Taking her into his tent, he incurred the wrath of a powerful and mad minister, from which he could

Annoyed by the noise, Liu pressed her fingertips to her temples and looked up at A-Qing: "What exactly happened?"

Ah Qing hurriedly said, "These are all the things my aunt left behind. There are no land deeds. Here is the list. Please take a look, Madam."

She presented the list of the deceased's belongings to Ms. Liu with both hands.

Liu took the paper and glanced at it briefly.

The dowry listed on the paper consisted of only a few old hairpins and plain clothes, along with some loose change. Not counting the rare treasures, silks, and satins that Zong Xian had given her, Mingyi's dowry was pitifully meager.

There is no land deed at all.

The woman immediately panicked, "How could there be no land deed? Maybe the servants embezzled it!"

Granny Feng was also there.

Seeing such a huge accusation leveled against her, how could she bear it? She knelt down with a thud and said to Madam Liu, "Madam, please understand! After my concubine passed away, the entire process of sorting out her belongings was done with the servants of Songhe Garden, and Miss Aqing can also testify. Every item was registered, and there was absolutely no concealment!"

Ah Qing then said, "Madam, I can be their witness."

The woman still wouldn't give up: "If you hadn't embezzled it, would the land deed have simply vanished into thin air?"

Enraged by her unreasonable behavior, Granny Feng retorted loudly, "You accuse a servant of theft with your bare hands! In my opinion, you're clearly fabricating a story about a land deed and came to the Zong family mansion specifically to extort money!"

"I don't!!"

The woman's face flushed red with anxiety. "Madam, I am absolutely not lying. Back then, if that girl hadn't had a lot of wealth to rely on, why would the Xie family have taken her and Ji Mingzhe, two outsiders, in for nothing?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman slapped her thigh, her eyes suddenly lighting up: "That's it, the Xie family! The land deed is most likely in the Xie family's hands!"

After saying this, she relaxed, put on a polite smile, bowed to Madam Liu, and took her leave.

She had only taken two steps when she suddenly turned back and reached out to tightly hug the wooden box containing the jewelry on the table.

She didn't say she didn't want these things.

If I can get something cheap, I will.

No sooner had he stepped out of the door than a fierce gust of wind swept over him.

The woman had no time to dodge and took a solid kick to the abdomen, staggering and flying backward back into the house.

The wooden jewelry box slipped from his hand and smashed onto the blue brick floor. The box shattered, and hairpins, rings, and pearls tumbled all over the ground.

The woman was curled up in a ball, clutching her stomach and crying out "Ouch, ouch!" with a look of pain on her face.

A pair of black boots embroidered with dark python patterns suddenly stopped in front of her.

She endured the excruciating pain and looked up, about to unleash a torrent of curses, when her eyes met a pair of cold, piercing eyes.

The woman shuddered violently, the curse she was about to utter caught in her throat, and she fell silent in fear.

She didn't recognize the other person, but she felt that he was intimidating and extremely terrifying.

Zong Xian looked down at her coldly: "What are you, to dare to associate with her? Get out, and don't let me see you again."

The woman remained silent, whether from the pain that prevented her from speaking or from being terrified was unknown.

Zong Ying followed behind him, glancing at the woman with disdain.

Liu was surprised to see Zong Xian come. She immediately stood up from her chair and said with a respectful expression, "Second Master has arrived."

The servants in the hall all curtsied, and Ah Qing breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had found her pillar of support.

The woman finally realized who he was, and instantly didn't dare to utter a sound.

She dared not covet Mingyi's things anymore, and left the Zong residence in a sorry state, enduring the pain.

Aqing bent down and picked up the scattered hairpins and jewelry one by one.

Zong Xian remained calm and said to Liu Shi, "If anyone like this comes again, sister-in-law, just beat them out with sticks."

Liu opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing, only replying with a "yes".

...

Zong Xian only showed himself once before turning away.

He went to Shuangxu Garden.

Shuangxu Garden remained exactly as it had been before she left; not a single blade of grass or object had been disturbed, nothing had changed.

The air still faintly carried the girl's unique fragrance, as if she still lived there, but had gone out for a stroll and would soon return.

He walked to the edge of the bed and sat down quietly, his fingertips tracing the pillow she used to sleep on every day. His eyes were lowered, and in a daze, it seemed as if he was gently stroking her hair.

Only now did he realize that his feelings for Mingyi were much deeper than he had imagined.

"What things does she have left? Let me see them."

Ah Qing stood quietly to the side, and upon hearing this, immediately handed over the box, saying softly, "The old clothes that Auntie wore before her death were burned yesterday. The box contains all the items that Auntie brought with her. As for the rewards that Second Master gave her in the past, they were too valuable and have been properly stored in the storeroom."

Zong Xian took the wooden box and examined it carefully. It contained cheap and worthless items, but he held it in his palm, stroking it gently, and treated it with great care.

After a moment, he paused.

Something seems to be missing?

He immediately looked up at A-Qing: "What about those zodiac animal wood carvings?"

A-Qing was taken aback: "What wood carving?"

Zong Xian sensed something was wrong and immediately ordered all the servants who had previously served Ji Mingyi to be summoned for questioning.

...

Before long, Granny Feng and her four maids knelt before him, trembling with fear, wondering why he had suddenly summoned them.

Anyway, it's definitely not going to be anything good.

Zong Xian narrowed his eyes, his gaze icy: "Xie Huaiyu once gifted her a set of zodiac wood carvings, which she has kept hidden from me all this time. Don't tell me you were all unaware!"

Granny Feng and the others dared not deceive them.

"Your Excellency...we did see that wooden carving, but we searched through the entire collection of belongings that day and couldn't find it!"

If Zong Xian hadn't brought it up, they wouldn't have remembered at all!

Zong Xian's lips curled into a chilling smile, its meaning ambiguous and sending shivers down one's spine.

Granny Feng shuddered violently and quickly changed her tune: "Perhaps we've overlooked some corner. I'll take some people to search carefully again right away!"

Zong Xian remained silent, which was taken as tacit consent.

Granny Feng didn't dare to delay and immediately grabbed her four maids to go and search separately.

"Good heavens! How did Second Master know about those zodiac animal wood carvings?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

"Now that the concubine is gone, why is the Second Master suddenly looking for this? Could it be that he's angry and wants to vent his anger?"

Ning Shuang bent over and lowered her voice, "Never mind that, let's hurry up and find it. I have a feeling that if we can't find that set of wood carvings, there's going to be big trouble!"

Seeing that Zong Xian looked off, A Qing called a few maids to help search.

Just as the maids had turned Shuangxu Garden upside down, Chang Yu strode into the courtyard.

He strode up to Zong Xian, bowed, and reported, "Second Master, I have done as you instructed and given that woman a beating. I have confirmed that she was telling the truth; the land deed of the Ji family was indeed in Miss Ji's possession, and it was worth four thousand taels!"

"Furthermore, the woman also confessed that she had been secretly observing and tracking Miss Ji's whereabouts for years, and had discovered that she had private properties in the Jiangnan area, and that her wealth was far more than what was publicly known. Even Xie Huaiyu was kept in the dark..."

Zong Xian lay on the bed where Mingyi had slept, closing his eyes to rest. Since her death, he had been restless every night and had never slept a full night.

She looked much thinner and more haggard, with a lingering gloom around her eyes.

Upon hearing Chang Yu's reply, he opened his eyes, his expression inscrutable.

He was not interested in Ji Mingyi's private assets.

He just wanted to figure it out.

Why did she die, and with her most valuable land deed and everything she cherished vanish without a trace?

These days he is immersed in great grief, his mind is in turmoil, and he has never been able to calm down and carefully review the whole story.

As he calmed down, the previously overlooked doubts gradually surfaced, leaving him completely baffled.