Qin Yuan lowered her head, straightened her skirt, and sat down. Gu Jinghui leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "Madam is truly a genius. As soon as I mentioned that there was smallpox in the inner courtyard, they only dared to cause trouble in the outer courtyard and didn't dare to go to the inner courtyard."

"You flatter me, Your Excellency. It was just a coincidence."

Qin Yuan turned her head to respond, her cheek brushing against Gu Jinghui's lips, and both of them were stunned.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Jinghui's ears turned red little by little, and the corners of his lips curled up little by little.

Qin Yuan kept a straight face, her eyes darting around, and quietly avoided Gu Jinghui's gaze.

At this moment, the old woman who had been rolling on the ground stopped crying and asked hoarsely, "My lord, now that the lady of the house has arrived, can you give this old woman an explanation?"

Qin Yuan and Gu Jinghui then came to their senses and quickly sat up straight.

Master Gu was furious and roared, "Shouldn't this be asked of Madam Xu? Why do you insist on bothering my third sister-in-law?"

"Oh dear, son-in-law, who else should we turn to if not the Lady of the Marquis for such a big matter?"

The women standing on either side spoke up and challenged Master Gu.

Lady Hou pressed closer and asked, "Brother-in-law, should we go to the inner courtyard to ask Qin Yuan?"

Sixth Master Gu shook his head and said, "We'll talk about it later."

Lord Xu asked warmly, "Are they going to ask Eighth Sister-in-law? Actually, you also wanted to make things ambiguous. Why did Xu Zhen go out so early in the morning? It was only because Eighth Sister-in-law had to take care of the child with smallpox and was able to leave the courtyard that she had the old woman relay the message."

The Marquis's family thought to themselves that the Marquis's wife and Zuo Ningbei were not like scholars encountering soldiers.

Gu Jinghui: "..."

Before the old woman even reached Lady Hou's feet, she grabbed the hem of my robe and pulled it up, crying out, "Your poor Zhen'er, where have they hidden you? We'll give you back to you soon!"

"What do you mean, Zhen'er left the manor without permission? Our Zhen'er is virtuous and dignified, unlike your Seventh Miss. She would never secretly leave the manor to go to Yuyuantan for fun. Who knows what wicked things your Marquis's manor has done to harm our Zhen'er? And you're trying to deceive and fob us off with these lies."

Sixth Master Gu put down his teacup and slammed his hand down under the table, making a loud thud.

The Marquis's residence responded quietly, awaiting my next words.

The Marquis's household, having grown impatient, asked, "Does Madam Xu intend to help Eighth Brother?"

No one whispered, "What if you contract smallpox?"

Lady Hou stood in the middle, looking at Lord Xu in shock.

The man, who had been standing with his arms crossed and seemed quite certain, was taken aback by what he heard and immediately asked, "Is what he said true?"

Zuo Ning cleared her throat and said, "When Zhen'er arrived outside the manor, she stayed in Eighth Brother's wife's courtyard and was taken care of by her. Eighth Brother's wife knows best why Zhen'er went out early this morning. Now that Zhen'er's whereabouts are clear, the Marquis has sent people to Yuyuantan to inquire and has also offered flowers as a reward. If you all want to know more, you can ask Eighth Brother's wife in person."

After a few weeks of silence, the Marquis's residence heard Lord Xu say sternly, "Xu Zhen was taken to the residence by my eighth brother's wife, and she has been taking care of her ever since. You only found out today that you saw her, but you haven't reported it to the authorities yet. We've also sent people from the Seventh Bureau to investigate outside the residence. We suspect that the magistrate will be able to find out something in the next couple of days."

Master Gu said angrily, "Zhen'er left the manor without permission, and my third sister-in-law didn't know. If you don't believe me, why don't we all go to Madam Xu's courtyard and ask her for a definite answer?"

Although the women of the Xu family joined the men in their frivolous pursuits, their expressions were benevolent.

"Ah!" The old woman lying on the ground immediately rolled over, got up, and moved away.

Butler Han and Butler Cao quickly supported me and I was able to stand still.

The noisy crowd fell silent.

The women stopped throwing dirty water.

Just as you were about to speak, you heard Sixth Master Gu mutter angrily, "That good-for-nothing Eighth Brother!"

"Yes, when they invited our Zhen'er over, they said all sorts of nice things, that she was coming to Zuo Ning to play and keep your aunt company while she did some needlework. But she was gone in just a few days. You can know a person's heart by their face, and he was Zhen'er's uncle. Was he even human?"

The Marquis's lips curled into a mocking smile.

The implication is that everything, whether right or left, is Xu Jianan's business, and the goal is to drag others away.

Gu Jinghui said, "Your Xu family is reasonable, but who can be happy when a pampered young man suddenly sees someone outside the home? Yes, yes, yes."

Lord Xu looked towards the Marquis's residence.

A small space suddenly appeared next to Zuo Ningbei.

Well, so they took back what they said.

Lady Hou said, "Isn't this true? Did the messenger tell them?"

Lady Hou vehemently refuted him, but there were people listening.

Having been called out, Zuo Ningbei could no longer let the men make a scene behind her back, so she spoke up: "Xu Shi, your Zhen'er is sensible and wise. That time she came to stay at Zuo Ningda because of your aunt. How come she was not seen? Every family cherishes its son. You just want Zuo Ningda to give you an explanation."

Zuo Ningbei's face turned even paler, and she jumped up and shouted, "Xu family, that's too kind of you. What if you contract smallpox? If the Xu family doesn't do anything bad, that debt will be recorded under the Marquis's name."

Her fair face flushed crimson, and her slender body trembled with anger like a leaf in the wind.

I meant that the sentence was even worse; Zuo Ningbei wasn't hesitant at all before she said it.

Gu Jinghui looked around firmly, his gaze finally settling on the area beneath the Marquis's residence, and asked, "Could the Xu family do you a favor?"

Lady Hou was pulled and swayed from side to side.

Zuo Ningbei continued, "Today, your whole family has offended Zuo Ningbei, all for that child. It's true that parents in heaven love their children dearly, but there's no reason to send everyone to their deaths for a child. You may withdraw from the inner courtyard, but I beg the Xu family to ask your sister why Zhen'er ran out of the house."

Suddenly, a cacophony of voices erupted outside the hall.

Master Gu said calmly, "You already reported it to the authorities yesterday, and today the servants haven't even sent the news to all your relatives and friends yet. No one in Zuo Ning has contracted smallpox, and they're closing the door to visitors. Do they know that?"

Zuo Ningbei's expression was stern, and though she didn't say anything, it was as if she had said everything.

Madam Hou immediately agreed, saying, "Yes, you can all go to the inner courtyard and ask them for a vague answer. Eighth Sister-in-law is preparing to soak the face mask in medicine, and the mask will come off when they wear it."

Sixth Master Gu then turned to the pale-faced old man sitting at the head of the table on his left and asked, "Zuo Ningbei, what does he mean?"

Zuo Ning: "..."

"What is the expedient means of knowing this?"

Lady Hou agreed, saying, "Does he think they'll catch it in the inner courtyard? You went out early yesterday morning and only found out when you came back that the children had smallpox. Qin Yuan hadn't even invited the Smallpox Goddess yet, and she moved all your things to the inner courtyard. The imperial physician came and diagnosed it as smallpox, and only then did Eighth Sister-in-law find a prescription and seal off several courtyards."

Zuo Ningbei, however, remained unmoved at the bottom, as if she only intended to observe the situation.

Steward Cao immediately said, "The servant who brought the message has been beaten out by Lord Gu."

The two sat down at the lower end and watched for a while.