A raincoat wind and snow to the small garden

Chapter 24 Snowy Villa (VIII)

Chapter

In the secluded and deserted courtyard, several female masters of the Zheng family were sitting.

There were hot tea, chicken pancakes, and lotus cakes on the coffee table beside them. Although they had not eaten all day, no one took a bite.

Madam Zheng Er was already trembling with fear. From time to time, she would glance up at Madam Da and say mournfully, "Sister-in-law, you are our backbone. Please say something! That evil spirit has escaped. What should we do?"

Madam Zheng picked up the teacup and took a sip nonchalantly. She glanced at her second brother's wife with a pair of droopy eyes and sneered, "Didn't you try to deceive me before? You said I wasn't good enough at managing the household, and that was why the family was in trouble... Why, now that you're in trouble, you're thinking of the benefits of having me as your sister-in-law?"

The second wife had an embarrassed look on her face. She had thought about deposing her eldest sister-in-law before, so that their second branch could be the head of the family. But now it was a matter of life and death, and being the head of the family was not as important as one's own life.

The Second Madam said, "I was wrong. Sister-in-law is very magnanimous. Please don't hold it against my younger sister. I will definitely follow your lead if I can escape this disaster."

Seeing that she had behaved, the eldest lady no longer embarrassed her. She put down her teacup and said solemnly, "Isn't she imprisoned in the demon-slaying formation at home, fed by a maid every month? How could she have come to the villa out of the blue? Could it be that my father-in-law let her out?"

The Second Madam scoffed, "How could that be! This time, my father-in-law is celebrating his birthday and has invited so many important figures. He values ​​his official position and reputation the most, so how could he possibly bring such an evil spirit into the villa? It's my fourth brother..."

After they finished speaking, their eyes all turned to the fourth lady who was standing timidly beside them.

She was only wearing a plain dress today, and had only a silver hairpin in her hair, obviously she was still in mourning for her husband.

The Second Madam narrowed her beautiful eyes and smiled, "Everyone knows that Fourth Brother loves that demon the most. He must have been the one who brought her to the villa."

These words are extremely insulting. The husband does not love his wife, but actually dotes on a bloodthirsty and cruel evil spirit. Anyone who hears them would feel ashamed and angry to death.

Sure enough, the Fourth Lady's face was pale and her lips were almost bloodless. It was extremely embarrassing for her to have such a confused husband and still observe her duties as a wife and mourn for him.

The fourth lady was like a mute, unable to utter a word.

The eldest lady could only mediate between these rebellious fools. She pressed her forehead and cursed, "That's enough! No matter how much you love her, she'll still kill you, won't she?"

The Second Madam frowned. "Didn't you tell the coroner that the person serving the chicken soup was most likely a man? But that demon... was a woman!"

The Third Madam, who usually had no say, suddenly whispered, "Is it possible... that the person he'd set his sights on this time was actually Fourth Brother himself? He wanted to please the demon, so he staged a murder himself? After all, that way, no one would suspect the demon, and would just think it was some male assassin who had killed Fourth Brother."

As soon as this was said, everyone fell silent.

Fourth brother is so crazy that he might really do something like this.

After all, the evil demon once fell in love with Zheng Sirou, the little girl born to the fourth wife. Didn’t the fourth brother hesitate for a few days and still willingly offer his daughter to her?

If the Fourth Madam had not been so eager to protect her daughter and sent her out of the house, Zheng Sirou would probably have died at the hands of the evil spirit.

Thinking of this, everyone looked at the Fourth Lady with sympathy.

"enough!"

The Fourth Lady could no longer bear the humiliation. She took off her silver hairpin, threw it to the ground, lifted her skirt and left.
-
Xiang Xiaoyuan learned from Chu Daofu that on the day the fourth master of the Zheng family died, all the servants and stewards in the villa had alibis.

Chu Daofu received Xie Yunxue's order to investigate the officials and servants who came to celebrate the birthday, but the result was the same: they were all busy with their own affairs and had no time to murder their master.

The clues were lost again, and Xiang Xiaoyuan was at a loss.

After a long while, she thought of the maid Jixiang who had been talking nonsense before.

Jixiang was frightened by Baizhu's death and kept muttering about the demon-subduing formation. She must know something.

However, when Xiang Xiaoyuan was about to go to the inner courtyard to find Jixiang, he was told that Jixiang had gone crazy last night and walked out of the villa in the snow.

Outside the village, there was a blizzard everywhere, the snow was half a man's height. How could she possibly have come back alive? She must have died outside.

Jixiang's death was undoubtedly intended to serve as a warning to others. Even if the maids knew something, they did not dare to tell Xiaoyuan.

This won’t do…Xiang Xiaoyuan frowned.

But without any evidence, she couldn't just force the maid to confess by force, right?
Moreover, when Xiang Xiaoyuan passed by the back room of the villa recently, she saw many maids burning yellow paper in the yard and sticking cinnabar talismans on the doors.

They clearly felt that the Zheng family was haunted and that evil spirits were lurking within them.

Is there really an evil spirit in the world that eats people?

Xiang Xiaoyuan was puzzled. When she couldn't figure something out, she would read books. She flipped through the "Autopsy Prescriptions" in her hand again and again. There were a total of 35 volumes of autopsy methods, and she finished reading them in just one night.

Originally, the death of the fourth master of the Zheng family was a big event. The family had to hold a funeral and arrange the funeral arrangements, but the wind and snow were so strong that everyone was trapped on the mountain and could not go anywhere.

Some officials were even frightened by the series of murders and led their servants to shovel snow outside the mansion.

Xiang Xiaoyuan ate two honey cakes. She had just wiped the grease off her hands when she remembered that she had always felt a pain in her lower abdomen when she was meditating and regulating her breathing before going to bed and reciting the internal skills.

She thought of the stories about people going crazy and being possessed in the storybooks. Her situation seemed like a sign of something bad to come, so she immediately ran to Huai Yu's yard and knocked hard on his door.

"Brother Huaiyu, Brother Huaiyu, I have something urgent to tell you! I'm dying, dying!"

……

Xie Yunxue was originally reviewing government documents, but since Fusheng "slept with Xiaoyuan", he spontaneously became the Crown Prince's informant.

Fusheng learned that Xiang Xiaoyuan was very close to Huaiyu, the head of the Xuanqisi secret guards, and that she was going to knock on the door to look for her lover today. He immediately became anxious and his mouth was covered with blisters.

Fusheng hurried over to report to Xie Yunxue: "Your Highness, Your Highness, this is bad! Tell the coroner, she's having an affair!"

Xie Yunxue's finger bones trembled: "What?"

He didn't quite understand.

But Fusheng cried and said, "Xiaozuo Xiang went to look for Huaiyu. I didn't expect that there was a traitor under your command. He knew that Xiaozuo Xiang was your man and was secretly flirting with him..."

Xie Yunxue frowned: "Don't report such trivial matters to me, get out!"

Fusheng choked a little when he was scolded, but he knew that Xie Yunxue must be upset. After all, who would allow themselves to have a green head?

He retreated hesitantly.

Xie Yunxue sighed, walked towards the screen helplessly, and changed into a black shirt with narrow sleeves.

After putting on the mask to disguise himself as Huai Yu, he jumped out of the window nimbly and ran straight to the courtyard where the secret guards were.
-
I knocked on Xiaoyuan's door for a long time, thinking that Huaiyu was not in the room. Just as I was about to leave, the door opened.

Huaiyu's hair was damp, as if covered with a layer of freshly melted frost. He looked at Xiang Xiaoyuan with dark eyes and asked in a cold voice, "What's the matter?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan raised her head, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling, and her tone was a little soft: "Brother, I seem to have gone astray in my practice. I always have stomachaches at night..."

"Where does it hurt?" Huaiyu asked her seriously.

Xiang Xiaoyuan pointed to her lower abdomen and sniffed: "Right here, it really hurts."

Huaiyu pursed her lips.

After a long moment, he gently pressed Xiang Xiaoyuan's sore spot, using his inner strength to feel the blood flowing through her limbs. Finally, as if he had thought of something, he called out to Xiang Xiaoyuan, "Open your mouth."

Xiang Xiaoyuan did as he was told.

Huaiyu withdrew his hand. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "The tongue coating is pale pink, the meridians are weak, and there is a heavy pain in the lower abdomen. It's clearly uterine cold and kidney deficiency...Xiang Xiaoyuan, how long has it been since you had your period?"

(End of this chapter)