Clouds rolled in, thunder roared, and a rainstorm suddenly arose in the dark night sky. The cold wind rushed in through the half-open window, causing the candles in the house to flicker continuously.
Someone hurried to the window and slammed it shut. Only half of the light was left in the room. A slightly older but still beautiful face was reflected in the intersection of dim light and shadow. When the face tilted slightly, the side exposed to the light was completely rotten. Black holes like ants crawling through it formed ulcers and black cracks spread all over the face. The white jade-like fingers stroked the rotten cheeks. The almond-shaped eyes were filled with resentment. The man threw the bronze mirror in front of him to the ground and covered his mouth with his hands, groaning in pain.
The person who closed the window turned around and was also startled by the scene. She quickly opened a secret compartment and took out a fan.
The fan was made of Xiang bamboo and had a porcelain jade handle. Under the lamplight, the tightly bound fan was as white and smooth as solidified fat. The strange thing was that there were no patterns painted on the fan. It was just a bare fan that did not match the silk and satin embroidery that filled the room.
The person under the lamp saw the fan, and a strong desire emerged from her eyes. She grabbed the fan in her hand and pressed it against her chest, which rose and fell violently. The other person, however, had a calm face. He took the fan from her hand and was about to speak, but suddenly his eyes flashed, and he walked to the window and shouted outside: "Who is it!"
The only response she got was the sound of the rain and the endless darkness. She leaned out the window and looked for a long time, until half of her sleeves were wet. Then she carefully closed the window, checked inside and out, and walked back to the table with a frown. Just where she had just moved her eyes away, a towering tree with twisted roots was hiding a dark shadow and hurried away...
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Xiao Zhixuan is missing!
When Yuan Xi, who was still in confinement, learned the news, the mansion had already been searched thoroughly. The old marquis was so furious that he almost ordered people to tear down the house and dig up the ground, but no matter how they searched, Xiao Zhixuan seemed to have disappeared into thin air and no trace of her could be found.
"I think it has something to do with the princess!" Yuan Xi said this almost subconsciously after she heard Xiao Du tell her the whole story.
Xiao Du sat down beside her, his eyes showing deep worry, "I asked the princess, and she said she had never seen Xuan'er. I also checked the Buddhist hall, but couldn't find any trace of the cellar."
Yuan Xi bit her lip, and doubts were rising in her heart. She and Xiao Zhixuan had been investigating the princess in secret, and she was the one who came to the temple that day. There was no reason for the princess to deal with Xiao Zhixuan without any reason. Unless something happened that she didn't know about.
She asked quickly, "Why didn't Xuan'er see it? And when did she see it?"
Xiao Du said, "According to her personal maid, she left early in the morning without saying where she was going, and specifically told no one to follow her. As a result, she never came back. After lunch, the maid was really scared and reported to father. Then we searched inside and outside the mansion for several hours, but found no news."
"Has anyone suspicious left the house during this period?"
Xiao Du shook his head and said, "The guards at each gate have been questioned and there are no suspicious people or things."
"So, Xuan'er should still be in the house!" Yuan Xi paced around the house anxiously, and then said, "I think she, or even she may be hiding in that place we haven't found yet."
Xiao Du frowned and said, "Then I will go find the princess again, and this time I must ask for clarification."
Yuan Xi grabbed him and said, "We have no evidence. The princess is your mother after all. Even if the old man comes forward, what can he do to her?"
Xiao Du's eyes were somewhat dull. No matter how he charged forward, how he was trapped, how he pretended to be humble, and how he had been evasive over the years, he had never retreated even a little bit. But now he was facing the princess whom he had treated as a relative for a long time, and he really couldn't let himself remain calm.
At this time, someone outside the door came in, saying that Xiao Zhixuan's personal maid Xing'er wanted to see the lady. Xiao Du and Yuan Xi looked at each other and quickly asked someone to bring her in. Xing'er saw that Xiao Zhixuan had not been heard from for a whole day, and she was scared and anxious at this moment. She knelt down and cried as soon as she entered the door. Yuan Xi listened for a long time before she understood the whole story. It turned out that Xiao Zhixuan gave Xing'er a sachet last night and asked her to find a way to give it to the lady today. However, because Yuan Xi was still in confinement and could not easily see outsiders, after Xiao Zhixuan disappeared, Xing'er was busy looking for her everywhere with other servants, and only remembered it now. She recalled her mistress's expression at the time and felt that the sachet must be very important, so she hurriedly sent it over.
Yuan Xi took the sachet and said a few words to comfort Xing Er before sending her out. Under the bright light, the blue and white sachet looked a little strange. Yuan Xi and Xiao Du looked at each other, took a pair of scissors and carefully cut open the sachet, and indeed found a letter hidden inside.
On the paper was Xiao Zhixuan's handwriting, which said: She accidentally discovered that a fellow villager of a missing maid was still working as a nanny in the mansion, so she secretly went to visit the nanny. It was said that the maid was taken away by Nanny Yu because she stole a fan from the princess's room, and then there was no news of her. In this deep and wealthy family, the loss of one or two maids was not a big deal, so the nanny did not dare to make a fuss and just kept it under control. At that time, Xiao Zhixuan remembered that she had secretly seen a strange fan in the princess's room a few years ago. The scene was too weird at the time, so she always suspected that she saw it in a dream and did not dare to be too sure. At the end of the letter, she said that she would find a way to find out the truth about this matter and clear her sister-in-law's name. Who knew that after writing this letter, she disappeared without a trace.
After reading the letter, Yuan Xi became more and more worried about Xiao Zhixuan's safety. Although the letter pointed the finger of blame at the princess, it was not a key piece of evidence. The only strange thing was the fan. She raised her head and looked at Xiao Du, who also looked worried, and asked, "Do you know what special fan is in the princess' room?"
Xiao Du shook his head and said, "The princess and I were not close to begin with. When I was little, I rarely went to her room, and I had never seen a fan."
Yuan Xi tightly grasped the letter and made up his mind: "In this case, I have no choice but to take a gamble and search the princess's room. Otherwise, I'm afraid if I delay for too long, Xuan'er will..."
She didn't continue talking, but Xiao Du felt a chill in his heart: If he delayed for too long, would Xuan'er also become one of those bones? What would this family become like then...
The next day, when Xiao Du led the secret guards into the princess's room, the princess did not look panicked. She just glanced at Yuan Xi coldly and said, "Since when does a person who is waiting for a crime have the qualifications to search my room?"
Yuan Xi bowed to the princess and said, "I have no intention of offending you. It's just that Xuan'er has disappeared without a reason. I was really worried, so I followed my husband here. After confirming that Xuan'er is safe, I am willing to take double responsibility for my crime."
Before she could say anything else, Xiao Du stepped forward and protected her behind him, saying, "Father has ordered a thorough search of the entire mansion, and now only mother's room has not been searched. After today's incident, if mother wants to blame me, I am willing to bear the responsibility with her."
Yuan Xi gently reached into his sleeve and held his fingers. The princess looked at the two people in front of her, moving forward and backward in unison, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart. She turned her back and dug her nails into the flesh, saying, "Very good! This is my good son and good daughter-in-law. All right! You can search if you want, but I have to say this in advance. If you can't find evidence today, I will never give up this malicious frame-up easily, even if I report it to the emperor."
Xiao Du's heart sank, and he held Yuan Xi's hand tightly, but he still ordered the secret guards to search the house. Several people searched the house for a while, but in the end they found nothing. Not only did they not find any trace of Xiao Zhixuan, but they also did not find the special fan.
Xiao Du's face sank, but the princess put on a mocking smile, her eyes coldly swept over the mess in the room, and said loudly: "Madame Yu, please ask the old man to come over for me. I want to know how he plans to explain the fact that I raised a good son but insisted on framing me as a murderer."
"Wait!" At this time, Yuan Xi suddenly walked to a corner and exclaimed: "This fragrance... there is something wrong!"
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