Chapter 428 Friendship (Part 2)

Shiyi Niang was not polite and ate two pieces in a row and drank a few mouthfuls of chicken soup before putting down her chopsticks.

"Your Majesty, you have come back now, but have things over there been resolved?" She looked at Xu Lingyi, her eyes slightly concerned. "I heard from the maid that a mask was found behind Yan Rong's room. Maybe Your Majesty has something to ask me?"

Without crying out for injustice or complaining, Eleventh Lady spoke slowly and calmly, with a sincere and frank attitude.

Xu Lingyi was quite surprised.

When he left, behind the seemingly docile appearance of Eleventh Lady was a coldness and alienation that kept him out of the relationship. But in the blink of an eye, even after Eleventh Lady knew about Yanrong House and discovered the mask, her indifference and alienation towards him suddenly melted away, and instead there was a kind of sympathy and mutual support.

It's no wonder that Xu Lingyi is suspicious since he keeps going back on his words.

Eleventh Lady felt somewhat guilty when she thought that he could still trust her when the safety of his heir was at stake, and when she thought about her suspicion of him.

There is no greater virtue than correcting one's mistakes.

Besides, I am not such a stingy person.

As she pondered, she glanced at Xu Lingyi with her big almond-shaped eyes, then drooped her eyelids in embarrassment and said hesitantly, "I saw that the Marquis ordered me to look at mother earlier, so I thought the Marquis suspected that I was involved in this matter. I couldn't help but feel a little discouraged..."

Xu Lingyi was stunned.

He didn't expect that Shiyi Niang would tell him so frankly about her displeasure, but what he felt more was the throbbing in his heart because of Shiyi Niang's sincerity towards him.

"Little fool." Xu Lingyi's voice unconsciously lowered, warm and heavy, like rich brown chocolate, warming people's hearts, "I was frightened when my brother Zhe came up with an idea at the time, and I was afraid that someone would take advantage of the situation to scare you, so I asked my mother to take care of you." He also thought that Shiyi Niang's careful look was very cute, smiled and rubbed her head, and couldn't help asking: "Then when did you know that I didn't suspect you?"

Eleventh Lady stroked her hair and called out "Marquis" in a reproachful manner, then said, "I heard from the little maid that you found a mask behind Yanrong's house, but asked people to stay and investigate. Only then did I realize that I had misunderstood you, Marquis." Her cheeks flushed, "If you suspected me, you could have let Yanrong be a scapegoat and stopped there. But truth will come out sooner or later, and Yanrong's use of a scapegoat will be discovered sooner or later. And then I will inevitably be pointed at. Because you believed that I had nothing to do with this matter, and because you didn't want me to be in trouble, when you heard that the figure flashed into the main house, you made up your mind to stay and investigate..."

Xu Lingyi felt joy at the fact that his good intentions were felt by others.

He held Eleventh Lady in his arms: "You are so slow to realize things!"

Although he was blaming me, his tone was very intimate.

Eleventh Lady hugged Xu Lingyi's waist shyly, buried her face in his shoulder and smiled.

She also thought that she had never done anything eye-opening since she married into the Xu family, but Xu Lingyi believed in her so much, which was still a bit rash.

I endured it for two rounds in my heart, but because of my previous frankness, I couldn't hold it back anymore and whispered, "How can you believe that this matter has nothing to do with me?"

Xu Lingyi hugged her gently and said, "Our Eleventh Lady is coquettish and hypocritical, but she has a strong character and would never do such a dirty thing!"

Shiyi Niang suddenly felt her eyes a little dull.

She closed her eyes.

There is no instant surprise or emotion in my heart, but a tangled mess that is difficult to sort out.

Xu Lingyi didn't understand what was going on. He just felt that the body in his arms was soft as a boneless bone, as if it was relying on his support to not melt into water. He couldn't help but pat her body gently to comfort her; "It's okay, I'll take care of this!"

Eleventh Lady gave herself a moment of relaxation, then gathered her emotions, sat up straight, and said softly, "By the way, have you found out who scared Brother Zhe?"

When this matter was mentioned, Xu Lingyi's expression was slightly dull.

"I haven't found out yet." His voice was a little low. "I locked the door first and asked the maids and women in the room to check with each other to see if anyone was left alone." As he said this, he frowned and said, "I found out that the only people who were not in the room were Yanrong and Qin."

"Aunt Qin!" Eleventh Lady was stunned. Something flashed through her mind and then disappeared without a trace, making her unable to grasp it.

"Hmm!" Xu Lingyi nodded slightly, "Cui Yu in Qin's room said that Qin went to visit Aunt Yi in Third Brother's room. I called Aunt Yi to ask, and Aunt Yi's words matched Cui Yu's. Later, I asked Yan Rong, and Yan Rong said that she went to Cao An and asked Cao An to help bring a letter home. Zhao Bo went to ask Cao An, and Cao An said the same thing as Yan Rong, and he also took the letter as evidence."

Eleventh Lady listened carefully and said, "Since they didn't go out of the yard, the gatekeeper should know when they went out and when they came back. Did they go out from the front door or the back door..."

Seeing that she spoke one sentence after another, but every word she said made sense, Xu Lingyi smiled and said, "You know a lot," and then said, "I asked, and it happened that both of them went out the back door. Aunt Qin went out first, and Yanrong went out in less than a cup of tea. Because they both asked to help keep the door open, the old woman thought it was still early, so she didn't lock the door, but just left it half-closed. As for when the two came back, if Yanrong hadn't asked her to lock the door, she would have continued to play cards with others, and how could she tell clearly when the two came back at that time!"

"Where are the shoes?" Shiyi Niang frowned slightly. "It rained in front. I heard from Chaxiang that the black shadow suddenly appeared, so he definitely wasn't wearing clogs. There was moss all over the trees next to him, so there would be some dirt, moss or something like that on his shoes."

"We checked." Xu Lingyi said, "Both said they wore clogs when they went out, and although the soles of their shoes were a little wet, they were clean, without any dirt or anything like that."

"So, all the blame is directed at Yanrong?" Eleventh Lady's face became a little heavy.

"I also know that if it was Yanrong, why would the mask be thrown anywhere else?" Xu Lingyi said sternly, "So I asked all the inspectors to disperse, leaving only Linbo and Zhaoying to guard the detained Yanrong in the compartment, and asked Xiaowu to go to the place where the incident happened to see if he could find anything. I went back here to play hard to get.

This way, that person might let down his guard and show his true colors.”

**************

"So, the Marquis ordered Linbo and Zhaoying to arrest Yanrong?"

Dong Hong nodded and whispered, "Not only that. The Marquis has also returned to the Madam's place."

Madam Wen's expression seemed somewhat uncertain.

If Xu Siyu was frightened and this matter was blamed on Eleventh Lady, and Eleventh Lady was so angry that she had a miscarriage, I'm afraid Xu Siyu would be the boss of this mansion!

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but pursed her lips tightly.

Does she have to make a living under the Qin family?

Madam Wen's expression became more expressive.

She told Donghong: "Go find me a coin. I want to sell single and double bets."

It was the middle of the night, and the guards had finally dispersed. But my aunt didn't want to have a good sleep to rest her spirit, but wanted to sell single and double.

She muttered to herself as she went to get a coin.

Madam Wen put her hands together, held the coin in the middle, and muttered, "If it's a pair, I'll tell you. If it's an odd number, then tell me not to tell you," and threw the money on the table.

It's single!

"This time doesn't count, let's try again!" she said, picking up the coin and tossing it again.

It's double!

She smiled widely.

Aunt Qin yawned loudly, "Finally he left!" Then she sat down on the bed and said, "I think everyone will have dark circles under their eyes tomorrow."

Cui'er did not find this interesting. She squatted down to take off Aunt Qin's shoes, but she was thinking about another thing in her mind.

"Aunt," she said worriedly, "Is this matter over now? They won't ask you to question them alone again, right?"

"Of course." Aunt Qin smiled, "Since the investigation has led to Yanrong, if we continue to investigate, we will only dig out the lady. Given the character of the Marquis, he will definitely come up with a plausible reason to end this matter."

"Then the Fourth Young Master..."

"Who made him unlucky?" Aunt Qin said with some disapproval, "There's nothing we can do about it!"

Cui'er still didn't quite believe it.

"You have only been in the mansion for a few years." Aunt Qin sneered, "Go to sleep! You will know it naturally after you spend more time in the mansion."

Cui'er said "yes" and helped Aunt Qin to rest.

Qiao Lian had gone to bed early, but she was too sleepy to sleep so early in the morning. She was talking to Xiu Yuan about something unrelated to this: "You don't have to worry about me. These days, Madam Xu is training young maids. You can pick one when the time comes. Just think of it as you being by my side and serving me."

Xiuzhen's eyes were a little wet, and she said, "Auntie, how about I stay in Xu's house too! At least there will be someone to take care of me!"

"No need." Qiao Lianfang was very determined. "Once you marry into the Xu family, your life or death will not be decided by us. You might as well take this opportunity to get married."

Xiu Yuan said nothing and turned over gently.

Yang tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.

If all the arrows in this matter point to Eleventh Lady, what will Xu Lingyi do?

There are three kinds of unfilial behavior, and the worst is to have no offspring. Shouldn't he pay more attention to his offspring?

Anyone who openly harms the prince of Yongping Marquis's Mansion like this should be severely punished, both in terms of reputation and in one's heart, right?

Although I thought this in my heart, I always felt a little uneasy, as if there was something very important that I had overlooked.

"So, Lord Marquis, are you going to rest first? Or are you waiting for news from Lord Fifth?" Eleventh Lady asked Xu Lingyi.

"Let's wait for news from Xiaowu!" Xu Lingyi pondered, "It rains one after another. If I don't check it out tonight, I'm afraid I'll be washed away by the rain tomorrow morning." He added, "You should go to bed early! Don't stay up with me all night."

Eleventh Lady was taking care of the baby in her belly. Just as she responded, a maid came in and said, "Fourth Madam, Donghong from Madam Wen's room wants to see you!"