Chapter 302: The Quirk of Not Sleeping at Night
"This subject greets your highnesses."
As soon as the carriage stopped, Madam Yang and her servants came up to the carriage and bowed.
Xiao Zhian looked up at the doorplate of the County Magistrate's Mansion, then at the woman in her early twenties, much younger than County Magistrate Yang. He gestured for her to stand up and hesitated for a moment, "But Madam Yang?"
"yes."
Madam Yang lowered her eyes and said, "Your Highnesses are honored to visit my humble abode. If I have been neglectful, I hope you will forgive me."
Xiao Zhian's face darkened. "Lead the way."
He left County Magistrate Yang on the mountain, but he didn't expect that he would send someone to inform him in advance. It can be seen that he is a person who is good at scheming.
He pretended to be unaware of such a big incident under his jurisdiction, but was concerned about currying favor. Xiao Zhian had a very bad impression of such officials.
Therefore, he also had no good impression of the young Mrs. Yang.
"Chief Yang said you bought that mountain? What did you buy it for?"
Shi Yu got off the carriage and was turning around to help Wei Qingyan. Xiao Zhian's punch made both of them pause for a moment, and then they saw helplessness in each other's eyes.
With Lin Lanting guarding there, how could County Magistrate Yang have the courage to send someone home to report the news?
It is intriguing that Mrs. Yang was able to find out about their arrival so quickly.
Fortunately, there were no disputes among the princes in the Fengzhao royal family, otherwise Xiao Zhian would have been stewed and eaten until not even a bone was left.
Madam Yang was originally observing Wei Qingyan and Shi Yu inconspicuously, but was startled when she heard this.
A frightened and weak expression appeared on her pretty face, "Your Highness, please forgive me. When my master took office, many of his things were left behind by the previous county magistrate.
Because it was difficult to take it away, they sold it all to us. I, your wife, am incompetent and have not figured out what to do with the mountain, so we have kept it aside.
"I only just learned today that I was used by the villain to do such a vicious thing. If I had been smarter and more capable, and used the mountain earlier, perhaps the evil intentions would have been discovered earlier. I truly deserve death for this."
She spoke in a tearful voice, and her voice was filled with deep guilt.
Xiao Zhian just glanced at him calmly and said, "You don't need to die a thousand times. If you are found to be related to this, you can just die once."
Madam Yang didn't expect Xiao Zhian to say that. Her expression froze for a moment, and then her almond-shaped eyes were filled with tears, revealing innocence and pain.
But she still held her chin high. "I have the fault of negligence, but I have never done anything wrong. I hope Your Highness will find out the truth as soon as possible, give justice to those poor girls, and clear my name."
It's not that Xiao Zhian doesn't know how to be gentle with women, but his target is definitely not the wife of a minister. Besides, he is not really stupid and cannot see through the woman's hypocritical behavior.
He turned his head and stopped talking, waiting for his brother and sister-in-law to come in first.
"Madam Yang, this is serious. The Second Prince feels pity for those innocent lives. Coincidentally, the mountain is in Madam's hands, so his tone is a little more serious."
Wei Qingyan got off the carriage and slowly walked to Madam Yang. "Madam, please get up. We are the ones who will nag you today."
Wu Qiu heard the sound and stepped forward to give him a light support.
Madam Yang stood up and bowed to Wei Qingyan and Shi Yu, "It is a great honor for the Yang family to have such a distinguished guest."
The county magistrate's mansion covers a large area and is decorated in a standard manner. It is not prosperous at all. Even the guest house is a bit simple, but it is kept very clean.
Wei Qingyan and his group asked for two courtyards in total.
Shi Yu went to Xiao Zhian's yard, told him some things, and helped him check the situation in the yard.
Madam Yang apologized, "This house was also left by the previous county magistrate. My master is frugal, and except for the yard he renovated for me, the rest of it remains in its original state.
I apologize for the inconvenience, Your Highnesses, but please rest assured that all the bedding and other items are new."
Wei Qingyan thanked her, and Madam Yang did not stay long, so she took her people and left, leaving only two servants outside the courtyard to wait for orders. She was very tactful.
Wei Qingyan and his companions brought their own people to serve in the courtyard.
"Should I go explore her yard?"
After settling everything, Wei Shijun went to Wei Qingyan's room and whispered, "I see that her clothes are quite nice, she doesn't look frugal. Is she doing it on purpose for us to see?"
She also understands the tricks used by local officials to pretend to be poor in order to appear honest.
Wei Qingyan nodded, "I want to investigate, but not to investigate the house, but to investigate the people."
Afterwards, Wei Qingyan whispered a few words in her ear, and Wei Shijun nodded, "Leave it to me, I will definitely find out everything about the cats and dogs in this mansion for you."
As he stepped out of the door, he turned back and said, "If you want to go out at night, I will accompany you."
Wei Qingyan laughed, "Okay."
As the people walked away, her brows furrowed slightly.
Along the way, she discovered a problem with her third sister.
She never sleeps at night, only during the day, and likes to curl herself up in a corner.
There were two days when I didn't sleep during the day and was so sleepy at night that I actually went to Wuqiu's room with my bedding.
The third sister didn't have a personal maid with her, and she stayed in an inn on the road. She was the only one in the room. Wei Qingyan's subconscious reaction was that the third sister was afraid of sleeping alone at night.
As soon as the thought came to my mind, I laughed. My third sister is so good at martial arts. I heard that she often goes out alone for several months or even half a year. How could she be afraid?
She thought she was worrying too much, and this must be her third sister's habit.
But during the whole journey, she never rested once at night. She even kept a distance from men at night and was on guard against Shi Yu.
Last night, they didn't find an inn, so they stayed on the road. The guards roasted a lot of game. Seeing that it was still early, Xiao Zhian knocked on his third sister's carriage window. When there was no response, he lifted the curtain of the carriage.
The third sister immediately drew her sword, her reaction was too intense.
She saw clearly that her third sister's eyes were filled with fear and hatred, but it quickly disappeared, and she laughed and said it was a joke with Xiao Zhian.
Wei Qingyan thought about the reason why Wei Lao San refused to get married, so he called Uncle Hong over and said straight to the point, "Uncle Hong, do you know why Third Sister doesn't sleep at night?"
"I don't know." Uncle Hong shook his head, but knowing that Wei Qingyan asked this out of concern for the Third Miss, he said, "I only know that it started when the Third Miss was twelve years old.
The old lady had asked her about it at first, but she just said that she made faster progress by practicing at night. The old lady was worried that she would ruin her health, so she kept her by her side and watched over her personally.
Therefore, when the Third Miss was in the mansion, she would sleep in the old lady's room at night. If the old lady was not around, she would not sleep."
"Why doesn't Third Sister have a personal maid?"
Uncle Hong was silent for a moment. "There was one before, but she later became the second uncle's concubine. After that, the third lady never asked for a personal servant again. I don't know about the other subordinates."
He was originally in the capital, and only went to the Wei family's old house after Wei Qingyan died in the battle. He told them everything he knew.
Wei Qingyan seemed to understand something, "Thank you, Uncle Hong, but could you please not tell Third Sister about what happened today?"
Uncle Hong was silent for a moment and nodded.
The third young lady didn't even tell the old lady, and she naturally didn't want the Crown Princess to know. However, the knot in her heart must be untied, and she hoped that the Crown Princess could help her.
Uncle Hong sighed secretly and left.
When Shi Yu came back, Wei Qingyan was tapping the table with his fingers.
"What are you thinking about?" Shi Yu asked.
Wei Qingyan looked at him and said, "How about you stay with Zhi'an tonight? Third sister, please go out with me to vent some anger. When you come back, I'll let her stay at my place."
Shi Yu and Wei Qingyan spent every day together, and he also noticed the strangeness of Wei Lao San. Moreover, he knew that Uncle Hong had just been here.
He nodded and said, "Okay, be careful at night."
Another half hour passed before Wei Lao San returned, "Madam Yang is the second wife of County Magistrate Yang. Her first wife gave birth to a son and a daughter.
My son is 22 years old this year and has not yet married. He is usually in college and comes back a few times a month. My daughter died of illness three years ago.
Mrs. Yang married into the family four years after his first wife passed away. After six years of marriage, she gave birth to two sons.
When she married here, she was only fifteen years old. It was an old man and a young wife. County Magistrate Yang doted on Madam Yang very much. As I expected, her courtyard was extremely luxurious."
"How is her relationship with her stepchildren?"
Wei Lao San's expression was unclear. "I heard that the relationship is very good. Madam Yang is very motherly and takes good care of the two children of the original wife.
She has a close relationship with the two step-children, but how many step-mothers in this world are truly good to their step-children?
What's more, they are stepchildren who are about the same age as her."
Wei Qingyan looked at the black energy surging outside the door and asked, "What disease did Madam Yang's stepdaughter die of?"
"They said it was heart palpitations." Wei Lao San asked subconsciously, "Is there something wrong with her death?"
The black gas spread out instantly, covering the entire courtyard, dark and gloomy, as if a storm was about to come.
Wei Qingyan nodded, "Yes, it's quite problematic."
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