Chapter 54: The Legacy of Disaster (Part 2)

  "Speaking of which, the lady deliberately mentioned those thieves," said the lady. "Last night, Wu Mu Hou brought people to catch two thieves, I don't know what they found out? I led people to search the house and found that nothing was missing except for the old lady's Qian Xi residence, which was ransacked by the thieves. They only took the old lady's treasured items, although later they were chased back by Hou Ye's men, but many porcelain and paintings were damaged."

  Tao Zheng'an furrowed his brow, "How did you end up going there alone?"

  The lady said: "I also feel something is wrong."

  Tao Zheng'an suddenly asked: "Could it be that someone from the government has led these thieves in?"

  The old lady couldn't deny it, and only said: "I didn't dare to slack off either. Last night, I locked up all the servant girls who were guarding the back door and questioned them for a whole night, but they didn't reveal anything. Those thieves went to the small courtyard first, what did they say and do? We don't know, it's just that Liu'er followed Fourth Madam over there. Originally, I wanted to call Liu'er over to ask her questions, but Fourth Madam's side can't do without her either."

  "Mother had someone come and call me over earlier, saying that Yu'er seems to have... Last night she was frightened again and needs to rest for a few more days. With everything in disarray at the manor right now, Mother is having her stay there for a while. Yu'er also said that those thieves tried to get into her courtyard but couldn't, so they set fire to it instead. She and Liu'er barely escaped with their lives." He glanced at the elder madam again, "If you have any more questions, go ask Old Madam about it."

  As expected, now that she's pregnant, they're being protective of her. The mistress can't help but feel disappointed; if the master could just give her a word, she'd be able to go to the old lady's place and take someone in.

  It seems that Liu's mouth can't be pried open, "In that case, we can only wait for news from the government."

  Tao Zheng'an said: "The people from Hou Ye's mansion came to tell me that those two thieves were seriously injured, and it's likely difficult for them to speak."

  The lady couldn't help but exclaim, "What can be done about it?"

  Tao Zheng'an furrowed his brow, "If there really is someone in the mansion colluding with those thieves. The people at home can't be managed properly, and nothing can be asked of them. What's the point of expecting those thieves to tell the truth?"

  The lady's heart skipped a beat, not knowing what the old lady had said to Tao Zheng'an about her, and suddenly shifted all the blame onto her. Although she felt resentful in her heart, she didn't show it on her face, and softly said: "Yes, sir." Just as the two were talking, Chen Mama brought over four maidservants, each of whom was holding something.

  Tao Zheng'an frowned after reading it, "What is this for?"

  The big wife was calm and collected, "This is what Fourth Aunt wanted from me."

  Tao Zheng'an indeed specially looked through all those things.

  The lady waited quietly for Tao Zheng'an to speak. After a while, Tao Zheng'an raised his head and looked at the lady, "Do you have any use for these things?"

  The lady was taken aback by the question, "Now it's not useful at all." They were all gold and silver, jewelry and fabrics.

  "Then let's send it to her!"

  She didn't even help her finish a sentence, and the lady's face suddenly stiffened. She waved her hand, and Chen's mother took the maid away.

  Men are like this, once they touch their interests, they can give up everything. After so many years, she still has illusions about him. The big wife thought fiercely in her heart, the suspiciousness of the fourth aunt's pregnancy, and finally, it's likely that when the time comes, it will be a waste of effort, and see how he will react at that time.

  Just talking about this gang of thieves, whoever investigates will suspect Fourth Aunt.

  The fire started from the small courtyard and burned down the wall, only then did the thieves enter the yard. The fourth aunt returned with her hair and shadow intact, although she had lost some jewelry, it could be seen that she hadn't suffered much loss.

  Those thieves made it clear where Qian Xi Ju was as soon as they entered the mansion. After the thieves were caught, Fourth Madame took Liu Er and hid at Old Lady's place again.

  The old lady didn't believe it, these thieves entering the mansion had nothing to do with Fourth Aunt. Besides, what kind of person was the old lady? Didn't she have any doubts in her heart? It was just using Fourth Aunt as a pretext to deal with her.

  The big wife snorted in her heart, don't look at the fourth aunt now being complacent, there will always be a time when the truth is revealed.

  Tao Zhengan went into the inner room to change his clothes, and Madame hurriedly followed him. She carefully helped Tao Zhengan put on his long gown, adjusted his collar, and Tao Zhengan looked at Madame's nimble fingers. Over the years, these hands seemed to have never changed. "The new purse pattern you made for me is very beautiful."

  The lady smiled and said: "It wasn't me who did it, it was Miss Ba who made it for Master."

  Tao Zheng'an murmured, thinking of Rong Hua's reserved demeanor in front of him, and furrowed his brow. "Eighth Miss... her mother is elegant and refined, but I think Rong Hua is even more wooden than her mother."

  Tao Zheng'an didn't like it, but the old lady insisted on saying a few more words. "Where is she wooden? I think Eighth Miss is steady and reliable, Third Brother's wife, An Guo Gong Fu Ren, and Tenth Miss were all rescued by her."

  Tao Zheng'an was slightly surprised, didn't expect that the seemingly dull daughter would have such ability, it turned out to be just a coincidence.

  The lady was delighted and said, "After this matter is over, we will have another layer of friendship with the wife of Anguo Gong, and in the future, it will be easier to arrange the marriage for your second sister."

  Tao Zheng'an suddenly turned serious, "I don't think that's necessarily true. This rebellion and the case of General Jianwei are related, I've heard rumors that the higher-ups want to blame General Jianwei for handling the case too hastily. The moment the imperial edict was issued to arrest General Jianwei, someone sealed off the general's mansion and locked up several important officials under him. Although they say it's a case of 'catching the thief with the stolen goods', it has left many people uneasy... I told you this task is difficult to handle, whether we do it or not, it's hard, and now that we've just started, so much trouble has already arisen."

  The lady said: "If there's anyone to blame, it can only be those below, and not Lord Hou."

  Tao Zheng'an furrowed his brow, "You don't understand. If it were the father of Wu Mu Hou, Duke An Guo, naturally no one would blame him. Duke An Guo was a meritorious subject who had protected the emperor, so the emperor specially granted him the title 'Duke An Guo' to show favor. But this Wu Mu Hou... normally doesn't get close to anyone, and the emperor doesn't have much affection for him either. When he inherited the title, the emperor was pleased to demote him, changing his title from Duke An Guo to Wu Mu Hou, showing that this great favor has already disappeared."

  "Have we taken a wrong step?" Madam Tai asked hesitantly.

  Tao Zheng'an sighed, "After all, he's a nobleman. If he really marries our family's daughter, that's already lowering his status. Alas, it's just that matter... whether it can turn out as we wish, no one can see the future."

  After the two men finished speaking, Tao Zheng'an called out again: "Go and call over Third Brother, I have something to ask him."

  The lady was busy and had someone go call for Tao Zhengchuan. When he arrived, she came out of the house to let him talk with his brother and went to attend to other matters in the mansion.

  ……

  Madam Chen ordered someone to clean up the courtyard and let Eighth Miss move in. Ronghua took Jinxiu and Muxin back to their room to pack their belongings.

  Rong Hua entered the house, warmed herself by the stove, and then carefully made her way into Liao's quarters. Liao was leaning against a foreign-style pillow, looking much better than she had the night before. Rong Hua approached and greeted her, "Third Aunt."

  Liao was a new daughter-in-law and wasn't used to these titles, so she blushed and smiled, telling the maid to bring over a brocade stool for Ronghua to sit on. "You all go down now, we two mothers will have a good talk."

  The maids all withdrew.

  Ronghua sat down, and Liao's wife smiled awkwardly: "That night, thanks to you, otherwise those bandits wouldn't have known what to do."

  Ronghua thought about the shocking scene that night, and she also tried to muster up her courage. After returning to the house, thinking of the man's blood splattered on her face, she hastily called Jinxiu to bring water to wash her face. However, no matter how hard she washed, she felt like it was impossible to get clean. There was an inexplicable feeling in her heart, and she couldn't sleep all night. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see the man's dead body.

  After all, it was the first time she saw someone die in front of her, and that scene would be etched in her memory for a lifetime.

  Rong Hua's enchanting appearance, Liao also remembered that night, at the critical moment, it was still Wu Mu Hou who saved the day. The two of them stood quietly looking at each other... At the time, she didn't think much of it, but afterwards, thinking back, the two of them standing together... Liao quickly retracted her thoughts, after all, Rong Hua is a concubine's daughter, Wu Mu Hou's marriage was already arranged with Yao Hua.

  Ronghua looked at Liao's appearance, didn't seem to have anything important to ask her, and couldn't help but feel anxious, thinking again and finally spoke out, "Tenth sister has been with me all the time, last night was frightened and didn't speak much, today is a lot better, after seeing Third Aunt this morning, she kept thinking about it on the way back."

  Liao sighed, "Jinghua is a good child, originally fine, but encountered such a thing on the road. That night, if you hadn't let the maid change her clothes, who knows how it would have been spread around the mansion."

  Miss Ten is a weak and innocent person, without any ulterior motives. In the past when Rong Hua was still Miss Five, she had been with her before, normally not talking much, not good at socializing, not easily getting along with people, but once she gets close to someone, it's wholeheartedly. Now that her biological mother Tao Qian Shi has passed away, and she's experiencing such changes.

  Last night, she couldn't sleep. Miss Ten asked her about Miss Five's affairs, probably grateful to her, and soon put down her guard against her, sleeping with her on the same bed. When she was awake at night, she heard Miss Ten say, "What kind of person is she? She's gone so early, I'm better than her."

  Ronghua knew that the tenth young lady was sighing about the fifth young lady, and the knot in her heart was actually with Ronghua. Ronghua wanted to speak up and persuade her, but some words couldn't be said, and she couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness.

  Today, Ronghua made Jinxiu pay special attention to whether there was any news about the tenth young lady in the mansion. After a while, Mugen returned and said: "The people beside the old lady came to ask her, what did she see when she saw the tenth young lady last night?"

  The Tao family is a kind of person who thinks that this matter cannot be hidden from outsiders, and will definitely prioritize the interests of the family, and will not consider Miss Ten's feelings.

  Poor Miss Ten had never taken a wrong step, but was ruined by this sudden calamity. From then on, everyone looked at her with a different gaze, no one would sympathize with her, and even less would anyone investigate the truth of what really happened.

  Today is Double Update Day.

  8 o'clock in the evening.