Published at 13th of July 2023 8:56 am

Chapter 1243 1243 Looking for the Mysterious Burly Old Maid

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Chapter 1243 Looking for the Mysterious Burly Old Maid

The collapse of Marquis Xing’s Mansion happened almost overnight. No one had expected that Shao Jing, Marquis Xing, would snatch the title from his eldest brother.

He had killed his eldest brother and sister-in-law and had colluded with Madam Jiang to plot against his niece and nephew.

Such a thing was simply shocking.

A lot of things happened to Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Previously, its reputation had been ruined. Now Shao Jing was taken to the Ministry of Justice. Many people didn’t take it seriously. No one had expected that a mistress could get involved in such a big thing and make the case that was hidden many years ago be investigated once again.

The whole capital city was in an uproar, and the Emperor was furious. Shao Jing, who had such a vicious character, would be sentenced to death directly in front of the public three days later.

The second branch of Marquis Xing’s Mansion was expelled from the mansion, and the title of nobility was stripped from them and passed on to Shao Yuanhao, who was still young. Shao Yuanhao became the youngest Marquis Xing, and the descendants of the second branch were expelled from Marquis Xing’s Mansion.

The third branch had been separated from the family, and the family tree had been settled. Since Prince Chen had interceded for them, the third branch was spared, so they left Marquis Xing’s Mansion silently in a hurry.

Old Madam didn’t know about it. She had a stroke and was lying in bed now. She couldn’t move, and no one told her about it. Nanny Yu still served Old Madam and strictly forbade others from telling Old Madam about it.

Old Madam was no longer clear-headed and was merely struggling to live on while she could. No one cared about her. She deserved what happened to her.

Shao Wanru asked Nanny Yu to continue supporting Old Madam and remove all the unnecessary servant girls and old maids, as well as Old Madam’s courtyard.

Shao Wanru came to Shao Jing’s yard with two servant girls. She should have come here last night, but Chu Liuchen was called into the Palace yesterday. When he came back in the middle of the night, he told her that Shao Jing’s case had been settled and that she could have a good rest today.

When the door was unlocked, Shao Wanru went upstairs with Yujie and Qing’er. The stairs looked very old, and everything here was different from the courtyard outside.

Although some parts of the courtyard outside were dilapidated, they had been repaired. Only the ruined things here remained unrepaired.

Shao Wanru went up the stairs and walked slowly around them. The place was not small and was divided into two parts, inner and outer. There were some miscellaneous things by the window outside. There were not many things piled up, and there was a couch on the other side.

“My Lady, someone has slept on this couch recently.” Qing’er stepped forward, looked at it carefully, and said, “Look, there is still some hair on it.”

She picked up a strand of hair, which was half gray and half white. It looked as if it had fallen from an old man.

Qing’er put the hair on a white handkerchief, pressed the end of it, and said, “If it was a long time ago, there would be dust on it, but now there is nothing on it.”

There was no dust on the handkerchief, so she could see it clearly.

Shao Wanru nodded, rolled her watery eyes slightly, and looked at the curtain of the inner room. There was a rough curtain hanging there, which looked very ordinary.

Although it looked a little old, it was not an old thing from more than a decade ago.

When she got closer, Yujie stepped forward and lifted the curtain. There was no door behind the curtain, and there was no door plank on the door frame. Only the curtain could separate the inner and outer rooms.

There was a bed in the inner room. The bed was very wide. When Shao Wanru walked to the bed, she took a deep breath and lifted the falling gauze curtain. There was nothing behind the gauze curtain.

Qing’er stepped forward, looked around carefully, and reported, “Someone has been staying here recently. If it has always been a deserted room, there should be some mold. But when we came in, I found that it was as if there had always been someone living in this room.”

As she spoke, she touched the pillow and took out a handkerchief.

It was a very simple handkerchief, but it was very new. At first glance, one could tell that it was the thing that had been used recently.

“My Lady, someone has lived here. Just like the couch outside, there is someone living here these few days, but they’re not here now,” Qing’er said. She was very professional in this kind of thing, which was also the reason why Shao Wanru specially brought her over. A secret guard had always been easy to find clues.

Shao Wanru nodded and stepped forward. She walked to the window next to the bed and reached out to push it. The window was closed so tightly that even if she tried her best, she could only push it open a little.

Yujie stepped forward to help her, and the window was pushed open.

Shao Wanru looked out of the window and found that there were not many places she could see.

“Does it look like someone has been locked up here?” Shao Wanru asked in a hoarse voice.

“Sort of. But who would be locked up by Shao Jing here? Who asked him to do that? He used to keep his mistress outside the mansion,” Qing’er asked in confusion.

It didn’t mean that Shao Jing couldn’t lock someone up. As Marquis Xing, it was no big deal even if he locked several people up. However, the problem was that he could lock the person who lived here up in this place, which meant that he needed to keep an eye on them.

Yujie looked at a dressing table on the side and asked, “Could it be a mistress?”

Shao Wanru also looked at the dressing table. Although it was a simple dressing table with only a bronze mirror on it, she could still tell that it was a dressing table.

When she opened the drawer, there was nothing in it. Even though there was a hairpin before, it had been taken away now.

Shao Wanru pulled out a stool and sat in front of the dressing table. She reached out to wipe the dust at the corner of the table. It could be seen that the table was not valued. It was just casually cleaned up. Shao Jing wouldn’t keep a mistress here.

It was not his mistress, but a woman was locked up here. With the Fake Dead Medicine of Doctor Qiu, the identity of the woman was obvious. Shao Wanru reached out to press her chest and suppressed the trembling in her heart. She thought of the overly strong old maid, who had come here at that time.

Such a burly old maid must be strong. What kind of woman needed an old maid like her? Shao Wanru lowered her head slightly, took a deep breath, and suddenly felt out of breath.

“Is it her?”

“Go and find out who the strong old maid is,” Shao Wanru said.

Yujie answered and ran downstairs. Shao Wanru stood up, walked around the room again, and then went downstairs.

The old maid in charge had been called over. At present, it was the branch of the first branch in charge of the mansion, and all the servants knew that. When they saw Shao Wanru coming down, they became more and more respectful.

Sitting down in the chair in the middle, Shao Wanru looked at the old maid in charge who looked smart. She asked directly, “Last time I saw a very strong old maid here, but she didn’t do labor work. She went up to this unused pavilion. Who is she? Where is she now?”

“My Lady, are you asking about Nanny Xiu?” The old maid in charge knew who Shao Wanru was asking about after thinking for a while. She hurriedly answered with a flattering tone, “Nanny Xiu left the night before yesterday.”

“The night before yesterday?” Shao Wanru’s face changed slightly. It was the time when E’niang was about to be recorded in the family tree the next day. “Was it very late?”

The Nanny in-charge said, “Yes, it was very late. I heard that Nanny Xiu had something to deal with at home, and His Grace allowed her to leave. I didn’t see her when she left. The next day, I heard it from His Grace.”

“Where is this Nanny Xiu from? What did she do before?” Shao Wanru asked again.

“Well… I really don’t know,” the Nanny in-charge said with a wry smile.

“What happened?” Shao Wanru looked up with cold eyes.

The Nanny in-charge said, “Nanny Xiu has been with His Grace… No, the Second Young Master for a long time. She was alone and there was no one else at home. Later, she lived outside the mansion and rarely returned to the mansion. I only saw her for a few days a year. When she returned to the mansion, she stayed in this courtyard and basically never went out. This time, she stayed longer than before, so she lived here. His Grace asked her to pack up the things in the pavilion as she stayed here so that she would not have to find another place.”

In fact, she did not know much about Nanny Xiu, and most of the time, she heard her stories from others. Nanny Xiu looked very burly, and she usually ignored others. If someone offended her, she would complain to Shao Jing, and no one in the courtyard dared to offend her.

“Is there anything special about her?” Shao Wanru took a deep breath. She felt nauseated in her throat.

The Nanny in-charge thought for a while before she said, “In fact, she doesn’t have any special… but she rarely goes out of the pavilion. His Grace didn’t allow anyone to go upstairs but only let her go up. It can be seen that she is His Grace’s trusted subordinate. Everyone says that there are some family treasures of Marquis Xing’s Mansion in the pavilion. Nanny Xiu specially sorted out these treasures. She ate fine food like the masters, and she ate a lot. Her meals were delivered by a special servant girl.”

“Can you find this person?” Shao Wanru asked.

“I may not be able to find her,” the Nanny in-charge said awkwardly.

Shao Wanru narrowed her watery eyes, blinked her long eyelashes, and waved her hand. The Nanny in-charge did not dare to stay and left with peace of mind.

It was quiet in the room. Shao Wanru felt that her breathing was too heavy and her chest was stuffy and uncomfortable. It took her a lot of effort to adjust herself. She stood up and ordered the two servant girls, “Let’s go back to the mansion!”

After returning to the mansion, Shao Wanru went straight to the study of Chu Liuchen.

In the study, when Xiao Xuanzi saw Shao Wanru coming over, he smiled brightly. He immediately went up to report her arrival and then asked Shao Wanru to go up.

Shao Wanru left the two servant girls downstairs, followed Xiao Xuanzi to the second floor alone, and finally went around to the third floor.

In the study on the third floor, Chu Liuchen sat in a large chair, looked at Shao Wanru with a smile, and waved to her. Shao Wanru bit her lip and walked over.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” When Shao Wanru got closer, Chu Liuchen pulled her over and glanced at her with his beautiful eyes, which were filled with affection at the sight of her slightly pale lips.

“Will… will you believe me?” Shao Wanru looked at Chu Liuchen in a daze with inexplicably red eyes.

Along the way, she only felt weak when she was in front of Chu Liuchen. She needed someone to protect her.

“I believe you!” Chu Liuchen said softly, giving up some space for her to sit down in the large chair. “Tell me, is there anything I can do for you?”

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