Tu immediately told Zhang Qing to turn off the lights, then slipped behind the wall and hid. Under the dim streetlights and lanterns in the courtyard, the group squatted in a row against the wall, like a black arthropod.
The group of people had obviously seen them too, and immediately turned off their lights and crouched down by the bushes.
Both groups remained silent, hidden in the darkness, spying on each other.
"The person opposite must be from the Lu family, from the second branch!" Tu thought.
"The person opposite must be from the Tu family, from the eldest branch of the family!" Lu thought.
Just as they were growing impatient, Qingpuyuan suddenly erupted in a deafening battle cry, accompanied by the clanging of weapons clashing together.
A short while later, two dark figures jumped onto the wall, only to be knocked down by a stick.
The "puff puff puff" sounds clearly indicate a group fight.
"Ah~" Two screams.
Before long, the black object was thrown out in a parabola and landed with a "thud" and a "thud"—the sound was so loud it made my teeth ache!
The screams were so horrific that both Madam Tu and Madam Lu felt a chill run down their spines.
The two dark figures seemed to be severely injured, but they still desperately ran out of the mansion. Tu Shi and Zhang Qing were confused about what was going on: which courtyard did they come from?
Several people came out of Qingpu Courtyard, holding torches in their hands. Tu Shi and Lu Shi saw from afar that the one leading them was the dark-faced fellow named Bei Chen.
The man in the darkness said to the shadowy figure, "This is the first time. There will be no next time. Whoever comes, their head will roll."
Tu felt that his words were pointed, and there was no point in hiding anymore, so she immediately stood up and shouted, "What's going on?"
Zhang Qing also stood up, lit the lantern, and asked in a pretentious manner, "What happened?"
“There are scoundrels who actually tried to steal from Qingpu Courtyard at night!” Bei Chen said. “No one is allowed to step into the Grand Secretary’s courtyard without his permission.”
Tu immediately ordered several of her men to grab the two limping men who were trying to escape. In the ensuing chaos, the servants apprehended the two thieves.
Tu and Zhang Qing saw that the two men's clothes had been cut off by swords, and a section of white bone was exposed on their arms.
They are not from the manor.
"Send him to the authorities." Madam Tu was furious. People in the manor were eyeing the third son's property, and now a traitor like you was also trying to covet it?
Zhang Qing ordered his men to tie him up and throw him in the woodshed, then went to report it to the authorities at dawn.
Tu said angrily to Bei Chen, "How did you manage to guard the courtyard? How did you let people in?"
The female soldier said, "This is the first time. If it happens again, we won't be polite. The lord and madam have ordered that anyone who trespasses without cause, steals, or commits adultery will be beaten to death without exception."
Tu said loudly to Zhang Qing, "Go to Qingpu Courtyard and check if anything is missing, or if any scoundrels are hiding there."
Zhang Qing was about to lead his men inside when Bei Chen stopped him at the door: "No one may enter without an invitation."
"This is the Grand Secretary's courtyard, and also the Earl's residence. Why can't we enter?"
"cannot!"
"How ridiculous! This is the Earl's mansion courtyard, and you are all servants of the Earl's mansion. Don't you forget your place? This is the Earl's wife, and you're not even inviting her in?"
"You can't go in."
Tu said, "I must go in."
"Don't blame me for being impolite."
"You can kill people?"
"able!"
Madam Tu angrily said, "This servant is bullying his master! I will definitely take this to the authorities! This servant is trying to ride on his master's neck!"
“You can file a complaint,” Bei Chen said bluntly. “This courtyard belongs to the Grand Secretary, and the entire Earl’s Mansion was bestowed by His Majesty. You can file a complaint with the Emperor.”
Just as the argument was taking place, someone shouted from ahead, "Fire! The young mistress's courtyard is on fire!"
Flames were seen shooting into the sky from Fanghua Garden. Madam Tu was so frightened that she quickly led her people to run towards Fanghua Garden.
That's incredible, Fanghua Garden is very close to several main courtyards.
Those masters and servants who could get up in the courtyard quickly led people to put out the fire.
The spring drought caused the fire to start in the side room where Gu Yuebai used to live. The fire spread with the help of the north wind, burning down the small kitchen and several adjacent side rooms.
It took the entire Marquis's mansion a whole night to put out the fire.
The old lady pounded the bed, wiping away her tears, and said, "Is this God's punishment for me? How could I be so unlucky? First, Yan'er was dismissed from his post, then he was demoted from Marquis to Earl, and now my third son and his wife have abandoned me. And now they're even trying to burn down the Earl's mansion..."
Gu Boyu, Gu Zhongyu, Tu Shi, and Xie Xiangxiang all knelt down to admit their mistakes.
“It’s all because your son/concubine is useless and has not managed the affairs of the household well, causing your mother/grandmother to worry.”
The old lady cried.
Remembering the two thieves who had been imprisoned the previous night, Madam Tu told Zhang Qing to take them to the authorities and tell him, "Regardless of whether they stole anything or not, just say that something is missing. These habitual thieves all have dens of thieves, so they must have stolen a lot of silver."
Zhang Qing, limping, thought to himself: "Even geese pluck feathers as they fly by, and beasts leave their skins behind. Even the aunt wants a share of the stolen goods."
When Zhang Qing went to dismantle the house to retrieve the two thieves, he found the woodshed door ajar and the two thieves had vanished.
Everyone I asked said they were out putting out a fire last night and didn't see the two thieves!
Zhang Qing said, "There must have been an inside traitor. Those two thieves were beaten up by Qingpu Courtyard and tied up. How could they have escaped without someone's help?"
Tu suspected that the fire might have been set by an inside agent.
Now that all three branches of the family are dead, who would think of colluding with outsiders to steal?
Besides the second wife, there was no one else!
When Madam Tu and Madam Lu went to Ci'en Hospital to care for the old lady, Madam Tu looked displeased and retorted to Madam Lu, "Did you set the fire?"
Mrs. Lu stared, bewildered: "What do you mean?"
"You lured the tiger away from the mountain, letting the thief escape!"
"Bullshit! You tried to steal from the third brother's family but failed. When they found out, you had no choice but to set fire to their house to save face, right?"
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