The cool breeze in the summer night blew, and the willow branches danced wildly under the dark night sky. The backyard of the mansion was empty, and only a few lanterns under the eaves were still glowing. A servant walked out of a side room drunk. He and a few colleagues were locked in the room tonight to gamble and have fun. It was his fault that he was in a bad mood today, and he won more than ten times in a row, so he was instigated to buy wine and make trouble all night.

It was the fourth watch of the night. He got up in a daze and prepared to go to the toilet. However, after taking a few steps, he became dizzy and lost his way. He was really holding his breath, and seeing that there was no one around, he prepared to sneak to a small bush to relieve himself.

The boy hid behind a big tree. Just as he untied his trouser belt, a sudden gust of wind blew out from the bushes, which made him shiver. He shrank his neck. He was already drunk and couldn't see clearly. At this moment, the branches and leaves in front of him seemed to overlap, looking black and furry. They swayed gently with the wind, and looked a bit like a shaking head. He couldn't help but shiver, and decided not to scare himself anymore. He wanted to solve the problem quickly and go back to his room.

Just as he pulled up his pants again, he suddenly heard a rustling sound in the bushes, as if something was hiding deep in the dark forest, struggling to get out. His heart was pounding, and he shouted loudly, "Who is it!"

There was no response in the darkness, but the sound became more and more obvious, mixed with some sounds like biting something. The boy swallowed his saliva, hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to look behind the tree. Just as he turned his head around, he was met with a pair of scary eyes, which had only whites but no pupils. At this moment, it was like a poisonous snake seeing its prey and entwined with him tightly.

"Ah!" The boy screamed in fear and ran back in panic, but he was caught by a tree root and fell to the ground. He held on to the ground and looked back nervously. He was so frightened that his legs and hands were shaking, and he didn't even have the strength to stand up!

He saw a blue ghost face slowly floating out from behind the tree, emitting a dim light in the dark night sky. There was no body or feet under the ghost face. It just hung in the air until it got closer and closer to him and was about to touch his face.

The boy was so scared that his nose and eyes were full of tears. He even found time to thank himself for having just relieved himself, otherwise he would have to pee his pants. Suddenly, something seemed to wrap around his feet, and then a force dragged him backwards. He was so frightened that he didn't care about the pain in his feet. He used his hands and feet to run several feet, and he didn't dare to look back, for fear that if he looked back, he would be dragged into hell by the evil ghost.

After that day, the servant fell seriously ill, and rumors of ghosts began to spread in the mansion. The servants spread the story with great fanfare. Some said that the ghost face had blood coming out of all seven holes and loved to suck the yang energy of men; others said that the ghost face had a green face and fangs and could bite off half of a person's face with one bite. The rumor spread more and more fiercely until one day it reached the ears of the old marquis. He was furious and scolded the servant for talking nonsense after drinking, and also fined him half a year's salary. He also set a rule that anyone who dared to spread the news of ghosts in the mansion would be punished together, and the rumor was severely suppressed. But the matter did not pass. More and more people saw the ghost face, and many timid maids began to go to the temple to pray for amulets, and no servant dared to hang around in the mansion after dark.

"Madam, tell me, are there any ghosts in this mansion?" Nanny Li told the whole story in a vivid voice, then asked curiously.

Yuan Xi had just recovered from a serious illness and was still a little depressed. She had just been released from the ban today, and early in the morning, she was dragged by Li Ma and An He to the lakeside garden to enjoy the flowers and relax. She knew that Li Ma deliberately said these things to relieve her boredom, and casually fiddled with a blooming rose in front of her, saying, "How can there be ghosts in this world? Even if there are ghosts, they are not scary." She has never been afraid of ghosts or corpses. She is afraid of people, people who lie and hurt others, and... people who hurt people's hearts.

She suddenly lost focus for a moment, her finger slipped, and was pricked by the thorn on the flower stem. An He screamed, quickly pulled her hand and asked, "Does it hurt?" Yuan Xi shook her head lightly, pulled her finger back, wrapped it casually with a handkerchief, and smiled at her and said, "Look, it's okay."

Madam Li looked at her pale but pretending to be strong profile, and suddenly felt a little sad. She had lived to this age, so how could she not know the truth that flowers bloom and fade? But the young lady was still so young, was she really going to live like this for the rest of her life? So she turned her back and secretly shed a few tears.

Yuan Xi knew that Nanny Li was worried about her, and she felt even more upset. She was about to say something to comfort her when she suddenly saw a goose-yellow, cute figure walking towards her from a distance. Yuan Xi recognized that it was Xiao Zhixuan, and she finally felt genuinely happy. She smiled and greeted her, but Xiao Zhixuan just bowed perfunctorily and called softly, "Sister-in-law." Then, she didn't even dare to look at her for a second, and hurriedly walked past her, as if she was afraid to stay for a moment longer.

Yuan Xi's smile froze on her face, and her heart seemed to be stabbed by something. Since she was confined, there have been many servants in the mansion who have bullied the powerful, but she didn't feel sad. It was just some cold eyes, she had seen it a lot since she was a child and had long been accustomed to it, it was nothing more than a change of place.

But she really liked this innocent sister-in-law who always held her hand affectionately and called her sister-in-law. She had never had a close sister since she was a child, and during these days in the Marquis's Mansion, she had already regarded her as a real sister. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but laugh at herself. She really didn't understand people's hearts, and she deserved to end up in such a situation.

At this time, An He beside her was extremely angry and couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "I can't believe it. She pretends to be affectionate on weekdays, but hides away completely when something happens. She has two different faces at such a young age. She is indeed a good young lady raised by the Marquis' Mansion."

Yuan Xi was startled and quickly whispered, "Don't talk nonsense!" But An He felt even more indignant for her and continued to mutter, "Originally, the Madam came to see Madam the day before she was confined and said that she had embroidered a purse for you. When she saw that you were not there, she waited in the room for a long time before leaving. Now she has completely forgotten about it."

Yuan Xi frowned when she heard this and quickly interrupted her to ask, "You said she came to see me the day before I was grounded?" Something flashed through her mind and she was about to grasp it when she suddenly heard someone outside the yard shouting, "This is terrible! Someone is drowning!"

Yuan Xi was shocked when she heard this. She didn't care about anything else and hurriedly took Li Ma and An He to the place where the shouting came from. She saw that many maids and women were crowded on the corridor bridge of an artificial lake. Many of them just looked into the lake and covered their mouths, their faces pale and dared not look again. Yuan Xi came over breathlessly. As soon as she saw the person soaking in the lake, she felt dizzy and almost fell into the lake.

A cry of grief came from beside her. It was Li Ma crying. Yuan Xi only felt a buzzing in her head and could not hear anything clearly. She had never felt that a corpse looked so horrible as she did at this moment.

But a few days ago, she was still alive and kneeling in front of him begging him to save her. The eyes that once looked at her brightly had been deprived of hope forever, and the charming little face had been swollen by the lake water. But her hands were still tightly protecting her belly, even at the last moment, she wanted to protect her fetus from being taken away...

Yuan Xi stared with her eyes wide open, and kept backing away. Seeing her pale face and dull eyes, Nanny Li grabbed her arm and called out, "Madam?" Yuan Xi shook her hand away and said softly, "I want to be alone for a while." Nanny Li and An He became more and more uneasy and hurriedly tried to catch up, but Yuan Xi turned around and shouted, "Don't follow me!"

The two were startled and didn't know how to react for a moment. Yuan Xi, however, ran all the way with her skirt lifted up. She just wanted to escape from here as soon as possible, leave everything behind, and hide somewhere where no one could see her. She ran aimlessly for a while before she found herself under the gardenia tree where she often stayed. Smelling the familiar scent of gardenia, she finally felt safe, and then she hugged her knees and burst into tears.

I'm sorry I couldn't save you! I'm sorry I'm so useless!

She cried for a long time, as if she wanted to cry out all the grievances, sorrows and frustrations of the past few days. She cried until her eyes ached and her head felt heavy, and then she leaned against the tree trunk to rest in a daze. At this moment, she heard a familiar voice coming from afar, and she was sobered up immediately. When she looked up, she saw Xiao Du and Zhou Jingyuan walking towards her while discussing something.

Yuan Xi was panicked and anxious, and she didn't want him to see her in such a ferocious state. She quickly hid herself behind the gardenia tree and prayed in her heart that they would never come over.

But how could Xiao Du not see her? He had already felt suspicious when he saw her sitting under the tree from a distance, and then he saw her hiding behind the tree in a panic, which made him feel even more uncomfortable. So he deliberately said to Zhou Jingyuan: "Uncle Zhou, let's not go to the study today, let's go to the shade of the tree over there and talk."

Zhou Jingyuan felt a little strange, but he still followed him under the tree. Yuan Xi secretly complained in her heart: If they get close, she won't be able to hide. She simply made up her mind, broke off a small branch and covered her head, then crouched and slowly moved out, hoping to sneak away under the cover of the trees.

Zhou Jingyuan saw such an incredible scene: his wife was half squatting and jogging in the bushes with a small tree above her head, and she seemed to ignore them. He looked at Xiao Du beside him with astonishment, and finally couldn't help but tentatively called out: "Madam?"

Yuan Xi was frightened by his shouting, and her heart was beating wildly. She simply threw away the branch and ran out with her skirt lifted up, but she only ran a few steps before she twisted her foot and fell to the ground. Xiao Du was really angry with her, so he strode to her side, squatted down and shouted: "Why are you running!"

Yuan Xi felt a piercing pain in her ankle, and felt wronged and ashamed. She cried with her mouth clenched, "You said you didn't want to see me again!"

Xiao Du was stunned for a moment, then he looked up and glared at Zhou Jingyuan who was standing aside and watching very attentively. Zhou Jingyuan then came to his senses, forgot even to show courtesy, and ran away like a flash.

He shifted his gaze to Yuan Xi, who was sitting on the ground, wiping tears angrily. Finally, he sighed, picked her up and walked towards the room.