The pastries were sprinkled with white icing sugar, which was indeed her favorite at one time. But now, even though Zheng Yu had specially asked the kitchen to make these pastries with freshly picked osmanthus flowers, He Yi had no appetite at all.
Looking at the plate of pastries, He Yi's nose suddenly stung with tears again. Now, Zheng Yu seemed like a towering tree supporting the eaves, sheltering her under its wings. In her eyes, her brother would always be that gentle older brother who would secretly slip her candied fruit.
She picked up a piece of cake, took small bites, and the sweet taste spread across her tongue.
"Brother, do you think it might be..."
He seemed about to speak but hesitated.
I had always heard about the conspiracies and intrigues in the imperial court, but I just listened to them as stories and never thought that they would happen to me.
“I’m here.” Zheng Yu looked steadily into He Yi’s eyes. “Go and rest for a while. I’ll stay with Dad tonight. If you wake up early later, you can come and relieve me. Go ahead.”
He Yi immediately shook her head – “I’m not tired.” She didn’t want to be separated from Minister Zheng, especially since Minister Zheng was in a bad state right now, and she was worried that the situation would change when she opened her eyes again.
Death has already descended upon the Minister's mansion. Who knows what will become of my father?
Seeing He Yi gripping her father's hand tightly and refusing to let go, Zheng Yu's voice deepened, carrying the unique authority of an elder brother: "Listen to me! If you ruin your health now, how heartbroken will Father be when he wakes up? Go to the side room and lie down for a while to doze off. If Father wakes up later, I will naturally send someone to call you."
Then, without a word, Zheng Yu pulled He Yi up and took her to the side room next door to rest. Before leaving, He Yi looked back at her father on the bed and sighed deeply.
[Aww! My brother is so sweet!]
[Dear friends, the osmanthus cake is actually the key ingredient! I never expected my Zheng Yu to remember all of A-mei's preferences; that's true love!]
[Gu Minghe, get out of here! Don't cause any more trouble.]
Although He Yi was led to the side room, she couldn't fall asleep. She stared blankly at the tassels inside the red gauze curtains. Hong Yu brought in hot water and sighed when she saw He Yi still staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Princess, please take a nap. Master will be alright." Hongyu covered her with a blanket. Heyi slowly turned her head, looked at the attentive maid Hongyu, and suddenly asked, "Hongyu, you are a maid in the Minister's mansion. Tell me, what exactly happened before Father fainted? Did you see anything?"
Zheng Yu didn't go into details about the album pages earlier, but the exceptionally intelligent He Yi could naturally guess that this was a serious matter. Now that Hong Yu had arrived, it was necessary to question her carefully.
Seeing He Yi's question, Hong Yu slowly put down the water basin and began to ponder.
After hesitating slightly, Hongyu stepped back, closed the door, and then looked at Zheng Heyi: "Little Princess, I heard from the steward that it seems to be a memorial impeaching the master... and it also says that he is colluding with the maternal relatives..." Hongyu's voice grew softer and softer.
Clearly, even an insignificant maid in the mansion felt that the accusation was completely fabricated and absurd.
"Maternal relatives?" He Yi sneered. "My mother died early, and Aunt Lin has no one on her side. Where did this so-called maternal relatives come from? Isn't this just a baseless accusation?"
This charge is ridiculous! Someone must be deliberately framing him. But He Yi only felt something was strange; Minister Zheng was an honest and upright man, and would never engage in factionalism or favoritism.
In her view, her father was even a bit old-fashioned and lacked social skills. How could such a nice, good-natured father be involved in those so-called factional struggles, infighting, and scheming?
Minister Zheng was an upright man throughout his life, how could he have gotten into such trouble? As the two were talking, they suddenly heard light footsteps outside the window. Qingju cautiously approached the window, looked outside, and then frowned, saying, "It's Concubine Lin. It's already the middle of the night, and no one knows what she's doing. Recently, Concubine Lin has been going out even more often than before."
He Yi was extremely surprised and also moved closer to the window.
Under the moonlight, Aunt Lin was dressed in a dark dress, clearly preparing to go out. The dress made her look like a black dahlia, almost blending her whole being into the night.
At that moment, Lin sneaked out of the backyard. In the moonlight, He Yi could see that Lin was carrying a small package. She seemed to be in a hurry, and Lin kept looking back, as if afraid of being followed.
However, the more this was the case, the stranger He Yi felt. "Where is she going so late?"
He Yi frowned. Aunt Lin was Minister Zheng's concubine. She seemed well-behaved on the surface, but she was actually treacherous. Now that her father was seriously ill, what was Aunt Lin doing taking a package out in the middle of the night?
He Yi found it increasingly strange, and Hong Yu also felt puzzled: "Princess, should we have someone follow us?"
He Yi hesitated for a moment, then finally shook her head. Minister Zheng was seriously ill, and the household was already in a turbulent time; she didn't want to create any further trouble. However, a lingering doubt in her heart, like a vine, began to grow and entangle her: could her father's illness also be related to Madam Lin?
The thought sent chills down He Yi's spine.
[This Lin family is definitely suspicious! Going out with a package in the middle of the night—it can't be anything good.]
[I'm guessing she went to meet her lover! Otherwise, where would she go dressed like that in the middle of the night?]
[Poor Minister Zheng, he's unconscious and still causing trouble in the backyard.]
[You vicious female supporting character, hurry up and catch up! Don't miss this clue!]
Lin walked quickly and entered a residence called "Laifu Inn" in the south of the city. She looked around warily before nervously raising her hand to knock on the door.
The door opened a crack, revealing a man with a fierce face. He yanked Lin inside, his movements extremely rough.
"Why are you so late!" The man's voice was hoarse, filled with dissatisfaction and anger. This man was called Sanlang, Lin's lover from many years ago, who now devoted himself to petty theft in the capital.
Lin quickly slapped Sanlang's hand away and stuffed the package into his hand: "The money is all here. You hurry up and find a way to go. Once that Zheng guy is dead, I'll go with you."
Madam Lin spoke urgently, her face filled with anxiety. If Minister Zheng woke up, her secret transfer of family assets would be discovered sooner or later. The only sensible option was to take advantage of his unconscious state and run away with the money. Sanlang opened the package with a hearty laugh, finding it filled with gleaming silver.
At this moment, Sanlang's eyes lit up. Although this was not the first time he had received silver from the Lin family, the amount this time was obviously more than the previous times. Seeing this, the man on the third floor was overjoyed and immediately came over to see Yanhao.
“Rainbow, you still love me the most. In a few days, I’ll take you to Yangzhou to enjoy a life of luxury…” Lin chuckled, but pushed Sanlang away with disgust.
"Stop with the nonsense! Get this done properly. If anything goes wrong and the authorities find out, we'll all be in big trouble!"
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