Chapter 60 Unexpected Disaster
Seeing the group of maids talking nonsense, Granny Luo immediately scolded them angrily, "Stop talking!"
She turned and pointed at one of the maids, saying, "Go quickly and find Steward Wang. Tell him something has happened."
The maid nodded quickly, then turned and ran out.
Upon hearing this, Butler Wang rushed over without stopping. Seeing the terrible scene, his face turned extremely pale, and he reached out to wipe away the beads of sweat rolling down his face.
Another dead body, and it was the First Madam's personal maid who died. Could it be that Miss Baozhen has been brought back to life?
This further suggests that there were indeed other hidden circumstances surrounding what happened back then.
"What are you still standing there for? Wrap him in a straw mat and throw him into the mass grave."
Steward Wang hurriedly ordered the servants to drag the dead body out and throw it away. Seeing this, Granny Luo stepped forward and said, "Steward Wang, should we tell the master about this?"
"After all, someone died, and it was related to the First Madam."
He glanced at her and gave her a light tap, his face grim: "You don't need to worry, I will speak with the master myself."
"Now, everyone go do what they're supposed to do, and don't crowd around here!"
The two servants looked troubled and hesitated, looking at the maid who had died unexpectedly, feeling very afraid.
Butler Wang paid no heed to any of that, angrily shouting, "Hurry up! Do you want to get beaten?!"
Upon hearing this, the two men remembered the pitiful state of the maid from yesterday and shuddered instantly. They hurriedly went over and lifted her up, one head and one foot.
Looking at the corpse covered with straw mats, he thought it over and over. Such a big thing as the death of someone in the manor, especially at this critical time, should be reported to the master.
After they loaded the body onto the carriage, he turned and walked quickly to the front yard.
Halfway there, someone suddenly called out to him from the side.
Steward Wang turned his head and saw a servant rushing over.
"Butler Wang, I've found the funeral director you requested. He's right at the door. Would you like to go and take a look?"
Funeral director? Right.
Butler Wang then remembered this matter. Perhaps Aunt Ye had recommended a funeral shop called "Good Deeds and Good Endings" to him after hearing that he was going to find a funeral director.
Although it was kept secret, the body of the eldest wife could not be left unattended, so they had to secretly find someone to hire a funeral director.
She's just a maid, yet the funeral director is already at the door. I'll go over there.
So the two of them went to the gate of the mansion together.
"By the way, isn't there a very powerful Taoist priest on West Street? Why hasn't he arrived yet?"
He asked questions as he walked.
The servant replied, "I went to look for him, but he wasn't there today and didn't set up his stall."
"So nobody knows where he lives?"
In just one night, another person died. If something else happens tonight, the master will definitely be furious.
The servant shook his head in fear.
Liang Yongsheng and his shop workers stood at the door waiting. About half an incense stick later, people came in.
He cupped his hands in greeting to the man.
Steward Wang was recommended by Aunt Ye, so she treated him rather well.
"The news of the First Madam's death must not be made public; this matter must be handled in secrecy."
He spoke in a serious and solemn tone.
Liang Yongsheng paused for a moment, then humbly lowered his head: "Don't worry, I've always been very careful with my words."
"Oh, right, you run a funeral shop. I have a portrait here. See if you can identify which shop made the paper figure."
The three of them went to the First Madam's courtyard and saw Xiaoyu kneeling on the ground, her face even paler than a ghost, wearing a light-colored dress, her buttocks and back soaked with dark red blood.
Liang Yongsheng and the workers were all shocked when they saw this.
However, since Butler Wang didn't speak, they didn't feel comfortable asking what was going on, after all, there were many shady things happening in this secluded mansion.
Butler Wang walked up to the dying Xiao Cui and kicked her.
"Hey! What are you doing! If you don't kneel properly, I'll beat you to death on the spot."
Xiaoyu looked exhausted, and with difficulty, she opened her eyes a crack. She looked up at him, but under the blazing sun, she couldn't see who it was, but she would never forget his voice.
She struggled to get up, but couldn't lift herself up.
Butler Wang then took out a portrait from his sleeve, placed it in front of her, and said, "This is a portrait drawn based on your description. Take a close look and see if it looks like this."
"Take a good look at them; if you recognize them, you won't have to kneel down."
Upon hearing this, Xiaoyu mustered all her strength to stand up, looked carefully at the portrait in front of her, and nodded quickly upon confirming it.
"...It's...it's this, cough cough..."
"You can leave now."
"Thank you, Butler Wang."
He turned to Liang Yongsheng and said, "Take a look, have you ever seen this paper figure before?"
Liang Yongsheng leaned closer to examine it carefully, and suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" as if he recognized it.
"Isn't this the young lady from the Tao family who runs the funeral shop on Chengnan Street? I remember her very clearly. She was the one who carried this paper lantern around on the night of the Ghost Festival."
"The drawing was terrifying; many people saw it at the time."
"Young lady of the Tao family?"
He said in surprise.
Liang Yongsheng nodded firmly: "Yes, that's right. If you don't believe me, you can go to Chengnan Street and ask the people there. They all know it."
Tao Tao lay in a rocking chair under the tree, eating snacks, holding a storybook in her hand, and occasionally laughing out loud.
She's currently recovering from her hand injuries, so she won't be going to the shop anymore; her mother is there looking after things anyway.
Duan Gan didn't come back either, so she didn't have to cook fish and was enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
She had planned to show him the paper doll lantern she made, but now she couldn't find it anywhere. She clearly remembered putting it on the table.
She guessed it was blown away by the strong wind in the middle of the night, and she didn't go looking for it.
It couldn't have been stolen by someone else, could it? Who would steal paper figures for no reason, especially in the middle of the night during the Ghost Festival? What ordinary person would have the guts to do that?
Besides, it's useless and worthless.
She was too lazy to look for another one; she figured she could just make a new one.
Time passed by unnoticed. Tao Tao got tired of reading and drifted off to sleep.
Suddenly, a loud banging sound rang out in the quiet courtyard.
She frowned, opened her eyes unhappily, and asked, "Who is it?" She pouted unhappily and turned her gaze to the banging wooden door.
If it were my mother, she would have opened the door and come in long ago.
Could something have happened to the shop?
Upon realizing this possibility, she immediately got up and ran over, peering through the crack in the door, and immediately showed a look of surprise.
It turned out to be Gao Shaoguang, the prefectural magistrate.
What's this guy doing here? Hasn't Liu Niangzi's case already been solved? What's he doing here? She couldn't imagine what connection she and he had.
But Tao Tao still opened the door.
Before she could ask, the person in front of her took out a portrait and asked, "Is this a paper figure you made?"
The portrait in his hand was of the lovely paper doll she had made.
But his tone was clearly off.
A hint of wariness flashed in her eyes as she asked, "What's wrong?"
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