Chapter 29: Bad Guys

"So, when Shi Jingning went to the kitchen with the medicine bag, he probably already knew what would happen, so he told his sister-in-law to stay indoors to prevent any accidents."

After sending Shangluo away, Cui Fufeng made this inference.

Ling Tianshui also agreed: "To prevent us from encountering bad guys again - Shi Jingning's sister-in-law is in the backyard, and they must have met someone - that person in the backyard made Shi Jingning determined to take the medicine bag to the kitchen. Probably, there was only that one person."

Qiandeng pursed her lips in silence, opened the file of Cui Fufeng's investigation last night, and checked Yang Huaijiang's whereabouts.

However, the page on which Yang Huaijiang left his message was blank, without a single word on it.

She looked at Cui Fufeng, who was just beginning to explain, "I haven't found out where Yang Huaijiang was yesterday. Because when I went to Gutengzhai to investigate, Madam Dingxiang was there."

Qian Deng was a little surprised: "Aunt is in the backyard?"

"Yes, she stopped me outside Gutengzhai, wiping her tears and saying that Yang Huaijiang had suddenly fallen ill and was suffering terribly, and asked me not to force him."

The entrance to Gutengzhai was behind the rockery, and Madam Dingxiang happened to be blocking the path in front of the door. He naturally couldn't push away a crying woman and force his way in, not to mention that the other party was his aunt.

Furthermore, he, like Qian Deng, suspected Shi Jingning's death was connected to the earlier case at the village. Although Yang Huaijiang's behavior was shabby, it happened later, so his suspicion shouldn't be that strong. Therefore, he had no choice but to return home and plan to discuss the matter with Qian Deng today.

Who would have thought that the clue found today would actually be a reference to Yang Huaijiang.

"Let's go," Ling Tianshui, a man of action, pointed to the fork in the road in the backyard and said, "Do we go to Liuhua Mountain House or Gutengzhai first?"

Qiandeng thought for a moment and said, "Liuhua Mountain House."

Considering that Shi Jingning's brothers and sisters were still young and afraid that they would be frightened, especially someone like Ling Tianshui who was tall and strong and had a murderous aura, Qian Deng asked them to wait outside first.

The Liuhua Mountain House, which used to be filled with the sounds of children playing, was now completely silent. Qiandeng went inside to see the nanny preparing breakfast and letting Shi Jingning's brothers and sisters eat first.

But the snacks bought on the street could not compare to the ones carefully made by their eldest brother, and none of the younger brothers and sisters had much appetite.

Seeing the county lady coming, Huaining ran to Qiandeng in surprise, took her hand and asked anxiously, "County lady, where is my eldest brother? Why didn't he come back last night?"

Qian Deng asked the nanny to look after the three younger children, then took Huaining to the small hall next door. He held her hand tightly and said softly, "Your eldest brother...may not be able to come back soon. You have to take care of your younger siblings in his place, understand?"

Girls mature precociously, and the twelve-year-old girl understood the meaning of her words. She stared at Qiandeng with wide eyes for a moment, then turned to look in the direction of the kitchen where the fire broke out last night. After a night of anxiety, she finally understood everything.

She cried out and wailed bitterly, "I don't believe it, I don't believe it! Big Brother said yesterday... that the winter solstice was coming soon, and he wanted to make us some wontons with a new flavor. He said the county lady would definitely like it, and he wanted to think about what kind of filling to make for her..."

Qian Deng was in great pain. She raised her hand to cover her mouth and said in a trembling voice, "Don't cry, don't cry... You are the elder sister now. You have to take care of your younger siblings in place of your elder brother, understand?"

The little girl looked at her brother and sister-in-law's room next to her, nodded while crying, and tried her best to calm her wails.

Qian Deng took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears, her breath choking. "The mansion is uneasy right now, so I'm afraid you can't stay here for long. Fortunately, your old home is almost finished being repaired. Take your sister-in-law and pack your things over the next two days. I'll send two trusted maids to take you home and take care of you. Don't be afraid. If you need anything, come to me, Aunt Xuanji, Liuli Daimao, and the others, okay?"

The little girl bit her lower lip and nodded while crying.

Qian Deng stroked her head, and waited until her breathing was barely calm before asking softly, "Did anything happen when your eldest brother left for the last time?"

Huaining looked up at her, his lips trembling, but he seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Qian Deng raised his hand and touched her head, then asked in a slower voice, "What bad guys did you encounter in the backyard yesterday?"

"Brother...brother told me not to tell...not to tell the county lady..." Huaining sobbed and stammered.

Qian Deng knew there was something fishy going on when he heard it: "Your elder brother was wrong. If you don't tell me, how can I know if your elder brother was murdered and how can I avenge him?"

Huaining's tears, which had been stagnating for a while, began to flow again. She stood up, knelt down in front of her, and cried, "County Lady, the murderer who killed my eldest brother is in the backyard. He... I don't know him, but I remember that he had several scars on his face!"

Although he had expected this, Qian Deng still asked cautiously, "How did you know?"

"Yesterday afternoon, before my eldest brother got into trouble, he came back and brought us a bowl of tapioca pearls shaped like small fish..."

Qiandeng knew that it must be the pink fish that he had rejected, and he felt sad.

Huaining continued, "As usual, we were eating while my eldest brother was carving a rabbit beside us. He usually practices carving rabbits, from wood to stone... He's currently carving a jade rabbit. The jade is very good and very expensive. He went to the shop three or four times to look at it before saving enough money to buy it..."

Qian Deng remained silent. She reached into her sleeve and took out the blackened jade that she had then wiped clean. She asked, "Is this the one?"

Huaining nodded vigorously, wiping his red and swollen eyes. "This is it." We finished eating the glutinous rice balls, and my eldest brother also carved out the rabbit's jaw. He put the rabbit in his purse, cleared the dishes, and said he would take it back to the kitchen to wash and put it back in its place.

"Originally, I wanted to practice calligraphy with my younger siblings, but my eldest brother took a look at our calligraphy and for some reason he got upset. He told us to stop practicing and go out and play more..."

Qiandeng pursed her lips tightly, knowing that it was because she had lost control of her composure when she saw his brother and sister-in-law's calligraphy that day that he had noticed it.

"So after my eldest brother left, I took my younger siblings outside to play hide-and-seek..."

Huaining first hid behind the bushes, but then she noticed the branches on the other side of the path shaking. She suspected that her brothers and sisters had discovered her, so she quietly turned around and squatted in the fake cave.

Unexpectedly, when she looked out of the cave, she saw that the person walking down the path was not her brother's wife, but a lady she had never seen before, and a young man with scars on his face.

The young man sneered and said, "Hmph, wait until she falls into my hands, and see how she begs me!"

The middle-aged lady was holding a food box in her hand and frowned as she said, "Mother came here to tell you that you haven't even started yet, and now you've become enemies with the county lady. What are you going to do in the future..."

Huaining naturally didn't know that these two people were Madam Dingxiang and Yang Huaijiang. When she was about to run out of the rockery to find her younger brother and sister-in-law, she was stopped by a pair of hands. Her eldest brother's voice rang softly in her ear: "Don't move."

She turned around and saw her eldest brother, who was supposed to go to the kitchen, standing huddled behind the rockery, motioning her not to move.

The two hid deeper into the fake cave. As the other party got closer, the words coming from them became clearer.

"It was already written in my mind. There's someone behind me, personally drawing the lines for me. Now that I have everything going for me, why should I be afraid of others in the backyard?"

"You just arrived in Chang'an, who could be behind you?" Lady Dingxiang obviously didn't believe it.

"We'll see. Now that I've gotten what I wanted, she'll have to die!" Yang Huaijiang glanced at the food box and smiled slyly. "Hmph... There's been so much commotion in her backyard for so long, isn't it because those losers don't know how to handle a woman? As long as I can have a good relationship with her, what's the point of three years of mourning and presiding over the funeral?"