"Didn't you hear? They're filling the hole with soil," Lan Yamei repeated.

"This hole isn't small, what's it for? Why dig such a big hole?" Qiu Kongkong said in a low voice. It was too strange. We're not poor people, are we going to use it to store corn and radishes?

Qiu Zeyu muttered in confusion, "What's this hole for? It's so mysterious in the middle of the night. Should I go check it out?"

Lan Ya Mei's light-footed skills were sloppy, and she couldn't keep up, so she was persuaded not to.

"Then be careful," Lan Yamei could only instruct, secretly taking out a stun gun from her spatial storage and clutching it in her hand. Her wide sleeves concealed it from the two of them.

"Okay, wait for my news!" Qiu Zeyu chuckled, jumped off the roof, and disappeared into the twilight.

Before long, a raging fire broke out in the First Madam's courtyard, with flames shooting into the sky and crackling loudly!

Several strong men working there were the first to discover the fire and immediately shouted into the house, "Fire! Fire!"

Several people inside rushed out upon hearing the noise.

Seeing the flames raging, the old woman jumped up and down in anger, cursing, "Which damned bastard dares to set fire to the mansion? It's a death wish! Of all times, this wretched brother-in-law has to do it now! When I catch you, I'll skin you alive."

After cursing, he yelled to those behind him, "What are you all standing there for? Put out the fire! Run!"

There were four men working in the courtyard, two maids keeping watch in the room, and an old woman herself. The group hurriedly tried to put out the fire, but it was just a drop in the ocean.

The fire quickly attracted the attention of the night patrol guards, who joined in the firefighting efforts.

Before long, everyone in the Murong family who could come had arrived, and the place was bustling with noise and chaos.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Qiu Kongkong ran to the entrance of the earth-filled hole to investigate, and Lan Yamei also hurriedly slipped off the roof to take a look inside the room.

Murong Feng, who was originally resting at Sima Rushuang's place, was also awakened by the steward's urgent report. He quickly put on his clothes and rushed to the scene. Seeing the flames soaring into the sky above Dugu Zijun's house, he looked extremely embarrassed.

"The weather was dry and the sparks seemed to have popped out of nowhere. An accident! An accident!" Sima Rushuang caught up from behind, first covering her mouth in surprise, then reassuringly setting the tone for public opinion regarding the fire in a few words.

Murong Feng glanced at Sima Rushuang, had an explanation in mind, and watched the servants take turns putting out the fire. He said calmly, "Things have come to this, let's leave it to the steward!" After saying that, he pulled Sima Rushuang away.

When the news of Dugu Zijun's passing reached the Grand Secretary, he was so grief-stricken that he didn't eat or drink for three days. Although a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup, she was still a member of the Dugu family! To mistreat his daughter was to mistreat the entire Dugu family. If it weren't for his grandson, he would have turned against them immediately.

To everyone's surprise, not long after his daughter's death, his grandson Murong Bai's fate and whereabouts became unknown. The Grand Secretary's heart burned with intense hatred! He wanted to kill!

In the imperial court, the two families have always disagreed on politics. The Dugu family follows the emperor's lead without any doubt, which makes them appear as sycophants who cannot distinguish between good and bad.

The Murong family was two-faced, handling their affairs with great skill and gaining the support of many officials in the court.

Compared to Dugu Jiazhi's straightforward nature, Murong Jia appears to be a true gentleman who judges matters by their merits, not by their character.

The two families were evenly matched! As their right-hand men, the marriage alliance reduced their hostility towards each other.

The two families fell apart after the daughter and grandson's accident. Dugu forbade his family members from having any open or covert dealings with the Murong family, threatening to break the legs of anyone found out. He also secretly sent out many people to search for the grandson's whereabouts, but found no trace of him, as if he had never existed.

The old nanny in Pei Feiyan's room panicked when she saw what had happened tonight. She cursed the third branch of the family for being such a good-for-nothing, still having the mind to fool around at a time like this.

Being a servant is tough; you have to clean up messes and cover things up. He turned and whispered a few words to one of his personal maids, who quickly turned and left, avoiding the crowd.

Murong Feng returned to Sima Rushuang's room and lay down again, ready to sleep.

Thinking that things had come to this point, and that the manor hadn't done it on purpose, she closed her eyes in resignation. Seeing that her master hadn't spoken, Sima Rushuang remained silent as well, and then lay down.

Murong Feng suddenly opened his eyes, sat up abruptly, and asked Sima Rushuang with a puzzled look, "Didn't you see Feiyan just now?"

Ru Shuang frowned and thought for a moment before replying, "Oh, I don't think I saw it. She's been tidying up my sister's yard these past two days, so she was probably tired and sleeping soundly and didn't hear me."

"Didn't you hear me?" Murong Feng asked doubtfully.

As clever as Ru Shuang was, how could she not be aware of Pei Feiyan's subtle actions? But a wise person sees through things but doesn't expose them, waiting until their own interests are maximized to deliver the final blow. Tonight, Pei Feiyan risked going out, and her spies had already thoroughly investigated her movements. Even if the strange fire didn't break out in Dugu Zijun's courtyard tonight, she would still need to find a pretext to create some commotion.

Over the years, he finally outlived Dugu Zijun and was about to become the most powerful person in the world, but that little bitch surpassed him. How could he swallow this insult?

"Sleeping soundly?" Murong Feng frowned and muttered again. Suddenly, he threw off the covers, not even putting on his coat, and with a fierce look on his face, he opened the door and left.

After the master left, the old nanny who served in the room emerged from the shadows with a sly grin, "Miss, would you like to add more fuel to the fire?"

This old nanny was a maid specially chosen by my mother to accompany her in her dowry; she handles everything, big and small, with great care.

"We must get rid of her tonight!" Sima Rushuang said calmly, though her face was sinister.

At this moment, Pei Feiyan's room was empty. The old nanny was afraid that something might happen, so she sent someone to deliver a message while keeping a close watch on her own courtyard during the lull in the fire, in case someone went in.

The maid had barely slipped out of everyone's sight when an arm reached out from the shadows and chopped her flat. Before she could even see the other person's face, she fainted.

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