“Then I’ll have to trouble Miss to come out and speak,” the guard said, stepping back a pace, unwilling to give up without seeing her.
Then the girl’s clear, crisp voice came from behind the folding screen—
“I’m washing my hair.”
Washing her hair? The guard’s heart jumped. Anyone washing their hair at a time like this was suspicious.
After all, the assassin had just been in the water!
But considering that the young miss was still a female member of the Marquis’s household, the guard did not dare to act on his own. “Someone, go report to the Marquis and the Heir. Tell them the cousin miss is washing her hair.”
Silver Apricot stared in disbelief. “What’s wrong with washing your hair? Does washing your hair make someone a thief?!”
The guard ignored her and withdrew to stand watch outside the door.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Xiao Bi’an arrived with a dark expression.
Zi Shu Sui had finished washing her hair. She dried it a little and draped it over her shoulders, though water still dripped down.
“Cousin?” Zi Shu Sui wrapped an outer robe over her underclothes and looked at the man who entered with a gloomy face, as if she knew nothing at all. “Why… why are you looking at me like that?”
“A thief has entered the residence. Didn’t the guards tell you?” Xiao Bi’an asked.
He stared at her. The suspicion he had never fully dispelled was magnified at this moment.
Zi Shu Sui shook her head innocently. “There shouldn’t be any place in my room to hide a thief.”
“Is that so?” Xiao Bi’an’s thin lips parted slightly. “Then why are you washing your hair in the middle of the night?”
“Because you went into the water?”
At this, Zi Shu Sui’s face turned pale with shock. Cold wind blew in from outside, making her shiver; her “frail” body seemed unable to bear it. “I… I can’t swim.”
Seeing her harmless, pure expression, Xiao Bi’an sneered. “No matter. There are other ways.”
Who could know that such innocence was merely a protective disguise?
As he finished speaking, a guard behind Xiao Bi’an presented a short arrow and reported, “Young Master, there’s blood on this arrow. That person must be injured.”
Only then did Zi Shu Sui seem to react. “Cousin, do you suspect that I’m hiding the thief? Then go ahead and search!”
She even showed the indignation of someone wrongly accused, turning her head away.
“It must be searched,” Xiao Bi’an said in a low voice. “But not the bedroom — you.”
Zi Shu Sui’s face went white, as if she could barely stand. “I don’t even have the strength to bind a chicken. And you actually suspect me? That’s completely unreasonable.”
There was not the slightest softening in Xiao Bi’an’s expression.
Zi Shu Sui hugged her chest in fear and asked, “Cousin… you’re not going to use torture on me, are you?”
A-Yuan, who had been standing beside Xiao Bi’an, cleared his throat lightly and spoke on his behalf. “Of course we won’t use torture on the cousin miss. We only ask that Miss cooperate so we can check whether you have any injuries on your body.”
“Check my body?!”
Zi Shu Sui cried out in disbelief. Her eyes were filled with shock and humiliation, as if this were even harder to accept than torture itself. “How could this be allowed? If Cousin doubts me like this, you might as well kill me! Though I’m just an orphan girl, I still have my dignity.”
“Earlier today, Cousin Sister wanted to hit me. Cousin helped me, and I even felt secretly happy in my heart. I never expected that it would come to this… that you would humiliate me like this…”
Every word, every sentence—
Joy one moment, grief and indignation the next — she looked utterly heartbroken.
Xiao Bi’an did not overthink it. He merely frowned. “The more you resist, the more I’ll suspect you. You might as well cooperate.”
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and two fierce-looking servant women stepped forward, one on each side, grabbing the pale and pitiful girl.
At first, Zi Shu Sui made a token struggle. Later, she simply gave up with a broken-hearted look.
Xiao Bi’an turned around and led the guards out of the room.
He ignored the faint sounds coming from inside, only waiting for a result.
Inside the bedroom.
The two servant women looked fierce and moved especially roughly.
Zi Shu Sui, acting out of character, realized that if she resisted too much, they would probably hurt her. So she simply cooperated.
After all, she had no wounds — what was there to be afraid of?
Everything earlier had been an act for Xiao Bi’an.
Right now, the sword hadn’t been stolen yet, and no one had been successfully ensnared either. She couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong.
Although Xiao Bi’an might not have a heart, the more pitiful she appeared when suspected, the more guilt others would feel once she was cleared.
After what Xie Yan had done to her, her reputation in the Marquis’s residence was already poor.
If she could use this body search to make Xiao Bi’an feel even the tiniest bit of guilt toward her — even just a little — that would still be a good outcome.
Just like the bottle of pre-prepared blood she had spilled earlier.
Every preparation had its purpose.
After a short while.
The two servant women came out of the side room. Their expressions were no longer as fierce as before.
“Well?” A-Yuan asked first.
One of the servant women smiled and replied, “There’s no arrow wound on the cousin miss, only some minor abrasions on her ankle.”
No arrow wound meant she was not last night’s assassin.
As for the abrasions on her ankle…
The young girl had traveled a long distance to the capital. Even with an escort agency, it was unavoidable that she would have walked rough paths.
A bit of abrasion was reasonable.
Xiao Bi’an’s expression eased slightly. Then he heard the girl’s soft sobbing coming from inside the bedroom.
As if she had suffered enormous grievance, not even daring to cry loudly — only suppressing her voice and sobbing in a corner.
Xiao Bi’an could not help frowning. The crying seemed to echo in his ears as he gave a low response to the servant woman. “Mm.”
Then he turned and left with the guards, leaving A-Yuan behind to handle the aftermath.
To Xiao Bi’an, once the suspicion of being the assassin was cleared, that was the end of it.
As for the grievance the girl had suffered — she suffered it, so be it.
What else could be done?
Behind him, the servant women shed their earlier ferocity. That harshness had come from suspecting the girl. Now that she had been cleared, they felt some pity.
Seeing that the Heir had already walked away, one of the servant women went up to A-Yuan and asked—
“Guard Yuan, when this old servant touched the cousin miss just now, I found that her body was very hot. She’s probably caught a chill. Should we invite the residence physician to take a look?”
Xiao Bi’an, who had not yet gone far, paused when he heard the servant woman’s consultative tone behind him.
Unbidden, his mind recalled how the girl had said earlier in the day that she wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to pass her sickness on to others…