"Oops, I'm late."

Yuan Xi turned around and saw a girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old, with pink cheeks, almond eyes and a graceful figure, running all the way with her goose-yellow and gold-sprinkled skirt. When she came into the room panting and found that all eyes in the room were on her, she stuck out her tongue embarrassedly, lowered her head and quietly stood behind the old marquis.

The old marquis shook his head and said, "Xuan'er, you are almost 15 years old, but you are still shouting all day long. What a mess." Although he said words of reproach, his eyes were full of affection. Yuan Xi immediately understood that this person was her aunt, Xiao Zhixuan, the little daughter who grew up with the old marquis.

Xiao Zhixuan hurriedly bowed and apologized with a smile, muttering, "It's all my fault that I went to bed late yesterday. I was afraid that I would miss seeing my sister-in-law if I arrived too late." As she spoke, she kept glancing at Yuan Xi with her big eyes. Yuan Xi saw that her eyes were full of curiosity and kindness, so she also smiled at her.

At this time, a well-dressed and good-looking woman came out of the door, bowed and said, "The food is ready, you can have breakfast now." The old marquis nodded and said, "Now that everyone is here, let's go have a meal together as a family." He stood up, paused for a moment when he walked past the woman, and said to Yuan Xi, "This is your Aunt Wang." Yuan Xi hurriedly bowed to her, and Aunt Wang smiled and held her hand, saying, "From now on, we are a family. "If you feel that the people below are not serving you well, just come to me and I will make sure to arrange it for you." At this time, Xiao Zhixuan jumped over again and said with a smile: "If the eldest brother bullies you, you can also come to me." Before she finished speaking, a voice came from behind her: "What do I want to find you for? You are late and not well behaved. Aren't you afraid of being punished and imprisoned again?" Xiao Zhixuan immediately drooped her face when she heard it, turned around and made a face at Xiao Du, and retreated to the back in an orderly manner. Yuan Xi saw that she was cute and lovely, and her personality was innocent and romantic, so she couldn't help but have a lot of good feelings for this young lady.

The group walked out through the corridor and arrived at the main courtyard dining room. There were already many maids and servants waiting in the room. The old marquis and Madam Zhao sat at the top table together. He looked back and said, "Today is the first time that Du'er's new daughter-in-law has entered the family. There is no need to be formal. Let's sit down and eat together."

Aunt Wang and a woman next to her said yes and found a seat. The woman Yuan Xi saw was dressed elegantly, but her behavior was cautious and gentle. She must be Aunt Cai who was a maid. Aunt Cai sat down next to Xiao Zhixuan, looking at her lovingly, with tears in her eyes.

Yuan Xi suddenly thought of the Seventh Aunt, and felt a little sad. She heard from Nanny Li that the old marquis had raised Xiao Zhixuan by his side since she was a child, and even hired someone to teach her. She was afraid that Aunt Cai was of a low birth and would teach her daughter badly. She also thought that although she was not favored by her father, at least she could always see the aunt who loved her the most. Xiao Zhixuan must not feel good in her heart because she was favored but could not get close to her mother.

As she thought about it, she couldn't help but sigh: Born in a wealthy family or a noble family, how many people can truly get what they want? And who can truly see through the misfortunes and blessings in it?

She was so lost in thought that when she came to her senses, she realized that there were many more side dishes on the plate in front of her. She turned around and met Xiao Du's meaningful eyes. Aunt Wang glanced over here and smiled softly, "Look at how loving this young couple is. They are so inseparable after just one night." Yuan Xi's face suddenly became hot, but she couldn't explain it, so the others followed suit and joked, and the atmosphere at the table gradually became warmer.

Seeing Yuan Xi was shy and silent, Aunt Wang laughed again and said, "I am not praising our Du'er. With his background and appearance, there are countless maids who want to climb up the social ladder through sex, but he has never looked at them with a straight face. For example, a few days ago, a new maid wanted to cling to him by using her beauty, but in the end, she was sent out of the mansion. In my opinion, those lowly maids who climb into the bed should not have a good end. They have ruined the reputation of the mansion for nothing."

As soon as she finished speaking, Aunt Cai's face turned pale. Everyone at the table knew that she was born a maid and only got a status because she gave birth to a daughter. But she still said nothing, just silently put food into Xiao Zhixuan's bowl, as if except for her daughter, everything on the table had nothing to do with her.

"All right." Madam Zhao, who had been silent the whole time, glanced at Aunt Wang and said softly, "Have a good meal. It's not my son's turn to be praised by others." Aunt Wang's face changed and she quickly smiled and fell silent. For a moment, the table was so quiet that only the sound of dishes colliding could be heard.

Yuan Xi had seen too many inner-house fights at home and had learned to stay out of them. She just picked up the porridge in front of her and drank it. At this time, Xiao Du said, "Xi'er, you must learn more from Aunt Wang in the future and learn how to run this family well." Yuan Xi was startled. The porridge was stuck in her throat and she couldn't swallow it. She didn't dare to spit it out, so she covered her mouth and coughed violently. An He, who was standing behind her, quickly handed her a handkerchief. Yuan Xi wiped her mouth in a wolfish manner and finally calmed down. Looking up again, Aunt Wang's expression had not changed. She was still smiling warmly and said, "Of course. It was because my sister was weak before that I had to take over the management. Now that the new lady has come in, it would be great if you could hand it over quickly. It's just that the accounts in this mansion are complicated, and there is a lot of business outside, so I need to teach you bit by bit." Yuan Xi reluctantly pulled the corner of her mouth to agree. She didn't understand why Xiao Du pushed her into the limelight on the first day.

Everyone had their own thoughts during the meal. Ever since Xiao Du told her to learn how to be the head of the family, Yuan Xi always felt that everyone was looking at her, and she felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. After finally finishing the meal, the maids brought teacups to help the master wash his mouth. An He was about to step forward with the tea, but was suddenly bumped by the maid next to her, and the cup of tea in her hand spilled all over Yuan Xi.

The maid who bumped into someone was so frightened that her face turned pale. She quickly knelt down and begged for mercy, saying, "This servant didn't mean to do that. I just stumbled for some reason. Please forgive me, Madam!"

Yuan Xi took out a handkerchief to wipe the water off her face. She was about to say something to calm things down when she heard Xiao Du coldly say, "You made Madam look bad in public. You just say you didn't do it on purpose?" Yuan Xi's heart sank. The maid was crying so hard that she could only timidly reply, "It's my fault. Please punish me, Lord." Xiao Du then stood up with satisfaction, glanced at the maids and servants in the room, and said, "All of you stay and be punished with her. Otherwise, it will seem that our mansion has no rules!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole room was shocked. At this time, a lazy voice came from the side: "Big brother loves the new wife, but there is no need to take it out on the servants in the whole house." Yuan Xi turned around and saw that the person who spoke was Xiao Du's half-brother, the second son of the Marquis's Mansion, Xiao Qing. He was wearing a green calamus pattern straight-banded gown, with the attitude of a scholar, but his eyes were faintly dark blue, and he exuded an inexplicable cold aura. The second wife Wang Shiqin, who was sitting next to him, hurriedly pulled his sleeves, signaling him not to interfere. Xiao Qing glared at her fiercely, and Wang Shiqin had to timidly retract her hand and sat aside with her head lowered.

Xiao Du smiled, but before he could say anything, Aunt Wang rushed over, glared at Xiao Qing and said, "Your eldest brother is the one in charge of this mansion now. These are just a few servants. He can punish them if he wants to. Why do you have to interfere?" Xiao Qing's brows flashed with dissatisfaction, but she did not continue to argue. She just snorted and turned her head away.

Xiao Du didn't seem to want to argue with him, and bowed to the old marquis and said, "Dad and Mom, you go back and rest first, how about I take care of these people?" The old marquis looked at him intently, then nodded, and walked out with his hands behind his back. When the others saw this, they followed him out one after another, leaving the maids and old women in the room looking at each other in bewilderment. These maids and nannies usually served the maids in each room, and the maids and servants below were also ordered around at will, but today they were punished for no reason, and for a moment they were a little at a loss.

On the other side, Yuan Xi hurried back to her room to change her clothes. Seeing her sad face, An He asked curiously, "Although the Marquis is a bit fierce to outsiders, he is very caring and loving to the young lady. He didn't blame us for what happened last night. The young lady should be happy. Why are you still sad?"

Yuan Xi sighed, not knowing how to explain this to her innocent little maid. She had just seen clearly that Xiao Du had deliberately stretched his legs to trip the maid, causing her to bump into An He and spill tea on herself.

If she guessed correctly, Xiao Du did this to find out the owner of the half-broken nail. The servants in the mansion could not have such long and delicate nails. The only ones left were the relatively noble maids and nannies in each room. Only by using this method could the truth be quietly found out without alerting too many people.

It was just his business to investigate, why did he have to put himself on the spot? The more she thought about it, the more confused she felt. It was just a meal, and Xiao Du had offended her aunt and maids for her, while he himself had the reputation of loving and protecting his wife. In the future, she would probably have a harder time in this mansion.

She was full of thoughts, but the dining room was silent and noisy. The maids and nannies stared at Xiao Du, who was sitting in the middle with a teacup in his hand, in fear, wondering what this young marquis, who always behaved eccentrically, was going to do.

Xiao Du finished the tea in front of him slowly and said, "How about a beating? Put your hands out!"

The others all thought it was a little strange, but they didn't dare to resist. They stood in a row and stretched out their hands obediently. Xiao Du stood up and paced to look at them one by one until he stopped in front of a pair of hands. He smiled and raised his eyes to ask, "What's your name? Which room are you from?" The maid almost cried when he looked at her. She trembled and said, "I am the personal maid in Aunt Wang's room. My name is Zhuyun."

Xiao Du stared at her neatly trimmed nails and asked, "Why are your nails cut?"

Zhu Yun shrank her head and said with a guilty conscience, "I accidentally broke one while working, so I cut them all off."

Xiao Du smiled even more and said, "Oh, how come I didn't know that the personal maid in Aunt Wang's room needed to do some rough work." His face suddenly changed and he ordered outside, "Take her out and interrogate her thoroughly!" When Zhu Yun heard this, she was so scared that her legs went weak, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

On the second day, several rumors began to spread among the servants in the Marquis's mansion. It was said that Ping'er, Mrs. Zhao's favorite maid, was raped and murdered on the night of the Marquis's wedding, and the one who murdered her was Zhuyun, the maid in Aunt Wang's room.

So some people were curious: How could Zhu Yun, a woman, rape and kill Ping'er? Later, it was reported that Zhu Yun not only cruelly killed Ping'er, but also had the audacity to frame General Zheng who came to attend the wedding banquet. Fortunately, the Marquis was able to distinguish right from wrong. He found out the truth within a day and caught her.

A day later, another rumor spread: General Zheng had doubts after seeing Zhu Yun. It was said that although General Zheng was drunk and could not recognize people, he was very sensitive to smells and said that the smell on Zhu Yun was wrong. However, the Marquis had important evidence in his hands and determined that Zhu Yun was the real murderer. He had handed her over to the government and would bring her to justice soon.

Within two days, all kinds of rumors became more and more intense. The servants were extremely interested in this strange case happening around them. They would gather together to discuss it in their spare time every day, and spread all kinds of news in a very detailed manner, as if they had experienced it themselves.

##

The fourth watch drum sounded, and it was midnight when no one was around. The moonlight, which was dimmed by the clouds, shone on a dark figure that quietly passed through the corner gate and came to the long alley outside the mansion. She looked around carefully, and when she saw that no one was following her, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, threw the package in her hand into the alley, and then lit a fire out of concern.

At this moment, her back suddenly stiffened. She turned her head back and couldn't help but screamed in fear, and suddenly fell to the ground!