"If someone took something so personal like this, I'm afraid it would cause some disaster." Although Song Wanshi was a bit domineering, she still valued her reputation. "Could it be that the maids under my command were dishonest and took away my bellyband? If I find out who took it, I'll teach them a lesson."
Nan Hongqiu now had a bad premonition, and her head felt dizzy. She stared at Mudan beside Song Wanshi and said, "Look carefully, we must find the thing. The girl's underwear is the most important thing, how could it be lost?"
"I understand, ma'am." Mudan responded and continued to search carefully in the suitcase.
Nan Hongqiu glanced at her mother beside her and asked, "Shouldn't the one sent over be Sister Shi's?"
Mother Xu was now a little panicked. She looked at Nan Hongqiu and responded, "No, that bellyband was indeed taken from Sister Ning's yard. It should be correct."
Nan Hongqiu took a reassurance and consoled herself, "That's good. Call all the maids over and ask them carefully. It shouldn't be lost just like that. It's unacceptable for such a good thing to just disappear like that."
"I understand, Madam." Mother Xu now felt that the matter was urgent, and she went out immediately to call the maids in Cuihua Courtyard for interrogation.
After hearing what Nan Hongqiu said, Song Wanshi also realized that something was wrong. She looked at Nan Hongqiu and asked, "What kind of bellyband is this that Madam is talking about?"
Nan Hongqiu sighed and said to Song Wanshi, "Mother originally thought that Sister Ning always outshined you, and now that she's going to marry the Prime Minister, how can she be so arrogant? So she wanted to teach her a lesson, so she had someone take her bellyband and give it to Master Wen of the Zhongping Marquis's mansion. Now, Master Wen is probably thinking about how to deal with Sister Ning."
Song Wanshi was feeling down because her bellyband was missing. She just looked at Nan Hongqiu and said, "Madam, I should be happy to hear you say that, but I don't know why I'm so worried. I should ask Madam Xu to find my lost bellyband as soon as possible."
"Yes, yes, Sister Shi is right." Nan Hongqiu said, stood up and walked out the door to watch Mother Xu scolding the servants.
"Who is so dishonest as to even dare to take my young lady's bellyband?" Madam Xu had been a housewife for decades and was now considered an expert at interrogating people. She stared at the dozen or so maids in a row, her eyes almost staring holes into them. "Hurry up and take out my young lady's bellyband. Otherwise, if I find it, I'll immediately find a trafficker to sell you to a brothel."
More than a dozen maids lowered their heads, and no one stood up to admit it.
Mother Xu immediately spoke up, cursing, "You don't admit it? I'll take people to search for it right away. If we find it in some little hoof's house, don't blame me for not giving you respect."
Now, it was the little maid standing in front who spoke up, "Mother, the girls' underwear has always been taken care of by Mudan and Shaoyao. We little maids only do odd jobs and really have no business taking care of it."
After the maid finished speaking, everyone below responded, "Yes, that's right."
"I've never even been into a girl's boudoir."
Mother Xu was now completely distraught. She took a dozen maids and servants to search the room where the maids usually lived, but in the end they found nothing.
Nan Hongqiu almost fainted when she saw this. She looked at Mother Xu and said, "Quickly call your own daughter Cuixiang over and ask her about this. Make sure nothing goes wrong."
Mother Xu had no choice but to call Cuixiang, her own daughter, to her side. "Tell Madam Madam, how did you take Ning Jie'er's bellyband after you married her? Explain the whole story clearly, don't leave out a single detail."
Seeing that Nan Hongqiu's face was not looking good, Cuixiang whispered, "Madam, that day, I followed your instructions and went into Miss Ning's yard. When no one was around, I took out the green bellyband she had put in her suitcase and put it in a box..."
"What color bellyband did you say?"
Mother Xu was now shocked. Before handing the box to the servant, she opened it and took a look. It was clearly a pink bellyband, but now she heard Cuixiang say that it was blue.
Cuixiang quickly responded, kneeling on the ground and saying, "It's blue. Miss Ning usually loves blue clothes, so there's no mistake."
Mother Xu's whole body went limp and she collapsed to the ground.
Nan Hongqiu, who was sitting on the bed, nearly fainted. She turned to Mother Xu and asked, "How could such a mistake happen? How did the cyan bellyband turn pink?"
"Your servant, your servant doesn't know either." Mother Xu knelt on the ground, looking at Nan Hongqiu straightly, "I'm afraid that one of their men switched it. The most important thing now is to get Sister Shi'er's underwear back. Otherwise, if Second Master Wen did something with that bellyband, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to save it."
When Song Wanshi heard this, her eyes rolled back and she fainted. She had put a lot of thought into that bellyband, and everyone in the house knew it was hers just by looking at the embroidery.
Nan Hongqiu's face turned extremely grim upon hearing this, but she managed to hold on and not collapse. "Go and call back the servant who went to the Wen Mansion to deliver the things. Tell him to go back and get the girl's things back at any cost."
Mother Xu went out with trembling hands to call for help. Everyone in the room knew what would happen if the bellyband fell into the hands of another man.
The servant of the general's mansion went to the Marquis of Zhongping's mansion again and met Wen Tingbai.
Wen Tingbai now had a half smile on his face and asked the servant, "What is the purpose of your visit this time?"
The servant smiled widely, "Second Master, I'm so sorry. My servant made a mistake with the bellyband. The one you have now is not Miss Ning's, but someone else's. Could you please return that bellyband first? I'll bring Miss Ning's back to you in a couple of days."
"What a joke!" Wen Tingbai, who wasn't too stupid, stared at the servant and said, "That material is not something a servant can afford. It's embroidered with hibiscus flowers, and it's obviously made by an unmarried girl..."
Wen Tingbai chuckled as he spoke, "Could it be your Miss Shi's?"
The servant was stunned for a moment, then stood there and tried to make amends, "How could it be? How could it be? It's not Miss Shi's."
Wen Tingbai looked at the servant. He now had the leverage over the General's Mansion, so naturally he wasn't afraid of anything. He just chuckled and said, "Let your mistress come and talk to me. Otherwise, I will bring disgrace to her own daughter."
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