The news was brought back by Lin Jiabao.
He had originally been enjoying himself in town with Jiang Tao’er. But after running into an uncle who had just returned from the capital and getting the details from him, he didn’t even have time to take Jiang Tao’er home. He rushed back to the village as fast as he could.
Madam Li had spent the entire day taking care of Lin Mao and had only just managed to sit down for a breather when the news nearly made her faint.
After discussing it for a long time, the mother and son decided that the most likely possibility was that Zhao Escort Leader had taken the money and run away.
But Lin Jiabao came up with another possibility.
“Mother, Su Wan’ning has always been strange since she was little. Could it be that she…”
He made a throat-slitting gesture.
He thought it was quite possible that Zhao Escort Leader had seen Su Wan’ning get close to a powerful noble and, worried that something might go wrong, had gone to find her during the night.
After all, she was just a young woman. It should have been easy to cripple her hand, take her bag, and escape with the money.
Things should have gone smoothly…
But Zhao Escort Leader didn’t know that Su Wan’ning was extraordinarily strong!
So instead, he had been killed by her.
“Impossible! She wouldn’t have that kind of courage!”
Madam Li paused before adding,
“Her arm was covered in blood. Zhao Escort Leader must have injured her!”
Three hundred taels would certainly be enough to make Zhao Escort Leader greedy.
Mother and son looked at each other.
The atmosphere in the room became tense.
Lin Jiabao asked,
“Are you sure her arm was broken? Did you actually see it?”
Madam Li could no longer sit still. Her entire body began to feel uneasy.
“You stay here and watch your father. I’m going to find that wretched girl!”
After saying that, Madam Li hurried out.
She didn’t dare imagine what would happen if her son’s guess was correct.
If Su Wan’ning already knew something, then not only would they be unable to repay the eighty taels borrowed from Uncle Xiong, they wouldn’t be able to trick the money out of Su Wan’ning either.
More importantly, what would happen to the recipes Rainwei wanted?
Without those recipes, how could Rainwei become the Crown Princess?
But Madam Li didn’t know that everything she had said and done was being watched closely.
Every word was also reported to Xu Lingxi and Su Wan’ning.
“So that’s why your aunt was so certain that your arm was broken. But why exactly would they do something like this?”
Xu Lingxi was furious.
Fortunately, she had sent Xuancao out to investigate the Lin family that afternoon. Otherwise, she would never have known that the family was this vicious.
“I… I don’t know…”
Su Wan’ning lowered her eyes, constantly twisting the hem of her clothes between her fingers.
Just then, a young maid came in to report that a woman was waiting outside, claiming to be Su Wan’ning’s aunt. She wanted Su Wan’ning to hurry home because something serious had happened.
“Come on. I’ll go with you and make her explain everything!”
Xu Lingxi grabbed her hand and was about to leave, but Qingfang stopped her.
“Miss, something overheard doesn’t count as evidence. And now that Zhao Escort Leader is missing, there’s no one who can prove that this was their scheme.”
“Then what are we supposed to do? Let this pushover go back and let them bully her again?”
Xu Lingxi was furious.
“I… I’m not a pushover. And I’m not stupid either.”
Su Wan’ning’s voice was soft.
“Yesterday, I didn’t tell her that the ointment on my arm was medicinal. I wanted to see what she was planning too. I just didn’t expect her to actually want to cripple my hand…”
Her voice gradually sank.
“This hand is what I rely on to make a living…”
She looked at Xu Lingxi helplessly.
“Lingxi, I don’t dare see them. Can I go back tomorrow instead?”
Of course, she wasn’t afraid.
She simply didn’t want to go.
Madam Li was so desperate to learn the truth, so Su Wan’ning deliberately refused to give it to her.
One night should be enough for Madam Li and the others to torment themselves with their own guesses.
Let them guess.
In the end, everything would have to be proven with evidence.
But in Xu Lingxi’s eyes, Su Wan’ning looked like an angry, confused, helpless, and frightened girl.
Her heart ached even more.
“Qingfang, keep Madam Li waiting for an hour, then throw her out!”
Qingfang naturally followed her orders.
By the time Madam Li returned to the Lin family, she had completely lost her spirit.
“Bah! The Li family is absolutely unreasonable. I don’t know why, but they refused to let me see that wretched girl and made me wait there for half a day for nothing.”
Whenever she tried to hurry them, tall and burly servants would come out and glare threateningly at her, scaring her into silence.
“Mother, didn’t you just make a wasted trip?”
Lin Jiabao was irritated.
“You should go check on Father. His fever is getting worse.”
No matter what, he had to see Su Wan’ning today and figure out what was going on.
If Zhao Escort Leader hadn’t run away but had actually been killed by her, how were they supposed to repay Uncle Xiong’s eighty taels?
And what about his older sister’s plans? Wouldn’t all their schemes have been for nothing?
He secretly went to the Li family’s estate.
But instead of using the main entrance, he sent someone to ask for Feng Shi.
Feng Shi was already irritated when he heard that Lin Mao’s son wanted to see him.
He didn’t even bother eating and immediately ordered someone to bring Lin Jiabao in.
“What? Is your father dead?”
Lin Jiabao immediately dropped to his knees and handed over the last five taels of silver he had.
“Manager Feng, my father… my father has developed a high fever. He only wants to see my cousin one last time. Please, find a way to let her come home with me.”
“Your cousin?”
Feng Shi immediately remembered that beautiful young woman.
He sneered.
“Where your cousin goes has nothing to do with me. I can’t help you.”
Lin Jiabao hurriedly explained that Su Wan’ning had been kept by Miss Xu.
“That makes it even more impossible. Miss Xu is our Old Ancestor’s beloved treasure. Who would dare fight her for someone?”
Feng Shi pocketed the silver and ordered his men to throw Lin Jiabao out.
“???”
Lin Jiabao was furious but didn’t dare say anything.
He slunk back home.
Still, the trip hadn’t been completely useless.
Meanwhile, Xu Lingxi noticed that Su Wan’ning was in low spirits, so she took her to Jinghe Garden behind the estate to catch fish and dig for lotus roots.
The outer perimeter of Jinghe Garden was surrounded by crabapple trees, with thorny jujube trees farther out.
It was secluded and safe.
What had originally been nothing more than a small pond had been deepened and enlarged by the Li family, with fresh water diverted from the mountain behind it.
Otherwise, with the drought this severe, even the Li family wouldn’t have had enough water to waste.
Even now, quite a few fish, shrimp, and lotus flowers were still thriving inside.
However, last year’s lotus roots could only remain fresh in the mud for three or four months.
Over the past few days, the servants had already dug most of them out and stored them elsewhere.
The ones remaining were barely edible and had simply been left for the young masters and ladies to dig up for fun.
The two girls set up fishing rods but quickly grew impatient with waiting.
They had Qingfang and Xuancao each watch one of the rods while they put on boots and stepped into the water, searching for suitable old lotus roots.
Su Wan’ning had dug lotus roots when she was young, but after entering the palace, she had never had the chance to experience anything like this again.
This time, she found it rather novel.
“Miss Xu, how do you know how to dig lotus roots too?”
“It’s not just me. All my brothers and sisters can do it except Third Brother, whose health is too weak to go into the water.”
Xu Lingxi was excited as she talked about her childhood.
The Old Ancestor had raised them like children from a farming family.
They had to work in the fields, cook in the kitchen, catch fish, and dig lotus roots.
Only by experiencing hardship themselves could they learn to truly appreciate food that was hard to come by.
Su Wan’ning smiled and added,
“We farmers don’t work the fields for the experience. We do it to survive.”
Shili Village and Xiushui Village were so close to each other.
Yet she and the village children had needed to work from a young age simply to stay alive.
Their circumstances were completely different from those of the young masters and ladies of the Li family.
The two were chatting and laughing when they suddenly heard an exceptionally pleasant male voice.
“Is that Lingxi?”
They followed the voice.
A slender man slowly emerged from the darkness.
Under the light of the lantern, they could see that his face was unusually pale, but his features were strikingly handsome.
Especially the slight curve of his lips and his gentle smile, which softened the sickly air surrounding him.