Chapter 27: Breaking the Greed "Why are you hiding? I won't eat you"...
Li Qingqing knelt on the ground, looking up at the young man in the hall with extraordinary appearance. She spoke slowly with a compassionate expression: "Three years ago, my father sold me to Hua Man Lou and I became the zither lady in the building..."
A year ago, the building was full of flowers.
Mother Zhao, half-held in the arms of a nobleman, pointed at Li Qingqing standing nearby and said bossily, "I didn't bring you in to be a vase. It's been two years, and how come you still don't know how to play music for guests?"
The room was filled with a pungent fragrance. The sisters around her were all heavily smeared with rouge and powder, which made Li Qingqing, who was not wearing any makeup but was still beautiful, look particularly fresh and refined. Because of this, Mother Zhao became increasingly annoyed with her and would often find opportunities to embarrass Li Qingqing. However, Li Qingqing was lucky...
"You're such a loser! I don't know how Young Master Sun could possibly fancy you," Mother Zhao snorted, looking at Li Qingqing viciously. "Do you think you can rest easy just by marrying into the Sun family's Young Master? What a joke! Young Master Sun has seen everything, but he got tired of your skin after just two nights..."
"Mother Zhao! I've already told you that I'm not trying to climb up the social ladder." Li Qingqing couldn't help but retort, but was met with a loud slap in the face. Her eyes filled with tears, and she turned around and left the room, but bumped into Susu who was walking towards her.
"Sister Qingqing, did Mother Zhao hit you again?" Susu frowned and carefully examined Li Qingqing's injuries. Seeing the obvious slap mark on her cheek, Susu's eyes also turned red. She gritted her teeth and walked past Li Qingqing to go in and argue with Mother Zhao, but was pulled back by Li Qingqing, who shook her head at her.
"Susu, don't act on impulse. If you anger Mother Zhao, what will become of us in the future?"
Susu was rescued by Li Qingqing from a broker when she was out on the street one day. Li Qingqing was reluctant to bring Susu back to Huamanlou, but Susu insisted on repaying her. So Li Qingqing brought her back to the building and taught her to play the piano herself. She became the pianist in the building. The two of them depended on each other in Huamanlou, and it has been two years now.
Li Qingqing would never feel good if Susu was implicated because of her. She pulled away Susu's hand as she tried to push the door open and said softly, "Susu, it's okay. Once we've saved enough money to redeem ourselves, we'll leave Hua Man Lou together, open a shop and start some small business. We'll be able to survive."
Hearing this, Susu couldn't stop crying and felt more and more distressed for her non-blood-related sister. She was about to say something when she saw a young man in gorgeous clothes appear outside the building. He kept wandering at the door. When he saw Li Qingqing, the young man's face lit up in an instant.
It was the young master of the Sun family—Sun Zhenbao.
"Qingqing, my dear Qingqing, do you miss me?" Sun Zhenbao came forward and hugged Li Qingqing, then walked towards another room with her in his arms, without even glancing at Susu from beginning to end.
The news that the young master of the Sun family wanted to redeem Li Qingqing, the number one zither player in Hua Manlou, had already spread throughout the capital. As Li Qingqing's sister in the building, Susu naturally knew about it.
This young master Sun loved Li Qingqing very much. Every few days he would come to Huamanlou to listen to Qingqing playing music. After returning, he would ask Master Sun to redeem Qingqing. After going back and forth, everyone tacitly accepted that Li Qingqing was Young Master Sun's person.
As for Susu, she was just someone Li Qingqing picked up on the street. She was not as good as Li Qingqing in piano skills, and her appearance was even worse. The only thing she had was the ability to please men.
She is almost a transparent person in Huamanlou, not as good as Sister Qingqing.
A few days later, Mother Zhao had another argument with Li Qingqing, but this time the noise was louder than before, and Susu was so scared that she didn't dare to go forward.
"Mother Zhao, I've said it many times, I don't want to go with Master Sun. Mother, you should let Master Sun find someone else to redeem himself." The cups and plates at Li Qingqing's feet were broken into pieces, which showed how fierce the argument was.
"Bah! You hypocritical person, I don't care who you go with. Anyway, I must get the money to redeem this young master Sun. If it goes to waste, I will beat you to death!"
Mother Zhao raised her hand to slap Li Qingqing again, but was stopped mid-air. She turned her head to look at Susu, who was half a head shorter than her, and was about to question her, but Susu pressed her hand down with force and spoke calmly.
"Since Mother Zhao wants this ransom money, let me go to the Sun Mansion on behalf of Sister Qingqing." This can be regarded as a way to repay Li Qingqing for saving her life.
This is the story of Susu and Li Qingqing.
Sun Mansion.
Li Qingqing's gentle voice was the only sound in the hall. Everyone was so immersed in the story that they couldn't tell what time it was. Qin Yanheng spun his teacup, abruptly interrupting Li Qingqing's reminiscence.
"Since Susu came to the Sun Mansion in your place, why did you follow her later?" Qin Yanheng asked.
"Because Hua Manlou teased me!" Sun Zhenbao suddenly raised his voice to answer, but was silenced by a glare from Qin Yanheng. He lowered his voice and said, "It was Li Qingqing I wanted at that time, not Susu. This ransom money was given to Li Qingqing. Since Hua Manlou changed her without telling me, then I will snatch her back!"
"So you brought people to kidnap Li Qingqing and brought her back to the mansion overnight?" Luo Qingling felt that Sun Zhenbao was extremely impulsive.
"He tied me up and took me to the Sun Mansion. I told him many times that I could live there as a servant, but I couldn't be his Sun Zhenbao's concubine. At first he agreed, but later he changed his mind. Later, because I kept refusing to sleep with him, he beat and scolded me." Li Qingqing continued.
"I thought that with Susu by my side, she and I wouldn't be alone in the Sun Mansion. But who knew that Susu wanted to 'compete for favor' with me for some reason. She ignored our past kindness and framed me many times, causing me to lose sleep every night."
Sun Zhenbao had a mixture of love and hate for Li Qingqing. He didn't deny what she said until Li Qingqing told him about Susu framing her. Only then did Sun Zhenbao show a strange expression. He stammered, "Susu said that Li Qingqing had threatened her several times when we were in bed last night. I was also very angry at the time, and after that, I also scolded her for half the night..."
Luo Qingling couldn't help but complain inwardly when he heard this. This Sun Zhenbao was truly disgusting. Who would want to listen to his little tales of sex?
"Scolded for half the night?" Qin Yanheng grasped the key point and suddenly looked up.
"That's right," Sun Zhenbao seemed to have opened up, "She always said that someone in the mansion bullied her, but she never mentioned who it was..."
"Is she so talkative on weekdays?" Qin Yanheng interrupted.
Sun Zhenbao paused, seemingly unable to recall Susu's past self. Li Qingqing sneered and was about to interrupt, but Qin Yanheng pushed her back, "I'm asking Sun Zhenbao a question now. No one else is allowed to interrupt."
"Right...no, no, last night Susu was so talkative that it seemed like she could never finish. We chatted until the middle of the night, and finally I couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell asleep. Since then, I haven't seen Susu all day, and no one in the mansion knows about it."
"What did she say?"
"She said someone bullied her." Sun Zhenbao kept harping on this sentence.
Li Qingqing said Susu bullied her, and Susu said someone in the Sun Mansion bullied her. Could it be that the Sun Mansion is haunted? Luo Qingling thought about it carefully and asked, "Has any property been lost in the Sun Mansion?"
"Not at all." Sun Zhenbao said firmly.
After interrogating several people in the Sun Mansion, Qin Yanheng had a rough idea in his mind. Although he didn't know which of what Li Qingqing and Susu said was true and which was false, he was certain that Susu's disappearance must be related to the Sun Mansion. At least... someone in the Sun Mansion had something to hide.
Qin Yanheng symbolically interrogated several servants who were on duty in the mansion last night, and they all claimed that they had not seen Susu go out.
How could an adult woman inexplicably disappear in the room and then die in the river?
Qin Yanheng and the other person still had no clue and remained silent on the way back to the inn.
"Sun Zhenbao may seem like a prodigal son, but the expressions he occasionally reveals during questioning are somewhat frightening. On the other hand, Li Qingqing, the most suspected, remained calm during her narration, without a single flaw." Qin Yanheng gripped the reins with one hand, his other hand drooping over the horse's belly. He looked at Luo Qingling's furry head in front of him and slowly analyzed, "Of course, there's another possibility. Li Qingqing is from a theater..."
"Is she acting?" Luo Qingling looked up and asked Qin Yanheng's chin.
Qin Yanheng remained silent because he was not sure. He always felt that there was an indescribable weirdness in the Sun Mansion from top to bottom.
"It's normal for a son of an official to be able to suppress his fear when seeing someone from the royal family, but why can a slave wet nurse answer questions so naturally, and even speak fluently with me? It seems like..."
"As if it was prepared in advance." Luo Qingling yawned and said casually.
This sentence woke Qin Yanheng up.
He immediately reined in his horse and turned back to the Sun Mansion. He didn't dismount, but sat on horseback with Luo Qingling, one in front and one behind, looking at the people in the Sun Mansion. Qin Yanheng waved his hand, and the soldiers surrounding the Sun Mansion immediately dispersed. He suddenly explained patiently.
"Now that the corpse demon has disappeared, it must have gone looking for the real culprit. After all, the first thing a resentful ghost would do after being resurrected is seek revenge."
When these words were spoken, everyone in the Sun Mansion was shocked. Qin Yanheng didn't care and continued to speak slowly.
"I'm thinking, why not set up another formation by the river? The corpse demon might have hidden in the water again."
After saying this, Qin Yanheng whipped his horse and left, leaving everyone looking at each other in bewilderment. Although they didn't know what Qin Yanheng's intention was in withdrawing his troops, no one could change the young prince's mind at the moment.
On the way.
Luo Qingling leaned her back against Qin Yanheng's chest. She pursed her lips, trying not to notice his strong chest. After a moment, she said, "Young Prince, are you withdrawing your troops on purpose?"
"You're quite clever."
Qin Yanheng laughed softly, his chest vibrating slightly with the sound of his voice, making Luo Qingling feel a surge of heat on her cheeks again. She raised her cold hand to "ice" her hot face, but accidentally touched Qin Yanheng's hand holding the whip, and she abruptly withdrew her hand.
"Why are you hiding? I won't eat you, right, Little Princess Qin?"
After Qin Yanheng finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing. He turned his head and coughed lightly, and then stopped talking, making the blush on Luo Qingling's face unable to disappear.
She knew that he must be concerned that others always misunderstood her as a princess!
A stingy little prince Qin.
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