Through the curtain, one could clearly hear the sound of a woman turning over and getting to the ground.
Ah Man was dumbfounded.
Jiang Si pointed to the west room.
Ah Man carried the unconscious man and ran away.
The west room was different from the east room. It didn't even have half a tattered curtain. Fortunately, there was also an earthen kang next to the window, so there was a place to hide in a hurry.
Ah Man carried the man onto the kang, and then he realized belatedly: Oh no, I left the girl behind.
Jiang Si was much calmer. He listened to the woman's footsteps, took out something and put it on the ground, then stood close to the wall.
The woman came out in a daze, shouting, "Niuniu, Niuniu, are you back?"
After not seeing her for some time, the tofu beauty who used to be charming as ever now looked emaciated.
She seemed to be half asleep and half awake, and didn't notice Jiang Si who was so close to her. She just walked straight over and stepped on the object that Jiang Si had just placed on the ground.
A faint sound was heard.
Madam Xiu stopped, bent down and picked up the thing.
In the dim light, the object in Lady Xiu's hand was dark, but the outline could be vaguely discerned.
That is a hairpin.
Jiang Si was not sure whether the hairpin was dropped by Xiu Niangzi's daughter, he could only say that it was a possibility.
The copper hairpin fell into the peony flowers. It might be the hairpin of Xiuniang's daughter, or it might belong to a girl who was murdered before.
Jiang Si used this copper hairpin to test Lady Xiu's reaction.
If the hairpin really belongs to her daughter, it will be more conducive to the smooth performance of the magic trick later.
Lady Xiu stared at the copper hairpin in her hand for a moment, then suddenly burst into a cry of surprise: "Niuniu, Niuniu, you're back!"
Madam Xiu seemed to wake up all of a sudden, rushed out like a whirlwind, and looked around in the empty yard.
"Niuniu, please come out soon! My Niuniu, I miss you so much, I really miss you... I know you will come back..."
Ah Man tiptoed to Jiang Si's side and looked at the crazy Xiu Niangzi with sympathy in his eyes.
Jiang Si sighed softly.
It’s a pity for all parents in the world that Lady Xiu’s daughter is sleeping under the peony flowers and will never come back.
She had no way to send her living daughter back to Lady Xiu, but at least she could help Lady Xiu get revenge!
Lady Xiu cried and screamed in the yard for a while, then opened the gate and rushed out. Her miserable cry could be heard from afar: "Niuniu, where are you? Why are you hiding from your mother? As long as you come out, I will grant you whatever you want——"
In the middle of the night, the cries of Xiu Niangzi almost spread throughout half of the village. Soon, someone from the neighboring house came out and shouted in dissatisfaction: "Xiu Niangzi, stop making trouble. Your daughter can't come back. You are making people restless every day!"
"You are talking nonsense. Why do you say my daughter can't come back? She is back. She has obviously come back!"
There was a commotion outside, and someone advised, "Forget it, forget it. Lady Xiu is so pitiful. Why bother with her? Let her make noise. When she's had enough noise, go to sleep."
A heavy sigh was heard.
Ah Man, who was hiding at the gate, asked in a low voice: "Miss, I think Miss Xiu is really crazy. What do you want to do with her?"
"Don't talk for a while, just watch." In the darkness, the girl's voice was exceptionally calm, and deep within her calmness there was a puzzling determination.
Lady Xiu ran around barefoot and stumbled back: "Niuniu must be waiting for me in the house. Niuniu said she would go to the street to buy me some osmanthus cake..."
Although Ah Man could beat up several men, he was a soft-hearted man and tears fell when he heard that.
It turns out that Xiu Niangzi's daughter went to buy osmanthus cake for Xiu Niangzi and lost it. Xiu Niangzi is so pitiful...
Seeing that Lady Xiu was about to run into the yard, Jiang Si and A Man hurried back to the west room.
Ah Man was very nervous: "Girl, what if Lady Xiu comes to the west room?"
She could knock that bastard man unconscious with one blow, but she couldn't bring herself to do it to the poor lady Xiu.
Jiang Si did not answer Ah Man's words. Instead, she pulled out the hairpin that was holding up her long black hair, letting the hair fall down like a waterfall.
"girl?"
Jiang Si stroked the door frame and looked outside quietly.
Miss Xiu ran in with her hair disheveled. Perhaps she was in too much of a hurry, and after she climbed onto the steps, she fell forward and fell at the door of the main hall.
The copper hairpin in her hand fell and landed not far away.
"Hairpin, Niuniu's hairpin..." Lady Xiu stretched out her hand and crawled forward, her face pale and her expression confused, like a fierce ghost crawling out of hell, crawling back to the world with despair and hope.
Ah Man subconsciously took a half step back.
Jiang Si turned his palm over, and a little fluorescent light came out from his palm, flying towards Xiu Niangzi along the ground with a faint light.
The phantom firefly entered from Lady Xiu's left ear, then exited from her right ear, and finally returned to Jiang Si's palm.
No one noticed the whole process except the owner of the phantom.
Lady Xiu was still trying to crawl forward to reach the copper hairpin, and Ah Man still had his mouth slightly open as if he was frightened.
At this moment, a voice sounded faintly: "Mother——"
Ah Man quickly covered his mouth and almost cried out loud as he watched Jiang Si slowly walking towards Lady Xiu.
Girl, don't be so scary!
The one who reacted more violently than Ah Man was Xiuniang.
She even forgot to put away the copper hairpin. She suddenly raised her head and stared at the girl standing not far away.
The girl's hair reached her waist, and because there was no light, her fair face was hazy and visible in the darkness.
"Niuniu——" Lady Xiu climbed up excitedly.
The girl said calmly, "Mom, don't come near me, or I'll have to leave."
Lady Xiu suddenly stopped herself from rushing over and said incoherently, "Don't come near me, mother won't come near me, Niuniu, don't leave..."
After a pause, Lady Xiu looked at her daughter infatuatedly: "Niuniu, where have you been these days? I miss you so much..."
The girl sighed: "Mom, my daughter is actually dead."
Ah Man who was hiding in the west room: "..."
Lady Xiu suddenly covered her mouth and her whole body trembled like a sieve.
She looked like she really wanted to rush over and hug her daughter whom she had been thinking about day and night, but she dared not move because she remembered her daughter's words.
"Mom, please listen carefully."
Madam Xiu nodded while crying.
Jiang Si felt sorry for the situation, but knew that the show had to go on.
She believed that this was also what Xiu Niangzi's daughter wanted to say to her mother.
"Mother, I was killed by the son of the Marquis of Changxing. Seeing how beautiful I was, he took me to the Marquis of Changxing's mansion, raped me, killed me, and buried me under the peony flowers in their garden. My daughter is sleeping in the ground, and she can hear your calls every night, so I came to see you for the last time..."
Madam Xiu bit her lip and made a whimpering sound.
A tear rolled down the girl's eye: "Mother, my daughter died tragically, you have to avenge her——"
"Revenge?" Lady Xiu's eyes slowly moved, and suddenly a sharp cold light shot out, "Mother will definitely kill that beast, and kill that beast to avenge my son!"
A sigh sounded: "Mother, you can't go directly to seek revenge on the Marquis of Changxing. The Marquis of Changxing's Mansion is not something that ordinary people like us can mess with. If you are harmed by the Marquis of Changxing, your daughter will die with regrets..."
Lady Xiu was stunned and murmured, "How should mother take revenge?"