Bao Ning looked over and saw Qiu Lingyan standing next to Aunt Liu. She was still so shy, but Bao Ning did not feel pity for her, but only felt strange.

"Sister." Qiu Lingyan saw that she did not smile as before, panicked for a moment, and called her.

"Come in." Bao Ning patted the lamb's butt to let it play, picked the white hair off the brush, and got up to go to the house.

Aunt Liu had no idea. She remembered that Bao Ning liked Seventh Girl very much, why was he so cold today? She thought Bao Ning was in a bad mood, and told Qiu Lingyan to be careful with her words and actions later, and not to make Bao Ning angry. Qiu Lingyan responded absent-mindedly, and followed Bao Ning with her head down.

Bao Ning sat down at the table, trying not to sound stiff: "Yanzi, I want to ask you something."

"You, you tell me."

"Have you ever taken anything from this table?" Bao Ning pointed at the table with her finger, "I have!"

"Me!" Qiu Lingyan raised her head as if her tail was stepped on, her eyes dodging. She was not bad enough yet. She felt guilty about the wrong things she had done and didn't know how to cover it up.

Bao Ning understood everything, and deep disappointment flashed across her eyes.

That day in the Prince's Mansion, the man called Brother Yuan wore a jade buckle of Pei Yuan on his waist. Bao Ning had always wondered how the jade buckle fell into the hands of others. This morning, she suddenly realized that the only suspicious person was Qiu Lingyan. But suspicion is suspicion. Now that it has been confirmed, Bao Ning still feels sad.

She treated her sincerely, how could she get such a result?

"Sister..." Qiu Lingyan grabbed the table with her fingers, her eyes gradually turned red. She suddenly got up from her seat and knelt at Baoning's feet, crying bitterly, "I'm sorry, it was my sixth sister who asked me to do this. I didn't dare to disobey her, I really didn't dare. She would beat me... I don't know what she wanted to do. She just asked me to take something from the fourth prince, and I thought it was okay, so I took it."

"Forget it, you don't have to explain." Baoning pursed his lips and turned away, "I don't want to listen."

Qiu Lingyan knelt on the ground, looked up at her in panic: "I swear, every word I said is true. If there is a lie, I..."

"Whether what you said is true or false, I don't want to listen anymore." Bao Ning stood up, turned his back to her, and said coldly, "Whether what you did was right or wrong, you know it in your heart, and you don't need me to teach you. You are young, deceived, and have no choice. You have your own reasons, I understand but I don't forgive. I can't bear to punish you, so just treat it as a mistake of true love. You don't have to beg me for anything. In the future, we should keep our distance and don't come to see me again. Go away."

"Sister..." Qiu Lingyan covered her face and cried, "Sister, I really have my reasons."

She rolled up her sleeves, stood up and ran to Baoning to show her: "My sixth sister really scolds me. If I don't listen to her, she beats me..."

Baoning looked over with her eyes down. Qiu Lingyan's white arms were indeed covered with bruises and pinch marks. Some places were already purple, which was extremely scary.

Baoning hardened her heart and stopped looking: "So you have to stay away from me, otherwise, if your sixth sister asks you to do something to me again, will you do it or not?"

Baoning said: "Get out of here!"

After that, she pushed Qiu Lingyan out by the back, called Aunt Liu to take her away, turned around and went into the house and closed the door.

Qiu Lingyan's eyes were full of hurt. She looked at her in disbelief and finally squatted on the ground and burst into tears.

Baoning also felt bad. She took a deep breath, turned around and walked into the inner room, no longer paying attention to what was happening outside.

Nanny Liu was at a loss, and helped Qiu Lingyan up with heartache. She didn't know how to comfort her, and didn't dare to keep her any longer. She coaxed her a few words to wipe her tears, and sent her away.

Walking on the path in the backyard, Qiu Lingyan was crying all the way. She knew that she was sorry for Baoning, but she really had no choice. She wanted to learn something useful from Qiu Lingjun and tell Baoning secretly, but Qiu Lingjun refused to tell her, and just told her to do this and that. If she didn't do it well, she would beat her.

Half a month ago, she asked her to take the fourth prince's jade buckle and inquire about the news of a man named Meng Fan.

Two days ago, the prince married his concubine. Before leaving, the sixth sister told her to lead Baoning to the South Corner Gate at 3 p.m. today.

That was now.

But Baoning didn't believe her and refused to come.

The sixth sister didn't come back, and neither did the two maids beside her, Songlan and Shaolan. Qiu Lingyan didn't know what they were doing, but she knew that it was very important to lead Baoning there. If she didn't do it well, she would definitely be beaten to death when Qiu Lingjun came back!

Qiu Lingyan felt guilty and anxious. She circled around the South Corner Gate many times, her eyes fell on the lotus pond not far away, she gritted her teeth, and made a plan.

...

Baoning was taking a nap in the inner room, half asleep and half awake, and heard urgent conversations coming from the courtyard.

Then, Nanny Liu slapped her thighs a few times while wailing, ran to the door and knocked rapidly a few times: "Madam, Madam, something bad has happened, the seventh girl has fallen into the water!"

Baoning frowned, and did not hear it at first. Nanny Liu shouted a few more times, and she suddenly came to her senses, put on her clothes and ran out.

Baoning was shocked and asked, "How did Miss Seven fall into the water?"

"I don't know. The maid who came to look for her said that she saw Miss Seven walking by the lake in a depressed mood. Maybe she slipped and fell in." Aunt Liu was so anxious that she sighed and said, "She can't swim. Come and find someone to help. We are closest to the lakeshore on the south corner gate, so she came to us first to find help. I said there was no one, and the maid hurriedly went to find someone else."

After hearing this explanation, Baoning felt guilty. Baoning

began to wonder if she had said too much. She scolded a nine-year-old child and said "get out". Did she hurt her feelings?

Baoning couldn't convince herself to just ignore it. She sighed, went into the house, quickly got dressed, and said to Aunt Liu, "Let's go to the South Corner Gate."

Aunt Liu responded, and the two hurriedly walked there, but the more they walked, the more they found something wrong. Logically, the maid who was looking for someone to help should have found someone, but the road was empty and there was no movement. Baoning was confused, but human life was at stake, so she suppressed her doubts and walked over.

The lakeside was quiet, and the lake was quiet.

Baoning's heart skipped a beat. Was the maid lying to her? Or was Qiu Lingyan playing some tricks?

Aunt Liu was also confused: "What's going on?"

"Go around the lake and take a look. If there's nothing going on, we'll go back." Baoning's face darkened.

Aunt Liu responded and ran to check.

Baoning stood there, feeling mixed emotions.

Suddenly there was a noise behind her. Baoning turned around and faced the south corner gate. She saw a figure flashing behind a tall albizzia tree. The figure was not too tall and looked very similar to Qiu Lingyan.

Baoning narrowed her eyes slightly and walked over, calling out, "Seventh Miss?"

No one answered. Baoning took a few more steps and was about to reach the door. She called out again, "Seventh Miss, are you there?"

The corner gate behind her suddenly creaked open. Baoning turned around and saw Meng Fan's face. An old servant pushed the door for him and said with a smile, "Master Meng, this is it."

Baoning and Meng Fan looked at each other in surprise.

Baoning asked, "What are you here for, Master Meng?"

Meng Fan replied, "I was invited by a young lady from the General's Mansion, who wanted me to help her make a new set of headwear. She has difficulty walking and it is not convenient for her to go to the store, so I came here in person. The meeting place is Nanjiaomen."

How could it be such a coincidence?

Baoning was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized that something was wrong. She turned around and wanted to leave, but when she raised her head, she saw Pei Yuan standing a few steps away from her, with his fists clenched at his sides, looking at her angrily.

...

Wei Meng suddenly looked for him because Gongsun Zhu committed suicide by hitting a pillar when no one was paying attention. Pei Yuan hurried over, dealt with it, and hurried back again.

But when he entered the house, it was quiet inside, without a single person. He immediately thought of the note in the hairpin, and his heart was filled with shock. He rushed to the place agreed in the letter without stopping.

He saw Bao Ning and the man named Meng Fan standing opposite each other, with sincere faces, and he didn't know what they were talking about.

At that moment, Pei Yuan felt his heart was twisted. There was a buzzing in his ears. Bao Ning ran to him in a panic and seemed to be explaining something, but he couldn't hear a word. He

was extremely angry.