"Wen Qian, you are now old enough, it's time to consider getting married."

He had heard such advice many times before, but it never shocked him as much as it did this time. Luo Yuan's hand trembled slightly as he was picking up the chess piece, and he was thinking quickly about what Xiao Du meant by this and how he should respond.

Seeing his pale face, Xiao Du immediately laughed in a good mood and said lightly, "I just asked casually. Why should Wen Qian be so cautious as if he were facing a powerful enemy?"

Luo Yuan quickly hid the embarrassment on his face, lowered his head and smiled: "Thank you for your concern, Lord Marquis, but I am new to the official career, with neither family background nor achievements, so I am not qualified to talk about getting married." After saying this, he packed up the chess pieces and stood up to say goodbye.

Xiao Du's eyes fell on his back, and he suddenly spoke again: "You have a promising future now, so why are you so modest? How about this, if you meet the right person someday, I will try to be a matchmaker for you?"

Luo Yuan paused for a moment, then turned around and bowed, saying, "In that case, I'll trouble you, Lord."

##

When Xiao Du returned to the Marquis' Mansion, Yuan Xi was asking Nanny Li and An He to sort out the boxes that they had brought back from the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Xiao Du walked over with his hands behind his back, and pecked Yuan Xi on the face when no one was paying attention. Yuan Xi blushed and glared at him fiercely, then he cleared his throat and smiled at An He who was busy, "Prime Minister Xia didn't make things difficult for you, did he?"

An He sighed and said, "The Prime Minister was very angry and said that we were useless and failed to take good care of the young lady. But in the end, he didn't send anyone to stop us and let us take all these away."

The smile on Xiao Du's face became even bigger. He specially sent someone to the prime minister's residence today with great fanfare, saying that he was following the madam's order to bring back all the personal maids and boxes. Xia Mingyuan was very concerned about his reputation, so he naturally would not admit that Yuan Xi sneaked back to the prime minister's residence by herself, so he had to agree on the surface.

He imagined that Xia Mingyuan's expression of being unable to vent his anger must have been very interesting, and he felt happier. At this time, Yuan Xi was a little absent-minded because he thought of his father. This time he went back to Hou Mansion and felt a little guilty towards his father.

Xiao Du saw what she was thinking, sighed softly and said, "The house is messy, come with me for a walk." Yuan Xi nodded, and let him lead her outside. The two of them held hands under their sleeves and walked in the garden on the fallen leaves. Although they didn't speak all the way, they seemed to understand each other's thoughts, and they didn't need to say anything, as they were already saying a thousand words.

When they reached a waterside pavilion, Xiao Du saw Yuan Xi shrinking her neck due to the cold wind, so he gently took off his outer robe and wrapped her up, then held her in his arms and asked softly, "Do you regret it?"

Yuan Xi sniffed in his warm embrace, shook her head and said, "I don't regret it. I won't do it again in the future."

Xiao Du's arms suddenly tightened, wishing he could melt her into his own flesh and blood. The two of them embraced each other like this facing the clear stream for a long time. Xiao Du took a deep breath and said, "Did you go to see your father and mother today? What did you say to them?"

Yuan Xi went to the old marquis and the princess' room to pay his respects early this morning, and then went to Xiao Zhixuan's room to chat with her for a while. When he mentioned it, she sighed and said, "Today I found that the old man's complexion has been much worse, and Xuan'er has also lost weight. She will cry after a few words. I didn't expect that so many things happened in the mansion after I left."

She was referring to the incident of Aunt Cai committing suicide. When Xiao Du was reminded of this, he said in a serious tone, "Speaking of this, I just have something to show you. Help me think about it." After that, he led her towards the study.

When Yuan Xi picked up the piece of paper, he looked at the unusual words on it and was confused for a moment.

Xiao Du briefly explained the situation of that day to her, and then said: "Later, Xuan'er told me that she had gone to look for her on the day when Aunt Cai died. According to what she said, there was always someone behind Aunt Cai who was manipulating her, and Aunt Cai seemed to have some evidence against that person. She was originally planning to sneak out of the house to say goodbye to her, but I don't know why she returned to the room and met with harm for no reason."

Yuan Xi frowned and said, "Didn't you say that she had been confined by the master? The guards and maids outside the door all proved that she had never left the house that day. Then how did she get out?"

Xiao Du said, "I have already investigated this matter. Xuan'er told me that Aunt Cai was dressed as a maid at the time, so I immediately captured her head maid Gui He and interrogated her. The girl was so scared that she confessed everything without any further questioning. According to her, Aunt Cai deliberately asked her to come into the room alone to deliver food that day, then knocked her out, and then disguised herself as her and sneaked out. It was noon at that time, and the maids and guards outside the door were in low spirits and in a hurry to eat, so they did not Gui He also said that when she woke up that day, she found herself tied to death in bed. She had lost all hope and thought that she would be accused of colluding with Aunt Cai to help her escape. But not long after, Aunt Cai came back. After Aunt Cai untied her, she told her not to tell anyone about it, and then let her pretend nothing happened and go back to the outer room. Later, Aunt Cai died in the room, and Gui He was afraid that it would bring trouble to herself, so she deliberately concealed this matter. "

Yuan Xi thought about it and said, "This is strange. Since Aunt Cai had made a thorough plan to escape, why did she go back to her room? Who could have entered her room and harmed her? Is Gui He, who you mentioned, really not a suspect?"

Xiao Du shook his head and said, "I had my suspicions at first, but the maid was very timid. After a few threats, she was frightened and told everything. I don't think she was pretending. And according to the results of the autopsy, Aunt Cai should have died around 3 p.m. Gui He and several maids were in the outer room at that time. Others can testify to this."

He picked up the paper again and said, "Besides this doubt, this letter is also very strange. Look at these ink spots. I think Aunt Cai must have done them intentionally to explain something to us. But I can't figure out what they represent."

Yuan Xi pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked, "You just said that Aunt Cai asked Xuan'er to take good care of the calligraphy she copied over the years?"

Xiao Du nodded and said, "So I guess she knew something and secretly hid it in the calligraphy, so she was killed. But when we entered the room, the calligraphy was already missing, and the key pages must have been taken away by the murderer."

Yuan Xi said, "Since Aunt Cai is used to hiding all her secrets in her calligraphy, have you ever thought about whether the message conveyed by these ink marks is also related to the calligraphy?"

Xiao Du's mind moved, and he quickly took out a pile of calligraphy that he had specially collected that day from the cabinet. He and Yuan Xi carefully examined it and found that among the dense handwriting, there were actually a few small ink dots, which were difficult to find if you didn't pay attention. Moreover, the color of the ink dots was obviously different from the original ink, and it was obviously added later.

Xiao Du and Yuan Xi looked at each other and saw the excitement in each other's eyes. It seemed that they had taken the right path. However, when they spread out a piece of rice paper and wrote down the words next to the ink spot, they found that the words were still chaotic when combined. Yuan Xi held the pen and bit his lip in thought, saying, "Perhaps, we need to sort out the order of these calligraphy works so that we can know how to combine these words."

However, the order could not be determined from the copybook. Fortunately, they soon discovered that Aunt Cai was copying a sutra called the Lotus Sutra. By comparing the content of the sutra, they could figure out the correct order.

It was easier said than done. The two of them sorted out the sutra until dinner time, and finally put a sequence on each piece of paper. This sutra had 21 chapters in total, and some of them were missing pages, which should be the ones that were stolen. The remaining thick stack was sorted out by the two of them with numbers, and then the words with ink spots on each piece of paper were circled and recorded in sequence. The final result was disappointing. Those words still could not form a meaningful sentence. Could it be that they were looking in the wrong direction?

Seeing Yuan Xi's disappointed look, Xiao Du couldn't help but rub her face and soothed her, "Don't worry, we'll find a way."

Yuan Xi sighed, staring at the pile of scriptures in front of him, and said, "But I always feel like I'm just a little bit away. If I miss it, I will be too unwilling. Besides, Xuan'er has helped me after all, and I don't want to see her so sad anymore."

Xiao Du let her head rest on his shoulder, rubbed her brows, and said, "You just came back, I don't want to see you worried. Don't worry, I promised Xuan'er that I would help her find out, and I will do it. You just need to stay with me."

Yuan Xi sat up straight and said stubbornly, "How can that be? Since I am your wife and Xuan'er's sister-in-law, I must take the responsibility. I must find a way to figure this out."

Seeing that she was determined to find the truth, Xiao Du couldn't help but laugh and said, "Okay, okay, then you go and investigate. From now on, everything in the mansion, including me, will be under your command, okay?"

Yuan Xi was comforted by him and felt much more relaxed. The two sent someone to deliver dinner to the room, but because they were worried, they ate without much appetite. After finishing the meal, Yuan Xi picked up the crumpled paper and read it over and over again. Suddenly, he shouted to Xiao Du, "Look, is there a total of 21 words written in this letter?"

When Xiao Du heard this, an idea flashed through his mind, and he quickly took the paper and counted. Sure enough, all the characters added up to 21. The two looked at each other in surprise, and at the same time remembered that the Lotus Sutra was exactly 21 chapters. Looking at the ink spots on the paper, they seemed to correspond to some of the characters.

It turned out that not all the characters in the copybook were useful. Aunt Cai wanted to tell them only the character in a certain chapter and page. The two finally found the correct clue and were immediately very excited. They quickly spread out the rice paper, found the correct chapter according to the number of characters marked with ink dots on the paper, circled the page number according to the number of ink dots, and wrote the marked characters on the rice paper.

The two of them searched for a long time with sweat all over their heads, and finally wrote a sentence on the paper. This should be what Aunt Cai really wanted to tell them. But this line of words made the two of them lose their joy just now. They just stared with their eyes, feeling a little cold. They saw that it was written on the rice paper: Yu Mo Mo hurt me.

Nanny Yu is the princess's most trusted person. If the last words left by Aunt Cai are true, then even the princess cannot escape responsibility for this matter. Yuan Xi felt her throat was a little dry, turned her head and looked at Xiao Du and asked tentatively: "Now...what should we do?"

Xiao Du's face turned pale, and after a long while he let out a sigh and said, "Don't worry about it. I will go and find out tomorrow morning."

The next morning, the princess' room was still filled with the scent of medicine. The princess's face was buried in the mist, looking a little distant. Xiao Du sat at the bottom, looked up and observed the princess's expression, and said, "Mother has been looking better and better recently, so I guess she is in a good mood."

The princess curled her lips and said, "So many things happened in the palace, how can I feel better? It's just that I changed a new medicine, which is very suitable for my illness."

Xiao Du smiled. No matter what, he was still relieved that his mother was getting better. The two chatted about family matters for a while. Xiao Du finally made up his mind and said, "I have something I want to ask Aunt Xia Yu alone. I wonder if mother can agree to let her go with me."

Nanny Yu's hand, which was pouring tea for the princess, suddenly trembled, and some of the tea spilled out and splashed onto the princess's skirt. The princess glared at her and said, "You are so old, why are you still so impetuous?" Nanny Yu apologized repeatedly and ordered the maid outside the door to find a clean piece of clothing for the princess to change into. The princess shook her head and said to Xiao Du, "Although Nanny Yu is old, she has been with me for so many years. I can't leave her alone in this room. If you have anything to ask, ask it now. Do you have anything else to say behind your mother's back?"

Xiao Du hesitated for a while, and finally stared at Nanny Yu with a sharp gaze, and asked, "Nanny Yu, where were you at 3 pm on the day when Aunt Cai died?"

Nanny Yu opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, the princess widened her eyes and asked, "What do you mean by that? Are you suspicious of the people around me?"

Xiao Du was afraid that she would get angry, so he shook his head and said, "Don't worry, mother. It's just that I have some evidence that happens to be related to her, so I want to ask for clarification."

Before she finished her words, Nanny Yu knelt down and said, "I stay in the princess's room every day to serve her. The 3:00 p.m. is the time for the princess to take medicine. I am afraid that the maids under my command will neglect it, so I always boil the medicine for the princess myself and serve her to take it. I dare not leave at all. My Lord, please check it out!"

Xiao Du frowned, and before he could say anything, the princess covered her chest and said, "You heard it clearly, Nanny Yu did not leave my room that day. No matter what you found out, someone must have deliberately framed you, unless... you don't even believe your mother now."

Seeing that her face was pale, Xiao Du was afraid that her old illness would relapse. He was suddenly at a loss as to what to do. He could only step forward and comfort her with soft words, not daring to ask any further questions.

Meanwhile, Yuan Xi sat in her room, thinking over and over again about all the details of the room where Aunt Cai died, as described by Xiao Du. At this moment, Nanny Li came in with a charcoal stove and said, "It's getting colder, it's time to light the charcoal." Yuan Xi stared at the charcoal stove for a long time, and something unusual flashed through her mind. She suddenly understood how Aunt Cai was killed in the closed room that day, and how the murderer escaped...