Xiao Yuanzhou
Even if the eldest young master is disliked, he is still Master Xiao's own son. He can't be so foolish as to protect the murderer who killed his own son, can he?
Seeing Zhu Qinghe's furrowed brows and puzzled expression, Shen Wumei kindly suggested, "If you look at it from a different perspective, Master Xiao's actions become quite reasonable."
“If it was his own son who killed the illegitimate son who brought him shame, then Master Xiao’s behavior would be understandable.”
Zhu Qinghe didn't even have the mind to complain about him calling the victim's son an "illegitimate child." The most important thing was that she exclaimed in shock, "Are you stupid or am I stupid? The one who died was Master Xiao's biological son!"
Wait a minute, Zhu Qinghe paused for a moment, thinking carefully. None of them had ever seen Xiao Yuanzhou's body. It was sealed in the coffin and only the coroner had seen it once. According to the coroner, the body's face was swollen and bluish-purple, which was undoubtedly due to poisoning.
However, their focus was solely on the cause of death, without delving too deeply into the deceased's identity. After all, no family would mistake the identity of the person who died in their household.
Moreover, that day, Xiao Yuanyou went to Sai Banxian in a huff to cause trouble for her, and the Xiao family only had two young masters. Since the second young master was safe and sound, and the eldest young master was found dead in his own room, then the one who died must have been the eldest young master.
No one would doubt something so simple, but now that Shen Wumei said it, Zhu Qinghe suddenly felt something was amiss.
If we take his line of reasoning differently, if the person who died was Xiao Yuanyou, then when Master Xiao learned that Xiao Yuanyou was not his biological son, he would have been too disgusted with him to be too heartbroken.
But—if the deceased was Xiao Yuanyou, then who would be the murderer?
Zhu Qinghe was startled by her own thought and broke out in a cold sweat. She turned to look at Shen Wumei: "Xiao Yuanzhou, he..."
“It’s alright,” Shen Wumei said calmly, even having the mind to examine the ice patterns on the teacup in her hand. “I’ve already sent people to catch it.”
Zhu Qinghe swallowed hard. No way, if that's really the case, then Xiao Yuanzhou is too terrifying.
And Qingchen, was she completely unaware, or was she deliberately putting on an act for them?
"Is Qingchen also an accomplice?" Zhu Qinghe asked somewhat anxiously. Although they didn't know each other well, she had a good impression of Qingchen.
Although she was just a maid, she was simple-minded and righteous. Although she looked weak, she was resilient inside. She really didn't want to admit that she had such a bad eye for people.
Shen Wumei: "I don't know if she's an accomplice, but Master Xiao certainly is."
The man called upon, Master Xiao, sat in his seat, his eyes aged and unfocused, his expression tinged with guilt and regret: "Yuanzhou is a good boy, it's my fault for failing him. I was bewitched, it's all that poisonous woman's fault—!"
Suddenly, Mr. Xiao became agitated and slammed his cane to the ground. His body, weakened by illness, suddenly stood up from his chair.
He suddenly exerted force, but Shen Wumei remained calm. Zhu Qinghe, however, was startled and instinctively shrank back into her seat.
Could it be that Master Xiao couldn't handle such a shock and went insane?
Master Xiao cried out in anguish, his anger etched into every wrinkle and expression on his face: "If it weren't for her, how could I have neglected my first wife and Yuanzhou? And yet—she dared to cuckold me and have an affair with the steward! That bitch! She should die!"
As he spoke, he seemed to recall a beautiful scene, and a "ho ho" sound came from his throat as he revealed a gleeful smile: "You have no idea how beautiful the look of despair on her face was when she found out that the bastard had died. She wanted to kill my son, but in the end, she killed her own son instead."
"Retribution, this is retribution!" Master Xiao's expression was twisted and excited. "Then I watched her hang herself in front of me, and the feeling was indescribably satisfying."
Zhu Qinghe watched as Master Xiao, with a face that was both crying and laughing, danced around excitedly like a child celebrating the New Year. This extreme contradiction and perverse contrast gave her goosebumps, as if a long, bristly worm was crawling across the hairs on the back of her neck.
Shen Wumei was already used to such extreme emotions. His tone was cold and inhuman, like a judgment without emotion: "Since that's the case, you admit that you are fully aware of what Xiao Yuanzhou did, but not only did you not stop him, you also condoned and helped him."
Master Xiao's eyes were bloodshot: "What did Yuan Zhou do wrong? The fault lies with us, with this world, with us. We have wronged him."
Shen Wumei: "Even so, he shouldn't have harmed people. There are countless people in the world whose lives are filled with hardship and suffering. Does that mean that just because life is not going well, one can kill or harm others at will? What kind of logic is that?"
Zhu Qinghe was slightly taken aback. He glanced at the person beside him. He sat upright in his chair, his expression solemn. He spoke with conviction and force, upholding the laws he believed in and respected. It seemed that nothing in this world could shake him.
Zhu Qinghe blinked gently.
Master Xiao was speechless for a long time after hearing his words. At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Mo Wu came in to report: "Boss, Xiao Yuanzhou has escaped in a carriage and has been gone for three hours."
Master Xiao said smugly, "You won't find him. Yuan Zhou is the smartest; you can't catch him! Hahahaha—"
Shen Wumei ignored him and instead stood up to look at Zhu Qinghe: "Where is Qingchen now?"
Zhu Qinghe quickly stood up as well: "I didn't see Qingchen when I left the branch. I thought she hadn't gotten up yet, but now I think she may have left."
"Let's go take a look around there first."
Shen Wumei hurriedly left the house, and Zhu Qinghe quickly followed.
Huichun Pharmacy.
The shopkeeper yawned and turned a page of the ledger. Suddenly, a girl stood in front of him. The girl wore a veil and her eyes darted around. When she saw that no one was around, she breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice, "Prepare the medicine." Then she handed him a prescription.
The shopkeeper glanced at the prescription, handed it to the clerk, who quickly prepared the medicine according to the prescription and soon presented several packets of medicine to the young woman.
She hurriedly paid the money, carrying the medicine bag and covering her face with a veil, and walked through the streets and alleys, glancing back every now and then. Finally, after many twists and turns, she pushed open the door of a small farmhouse.
She entered the room, removed the veil from her face, revealing a delicate and pretty face—it was Qingchen.
Pour the medicinal herbs into a jar, grind and press them, add water until it forms a paste, then Qingchen carries the jar to the bed and whispers, "Young Master, the medicine is ready, apply it."
The bed was covered with a thick quilt, with only a sliver of dark hair showing. The person inside said in a muffled voice, "I can do it myself. You can put it aside."
Qingchen said anxiously, "Young Master, what time is it? What are you still embarrassed about? Hurry up and get this done so we can leave here as soon as possible."
Otherwise, what if Shen Wumei and the others catch up with us?
The person under the covers remained muffled: "I look ugly right now, I don't want you to see me."
Qingchen stood there for a while, then reached out and pulled back the covers, blurting out in her haste, "What haven't I seen? When you were little, didn't I always serve you when you took a bath?"
The person under the covers stopped struggling, so the covers were easily lifted and gently fell to the side. Qingchen met a pair of calm eyes filled with surprise.
The owner of the eyes stared at her for a while, and said with some puzzlement, "It's only been a few days, who taught you to be so shameless?"
Qingchen: "..."
She was clearly telling the truth. Besides, what does it mean to say she learned it from someone? This is just her nature. However, these past few days, through Miss Zhu, I've seen that girls can live in another way, and I realize that I was just too narrow-minded before.
Qingchen held the jar out to Xiao Yuanzhou, frowning sternly, and said, "Hurry up and apply the medicine." The strong smell of the medicine in the jar made him wrinkle his face, which aggravated the wound on his face. He immediately hissed and tried to cover his face with his hands.
Qingchen quickly blocked his hand: "Don't touch." Her gaze fell on his face, where his once handsome face now had red and swollen scars rising from his jawline along his bone structure, as if caused by an allergic reaction.
As Qingchen gently applied the medicine, she said with concern, "That human skin mask is so poisonous, it must have been so hard for you, young master."
Xiao Yuanzhou, who had been staring at Qingchen with gentle eyes, seemed to have that gentleness frozen by ice when this matter was mentioned. His tone was icy: "If it weren't for this, how could my revenge plan have gone so smoothly?"
"In the end, I should thank this human skin mask, which allows me to live the carefree life of my good brother while wearing his face."
"It's just a pity that he didn't know the identity of his illegitimate child until he died. It's really a lucky thing to die without knowing anything."
A look of pleasure flashed in Xiao Yuanzhou's eyes, but Qingchen was somewhat worried: "But they may have already discovered the truth. Lord Shen and Miss Zhu are not people who can be easily fooled."
During these past few days, Qingchen was constantly on edge, afraid that someone would discover something was amiss. Strangely enough, one of them was as cold as ice, and the other was kind and approachable, but upon closer interaction, they both gave off the feeling that they were not easily fooled, making people hesitant to lie to them.
They have completely different personalities and temperaments, but for some reason, they look exceptionally harmonious and well-matched when they stand together.
Qingchen was lost in thought and accidentally applied the medicine crookedly, getting some on Xiao Yuanzhou's chin. Startled, she immediately snapped back to reality and carefully wiped away the medicine stain with the back of her hand.
Feeling that undeniable, burning gaze, Qingchen felt inexplicably blush and her heart race, making it hard to breathe.
Xiao Yuanzhou grabbed her hand as she tried to pull it back and whispered, "Did you see the acrostic poem on my desk?"
Qingchen grew increasingly nervous and nodded. Remembering that it was that acrostic poem that made Zhu Qinghe suspect a romantic relationship between them, her expression turned worried again.
"What if they follow my trail and find you, young master? You should apply the medicine and leave quickly. I'll hold them off."
Seeing her flustered expression, Xiao Yuanzhou smiled gently again: "It's alright, I never intended to run away anyway."
I just hope that in the end, I can make her understand my feelings.
That's enough.
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