After the marriage, the cousin was spoiled by the whole family of the Marquis's Mansion

Chapter 18: Family Massacre
There is a row of inconspicuous houses and a big locust tree at the entrance of the alley. Two little beggars are squatting under the tree.

As Ji Yunzhang reached the alley entrance, two beggars came up to him.

"Master, please give me some silver."

One of the tall beggars slipped a piece of paper into his hand during the struggle.

Ji Yunzhang pinched the note and put it into his arms, then took a handful of copper coins and threw them to the two beggars.

The two beggars immediately ran away with smiles on their faces, and from a distance one could hear their dispute over the division of money.

There are two rows of ordinary houses in the alley.

Ji Yunzhang flashed into the first house.

There is a different world inside the courtyard, which is extremely spacious. It turns out that the five houses in this row are all connected.

There was a lot of food piled up in the yard, and many beggars were resting there.

A little beggar holding a white steamed bun in his mouth came forward and said, "Third Master, Master Xue is inside."

The door of the innermost room was closed, and Xue Jinghe was thinking with his eyes closed.

He heard the door open with a creak and suddenly opened his eyes. After seeing who was coming, he slowly closed his eyes again.

"Where are the people?" Ji Yunzhang's face was very calm.

Xue Jinghe pointed to a wooden box on a table under a window not far away and said, "The person is dead, but we found some interesting things."

"After Lord Zhong's family was executed, many managers of Pingshan Iron Mine and Gold Mine either disappeared mysteriously or died of illness. It was only when Uncle Peng let slip during the casual conversation when he was receiving the goods that we learned that this person was once the accountant of Manager Meng of Pingshan Gold Mine."

"Inside the box are some of the accounts of the Pingshan County gold mine."

"This part of the account basically proves that the gold mines dug out back then flowed out to the Western Jin Dynasty."

The palm-sized wooden box was made of the most common wood, and the workmanship was so crude that no one would even take a second look at it.

Xue Jinghe opened his eyes and glanced at the wooden box. "If Uncle Peng hadn't been more careful, this thing wouldn't have come into our hands."

"That person said that the person who often met with Manager Meng often wore a painted face mask. He once happened to see a masked man with a hole in his left ear."

"From the accent of that masked man, he doesn't sound like someone from the Western Jin Dynasty, but rather someone from Fengyang Prefecture."

As he said that, he glanced at Ji Yunzhang and said, "Nearly a thousand people were beheaded in that case. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack if you want to find such a person."

Ji Yunzhang opened the box. The papers inside had turned yellow, but in the sunlight coming in from the window, one could still see the golden light shining on the papers. The ink with the final signature on the papers was still as bright red as new.

"Where is Liuyan now?" After closing the box, he asked again.

Xue Jinghe stood up and said, "Liuyan is now at my villa. I'm afraid that the spies in Yanjing will be dispatched in full force in the next few days."

Ji Yunzhang narrowed his eyes slightly, with a hint of coldness in his eyes, "Go and meet this princess of the Western Jin Dynasty who has been condescending to stay in my house for five years."

It is already the end of summer, and the scorching sun has been wrapped in a coat by the autumn wind. Even when the sun is shining brightly, it is not as hot as in summer.

Ji Yunzhang's whole body was chilly, adding a sense of coldness as autumn approached to the courtyard.

-

Ji Yunzhang has not returned home for three days in a row, and even Liuyan is not there.

Rong Peilan was taking a nap on the couch in the room with an open account book beside her. After the rice case, Zhong had specially sent all the account books of the entire Yanjing shop to her.

The maids were doing needlework under the corridor. Qingtan had the best skills. The young lady's dress was a little small, so she was making a new one.

Amber helped with the cutting. She was a lively little girl and couldn't help chattering all the time.

"Sister Qingtan, the prince and Liuyan haven't come back for three days. Is Sister Liuyan going to become a concubine?"

Amber was somewhat envious. Except for Liuyan who was brought back by the prince, the three of them were all children born in the mansion. When they reached the age of marriage, they would marry the steward of the mansion and then have another child to continue living in the mansion, just like her parents. They could not escape the fate of being slaves for generations.

If I can win the master's favor and have a child in the future, not to mention becoming the master, even if I become half a master, I will never have to worry about a prosperous life.

Qingtan looked back at the half-open window and slapped Amber's hand, "What nonsense are you talking about? You can't make random comments about the master's affairs."

Amber shrank her neck and said, "Sister Liuyan is lucky, I just..."

Qingtan glared at her and said, "If you are so envious, why don't you learn from Liuyan? I bet your parents will skin you alive!"

Amber shrank her neck and closed her mouth, not daring to say anything more.

Amber's mother is Mama Qian, the housekeeper of the late old lady. Amber is an old lady and has been spoiled since she was a child.

Mother Qian had already thought of a way out for Amber. A cousin from Mother Qian's hometown passed the imperial examination last year and was a promising young man. Mother Qian had already arranged a marriage for Amber, and they would only wait for Amber to get married next year when she reached the age of 15.

Being a concubine in this wealthy family is worse than being the wife of a poor scholar.

If the husband is lucky, she will naturally become an official wife with her own destiny in the future.

Bai Yu came over from the other end of the corridor, carrying some iced lychees. "Is the young lady still not awake?"

"Not yet."

Qingtan looked inside through the window and saw the person on the couch still in the same posture as before.

Bai Yu looked at the sun and said, "It's getting late. If we don't get up now, we'll be late."

The Madam had sent someone to tell her early in the morning that the young lady would have to accompany her to the Princess's residence to celebrate the birthday at Youshi.

Qingtan put down the needle and thread in her hand and said, "I'll go call the young lady, and Amber will fetch some water to wash up."

The door was pushed open with a creaky sound, and the person on the couch did not move.

"Young Madam?"

Qingtan tiptoed to the side of the couch, but saw that she was frowning and sweating profusely, as if she was trapped in a nightmare and couldn't extricate herself, and was sleeping very uneasily.

Rong Peilan was extremely tired, and no matter how she ran, she seemed unable to outrun this nightmare scene.

The mother was lying in a pool of blood with a little baby beside her.

"Lan'er..." The mother held the child and looked at her, stretching out her arms, wanting to give the child to her.

"Mom!" No matter how fast little Rong Peilan ran, her mother was right in front of her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get close to the person she had missed for so long.

"Young lady..."

The calls seemed to come from far away.

Rong Peilan opened her eyes with great effort. She was exhausted as if she had just finished a strenuous run.

He took Qingtan's hand and used it to sit up. When the cool breeze blew through the hall, he realized that his chest and back were soaked.

"Qingtan, what time is it?"

"It's almost Shen time."

Rong Peilan looked at the bright sunlight shining through the window, and after a while she rubbed her eyebrows with her fingers.

"Young Madam, take a bath first, because you have to go to the banquet with Madam at twilight hour."

Qingtan helped her up, and seeing that the young lady was in poor spirits, he did not dare to say much.

The prince has been married for just over a month, and they are still in their honeymoon period. It is really too much for him to abandon the young mistress like this.

　Please give me a monthly ticket, please give me a ticket, ladies, please move your fingers (*^▽^*)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)