Ni Yueshan knelt down on the ground.
"Today, I was kneeling in the ancestral hall as punishment, and I noticed someone acting suspiciously outside the door, so I went to check. It turned out someone had let a rat into the hall."
"The mouse was probably trying to scare me, but then I realized I had to catch this guy, so I chased him. But later, I thought it might be a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain..."
Ni Yueshan frowned and glanced at Tian You, Ni Yueshuang and Ni Yingying who were present.
"Sure enough, when I rushed back to the ancestral hall, I found out I had fallen into a trap!"
Ni Yueshan spoke calmly, looking composed and at ease, and did not seem to be lying.
Tian You and the other two were in no hurry to speak, they all looked at Ni Gaofei.
Ni Gaofei got angry, pursed his lips, and his goatee curled up slightly.
He slammed his palm on the table. "So what you're saying is, you left the ancestral hall without permission and went after someone who was doing something wrong, but you didn't catch them, and the ancestral hall caught fire instead?"
"yes."
"So when you left the ancestral hall, was there a fire inside?"
"No."
It was a simple conversation, and Ni Yueshan looked indifferent and unhurried.
"If there's no fire, then it means someone broke into the ancestral hall and set it on fire after you left?"
"Perhaps."
Ni Gaofei narrowed his eyes. "Since you returned to the mansion, there has been no peace. I've thought a lot about it. Is it that the Second House is so vicious that she can't tolerate you? Or is it that you are so narrow-minded that you can't tolerate the Second House?"
"Before, you kept saying that you had nothing to do with the flower thief, but now you're telling me that he did you a favor. How can I trust you this time?"
Faced with Ni Gaofei's questioning, Ni Yueshan remained silent.
Ni Gaofei took a deep breath and said, "Come here, call the servant who first discovered the fire!"
Soon, a servant came in and knelt down.
"Meet the Master."
"You noticed the ancestral hall was on fire, but did you see anyone suspicious?"
The servant knelt on the ground and answered with certainty: "No!"
"Is the young lady kneeling in the ancestral hall?"
The servant glanced at Ni Yueshan and shook his head: "No."
"Is the door of the ancestral hall open or closed? What about the windows? Are they open or closed?"
The servant lowered his head and thought carefully, "The door is open, the window is closed..."
Ni Gaofei got the message. He turned the jade ring on his thumb, and his eyes became more gloomy.
"Yueshan, let me ask you, what is the other party's intention in releasing the rat?"
"That could be the origin of the fire."
Ni Yueshan recalled the scene at that time. What if she hadn't chased after him?
If there were mice in the ancestral hall, would she not be afraid and drive them away? What would mice do in the ancestral hall? Would they steal offerings? Or would they overturn the tablets?
And then it will catch fire?
Ni Yueshan looked at the servant kneeling on the ground and asked, "Why did you go to the ancestral hall at night?"
"I am responsible for ensuring the continuous burning of incense in the ancestral hall!"
So I got up to add incense, but found that there was a fire!
"Have you ever seen a mouse?"
The servant recalled carefully and shook his head.
Ni Yueshan frowned. According to her guess, she thought the rat was used to start the fire and then slander her.
So how could the rat not be in the ancestral hall at the time? Rats wouldn't obey people and would just run away after knocking over the candles!
Ni Yueshan was thinking and didn't say anything for a while.
The servant hesitated and said, "Master... when I arrived, I saw the ancestral hall on fire, and the spirit tablets were scattered everywhere."
"The fire was quite big, and I was anxious so I went to call for help. However, I didn't expect that by the time I got back in, the fire was already out of control..."
"It's all my fault for being incompetent. Master, please punish me!"
The spirit tablet represents the ancestors, and the ancestral hall represents the final resting place of the souls of the ancestors of the prime minister's mansion.
But such an important place actually caught fire, and it got to the point where it was impossible to clean up!
"Why did the fire start and burn so quickly? Why was the spirit tablet disturbed?" Tian You asked doubtfully, feeling somewhat confused. "If the incense and candles fell over, it wouldn't burn so quickly!"
"The spirit tablets won't become messy because of a fire! Unless it's human-caused!"
Although her words were suggestive, they made a lot of sense.
If it weren't human-induced, many things would be inexplicable, right?
But who on earth would want to set fire to the ancestral hall and deliberately mess up the spirit tablets?
Everyone present was silent.
Finally, Ni Yueshuang seemed to have thought of something and covered her mouth: "Could it be that you, Big Sister, were punished and didn't accept it, so you lost your temper and knocked over the spirit tablet, accidentally starting the fire..."
"No, that's not right. If the fire was started accidentally, how could it have been so severe that it couldn't be put out in time? It must have been intentional! Arson!"
Ni Yueshuang spoke very excitedly, as if everything was just as she had guessed.
Tian You glared at Ni Yueshuang and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could your eldest sister burn down the ancestral hall? That's for our ancestors!"
Ni Yueshuang looked depressed: "It's just a guess, but this is the only way to explain it!"
Tian You frowned: "Don't talk nonsense!"
Then she looked at Ni Gaofei and said, "Master, why don't you call a few more servants over and ask them about the situation? We don't have any evidence right now. How can we recover the truth just by relying on words?"
Ni Gaofei's face was terribly gloomy, "Yeah."
Afterwards, many servants who were there to put out the fire came to the hall and knelt down together.
"Meet the Master."
Ni Gaofei's expression was gloomy. He asked sternly, "Regarding this fire in the ancestral hall, have you discovered anything unusual, or have you obtained any evidence?"
The servants looked at each other and fell silent.
Seeing that the servants hadn't responded in time, Ni Gaofei slammed his palm on the table and said, "If you can't provide any clues, all the servants will no longer be allowed to stay in the Prime Minister's Mansion!"
Leaving the Prime Minister's Mansion means having no source of income for living and you will starve to death!
The servants were terrified and said, "Master, please don't do that! We dare not burn the ancestral hall!"
"We, the villains, knew our mistake but failed to restore the spirit seat in time..."
Everyone kowtowed vigorously, knowing that they were wrong, but also feeling that they were innocent.
"I'm asking you if you've noticed anything unusual, not to listen to your begging for mercy! If you don't have any clues, pack up your things and get out!"
The servants fell silent and dared not beg for mercy anymore.
Ni Yingying reminded gloomily, "Everyone, if you have clues, then you have them. If you don't, then you don't. Don't waste time here!"
Only then did a servant speak with a panicked look on his face: "Master, I did discover something..."
Ni Gaofei urged: "Hurry up and tell me!"
Hesitate!
"Actually, when I was passing by the ancestral hall, I heard some cursing coming from inside. It sounded like the eldest lady's voice..."
"Then I heard other noises, as if someone was smashing something, but I didn't have the courage to stop them, so I just walked away quietly..."
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