After Xue Rui ordered Ji Xingxuan to be tortured, he would make time to visit the prison every day. However, for three days, he still could not get Ji Xingxuan to talk.
The more Ji Xingxuan clenched her teeth, the more he was sure that there was a mastermind behind her. On one hand, he sent more people to protect her in the prison, and on the other hand, he started to investigate the suspicious people she had been in contact with, trying to uncover the truth and draw the snake out of its hole.
On this day, Xue Rui returned from the Supreme Court. As soon as he entered the door, he heard the housekeeper report that his second aunt, Madam Xin, had sent someone to invite him to the West Residence for tea.
Xue Rui changed out of his official robes and went to the West Residence.
Although the Xue Family was a large family with many businesses, they were not very prosperous. When it came to Xue Lingnan's line of descent, because he was not fond of wine and women, he only had two sons and two daughters. It was unknown whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that one of his two daughters became the Xiang Princess Consort and the other became the Gui Fei.
However, the eldest son passed away when he was young, leaving only Xue Rui, who was raised by Xue Lingnan's side. The second son was born by Xue Lingnan's concubine. After the death of the eldest son, his name was transferred to the legal wife. Now, he was an assistant minister in the Ministry of War and married a young lady of the Xin family, who was Xue Rui's second aunt, Madam Xin.
The Xin family had one son and two daughters. This married woman was clever in handling matters and managed Assistant Minister Xue's inner courtyard in an orderly manner. Since a young age, she had been kind and kind to Xue Rui, the first grandson of the eldest branch. However, for some unknown reason, her only son, Xue Kuangxu, always did not get along with Xue Rui, his eldest cousin brother.
The Assistant Minister's Mansion was next to the Minister's Mansion, so it was often referred to as the West Mansion. The moment Xue Rui stepped through the front door, a quick-footed servant boy immediately ran inside to report his arrival. By the time Xue Rui passed through the parlor, the two personal maids of Madam Xin had already come over to greet him.
When Xue Rui saw Madam Xin, she was embroidering a sachet in the garden. There were several finished products in her basket. When she saw her nephew, she stopped her needlework and pointed at the stone block, inviting him to sit down.
"Second Aunt, are you looking for me?" On his way here, Xue Rui had been wondering why Xin Enterprises was looking for him. No matter how he thought about it, it must be because of the lot-drawing incident in Xuan Chun Garden a few days ago.
Sure enough, Xin Shi smiled at him. Her curved eyes looked very friendly. She poured a cup of tea for him and asked without beating around the bush,
"Yesterday, I went back to my mother's house and heard from my two brothers that my little niece was almost pushed out of the building at the Ninth Prince's banquet. Fortunately, you saved her. Your Second Uncle of the Xin Family wanted to hold a feast to thank you for such a great favor, but he was too shy, so he sent me here to ask first.
This was the beauty of Madam Xin's character. Although she was Xue Rui's elder, she never put on airs in front of him. Even if it was a small matter, she would not make decisions for Xue Rui.
Xue Rui took a sip of tea and shook his head, "Second Aunt, you may not know this, but the Sixth Miss of the Xin Family was not saved by me. I don't dare to hold a feast to thank you."
This was the truth. If it were not for Yu Shu who ran fast and took the risk to pull Xin Liu, she would have fallen down the building in time.
Madam Xin was not surprised. Instead, she said, "I know about this. At that time, the female fortune teller was also present. I heard that she was the one who pulled her back first. My brother and sister-in-law must thank her. Brother Rui, you don't have to worry too much. Sigh, I will tell you the truth. Your Uncle of the Xin Family knew that you were in charge of this case, so he wanted to do something to make sure that the murderer who dared to harm our daughter didn't get away with it. "
Xue Rui said, "There is no need to hold a feast to thank you. Second Aunt's family is also part of our family. This will make us seem distant. Second Aunt, don't worry. This case is under the orders of the Emperor. I dare not be careless. "
Madam Xin saw that she could not persuade him, so she rolled her eyes and said a few words to get over it. She took out a freshly embroidered sachet from the sewing basket and gave it to him.
"Last time, I saw that the corner of your embroidered sachet was rubbed off, so I sewed a new pattern for you. You know that I like to think of these things to kill time. I dare not say about other things, but in terms of needlework, there is no one in the two families who is better than me. "
Xue Rui accepted the sachet with a smile. Madam Xin did not wait for him to open his mouth and shooed him away first. "You have a lot of things to do. Go busy yourself. If there is any movement in this case, don't forget to tell me."
Xue Rui agreed and left with the sachet. When he was out of sight, Madam Xin turned her head and waved towards the east side of the pavilion. A middle-aged woman with a stout appearance walked out from behind a tree. She dusted off the corner of her dress and walked up to the pavilion.
"Sister-in-law, you heard it. It's not that I don't want to matchmake my family, it's that he doesn't have the intention," Madam Xin said to her second sister-in-law, Hou Shi, with a helpless expression.
Hou Shi said unhappily, "Why can't I see it? You didn't even mention our Feifei. Even if this young master has the intention, who can see it?"
Madam Xin rolled her eyes and said, "Sister-in-law, think about it. If he really has the intention, wouldn't he rush to say yes when he heard that older brother is inviting him to a feast? Why does he have to refuse again and again?"
Hou shi thought for a moment and felt that this was the case. Her expression couldn't help but become dispirited. Xin shi saw this and dismissed the servant girls. She advised in a small voice,
"Let me tell you something. Old Master Xue has plans to marry into the Count's household. Although it hasn't been decided yet, I don't think it's too bad. Sister-in-law, don't be so muddle-headed and drag down your niece's status for no reason. Do you think it's impossible for this to reach the ears of the Old Master in the end and catch his eye, and then give Feifei to Eldest Young Master as his second wife? It's not like you don't know that Eldest Young Master originally wanted Princess Shang, but that incident still happened … "
When she said this, she suddenly stopped. Seeing that Hou shi was engrossed in listening, she hurriedly interrupted.
"In short, not everyone can be the daughter-in-law of the eldest grandson of the Xue family."
When Hou shi heard her say this, she was slightly regretting her rash actions. She grimaced and said, "It's not that I'm greedy, but I only have this precious daughter. I want her to marry well and be able to help her brother in the future. Wasn't that Doctor Xue locked up in the inner compound because he cursed Eldest Master to death? I thought that he didn't have a mother-in-law to control him, and I heard you say that Eldest Young Master's room was clean. I thought that this was a good thing to increase the relationship, so I had this idea. If it's really like what you say, I won't touch it. "
Xin shi could hear that she had changed her mind and hurriedly said a few more words to stop Hou shi's thoughts.
Xue Rui left the West Manor and walked towards the East Street. He didn't walk far before stopping. He beckoned at the side of the road. A half-grown boy ran out from the alley and came over to fawn.
"Eldest Young Master, Third Young Master went out to drink with the ladies last night and hasn't returned yet."
"En, who came to the West Manor during the day?"
"Replying to you, this one saw the Second Mistress of the Xin Family come."
"When did she leave?"
"This … I don't think I saw her."
Xue Rui rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. He could roughly guess why Xin shi asked him to come today. He couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. He said to the boy, "You go."
"Ah, have a safe trip."
For the past few days, Yu Shu listened to Xue Rui's words and did not run around. She only applied plasters in the Wangji Tower, drank some soup, and recuperated in peace. The swelling on her strained arm quickly subsided.
In the middle of the afternoon, she was lying on the patio with her legs crossed, eating a special pumpkin from Wangji Building. Young Madam Bai was sitting on a stool next to her, playing a light and cheerful tune according to the song she picked. While she was enjoying herself like this, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from upstairs.
"Sis, Sis!"
Yu Shu put down the melon skin. There was still a black melon seed stuck on the corner of her mouth. She saw Yu Xiaoxiu open the curtain and run in with a panicked face. Behind him was the fat man, Lin Fu, who was panting.
"Xiaoxiu?" Yu Shu quickly sat up, wiped her mouth and said, "Why are you here?"
Yu Xiaoxiu pressed his chest and shouted breathlessly, "Mother, mother is gone!"
When Yu Shu heard this, she didn't feel surprised or panicked. She had long found that she couldn't live a peaceful life for a few days, and then there would be trouble around her.
"What happened? Don't worry, come and sit down." Yu Shu pulled him to her side and gave Lin Fu a look, signaling him to go back to his work.
Before Yu Xiaoxiu could even catch his breath, he hurriedly told her what had happened.
Today was Baichuan Academy's rest day. Because Yu Shu hadn't been home for a while, Yu Xiaoxiu couldn't see Aunt Cui. He wanted to go and see her, so he told Zhao Hui and asked Liu Zhong to drive him to the small courtyard where Aunt Cui lived.
Who would have thought of the place? The servant woman who stayed in the courtyard to boil water and cook told him that Aunt Cui and servant girl Xiang Sui hadn't come back for several days. The servant woman was bought by Yu Shu from the Supply House. Seeing that her master didn't come home, she was anxious but had nowhere to look for Yu Shu. She didn't know where she lived, so she could only wait in the small courtyard.
Yu Shu listened and frowned. She asked, "Are their clothes and luggage still there?"
If Yu Xiaoxiu hadn't reminded her, she would have almost forgotten about Aunt Cui. It seemed that she hadn't visited her since the Dayan list was released.
"I went into the room to have a look. Her clothes were all there. The old maid said that mother went out in the morning three days ago with Xiangsui and never came back. Sister, where do you think mother went? Did the Ji Family send people to take her back?" Ji Yunshu asked.
Yu Xiaoxiu was too worried and didn't ask the servant woman who cooked carefully. So, he didn't know after Yu Shu asked a few questions.
Yu Shu thought that she had arranged Aunt Cui in a remote place. With the power of the Ji family in Anling City, they wouldn't be able to find her and the possibility of being taken away by them was not high. But when she thought of how troublesome Aunt Cui was, she was afraid that something was wrong with her and she went back by herself.
"Sister?" Yu Xiaoxiu pulled Yu Shu. In addition to worry, there was also a little pleading on his face, as if he was afraid that Yu Shu wouldn't care about it.
Seeing this, Yu Shu patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't be afraid. I will go back to my room to have my fortune told and see if mother is safe."
Yu Xiaoxiu nodded hurriedly. He still remembered clearly the whip that Third Master Ji gave him. It was like peeling off his skin. He was really afraid that Aunt Cui would also be beaten like that if she was taken back.
Yu Shu went downstairs with Yu Xiaoxiu and went to the study to calculate the eight characters of Aunt Cui with the law of time. The result made her secretly relieved, but she couldn't help wondering —
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