Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 388 The Fourth Person
The old women helped Lu Ying up.

Yan Liang picked up a cloak from the couch and tossed it to her so she could wrap herself in it. Then he stepped out the door first.

Qingpingzhai is located in front of the third room; just cross the passageway and you'll arrive.

After watching her go inside, Yan Liang stopped in the courtyard, his trembling fists clenched tightly, and sent people to clean up Madam Yan's body.

The butler stepped forward: "Young Master, Madam's departure was so sudden, should we report it to the authorities?"

"What did Grandfather say?"

"The old master said that these are troublesome times, and it is not advisable to cause any trouble. If we report it to the authorities, we will inevitably have to spend our energy dealing with the government."

"But Madam has worked hard for the family for many years, and the Du family is still on the list of thirteen households. The family always owes the Du family something. If the eldest son wants to report this to the authorities, the old master agrees."

Tears welled in Yan Liang's eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, "The incident occurred inside the inner courtyard. The murderer cannot be anyone else. We can find out the whole story even if we lock the door."

"Let's follow Grandfather's wishes and handle it ourselves."

"Yes."

After the butler left, Madam Yan's body was also carried out.

The person who was so aggressive just an hour or two ago is now completely lifeless.

Yan Liang wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and dragged his heavy feet toward Qingpingzhai.

This is a study located on the east side of the road. Apart from its collection of books, it contains only simple tables and chairs and a daybed placed by the window.

Lu Ying was already sitting on the couch. The lamplight illuminated her pale face, making every strand of hair clinging to her face clearly visible.

Hearing Yan Liang's footsteps, she looked up.

Yan Liang reached out and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "How did you faint?"

Lu Ying turned to the side, brushed her hair aside, revealing a bruise on the back of her neck. "My mother slapped me twice as soon as she saw me. She said I seduced you and wanted to harm you."

"When she hit me for the last time, the jade you gave me also fell down. My mother clearly saw that jade before, but for some reason, she grabbed the big plum vase and said she was going to kill me!"

"So, are you?" Yan Liang looked into her eyes. "Are you trying to harm me?"

Lu Ying paused slightly, a string of tears rolling down her cheeks: "Don't you think so?"

Yan Liang paused for a moment, then raised his fingertip again to wipe away the tear. "And then?"

Lu Ying's tears flowed uncontrollably. "I was hit, and I only remember instinctively blocking it with my hand before I fainted, and the plum vase fell into Yun Dou's hands."

“Yun Dou helped my mother hit me, and then I fell to the ground.”

“I don’t know what happened after that! But before I fainted, I heard my mother still cursing at me! And when I was woken up, well…”

She bent her legs on the couch, buried her face in her knees, and burst into tears.

The bruise on his neck was so high that it looked like a piece of blue stone.

This is something she absolutely could not have done on her own.

Yan Liang looked away.

At this moment, Lu Ying suddenly raised her head, took out a piece of jade and slapped it on him: "Why did you give me this piece of junk? Because of it, I have suffered so much."

"If you can't protect me, why drag me down with you! Did I seduce you? Did I harm you? You're always the one who comes to me, uses me, and then makes me get beaten up!"

"I never suffered in my own family, but I've endured so much because of you. Who really hurt whom?"

Yan Liang held the jade, which still carried her body heat, his brows furrowed: "When have I ever used you? Why are you being so unreasonable?" Lu Ying just cried.

Tears washed away the makeup on her face, making her look as if she, who was always exquisitely beautiful, was about to shatter in the blink of an eye.

Yan Liang sat silently for a while: "It's my fault that you're in trouble."

"You're the one who ruined me!" Lu Ying tugged at his sleeve. "You dragged me into this mess, and you even helped them bully me! I've admired you since I was little, and I treated you like my own brother! And now you're accusing me of trying to harm you..."

Yan Liang touched her swollen face, and the two of them paused for a moment when their skin touched.

In the brief moment when he withdrew his hand, Lu Ying stretched out her arms and wrapped them around his waist, burying her face in his clothes.

"If you care about me, why don't you treat me better?... If you could treat me better, I would still have a glimmer of hope in life. Even you treat me like this, I would rather have died at my mother's hands just now..."

Yan Liang had her pressed against his waist and abdomen, his eyes staring into the darkness ahead, his pupils also turning black.

……

Yun Dou was taken to Tingyuxuan, on the other side of Qingpingzhai.

After helping Lu Ying lie down and tucking her in, Yan Liang came to Yun Dou.

The kidney bean must have been tortured a lot.

Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were filled with terror. As soon as she saw Yan Liang approaching, she immediately took two steps back.

Yan Liang first took the tea brought by the steward, drank a couple of sips, then placed the cup on the coffee table, lifted his robe, and sat down.

"You know what I'm going to ask, right?"

Yun Dou paused, then hissed, "This servant didn't kill anyone! I didn't kill Madam! When I got there, Madam was already lying on the ground!..."

"Then how did you get there?" Yan Liang asked. "The people guarding the door said that after hearing the noise, they went inside and saw the remaining half of the plum vase in your hand."

“I’ve already checked, and that half of the porcelain bottle matches the porcelain shard on the ground.”

"I was taken there by someone!"

As she spoke, Yun Dou's voice trembled. She stared wide-eyed as if she'd seen a ghost.

"When I was with Li Mama and the others in the back room, I suddenly heard someone calling me from the front, saying that Madam wanted me to come over! So I went out the door!"
"But as soon as I stepped out of the courtyard, I looked around but couldn't find anyone. Then, suddenly someone took me to Third Mistress's room!"

“He spilled his blood on me and then shoved the broken piece of porcelain into the servant’s hand!”
"I was so terrified that I was completely powerless to resist! When Caiyun and the others came in, they saw how I looked..."

"Young Master!" Yun Dou crawled forward on her knees, kowtowing at the top of her lungs, "Madam, I really didn't kill her! I really didn't do it! I really wasn't there!"

The sound of his head hitting the ground was so loud, it was like someone was beating a drum in mid-air.

Yan Liang frowned: "You mean, besides the three of you, there was a fourth person at the time?"

"Absolutely!" Yun Dou said firmly. "This servant would never dare to lie!"

"Who is that?"

Yun Dou was stunned. Then she shook her head: "This servant didn't see his face..."

Yan Liang narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, his gaze filled with a mixture of mockery and anger.

He looked at the servants at the door: "Summon the head of the guards who is in charge of tonight's watch."

With such a major incident occurring in the manor, the head of the guards is already waiting nearby.

After he entered, Yan Liang asked, "Is there anything unusual about the mansion tonight?"