Chapter 425: Wuwang (Part 2)
"What's going on?" The lady stood up hastily, but what did she ask?
Xu Lingyi glanced at Shiyi Niang and said, "The maid on duty said that she saw the dark figure enter the main room."
Eleventh Lady was shocked.
The only thing that could be called the main house of the Xu family was the courtyard where they lived.
"I've already asked someone to call Xiaowu," Xu Lingyi said with a cold expression, "Let him help investigate this matter thoroughly." He looked at the old lady and said to Shiyi Niang, "Amber, tell Madam Song to lock all the doors to the main room and wait for Xiaowu to come over."
Is he avoiding himself?
Eleventh Lady's eyes flickered slightly.
But I immediately explained to myself: If it were me, I would probably think the same way!
She straightened her back and gently told Amber: "Go tell Mother Song to lock all the doors and tell everyone in the yard, whether they are visiting or playing in the yard, to stay where they are. Anyone who dares to move around will be punished with ten big strokes of the cane first."
Xu Lingyi looked at her with slight surprise.
Eleventh Lady lowered her eyelids.
There is a dull pain in my heart like a needle prick.
Amber was dejected and left.
The room fell silent, and the air was filled with a suffocating solemnity.
The lady looked at Eleventh Lady, whose face was calm but whose posture was as firm as a pine tree, and then looked at Xu Lingyi, who seemed a little uncomfortable and wanted to say something but hesitated, and said softly, "Okay, okay, you all sit down first!" This broke the tranquility in the room and eased the atmosphere.
Eleventh Lady replied “yes” in a low voice and sat down again. Xu Lingyi thought about it and sat on the armchair next to Eleventh Lady.
The room became quiet again.
Xu Sizhen suddenly murmured, "Mother, mother...", his hands dancing in the air.
Eleventh Lady ran over immediately.
The lady had already held Xu Sizhen's hand and whispered anxiously in his ear: "My dear brother, my dear brother, I am your grandmother..."
Xu Sizhen seemed to be in a nightmare. Not only did the lady's words fail to comfort him, but he screamed miserably and struggled to break free from the lady's hand.
The lady hurriedly held Xu Sizhen in her arms, put her face against his, and kept comforting him: "Brother Sizhen, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, with your grandmother here, no one dares to do anything wrong..."
Xu Lingyi also rushed over. He stood behind Shiyi Niang and looked at his son with anxious eyes.
Xu Sizhe was held in the arms of the lady, his eyes were tightly closed, his forehead was covered with sweat, his dark hair was wet and stuck to his pale face, and from time to time he showed a terrified expression and shouted "Mother".
Shiyi Niang's eyes were filled with tears. She called out "Mother" and bent down slightly to look down at Xu Sizhen: "Do you want to light some sleeping incense?"
The lady's mouth twitched slightly, and she was about to speak when Xu Sizhen suddenly screamed, straightened his body, and kicked his legs wildly - one of his kicks hit Shiyi Niang right in the stomach.
"Eleventh Lady!"
Both the lady and Xu Lingyi were horrified.
Eleventh Lady instinctively leaned back and stepped on the back of Xu Lingyi's foot.
Xu Lingyi didn't move at all. He supported Shiyi Niang with one hand and put his other hand on her belly and asked, "How are you? Are you feeling uncomfortable?" Seeing Shiyi Niang's pale face and pursed lips for a long time without saying anything, his heart was beating wildly. He didn't care about anything else and hugged her. "Shiyi Niang, Shiyi Niang!" He called her in a low voice, with a trace of panic in his voice that he didn't expect. "Do you want to be tight?" While asking, he carefully placed her on the bed of the lady, then sat on the bed and gently stroked her forehead, "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Seeing that Shiyi Niang didn't say anything, the lady-in-waiting became unusually flustered again. She was extremely anxious and wanted to go over to take a look, but with Xu Sizhen in her arms, she was in a dilemma. She burst into tears and scolded the two frightened maids, "What are you doing standing there? Why don't you go over and take a look!"
The two maids came to their senses with a start and hurried forward to check.
Xu Lingyi's warm hands and loving gestures gradually calmed Shiyi Niang's emotions. She took a deep breath, quietly felt the condition of her body, and moved her four limbs. Feeling nothing unusual, she said conservatively, "I don't feel anything. Let the doctor take my pulse when he comes!"
Xu Lingyi relaxed as he listened.
He helped Shiyi Niang take off her shoes: "Then close your eyes and take a rest for a while."
Eleventh Lady's sense of smell has become very sensitive due to pregnancy. The strong scent of lilies in the lady's bed made her feel very uncomfortable. Thinking about what happened today, she felt that there were invisible hands hiding in a place she didn't know, gently plucking the strings of fate, making it hard to guard against... For a moment, she was worried whether the lily scent would be harmful to the fetus. But in front of the lady, she didn't say anything, so she just whispered to Xu Lingyi: "I don't like this lily scent, please let me get up!"
Xu Lingyi's expression froze when he heard this.
Eleventh Lady thought he was upset because she disliked the incense of the Lady Dowager. Just as she was about to explain, Xu Lingyi pointed to a maid and said, "Go and tell Amber who is by the Fourth Lady's side to bring her the quilt that the Fourth Lady usually uses."
In such a situation, the maid wished she could grow wings and fly away. She immediately bent her knees and said "yes", and trotted out of the lady's inner room.
Xu Lingyi said to the lady dowager, "Mother, Eleventh Lady can't stand the scent of lilies..." As he spoke, he looked around, trying to find a place to resettle Eleventh Lady.
The lady thought for a moment and said, "Then move the beauty bed in the east room over here." Just as she finished speaking, Xu Lingkuan lifted the curtain and walked in.
"Mother, Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law," he said solemnly, "I heard everything. Danyang is checking the maids, young wives, and old women in our house. He will come to accompany mother and Fourth Sister-in-law when he is done." He ran to the kang and looked at Xu Sizhen. "How is Brother Xuzhen now?"
Seeing Xu Lingyi act so efficiently, both the lady and Xu Lingyi showed relieved expressions.
"I've already gone to get the doctor!" Xu Lingyi stood up, "Come with me to the main room."
Xu Lingyi agreed, then hesitated and asked, "Should we ask my second sister-in-law to come over and help?"
After hearing this, Xu Lingyi looked at Shiyi Niang with a suspicious expression.
This matter has already been known to the whole family, what else does he have to worry about?
Eleventh Lady seemed to be thinking about something.
"I'll go to the East End to rest for a while!" she murmured. "It's quiet there, and I can just send a little maid to watch over it. If anything happens, you can always call me."
Xu Lingyi nodded thoughtfully, and after a moment of silence, he whispered, "Okay. When Amber comes later, you'll have someone to serve you."
Eleventh Lady nodded at him, said hello to the Lady Dowager and Xu Lingkuan, then got up and went to live in the east room.
A burning gaze fell on her shoulder, making her feel a burning sensation on her shoulder.
The eastern end room of the Taifu was a small banquet and rest room. When the wife of the Yongchang Marquis Huang and the wife of the Zhongshan Marquis Tang came to visit, the Taifu would often invite them to play cards in the eastern end room, or invite two female teachers to sing drums. The layout of the house was mainly for comfort.
The rosewood furniture, royal blue curtains, beauty beds, drunkard chairs, and coffee tables decorated with Milanese tea leaves cured with Yangsha sand are a delight to the eyes.
Because it was early summer, the scarlet mattress on the beauty bed was replaced with a hibiscus mattress made of pink jade, and the ink-splashed pillow was covered with a turmeric-colored gauze cover.
When Amber entered, Eleventh Lady was lying on the beauty couch in a daze.
"Madam," she frowned and walked over hurriedly.
"It's just the beginning of summer, be careful not to catch a cold."
"Oh!" Eleventh Lady stood up with a smile.
Amber hurriedly called the maid standing at the door to come in and help spread the bedding for Eleventh Lady, and then helped Eleventh Lady sit on the beauty bed.
The little maid poured some hot tea and then left obediently.
"Madam, according to what you said, everyone is still where they are." Amber said immediately, "I asked Yanrong to check. Except for two people who asked for leave to go home and one who was playing cards at a nightclub, everyone else in our courtyard is here."
Eleventh Lady said nothing, picked up the teacup, and used the lid of the teacup to brush the floating leaves on the water.
Seeing that she looked nonchalant, Amber remembered that when she went out just now, she ran into Xu Lingyi and Xu Lingkuan going to the main house together. She called her "Madam" and her lips twitched, but she didn't know what to say.
Eleventh Lady handed the full cup of tea to Amber and leaned against the beauty's chair.
"I was thinking about this before you came." She looked up at the blue-green pattern of eight-treasure water grass painted on the roof. "Since they are so brave to set up this trap, there must be a trick. Not to mention that a figure flashed into the main house, it would not be surprising if a mask with ghost symbols painted on it was found in my house..."
"Ma'am," Amber said anxiously, "No, there won't be anyone who eats outside our house!"
"What do you mean by eating from the inside and taking from the outside?" Eleventh Lady laughed when she heard it, "It wasn't us who did it!"
Amber was shocked to realize that she had said something wrong and said hurriedly, "No, no..."
Eleventh Lady patted her hands comfortingly: "Okay, okay! I know what you mean." As she spoke, her expression gradually straightened up, "I trust all of you. But don't forget, we are not the only family living in our yard."
"So, something really happened to the Fourth Young Master?" Madam Wen's expression showed uncertainty and fear.
"Yes!" Dong Hong whispered, "Not only that, except for Sister Amber who is accompanying the Fourth Madam at the Madam's place, everyone else is waiting in the courtyard." As soon as she finished her words, Yu'er rushed in, "Aunt, it's bad, it's bad, the first person that the Marquis and the Fifth Master will interrogate is Madam Xu!"
When Madam Wen heard this, her face changed drastically. She stood up suddenly and pointed at Donghong tremblingly: "Quick, go... and ask around!"
Donghong ran out as soon as possible.
Madam Wen paced around the room anxiously, muttering to herself, "Who did this? Who did this?"
But before he had walked two laps, Donghong ran back again.
"Auntie, Auntie, the door is locked, we can't get out!"
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I will continue to update today, but it's a little late! Let's get up tomorrow morning and read it!
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