Don't provoke mentally ill people in the infinite flow genre!

When Yi Zanglan asked that question, Granny Jiang once again subtly revealed a guilty expression. She thought she had concealed it well, but she did not escape Wu Ying's eyes at all.

Wu Ying leaned down, grabbed her collar, and demanded sharply, "You colluded with the Zhu family to deceive us. Isn't there a conspiracy involved?"

"It's none of my business!" Granny Jiang hurriedly protested. "I was just a middleman. The Zhu family wanted to find four girls, so I did. I couldn't stop them from doing what they wanted!"

"So they really do have something to do?"

"This...this..."

Wu Ying frowned in annoyance and grabbed the other person's neck impatiently: "I'm giving you one last chance. Either answer properly, or I'll gouge out your eyes, cut off your ears, and throw you in the street for everyone to see!"

"No, no, no!" Granny Jiang could tell she wasn't joking, so she quickly begged for mercy. "Good girls, this really has nothing to do with me. It's just that people in the Zhu family have been dying tragically one after another in the past six months. Master Zhu's concubines have also either died or run away. Now, misfortune has befallen him and his son. He's worried that he'll be childless and wants to settle this karmic debt as soon as possible, so he came up with this plan to bring good luck."

Yi Zanglan sneered and retorted, "So what if it's just a marriage to bring good luck? We've married the young master of the Zhu family, and then what?"

"Then..." Granny Jiang was stared at by her eyes and dared not lie, so she could only tell the truth, "I really don't know how the Zhu family operated, but at that time they took the birth dates of the four of you."

Birth date and time (eight characters)?

Yi Zanglan and Wu Ying exchanged a glance, then Yi asked, "What else do you know?"

"That's all I know!" Granny Jiang explained repeatedly. "I'm just doing this for money. With the Zhu family's high reputation, how could they possibly tell me all their secrets?"

"Hmm, that makes sense." Yi Zanglan nodded. "Then do you know who suggested this method of 'marrying for good luck' to Master Zhu?"

Granny Jiang perked up immediately: "I think I've heard of that. There's a cripple named Li who lives in that dilapidated temple to the east of town. He's an expert in feng shui and divination. The Zhu family spent a lot of money to have him take a look a few days ago. I guess it was his idea."

"Li the Cripple? You can find him at the dilapidated temple?"

"He can't do it during the day. He's always out partying in the neighboring town, either drinking or gambling. He only goes back to the temple to sleep at night."

After Jiang Pozi finished speaking, she put on a flattering smile and discussed the matter with Yi Zanglan in a soft voice.

"Good girls, I've told you everything I know. I won't tell anyone about what happened today. Let's just pretend we never saw anything, okay?"

Yi Zanglan said thoughtfully, "Over the years, you must have sold quite a few girls to wealthy families, right?"

"Uh, this..."

Are they all still alive?

Granny Jiang was stunned. She couldn't admit it or deny it, so she could only give an ambiguous answer.

"Some of them did indeed go off to enjoy a life of luxury, while others were unlucky and, because they didn't serve their masters well, were beaten to death or died of illness. That's not something I can decide."

"Bad luck?" Yi Canglan's lips curled into a smile as he calmly gazed at her. "Then how do you feel about your own fate?"

"My life is still okay..."

"Not bad? What a pity, meeting me means you have extremely bad luck."

In the blink of an eye, Yi Zanglan swung his hand back, smashing the teapot he was holding against the door frame.

She picked up the shards, grabbed Granny Jiang's hair, and swiftly slit her throat.

"After all, only the dead can keep secrets."

"..."

Everything happened in an instant. Blood gushed out, and before Granny Jiang could even react, she collapsed to the ground.

She covered her wound with both hands, convulsing in fear, as if trying to scream for help, but in the end she made no sound and died with her eyes wide open.

Yi Zanglan threw away the porcelain shards, lifted up Granny Jiang's short jacket, and wrapped it around her neck to prevent further bleeding.

"Find a cloth and clean up the scene."

She gestured for Wu Ying to wipe the floor, while she herself lifted the corpse, dragged it all the way to the well in the courtyard, and threw it down by its feet.

* * * * * *

Yi Zanglan and Wu Ying were disposing of the body in town, while Yan Zhao and Tang Yunxi were doing embroidery in the Zhu family compound.

After confirming that his teammates had successfully slipped away, Yan Zhao mentally calculated the time, and then pretended to be awake, so as not to overact and cause any unforeseen complications.

When she woke up, she rambled on and on, saying that a big gray rat had appeared to her in her dreams, which terrified the servants and made Steward Jia's face turn ashen.

"Now that you're awake, hurry to the embroidery room. Don't delay important matters."

Butler Jia clearly didn't want to talk to her anymore, so he turned and left the room. Only after he stepped outside did he realize that there were only two girls left out of the four.

"...Go find him quickly! Keep it quiet, don't disturb the master!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The servants had just suffered the first wave of fright when they were hit with a second. The group frantically searched the house from top to bottom, but they couldn't find any trace of Yi Zanglan and Wu Ying.

Just as Steward Jia was furious and about to lead a group of people out to search, he saw Yi Zanglan and Wu Ying carrying large and small bags, returning from the main gate of the mansion in a dignified manner.

The two sides met face to face and stopped in their tracks.

"..." Seeing that the two girls hadn't run away, Steward Jia breathed a slight sigh of relief, but his face immediately darkened again, and he angrily rebuked them, "Disobedient girls, who gave you permission to go out? How did you get out!"

"The front door wasn't locked, and no one stopped us, so we just went out," Wu Ying said matter-of-factly. "Besides, you didn't say we couldn't go out."

"You're still talking back! You're getting married the day after tomorrow. You're now part of the Zhu family. If anything goes wrong, who will take responsibility?!"

"Hey, don't be angry. Old people shouldn't get angry," Yi Zanglan said gently. "We were just worried when we saw the sister faint. We wanted to go to town to find her a doctor, but the pharmacy was closed, so we bought some things to keep for the young masters."

Steward Jia snorted coldly: "Her illness is psychological; ordinary doctors can't cure it. She'll be fine after the wedding."

"Yes, you're absolutely right."

He glanced at her, vaguely sensing that she was being sarcastic, but he had no proof, since her outward attitude was impeccable.

He originally intended to say a few more words of reprimand, but considering that the wedding dress was not yet finished and there was not much time to waste, he did not pursue the matter further.

He frowned and sternly gestured to the servant beside him: "Take them to the embroidery room, and have a few people guard the door to prevent them from running around again."

So Yi Zanglan and Wu Ying followed the servant toward the backyard. As they passed each other, she glanced at Steward Jia and smiled.

"Don't worry, we'll definitely embroider it well and won't cause you any trouble."

"From what I'm saying, you're very good at needlework?"

"I'm not good at it. I used to do all the manual labor at home, and I've never even touched a needle and thread before."

"..."

Butler Jia turned and left without a word.