Yuan Xi sat on the edge of the bed, and An He helped her put down her trouser legs. She said happily, "Madam's feet, I think they will be completely healed in two days." She rolled her eyes and smiled, "Thanks to the Marquis for taking care of me personally every day." She emphasized the word "personally" very much, and her tone was full of teasing.

Yuan Xi blushed and glared at her shyly. Since the day they reconciled, Xiao Du would come to her room every day to talk with her and massage and apply medicine to her sprained parts. Every time An He rushed to take over, he said that the maids were too light and could not press with the right strength. But every time they pressed, they would inevitably press some places that should not be pressed.

Seeing her blushing cheeks and eyes full of spring, An He could not help but wink at Ying Er, and the two of them laughed softly. At this moment, a noisy shouting came from outside the yard, with faint cries and curses. Yuan Xi felt uneasy for some reason, so he said to An He: "What happened outside? Help me go out and take a look."

An He said quickly: "Madam's leg injury hasn't healed yet, how can she walk around?"

Yuan Xi shook her head and said, "It's just a sprain. It's not so severe that I can't walk. Besides, I've been bored for the past two days. I want to go out for a walk."

An He pushed her down on the bed and said forcefully, "Your foot will soon be healed. If something happens today, I won't be able to bear the blame from the Marquis. Otherwise, let me help you go out and have a look."

Without waiting for Yuan Xi's response, she turned around and walked out. When she pushed the door open, she ran into Nanny Li walking into the yard with a sad face. Her eyes were slightly red and swollen, as if she had just cried. Yuan Xi's heart sank a little more, and she quickly asked An He to call her in.

Nanny Li came in but was reluctant to speak. It was not until Yuan Xi frowned and forced her to question that she finally told the reason. It turned out that the parents of the maid, Dian'er, had rushed from the countryside to retrieve the body, but Dian'er's body disappeared the day before it was transported to the charity house. The housekeeper in the mansion could not explain the reason either, and only agreed to pay more money to settle the matter. The two people saw that their daughter was missing, so how could they let it go? They rushed into the courtyard and made a fuss without saying anything, saying that they wanted to find the marquis and the lady to ask for an explanation. Later, they were driven out by several servants.

Nanny Li became even more sad and angry when she spoke of this. She couldn't help wiping away her tears and said, "How could they, two honest country folk, fight against the powerful Xuanyuan Marquis's Mansion? It's just that poor Fan'er, a girl was sent here innocently, but ended up with nothing left but a corpse."

"You said that Dui'er's body is missing?" Yuan Xi frowned and asked, "How could it be missing? Didn't they say that she committed suicide by jumping into the river? Then what happened to her body?"

"I also heard that after the body of the fallen child was picked up that day, it was kept aside and waited to be sent to the charity cemetery the next day. But that night the body disappeared for no apparent reason, and the servants on duty all evaded the issue, saying it was none of their business." Nanny Li took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears, then sighed again, saying, "A body is gone just like that. Whether it was accidental or intentional, who can tell for sure?"

Yuan Xi felt depressed after hearing this and asked, "Have the parents of Lan'er passed away? I want to go see them."

Nanny Li looked up in surprise and said, "Madam, your feet are still injured. I'm afraid this is not appropriate..."

Yuan Xi said, "They came from a long way, but they couldn't get their daughter's body and were chased away. They must feel very uncomfortable. After all, I am the master of the mansion. I will go to see them and at least comfort them."

Nanny Li hesitated for a while, and finally nodded, and she and An He supported Yuan Xi and walked towards the corner gate. As soon as Yuan Xi walked to the door, she saw two old men and women in coarse cloth sitting on the steps, sighing and wiping tears. The two turned around and glanced at Yuan Xi and her group at the door: Nanny Li and the others knew her. The person next to her was well dressed, and looking at Nanny Li's respectful expression, they could probably guess that she was a master.

Seeing the doubtful look in the two people's eyes, Nanny Li said hurriedly, "This is the wife of Marquis Xuanyuan. She has always been very caring towards Chen'er. After hearing about your incident, she felt bad and wanted to come and see you."

The two looked at each other, and the old woman suddenly rushed over and said, "It was you, you killed Dai'er!"

An He and Nanny Li were startled and hurriedly helped Yuan Xi back away. However, halfway through the run, the old woman's legs suddenly went weak and she knelt down, crying, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been so greedy for those few taels of silver that I bought Dian'er into the Marquis' Mansion. Madam, please return Dian'er to us, return our daughter to us!" She cried and kowtowed continuously, and the despair in her eyes moved everyone present.

Yuan Xi felt as if something had hit her heart hard. She bowed deeply to them and said, "The Marquis's Mansion is sorry for what happened to you." She took a pearl flower from her hair and placed it in the old woman's hand, saying, "If you have any difficulties in the future, take this pearl flower to find Li Ma Ma. I will help you if I can."

The old woman stared at the pearl flowers in her hand and said dejectedly, "Everyone is dead, what's the use of these?" She burst into tears, and she and the old man supported each other and walked out tremblingly.

The red lanterns under the eaves of the mansion reflected their lonely and desperate figures. Joy and sorrow were intertwined together, making Yuan Xi feel deeply powerless.

She supported An Hetu back to the doorstep, and felt a little dizzy. She suddenly fell forward and fell into a strong embrace. When she looked up, she saw Xiao Du's smiling face and heard his gentle and mellow voice in her ears, "Why are you always so careless?"

An He and Li Ma Ma, who were standing by, saluted him immediately and found an excuse to leave. Xiao Du helped her sit down in the pavilion in the courtyard, carefully looked at her ankle, and asked, "Does it still hurt?" Yuan Xi shook her head in a trance, but she couldn't hold back her tears anymore. Xiao Du was startled and was about to ask, but she stared at him and said seriously, "Dian'er, she didn't commit suicide at all!"

Xiao Du narrowed his eyes and asked, "Have you just met her parents?"

Yuan Xi's eyes widened and he asked, "Do you know about this?"

Xiao Du nodded and said, "As soon as I came back, Manager Liu told me about this." He held her head against his chest and said softly, "This has nothing to do with you. You don't need to blame yourself."

Yuan Xi shook her head and choked up, "Dian'er was murdered. She was still protecting her belly after her death. It was obvious that she wanted to protect the baby in her belly at the last moment. How could she commit suicide with the baby? She came to me for help before the accident. But I couldn't help her. Now I know that she died in vain, but I can't tell her relatives. I can't do anything, nothing..." She raised her head and said angrily, "After all, she was pregnant with your Xiao family's flesh and blood. It was very cruel to abort her and drive her out. Why did you have to take her life?"

Xiao Du sighed, took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from her face. He was silent for a long time before saying, "She is not pregnant with a child of the Xiao family at all." Seeing Yuan Xi's surprised expression, he sighed and said, "Because my second brother, it is impossible for him to have an heir."

Yuan Xi was shocked, and her hand trembled slightly, and it was hard for her to accept it for a while. Xiao Du continued, "When Aunt Wang was pregnant with him, she fell seriously ill for no reason, so he was very weak when he was born, and it was difficult for him to survive. Later, he was always weak, and even after he got married, he had invited many famous doctors to see him, but they all said that he was born with deficiencies and would never be able to give birth to children." He paused and said, "Only very few people know about this, and I shouldn't have told you. But I still told you, just to make you stop blaming yourself, do you understand?"

Yuan Xi was stunned when she heard this. Only then did she understand why Xiao Qing was so indulgent, why Aunt Wang had such a deep hatred, and why Wang Shiqin hid so much darkness under her dignified appearance. She thought about the whole thing carefully and inexplicably felt a little cold. So she leaned back into Xiao Du's arms and hugged him tightly, hoping to absorb some warmth.

Xiao Du gently stroked her head and said, "So no one wanted to expose the matter of her falling. Driving her out of the mansion was the most righteous thing they could do. The baby in her belly has nothing to do with my second brother, so why would they harm her again?"

Yuan Xi finally found her voice and said, "How did Dian'er die? Who would kill her and steal her body?"

Xiao Du reached out and smoothed her furrowed brows, saying, "She once came to ask you to help her, but she lied to you first. You don't owe her anything, do you understand?"

Yuan Xi still felt upset. She sighed softly and was about to speak when her lips were suddenly blocked. There was a soothing taste between their lips and teeth, like a gentle breeze and drizzle, which gradually calmed her heart. After a long time, Xiao Du raised his head and sighed, "So don't think about anything else. The most important thing now is to heal your leg injury." He remembered his plan, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He said, "When your leg is healed, I will take you to the farm to relax. I can see that you like it there." Yuan Xi felt warm in her heart. She took his hand and intertwined her fingers with his, leaned her head on his shoulder, and indulged herself in this rare warmth.

That night, a breeze caused ripples on the lake water. A piece of unburned paper money was blown into the center of the lake by the wind and quickly sank to the bottom of the lake.

In the darkness not far from the lake, a small fire was lit, and in the dark night, it was like a ghost fire, exploding with sparks. Pale yellow paper money was flying, and as it was devoured by the fire, it turned into dark smoke and drifted away.

A young man in blue cloth was kneeling facing the lake, secretly burning paper money and crying. His voice was very soft, for fear of waking others, but his eyes were full of pain and sorrow.

At this moment, he suddenly felt something behind him. He turned around in fright and saw a pair of slender feet wearing embroidered shoes. He thought the shoes looked familiar, so he looked up tremblingly. He saw a familiar face looking at him and saying sadly, "Brother Xiaojin, are you here to pay your respects to me?" The young man screamed in fear and fell to the ground. The man standing in front of him suddenly started bleeding from his eyes. His eyes became cold and he said viciously, "Do you think I have forgotten who killed me? From today on, I will never show mercy to anyone who has betrayed me!"