, the pain of each and every uttered word heart-rendering and soul-wrenching. For starters, she was born pretty and magnificent, at the peak of her blossoming years, and now that she had fallen to the floor, her pretty eyes red from crying, and in addition to the grime of her face, she appeared all the more feeble and pitiful. Moreover, thinking about how she had just escaped from a terrifying forest fire while her birth mother remained in the fire forest to save her, Hè Chéng was already moved to the point his nose was slightly sour.

“Oldest Young Lady, the embroidered emissaries have entered the fire, don’t be afraid, Da Furen will definitely be saved and brought out.”

Zhèng Wén Róng was busy leading the stewards and young male servants who were carrying water buckets to rush over with due haste, and when he saw Zhèng Yún Ní on the ground, looking like she had just escaped a disaster, he was immediately stupefied. Once Zhèng Wén Ān told him that the murderer wanted to burn her and Da Furen to death, cold sweat oozed out of Zhèng Wén Róng’s body out of fear.

Meanwhile, Zhèng Yún Ní was weeping so much she had become possessed; genuinely afraid that Da Furen couldn’t be saved, she even crawled two steps to pull Huò Wēi Lóu’s robe hems, “Hou’ye, begging Hou’ye to dispatch a few more men, dispatch a few more men to save Mother, Mother was just trying to save me, save her, please save her ah…”

Her hoarse voice was heart-breaking, and her countenance which conveyed that was doing everything she could, was scrawled with despair and pleas.

Huò Wēi Lóu looked at Zhèng Yún Ní, and suddenly knelt down on one knee.

The distance between them closed instantaneously, as though the aloof and lofty demon king was casting down mercy to mitigate this human tragedy. No one was surprised when they witnessed this scene. Who wouldn’t be moved by this tear-shedding beauty who was wholeheartedly trying to save her mother?

“A woman’s tears can never move benhou.”

Huò Wēi Lóu’s tone of voice was apathetic and lined with frigidity, and his following words, made everyone’s complexion change greatly.

“Your mother didn’t manage to run out not because she was trying to save you. It was you, who left her inside.”