Chapter 87 has been discovered.
After the four of them had walked for about 15 minutes, Xiao Yang suddenly asked curiously, "Sister, what's that?"
Xie Wanniang looked in the direction her little finger was pointing, "It's a mask."
The mask stalls are there every year at the Lantern Festival. When she lived with the Xie family, whenever she had the chance to visit the Lantern Festival, she would always buy a lantern and a mask to take home.
Of course, such an opportunity to go out and stroll is very rare for Xie's daughter. In all her life, she has only been to the Lantern Festival twice.
It wasn't that the Xie family was unwilling to spend money on their daughters or to allow the men in the family to protect the women when they went out; rather, the world was too chaotic at that time, and there were too many dangers outside. Even the men had a high chance of never returning once they went out, so the women were even less likely to be sent out casually.
Thinking of the lanterns and masks she left at the Xie family home, which represented her beautiful memories, Xie Wanniang stared blankly at the mask stall not far away.
Jiang Yuan noticed her strange expression and, after a moment's thought, asked, "Want to buy a mask?"
Xie Wanniang snapped out of her daze and replied, "Mm."
It doesn't matter if she can't get back the old things she was forced to give up; she's still young and can continue to create new and beautiful memories.
"Do you want one? If so, I'll buy one for you too."
Hao Yu shook her head, "I don't want to."
Xiao Yang nodded subconsciously, but stopped abruptly halfway through, saying, "I...I think I'd better not."
She should spend less money. Her sister was already very happy to bring her here, and she couldn't let her sister spend any more money.
Xie Wanniang didn't even need to think to understand why Xiao Yang was reacting this way. She touched the little guy's hand hanging on Jiang Yuan's shoulder and said, "Today you can choose a lantern and a mask. I can afford to pay for it."
Xiao Yang hesitated.
Xie Wanniang added, "If you don't want to choose, I'll choose for you."
This means it's a must-buy.
Xiao Yang was a little shy, but mostly happy. The four of them went to the mask stall. Xiao Yang looked at all the masks and then pointed to a rabbit mask with her little finger. "Sister, I want that one."
Xie Wanniang nodded, took off the mask and handed it to the little maid, then picked out a wolf head mask for herself and a fox mask for Jiang Yuan.
She placed the imposing wolf head mask on Jiang Yuan's face, saying, "This is for you to wear."
Jiang Yuan had longed to own these little things when he was a child, but he felt that he was now an adult and felt a little embarrassed to buy masks, lanterns and the like that only children and girls liked.
That's why when Xie Wanniang asked them if they wanted it, he neither said he wanted it nor said he didn't.
Xie Wanniang noticed the fleeting hesitation and struggle on his face, so she considerately didn't ask anything. Instead, when choosing a mask, she picked out the one that his gaze lingered on the longest.
After paying, Xie Wanniang pulled down the padded neck warmer that could both block the wind and keep her warm, and also cover her face, and happily put on the newly bought fox mask.
Unbeknownst to her, in the teahouse located behind the mask stall, someone was standing at the window of a private room on the second floor, staring at her with a shocked expression.
She was a pretty little girl, about eleven or twelve years old. Although her parents had brought her out to see the lanterns, she was kept in a private room in the teahouse by her mother because of her young age and because she was a pretty girl who was most vulnerable to being kidnapped.
While Xie Wanniang and the others were buying masks, the little girl was leaning against the windowsill looking out. She inadvertently caught sight of Xie Wanniang's face, which she recognized very well. The little girl was so shocked that she couldn't react immediately.
Only when Xie Wanniang's face was covered by the fox mask again did the little girl seem to wake up from a dream, murmuring "Mother".
Her mother, who was sitting at the table entertaining a group of female relatives from the clan who had come to use the private room, did not hear the little girl call out "Mother".
The little girl watched as Xie Wanniang took a step to leave, but her mother did not respond to her calls, and she began to feel anxious.
She raised her voice and called out "Mother" again, which finally drowned out the chatter of the women in the clan.
"What's wrong?" Her mother nodded slightly to the women of the clan surrounding her, then got up and came to her daughter's side.
“That…” The little girl raised her hand and pointed to Xie Wanniang, who was almost out of her sight, and lowered her voice to finish the sentence, “It’s Sixth Sister.”
"What?" Her mother's expression was exactly the same as the little girl's just now. Remembering that there were several other women in the clan in the room, the middle-aged woman subconsciously lowered her voice, "Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
The little girl nodded vigorously, "I'm sure I didn't see wrong. She bought a fox mask, and I saw her face clearly when she put it on."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged woman immediately became anxious. She leaned out of the window and stared intently at Xie Wanniang's back for a few moments. "Don't tell anyone about this. I'll send someone to find your father right away."
The little girl nodded.
She understood, otherwise she wouldn't have just called out "Mother" instead of rushing over to tell her mother about her unexpected discovery.
The middle-aged woman patted her little daughter's head and said, "Then you can continue watching the lights, but remember not to leave the private room."
The little girl nodded again.
The middle-aged woman then turned and left the window, saying, "I have to go out for a bit. Please make yourselves at home."
The woman who had been sitting closest to her stood up and said, "I'll stay with you."
The middle-aged woman shook her head. "I'll just go to the private room next door."
Her husband and some men from her clan were sitting in another private room next to theirs.
The middle-aged woman left the private room and asked the servant guarding the door to call her husband outside.
Upon hearing from his servant that his wife urgently needed to see him, Xie Daoheng told his clansmen and then came out of the private room.
"What's wrong?"
His wife, Madam Hu, leaned close to him and whispered about how their youngest daughter had inadvertently seen Xie Wanniang.
"...She was wearing a black cotton coat that was very common in ordinary people's homes, and her hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin that was slightly oiled. Shi Niang said she was also wearing a fox mask."
She said all this to make it easier for Xie Daoheng to find the person later.
Xie Daoheng was not as shocked as the Hu mother and daughter. Unlike Xie Wan Niang's biological father's family and most of the Xie clan members, Xie Daoheng never believed that Xie Wan Niang would lose her life so easily.
As an enlightened father who respects his children's personal wishes, Xie Daoheng is more likely to see the true nature of his children than Hu Shi, who insists on following rules and etiquette.
Take Xie Wanniang as an example. In front of her birth mother and adoptive mother, she always tried her best to play the role of a well-behaved young lady. However, in front of Xie Daoheng, she did not mind showing her "outrageous" side.
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