"Why? Neither you nor the Grand Secretary said they wanted their lives, so why is he being so harsh?" Yuanyuan was terrified.

Anyone with a brain knows that Xie Xiangxiang was behind this. Would Xie Xiangxiang really kill all the servants from her three families just to protect herself?

Xiangxing has been with her for almost ten years.

Xie Zhaozhao smiled gently. Gu Chengyan's impotence was something he wanted to ensure only Xie Xiangxiang knew about.

How could he allow Xie Xiangxiang's cronies to live and have the opportunity to inform on him at the Xie residence!

"Aunt Cui, do you think we can use balsam flowers to dye our nails?" Manman and a few other maids asked Aunt Cui in the courtyard.

Aunt Cui's real name is Cui Nianyun. She was the nanny who took care of Gu Shaoyu when he was a child. She started working at the shop a few years ago, helping him manage it.

Xie Zhaozhao and Yuanyuan both called out to Aunt Cui.

Several young girls were crushing flower mud in the yard to dye their fingernails red.

Aunt Cui said, "You should add some alum to it. This will make the color more vibrant and easier to fix."

Everyone started looking for alum again, and Nanxing said, "I know where to find alum..."

The presence of these young girls in the courtyard is like stirring up a pool of spring water, bringing everything to life.

Looking at the vibrant balsam flowers brought from the Xie residence, Xie Zhaozhao seemed to see in her past life the six maids who had accompanied her on her dowry, happily following her from the Xie residence to the Marquis's residence.

"Youth has faded" is a phrase that laments the fleeting nature of youth, yet it is truly playing out in the Garden of Youth.

None of her six beautiful maids met a good end.

Especially Yuanyuan, not long after Xie Zhaozhao and Gu Chengyan got married, Yuanyuan was defiled by Wang Fugui.

She still remembered that day when Wang Fugui, carrying thorns on his back, begged his mistress to marry Yuanyuan to him.

Having inherited his master's true teachings, Wang Fugui knelt before Xie Zhaozhao with deep affection and sincerity, vowing to treat Yuanyuan well for the rest of his life.

Gu Chengyan and Xie Zhaozhao returned the two people's indentures to them. Xie Zhaozhao gave Yuanyuan a generous dowry comparable to that of a fourth-rank official marrying off his daughter, hoping that Yuanyuan would be happy for the rest of her life.

After their marriage, Wang Fugui took Yuanyuan back to his hometown, and Xie Zhaozhao never saw Yuanyuan again. Later, Gu Chengyan said that Yuanyuan died in childbirth.

It wasn't until the incident at the Xie family residence, when Wang Fugui and Guan Yingying visited her together, that she learned Yuanyuan hadn't died in childbirth, but had been starved to death by Wang Fugui after his Achilles tendons were severed…

The reason Yuanyuan was tortured to death was because she knew martial arts and was Xie Zhaozhao's confidante. They were afraid that Yuanyuan would discover the relationship between Gu Chengyan and Guan Yingying and would report it to the Xie family.

Manman's death was even more mysterious; she fell into a well and drowned.

She was heartbroken when both of her sisters, whom she grew up with, died tragically.

Gu Chengyan was furious and summoned all the servants. In the end, they found out that Manman had quarreled with the kitchen maid who tended the fire, and then Manman inexplicably fell into a well and died.

That fire-starting girl was beaten to death; she paid with her life.

It seems that the girl who tended the fire was a victim of a tragic death.

What does it matter if Wang Fugui dies? What does it matter if he's given a drug to make him mute?

Gu Chengyan had Zhang Qing escort Xiangxing, Biyou, and Chunshan out of the mansion.

Xie Xiangxiang sent her most capable nanny, Wei, to find a way to buy Xiangxing and the other two and send them back to the Xie residence.

Granny Wei knew that Xiangxing and the other two were loyal to Xie Xiangxiang, but once they left the manor, there was no possibility that they would ever return to her side.

The servants sold off in the Marquis's mansion, especially those sold off by the heir himself, can never return to Xie Xiangxiang's side, even if she becomes the Marquis's wife.

"This old servant knows you are kind-hearted and mindful of your relationship with Xiangxing and the other two, but for now, you should prioritize your own safety."

She analyzed it for Xie Xiangxiang.

"Granny Wei, don't worry about it. I have my own plans. You just buy Xiangxing and the other two."

Xie Xiangxiang thought that she would become the Duchess of the State in the future, and that Gu Chengyan was so affectionate towards her. Not to mention getting Xiangxing and the other two back, even taking Xie Zhaozhao's life would not be difficult.

After all, with the Crown Prince ascending the throne as the new emperor, Gu Chengyan was the most important minister.

Helpless, Granny Wei decided to take the money out of the mansion early the next morning to buy the three of them.

Zhang Qing, along with Xiang Xing and the other two, and Ping An, Gu Chengyan's current personal servant, drove the carriage to take the three of them out.

The carriage kept moving along the way. Xiangxing remembered what Xie Xiangxiang had said: the next morning, Granny Wei would go to the brokerage to buy them and deliver them to the Xie residence.

He couldn't help but say resentfully, "It's a pity we can't go back to the Marquis's mansion for now. We couldn't kill the young lady, and she'll be able to keep running around for a long time."

With only half an hour left before curfew, the car turned into a small courtyard in an alley.

The courtyard was pitch black, and Xiangxing and the other two were tied up, not knowing where they were.

Ping An lifted them down, threw them into the house, and lit a candle.

Zhang Qing said coldly, "Don't blame the young master for being heartless. Who told you to offend Grand Secretary Gu? The young master had no choice!"

Xiangxing realized something was wrong with what she heard, and she was terrified, trying to hide: What do you want to do?

"You want to take your lives! You plotted to murder the Grand Secretary's wife, framed a first-rank noblewoman of the court, and you think you can sell her off and then have her bought back by your master? How naive you are!"

Zhang Qing took the leather bag from the car, removed the cloth stuffing into Chunshan's mouth, pinched Chunshan's mouth shut, and directly poured poison down his throat.

Chunshan was terrified, but he was bound too tightly and couldn't escape.

Chunshan struggled in agony, banging his head against the ground until blood flowed from his seven orifices, dying with his eyes wide open.

Xiangxing screamed in terror. Zhang Qing said to Ping An, "They're going to die anyway. You've never been with a woman before, have you? Why don't you have some fun?"

Ping An originally had some thoughts, but Chunshan had just died glaring and baring his teeth in front of him, so even if Su Daji were in front of him, Little Mushroom couldn't get going.

Zhang Qing said, "Then you go out first, I'll have my fun."

Go out safely and wait at the gate.

Half an hour later, Zhang Qing came out pulling up his pants and said, "Go and give them the medicine. I just finished, and my legs are a little weak."

Ping An went inside and saw Bi You and Xiang Xing with tears streaming down their faces, begging him not to force them to drink too much.

Ping An sighed and said, "I don't want to either, but I'm a servant, and servants can only obey their masters. Your mistress doesn't seem like a docile person. You'll all die at her hands sooner or later, so you might as well go and be reborn sooner."

Before dawn, all three of them died.

At dawn, the city gates opened, and Zhang Qing and Ping An dragged three corpses out of the city and dumped them in a mass grave.

Granny Wei took the silver and left the mansion to redeem Xiangxing and the other two from the brokerage firm. There were several brokerage firms in the capital, five of which were large, and she searched them all but couldn't find them.

This was something that couldn't be asked of Zhang Qing. Granny Wei had searched all day and felt she had done her best.

Back at the manor, Xie Xiangxiang asked anxiously, "Did you buy it?"

Granny Wei said she had inquired at all five major brokerage firms, but couldn't find it.

"This old servant doesn't know which brokerage firm they sent them to; perhaps they've already changed hands. It's impossible to find them now."

Xie Xiangxiang was anxious, and Granny Wei told her to go look for her again.

After wandering around aimlessly for several days, Granny Wei got tired of it and felt that Xie Xiangxiang was unlikely to achieve great things.

Upon returning, he began to act mysteriously.

He told Xie Xiangxiang that Chunshan had some money in his pocket from who-knows-where, so he redeemed himself and ran away with Xiangxing and Biyou.