Chapter 4 Got you?

The ants on the ground suddenly erupted, standing up and brandishing their forelimbs and antennae.

A cacophony of tiny voices erupted: "Protect Mianmian!" "Mianmian, run!"

Xie Mianmian looked back in confusion.

The newcomer pointed a sharp dagger at her.

Xie Mianmian stared wide-eyed in disbelief. The bad guy was actually Wang Mama, who had been with her for five years!

The pale moonlight shone on Granny Wang's gaunt face, casting terrifying shadows on her brow bone and nose.

Granny Wang slowly walked towards Xie Mianmian, holding the dagger halfway in her right hand, and spoke in a gentle tone.

"Hehehe, Mianmian is being naughty, not sleeping properly, but out playing in the mud."

Xie Mianmian was so frightened that she fell to the ground, her face turning deathly pale. At this moment, Granny Wang was even more terrifying than that strange voodoo doll.

Xie Mianmian said in a trembling voice, "Granny Wang, please don't do this, Mianmian is scared..."

"Ouch!" Granny Wang suddenly cried out in pain, slapping her ankle with her left hand and looking down at the ground. "How can there be so many ants? Oh, damn it, these ants bite so painfully!"

It turned out that the ant army had come out baring its teeth.

Unfortunately, Granny Wang didn't care about anything else. She hurriedly crushed a few ants on the ground and rushed over.

Xie Mianmian couldn't stand up, so she sat on the ground, desperately trying to move backward using her hands and feet.

The cold dagger was about to stab Xie Mianmian in the chest.

Just then, "ding—" a small pebble flew swiftly from not far away and struck Wang Mama's wrist, causing the dagger to fall to the ground.

A tall figure appeared, stretched out his long leg, and kicked Wang Mama hard in the chest. Then, his strong and broad arms lifted Xie Mianmian from the ground.

Xie Mianmian looked at the person who came through her teary eyes and said aggrievedly, "Big Brother."

Xie Linyuan pinched the child's armpit with his right hand, making her sit on his arm, and said stiffly, "Don't cry."

Xie Mianmian pointed her little finger at Granny Wang, "Bad person!" Then she pointed to the voodoo doll and the letter, "Bad things!"

Xie Linyuan only then noticed the object on the ground. His deep pupils contracted sharply, and his tone was icy, "Some people have overreached."

Warm, yellow candlelight drifted from afar, accompanied by faint voices, "Xie Mianmian, where are you?"

It was her second sister who came to find her. At this moment, Xie Mianmian belatedly realized that she was feeling guilty and buried her head in her eldest brother's arms like a coward.

As long as she can't see Mianmian, her second sister won't scold her.

Xie Mingyi ran over, looked at the child who was burying his head in the sand, and laughed in exasperation.

"Lock him up and take his things to the study," Xie Linyuan ordered coldly.

The study was brightly lit.

After learning the whole story, Xie Mingyi was both angry and frightened. The usually dignified and proper lady grabbed Xie Mianmian, placed her on her lap, and gave the child a good spanking.

"Why are you so disobedient? You actually sneaked out to play in the middle of the night!"

"So that's why you went to bed so early. You were waiting for me here."

Xie Mingyi often heard the old nannies in the mansion say that if a child was quiet, it meant he was up to no good. She didn't believe it at the time, but now she knows that it is indeed a wise saying from the older generation.

Xie Mianmian let out a few cries and looked pitifully at her eldest and third brothers.

Xie Huaijin's face was tense, and his expression was more serious than ever before.

Xie Linyuan remained unmoved, and even added insult to injury, "If it weren't for the Ministry of Justice's business, and my late return, tonight..."

Xie Mianmian will die in the garden tonight!

When Xie Mingyi thought of this, tears streamed down her face, and she stopped hitting and scolding him.

Xie Mianmian became anxious at this moment and placed her second sister's hand back on her bottom, which was red from being hit. "Second sister, don't cry. Second sister, keep hitting me. Mianmian is not afraid."

With her little face still streaked with dried tears, she proudly raised it and said triumphantly, "Mianmian saved everyone!"

Yes, the Xie family silently looked at this "evidence" that was enough to warrant the execution of the entire family.

Xie Mingyi sniffed and hugged the child tightly.

Father Xie stared at the secret letter from the Northern Rong for a long time in silence, then said, "This secret letter imitates my handwriting, with only the slightest difference."

Xie Huaijin examined the voodoo doll closely, then flipped its clothes over with his fingers, his face grim. "The Crown Prince's birth date and time are written on it in cinnabar."

"It seems someone is determined to destroy our Xie family."

Father Xie nodded with a stern face. "His Majesty has been unwell these past few days. Last night, the Imperial Observatory reported that a malevolent star is approaching the Crown Prince, and its direction is due east." And the Xie residence is located directly east of the imperial city.

Xie Huaijin frowned, "If the Imperial Observatory issues another report pointing to our Xie family tomorrow, His Majesty will order the Embroidered Uniform Guard to search our home..."

At that time, the Xie family will probably be wiped out.

"The person behind this is probably the Lin family." Xie Linyuan looked at the voodoo doll with disgust. "Bring them over."

Xie Mingyi picked up the child and was about to leave when she said, "Mianmian, let's go back and rest."

Xie Mianmian struggled slightly, "No, this is the bad guy I caught, I want to see him."

"Isn't Mianmian scared?" The person who wants to kill her is Granny Wang, who has been with her since childhood.

“Why should Mianmian be afraid if she didn’t do anything wrong?” Xie Mianmian tilted her head. “She did something bad to me. She should be the one who is afraid when she sees me.”

Xie Mingyi sighed and stroked the child's fluffy little head. Bad people are not afraid of their victims, but only of the punishments that bring them down.

"Then let's watch from behind the screen." Xie Mingyi went along with the child's wishes; otherwise, she would be the one causing trouble when they got back. Once the child was scared, she would obediently go back with her.

The small hall behind the screen was far away, and only faint sounds could be heard.

One moment it was Xie Linyuan's deep, magnetic questioning voice, the next it was Granny Wang shouting, "This old servant is innocent! This old servant raised three young masters, how could I harm the Xie family!"

The door opened, and it was Xie Linyuan's trusted confidant, Wei Wu. He bowed his head and reported, "Reporting to Master, no abnormalities were found during the search."

Xie Linyuan snorted coldly. He had been working in the Ministry of Justice for a long time and knew many methods of torture that could prevent prisoners from being bloodied.

The dim candlelight illuminated his handsome profile, making his features appear both bright and dark, inexplicably reminding one of his reputation as the "Jade-Faced Asura."

Granny Wang couldn't help but shudder.

Xie Linyuan waved his hand, and someone stuffed a rag into Wang Mama's mouth, followed by a muffled groan of pain.

In the small hall, Xie Mianmian sat quietly, obediently accepting her second sister's feeding.

Just then, a small voice came from below, "Mianmian, I've seen it before, there's a note hidden in the crack in the wall at the foot of her bed!"

Xie Mianmian: !

"Thank you, little ant," the child said in a whisper.

Xie Mianmian took a piece of steamed sugar cheese and thought she had secretly placed it under the chair, but Xie Mingyi, who had been watching her closely, saw it.

"Move out quietly, and don't let anyone see you."

Xie Mianmian slowly moved to the side of the screen, peeked out, and waved her little hand at Wei Wu.

Wei Wu didn't understand, but he still squatted down and tilted his head to listen.

Xie Mianmian whispered what the little ant had told her.

Wei Wu's eyes lit up, he cupped his hands in greeting to the child, and went out.

Soon, Wei Wu indeed returned with Granny Wang and the secret letter from the Lin family.

Xie Linyuan held the secret letter between his long, slender fingers and heated it over the candlelight, revealing the Lin family's hidden pattern on the paper—an iris.

"What else do you have to deny?" Xie Huaijin glared angrily at the person on the ground.

Granny Wang suddenly burst into maniacal laughter: "Yes! This old servant hates the Xie family to the core!"

His cloudy eyes were filled with resentment. "To protect the Second Miss, Madam threw my newborn daughter into a mass grave! My poor daughter!"