“Madam, didn’t she say anything when she was crying?”
Du Du’s tone carried a hint of urgency: “Could you try to remember again?”
“No!!” Lin Yu’er shook her head.
Squatting in front of the stove, she sniffed wildly.
“Right now I only want to drink the milk tea Momma makes! Momma, hurry up!”
“Don’t panic, Madam, we must wait a little longer…”
“I won’t wait, hurry up hurry up hurry up hurry up, I want milk tea I want it, I want it right now…”
Zhang Momo, her head aching from the noise, picked up a small teacup, “Then shall I scoop a little for you to taste first?”
“Bring a big bowl, not a small cup!”
Listening to the voices around her, Du Du glanced toward the direction of the enormous jacaranda tree outside the courtyard wall and shook her head.
At that moment.
The tree branches swayed slightly, and several figures departed almost simultaneously.
Lin Yu’er seemed to notice something, glancing at the jacaranda tree, “Oh ho, several disappeared all at once, so someone really is spying on me?!”
Du Du’s heart leaped into her throat!
The Madam had noticed!!
Help!
We’ve only been in Crabapple Courtyard for three days, are we going to be exposed already!!!
But before she could speak, Lin Yu’er sprang up and dashed to the grass beneath the jacaranda tree, stomping wildly.
She trampled the camellias there into mush before returning.
Du Du stared blankly at the trampled camellias: “Madam, you said someone was spying on you? Why did you stomp on those camellias?”
Lin Yu’er picked up a porcelain cup, slurping the milk tea noisily.
After finishing, she tossed the cup aside, looking immensely pleased with herself.
“You don’t understand. This is my trick!”
“I deliberately shouted like that to startle anyone hiding in the shadows—if not forcing them to reveal themselves, at least making them jump. It works! Yes, I’m just that profound and mysterious! Hehehehe! Hey, Du Du, why do you look so pale?”
Du Du: …
What a coincidence, she was the one who had been startled.
How touching.
It’s not the Madam’s madness that’s frightening, it’s her cunning madness that is, ahhh I might as well just admit I’m exposed!
Lin Yu’er reached out and touched her face.
Du Du, her hands sweaty, wiped them on her skirt: “Madam, I’m fine.”
Lin Yu’er tilted her head and looked at her for a moment, then, as if she had figured something out, said nothing and squatted back down by the stove.
“Momma, another cup.”
…
Prison Warden Office.
He Jiulin was reviewing case files when Chang An entered from outside.
Chang Sui followed behind him.
“Has something happened to the Madam?” He Jiulin’s peripheral vision caught the movement. He closed the file, his expression grave.
After entering, Chang Sui first bowed, then rose: “The Madam is fine, Master, rest assured!”
He Jiulin frowned: “Then why are you here?”
Chang Sui glanced around at the guards by the door. Chang An hurried to close it.
Only then did Chang Sui speak: “The Madam said some strange things today…”
There were many hiding spots in Crabapple Courtyard.
He didn’t know where the guards sent by other officials were concealed, but both he and Qingjue had chosen that particularly large jacaranda tree to hide in.
Originally, the two of them were hiding in the tree canopy, staring at each other, with Qingjue constantly plucking leaves and throwing them at him.
But when the Madam was halfway through speaking, the other seemed to realize something, his face changed, and he hurried away.
Seeing the other flee so quickly, Chang Sui sensed something was wrong and rushed over to report.
“Since Zhang Momo knows the lady so well and even she said it was an auditory hallucination, was it really necessary to specially come report this?” Chang An looked puzzled, reaching out to feel Chang Sui’s forehead. “Are you alright?”
Chang Sui dodged his hand.
“But after Qingjue heard what the lady said, he returned to the general’s residence.”
“That Qingjue stays by the lady’s side every single day without leaving for a moment, how could he suddenly…” Chang An suddenly let out a strange cry. “Ahhhh! I remember something now!”
Both Chang Sui and He Jiulin stared at him intently.
Chang An continued: “Some time ago, one of his subordinates reported his daughter missing. Let me think, what was that subordinate’s name… What was it… Ah, I remember now! Pei Xuanlang! His daughter disappeared mysteriously from her husband’s home half a year after getting married!”
Chang Sui: “You suspect the person in the well is Pei Xuanlang’s daughter?”
Chang An: “Not just suspecting, it must be! Otherwise, why would someone like Qingjue, who wouldn’t leave even if there was thunder outside, suddenly withdraw?”
Chang Sui: “So that means the lady wasn’t hallucinating? She can really hear the voices of the dead?!”
Chang An rubbed his arms as if frightened, but his eyes were filled with excitement.
“I knew the lady was extraordinary!”
“Yesterday the lady helped the marquis survive his poison episode. It wouldn’t be surprising if she really has demonic power…”
Chang Sui: “…”
The lady’s condition is truly remarkable, capable of striking from a distance.
He Jiulin’s typically calm and indifferent eyes gained a meaningful depth.
He took out paper and writing materials from nearby and began writing and drawing. After staring at it for a moment, he suddenly stood up. “Let’s go!!”
Chang An and Chang Sui both looked at He Jiulin.
“Master, where are we going?!”
“To catch the criminal!!”
He Jiulin crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the brazier. He had already picked up his cloak and was putting it on while giving orders as he fastened the ties.
“Chang Sui, go to the archives! Get the records of Pei Yuan’s disappearance case from the ninth compartment of the third row in the seventh cabinet!”
“Chang An, go to the county office and mobilize one hundred soldiers to accompany me to Yanting Road on Xingzhou Street…”
The two immediately sprang into action.
A short while later, the group assembled.
Chang An said with a worried expression: “Yanting Road is where officials from the sixth to ninth ranks live. There are so many of these officials – all kinds of department directors and vice directors are everywhere! Are we going there to find the murderer? That’s too broad a scope!”
He Jiulin: “It’s not broad.”
Chang An: ?
He Jiulin: “Excluding those you mentioned, we’re only looking for the Commandant’s residence!”
“Commandant?” Chang An muttered, a glimmer of light flashing in his small eyes before he let out another strange cry. “Ah, I understand! What the lady said about ‘true and false Xiao Wei’ couldn’t be… Commandant Wu Yong, could it?!!!!”
“When Pei Xuanlang reported the case, that Wu Yong appeared worried and anxious, kneeling to beg the prefect to send troops to search the city! They searched house to house for three days until he collapsed from exhaustion! Later, he would take leave every month to search for his wife. Everyone praised him for his deep affection and loyalty!”
“Such a devoted man moved countless unmarried young women at the time, with even noble ladies expressing willingness to become his second wife.”
“So no one would ever suspect him of killing his wife, let alone search his residence!”
“Thinking about it now, the most impossible scenario turns out to be the most likely! Good heavens! So everyone has been deceived by him all along!”
He Jiulin heard Chang An’s indignant voice, the darkness in his eyes deepening.
All he needed was to make a trip to the Commandant’s residence…
Just find that well with osmanthus flowers nearby, dredge it up, and he would know whether Madam’s auditory hallucinations were real or not.
If they were real…
This ability would be utterly terrifying and defied nature!
Then he must exhaust all means to keep Lin Yu’er at the Zhaoping Marquis Manor!
The group marched straight toward Yanting Road in a grand procession.