"Reply, reply to the old lady, we did not, did not take anything out of Ronghuayuan." One of the maids stammered.
Old Mrs. Ren never looked at them again.
The atmosphere in the room was strange. The two people kneeling on the ground were trembling, their stiff postures revealing their deep fear. Ren Yaoyu was also extremely nervous, clutching her sleeve tightly.
The others all sensed Mrs. Ren's displeasure and did not dare to speak.
"Mom..." Mrs. Wu looked at her daughter and had to speak up.
Just at this moment, Nanny Gui lifted the curtain and came in, followed by an old woman wearing a half-new dark blue cotton jacket.
"Reporting to the old lady, the Lu'an family is here." Nanny Gui stood beside Luohan's bed with her hands behind her back.
Everyone's attention turned to the old woman who was bowing and greeting in a somewhat reserved manner.
When Ren Yaoqi waited for her to stand up, he looked at her carefully and found that he had no impression of her at all.
The Fifth Madam looked at the woman from the Liu'an family with a critical eye and asked, "Where are you from, old woman? Why do you look so strange?"
Upon hearing this, Liu'an's family shrank their heads, rubbed their hands, and glanced at Aunt Gui.
Nanny Gui hurriedly explained, "She was originally in charge of the tea service at the outer courtyard. Because the two maids who sweep the courtyard in Ronghua Courtyard broke their backs yesterday while clearing the frozen snow in the yard, the old lady had the outer steward transfer someone new in to temporarily take over the two maids' job."
"So she's from the outer courtyard," Fifth Madam Lin said to the old lady with a smile. "Mother, this old woman from the outer courtyard couldn't tell east from west, south from north when she first entered the second gate. Plus, all these maids were wearing the same indigo cotton jackets, so it's only natural that she made a mistake."
The old lady waved her hand, stopping Lin's words, and asked Liu'an's family, "Are the two people you saw this morning here?"
Liu An's wife looked around and fixed her eyes on the two maids kneeling not far to her right. She pointed at them with a stubby finger and said, "Madam, they are here. These are the two girls."
"Did you see it clearly? This is the one who serves my eighth sister." Lin frowned.
The Liu'an family looked at Lin tremblingly, then moved closer to examine the two maids a few times, nodding to the old lady. "I'm sure it was these two girls. I was hitting the icicles under the eaves with a stick, and the icicles got stuck in my neck. I hid in the tea room next door to clean it up. They walked past the tea room at that time. One of the girls has a black mole the size of a soybean on her right cheek."
One of the two maids kneeling on the ground indeed had a black mole on her face.
"Did you see clearly what they were holding in their hands?" Old Mrs. Ren said with a cold face.
Liu'an rubbed her hands and shook her head in embarrassment. "It was a bundle of autumn-scented satin, held in their arms. I didn't see it, but I heard the girl with the mole on her face tell another to go ahead and send the gatekeeper away. I felt something was amiss, so I quietly followed them. I saw them carrying the bundle into the garden. I also heard them discussing hiding the bundle as their masters were about to leave and dealing with it later in the morning when they were free." This chapter has been read (please click on the next chapter to continue reading!)
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