"After midnight, it is the darkest time of the night. If someone wears all black and a mask covered with phosphor powder at this time, relying on the glow of the phosphor powder in the dark, it looks like a "ghost face" that emits green light. And this glowing "ghost face" is so eye-catching that people who encounter "it" are so frightened that it is difficult to notice the black clothes blending into the darkness. In addition, "he" always hides behind the trees, so it is not difficult for people to see it as a "ghost face" hanging in the air."

Yuan Xi rubbed the phosphorus powder in his hand and speculated seriously. Xiao Du listened carefully and thought it made sense, so he sneered: "Since even the ghost face is artificially made, then the so-called resurrection of the wronged ghost must be carefully planned by someone. I just don't know what purpose they want to achieve with such painstaking efforts."

Yuan Xi couldn't figure out why they went to such great lengths to dress up as ghosts and scare people. Just as she was lost in thought, Xiao Du had already grabbed her hand and said, "Since the mystery here has been solved, let's go inside and take a look. Maybe we can find more clues."

The two then walked into the princess' bedroom where the accident occurred. All the furnishings and bedding from that night had been moved away. Outside the open window, a peony flower was in full bloom, further highlighting the coldness and desolation of the room.

Yuan Xi fixed her eyes on the bed, and carefully recalled the scenes described by the maids as what the princess had experienced: the maids, the nursery rhymes, the dripping blood, the lost shoes. If she was not a ghost, then how did she disappear?

At this time, Xiao Du suddenly said, "You just said that there were bloodstains on the princess' neck and clothes. They were dripping from Di'er's wrist." He stared at the wall with his hands behind his back, and said with a slight smile, "I think she may have forgotten one thing. Even if a person can disappear, the traces she left behind are enough to betray her."

Yuan Xi followed his gaze and saw a faint red mark in the crack of the wall, as if it had been rubbed in in a hurry. If one was not paying close attention, it would be difficult to notice.

Xiao Du walked over, feeling around the bricks carefully, and said, "At that time, this wall was in the blind spot of the entrance. When the princess ran out, everyone's attention was only on her. Da'er could take advantage of this moment to hide in the pre-set mechanism. But no matter how careful she was, in a hurry, she would inevitably rub the blood stains on her clothes onto the wall."

While talking, his hand touched something and the wall suddenly opened, revealing a secret compartment that could only hold one person. Yuan Xi couldn't help but gasp, as she couldn't imagine that such a device could be hidden in this seemingly ordinary room. Xiao Du stared at the secret compartment and said, "Now you should understand why after Dian'er dressed up as a female ghost to scare the princess, she had to show another ghost face outside."

Yuan Xi thought for a moment and asked, "Do you want the people in the house to leave as soon as possible?"

"That's right. Qian'er hid in this secret compartment during the chaos, and then the ghost face appeared. Everyone thought that there were ghosts in the princess's yard, so naturally they didn't dare to stay any longer. They just wanted to take the princess away quickly. After everyone left, she could escape calmly and find another place to hide."

Yuan Xi frowned and asked, "Where do you think she will escape to?"

Xiao Du stared at the wall, his face gloomy as he said, "What I want to know most now is who dared to do such a thing in the Marquis' Mansion!"

At noon, Aunt Cai walked into the flower hall. She looked up and saw Xiao Du and Yuan Xi sitting at the top. Her smile froze a little, but she quickly put on a respectful expression and said, "What do you want me to do, Marquis and Madam?"

Yuan Xi said, "I have been having some troubles recently. You, Auntie, are in charge of the renovation of Qixia Courtyard. I want to know if you have found anything strange about it."

Aunt Cai looked thoughtful, and after a while, she said, "I can't really say. I don't know much about the courtyard renovation. I only know how to allocate money and go to see how the renovation is going from time to time. But if there is anything strange, it is that the money was spent a little too quickly, and as soon as the project was completed, the foreman in charge returned home immediately, and didn't even collect the final payment."

Yuan Xi hurriedly asked, "Aunt, do you know the origin of that foreman?"

Aunt Cai's eyes began to waver. Xiao Du saw her hesitation and said, "Just say whatever you want to say."

Aunt Cai then raised her eyes and said with some embarrassment, "The foreman was introduced by the Second Young Master."

Yuan Xi and Xiao Du looked at each other, both of them were shocked. At this time, Aunt Cai raised her hand and touched her hair, as if she had made up her mind, and continued: "Since the Marquis and Madam asked, I will tell you everything. Madam, do you still remember that the original foreman was inexplicably injured by the flower stand, and then the second young master found me and said that he happened to know a craftsman and introduced him to be the foreman. I was not the material to be the head of the family, so how could I dare to disobey the second young master's wishes, so naturally We can only do what he says. Who knew that since this man came, the money has been spent faster and faster. At that time, the lady was not at home, and I discussed it with the chief steward Zhou. He just said that we should turn a blind eye to the master's affairs, avoid causing trouble, and finish the yard on time. Who knew that such a thing would happen later. "She became more and more anxious as she spoke, and it was obvious that she had been holding back these words for a long time, and now she dared to speak them out.

Yuan Xi turned around and looked at Xiao Du's increasingly sullen face, knowing that he and she had come up with the same guess. Xiao Qing had always been resentful of the princess because of Aunt Wang, so she deliberately made trouble at the banquet that day. The princess was an old friend of the princess, and she came specifically to visit the princess. If the princess could be frightened and leave, it would definitely be another heavy blow to the princess. Thinking in this way, everything made sense.

Xiao Du clenched his fists tightly, thought for a while, and whispered to Yuan Xi: "If you know more, I will ask my second brother for clarification."

When Xiao Du arrived at Xiao Qing's room, he smelled the smell of medicine as soon as he entered. Xiao Qing was lying idly on the bed with his eyes half closed. Wang Shiqin was squatting and feeding him medicine, and a maid was fanning him gently behind him.

When they saw Xiao Du coming in, they stood up and saluted. Xiao Qing only raised his eyes to look at him, then half-closed them again, and said lazily: "What kind of wind blew you here today?" He laughed at himself and said: "I don't think it's to see my injury."

Xiao Du was choked up. He had been studying in the palace when he was young. At the age of 16, he followed his father to the border and stayed there for five years. He only returned home a few times, so his feelings for this half-brother were not as deep as those for the current emperor. This time, he heard that Xiao Qing was beaten very seriously. The doctor said that he would not be able to get out of bed for at least half a month, but he never thought of coming to see him.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt guilty, so he took the medicine bowl from Wang Shiqin, lifted his robe and sat on the edge of the bed. He scooped a spoonful and fed it to Xiao Qing, saying, "A lot of things have happened in the mansion recently, and I can't spare the time to see you. Don't blame me, brother." He seldom spoke to Xiao Qing like this, and he felt a little awkward saying it at this moment, so he turned around and coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment.

Xiao Qing also looked up at him in surprise and asked in disbelief, "Are you really here to visit me today?"

Xiao Du's hand holding the medicine froze in the air, and after a struggle, he finally asked, "There is one more thing. Did you introduce the foreman in charge of the renovation of Qixiayuan?"

Xiao Qing was stunned for a moment, then his eyes showed deep disappointment, and he snorted coldly, "So that's how it is. When something happened to the princess in Qixia Courtyard, you were the first one to suspect me, right?" He suddenly waved his hand and pushed the medicine bowl in Xiao Du's hand, and the porcelain bowl immediately fell to the ground and broke. He looked at the thick black medicine juice that flowed all over the floor, and his tone was actually sarcastic, "If that's the case, why bother to act so hypocritically? It's disgusting just to look at you."

Wang Shiqin was startled and hurriedly ordered the maid to bring a handkerchief to wipe the medicine that spilled on Xiao Du's robe. Xiao Du waved his hand and said seriously, "Chengyuan, since no one was hurt in this matter, I will not pursue it even if you did it. I just want to remind you not to go too far. If something goes wrong, I can't save you even if I want to."

Xiao Qing laughed and said, "What a righteous and affectionate Lord Xuanyuan. Should I kowtow to thank you for showing me mercy?" His eyes gradually turned grim, staring at him and said, "It's a pity that I don't need your mercy. If you have evidence, take me to Prince Qing and the Princess to atone for my crime. Anyway, I've already been beaten with these boards, and I don't mind being beaten again by the palace. If I'm beaten to death, you can be at peace."

Wang Shiqin was so anxious that tears were streaming down her face. She rushed to Xiao Du's side and sobbed, "My Lord, don't listen to his nonsense. Cheng Yuan, how could he do such a thing? My Lord, don't listen to others' nonsense and wrongly accuse your second brother."

Xiao Du's forehead twitched a little at the scene in front of him. He could only sigh and said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, I will get to the bottom of this matter. If he didn't do it, I will never wrongly accuse him." He looked at Xiao Qing, who was lying on the bed with an indifferent look on his face, and said, "You should take care of yourself. After all, your last name is Xiao De. Think carefully about what you should and shouldn't do!" After that, he turned away with a stern face.

At the same time, Yuan Xi sat in the room, carefully reading the accounts of the servants who saw the ghost faces, and suddenly an idea came to his mind: Why did the ghost faces appear in these places? Could there be some pattern in this?

She then quickly asked An He to grind and draw the location of Qixia Courtyard and each of the courtyards where the ghost faces appeared on paper, and then connected them one by one with lines. Then she found that the places where the ghost faces appeared were exactly surrounding Qixia Courtyard, and the distances in the middle were also very even, but there was a blank spot in the middle!

She had an idea and quickly took An He and Nanny Li out to find the empty space in the middle. She unexpectedly discovered an abandoned granary in a courtyard there.

Yuan Xi looked at the granary in front of him that was more than a meter tall. He felt a little excited and a little scared. He quickly asked An He to call a servant over.

When the boy stepped forward and opened the door, a strong stench of corpses suddenly rushed out. Several people quickly covered their noses and resisted the urge to vomit. At this time, the boy pointed inside and shouted in surprise: "Look!"

I saw a stiff corpse lying upright in the barn. Without the support of the barn door, it fell straight down. The body was slightly swollen, and maggots and pus had already started to grow in some places, but it was still clear that the face was that of the long-missing Qian'er, and she had been dead for a long time.