Aunt Qiao watched from the side, sneering slightly. It was a familiar sight, but after she knew Luo Yining was a fake, how could she resist? Luo Yining didn't deserve any of these things, and Luo Chengzhang shouldn't have been so kind to her. She was just a guard's child, the lowest of low.

Aunt Qiao returned to the yard and asked someone to pick up Zhang.

After Luo Shenyuan burned incense to his ancestors, he called Yining over and asked her about the tree in her yard.

Yi Ning was at a loss for words. It seemed everyone knew about the broken tree in her yard. She said to Luo Shenyuan, "My aunt is acting strangely today. Third brother, do you know who she invited into the house yesterday?"

Luo Shenyuan shook his head and said, "I only know that it was someone from her shop."

Yi Ning frowned upon hearing this. She turned back to look at her grandmother's seat. She had a feeling something was amiss, ever since she saw the broken tree in the courtyard. She had thought it was Aunt Qiao who was acting strangely, but since Luo Shenyuan hadn't noticed, there couldn't be anything wrong.

Yi Ning always thought her intuition was pretty accurate. For example, the day before she fell off the cliff, her right eyelid kept twitching. But intuition doesn't mean anything.

*

When Luo Shenyuan returned to Fengxietang, the servant was already waiting outside the door. Upon seeing him, he immediately greeted him and said, "I finally asked a few more questions. I'll come back to tell you as soon as possible."

Luo Shenyuan took the tea from the maid and gestured for him to continue.

The servant paused before saying, "I've heard that this Zhang was the one who served our former Second Wife."

It turns out that he had served Gu Minglan.

Luo Shenyuan put down his teacup, took off his cloak and handed it to the maid, then sat down and asked, "How long have you been serving?"

"I heard it's been a long time. She used to be a well-known girl. I don't know how she ended up like this."

Luo Shenyuan was silent for a moment. He suddenly remembered that half a year ago, he had gone to Zhending to look for Mother Zheng.

Before her death, Old Lady Luo had told him that Luo Yining was not a child of the Luo family. Naturally, only the maids and servants knew such intimate matters. To be on the safe side, Luo Shenyuan concealed Yining's identity and went to ask Mother Zheng about what happened. If there were any leaks, he would immediately cover them up.

Mother Zheng initially refused to see him, until he explained his purpose. Only then did she tell him the whole story. She also said, "...We all know that talking too much leads to mistakes. There are always times when a person's mouth can no longer hold a secret. Once someone opens their mouth, the matter will snowball and there's no stopping it. So, everyone who knew about this left the Luo family one after another. The maids who served the mistress and I didn't even dare to stay in Baoding. We returned to Zhending, and some of us married off to Tongzhou and Jingzhou. We definitely won't stay in Baoding."

Luo Shenyuan suddenly understood.

"You said she came from Jingzhou?" Luo Shenyuan asked.

The servant nodded, and Luo Shenyuan suddenly stood up with a gloomy expression.

That person had first served Gu Minglan, but later married off to Jingzhou. She must have been one of the few people who knew the truth back then. If his guess was correct, she must have already told Concubine Qiao about what happened back then, and Concubine Qiao knew that Yi Ning was not Luo Chengzhang's biological daughter. Not only did she know this, but she also kept this person, and her motive was self-evident.

Only this explanation makes sense.

Aunt Qiao actually found out about this! Luo Shenyuan let out a breath and closed his eyes. This matter must not be spread out. He would never let Yi Ning bear the reputation of being a child born out of wedlock.

But Aunt Qiao knew about this and she would tell it no matter what, unless she was killed.

Only the dead cannot speak.

But Aunt Qiao was not an ordinary concubine, and if Aunt Qiao knew about it, then the maids in her room would also know about it, and perhaps she also told Luo Yilian. He couldn't possibly clean out all these people one by one.

If it really doesn't work, I can only threaten her with Luo Xuanyuan.

Luo Shenyuan suddenly opened his eyes. Concubine Qiao would definitely go find Luo Chengzhang as soon as possible to avoid further trouble. He immediately ordered, "Send someone to Zhending and ask Madam Zheng to come here immediately. Tell her that Yining is in trouble." He glanced at the maid behind him and called someone, "Go find Miss Seven and bring her here. No matter who comes to see her, she will not be allowed to leave."

He took the cloak from the maid and wanted to go to Luo Chengzhang immediately.

If my prediction was correct, Aunt Qiao should have gone to find Luo Chengzhang by now.