She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

Half of the city's officials and their families will gather at Chu's mansion today.

Butler He stood in the yard in the rain, guarding without daring to be negligent at all.

Ah'ao drank a few more glasses of wine on purpose, her cheeks flushed, and she began to support her head and pretend to be confused.

"Hey, is the young marquis' wife a little drunk?" Qin Xi came over to toast, and when he walked behind her, he found that Ah'ao was almost leaning over the table, and she spoke much less.

Ah-yi's face would easily turn red when she drank, but she could hold her liquor. So whenever there was a drinking occasion, such as various palace banquets, she would only have one glass. Anyway, when others saw her blushing, she was a princess, so who would dare to persuade her?

"Hmm?" Ah'ao dragged out the last syllable of her voice, making it difficult for people to hear clearly. "Really? It seems to be okay." She patted her cheek, her eyes filled with confusion.

The ladies around, including Qin Xi, who had his arm resting on the back of Ah-yi's chair, all started laughing.

I didn't expect that the young marquis' wife is kind by nature, and she is so cute even when drunk. She is a very lovely person.

Madam Chu stood up and asked hurriedly, "Are you feeling unwell, Madam Xiaohou? Shall I ask someone to make you a bowl of sweet soup to sober you up?"

“No, no!” Ah-yi stood up by the table, her whole body swaying, Qin Xi helped her to stand steadily, “I just drank a little too fast, just find a place to get some fresh air.”

"That's easy." Chu Qingfang pointed, "There's a garden in the back. Madam Xiaohou, why don't you go take a walk in the garden and enjoy the early spring scenery!"

Just as I was waiting for this sentence, Ah'ao covered half of her face with her sleeves and smiled unnoticeably.

Chu Qingfang is so cute, I like her more and more.

"This..." Madam Chu hesitated, "It's raining outside, so I'll ask someone to hold an umbrella for you. Qingfang, you follow Madam Xiaohou and take good care of her."

Chu Qingfang, who had received the order, immediately took an umbrella from the corridor and pretended to walk over to help Ah-yi, "Madam Xiaohou, shall we go?"

The garden was a real garden, and Mrs. Chu had taken good care of the open space. Not to mention the pavilions and towers were quite quaint, the spring rain wet the peony seedlings in the flowerbed, making them bright green as if they had been washed by water.

These should all be from Qinzhou, extremely precious peony species. Mrs. Chu was born in the Jiang family of Qinzhou, and the peonies of Qinzhou are famous throughout Dachong.

Even though the climate in Kezhou is not as good as that in Qinzhou, the flowers can bloom well if they are well cultivated.

In the center of the flower garden, there is an octagonal pavilion with green tiles and red pillars, and a couplet inscribed on it.

"Madam Young Marquis, look at the steps below." Chu Qingfang held the umbrella with all his heart and strength, and took a half step behind A's elbow to support her.

A drunk person's body tends to feel heavy, so Ah-yi stumbled two steps and deliberately fell heavily on the stone bench. The stone bench was cold and hard, and even if it was just for show, it made Ah-yi's tailbone suffer a little.

"Hey! Slow down!" Chu Qingfang got anxious and dropped his umbrella to help her.

Ah-yi stretched out her arms and placed them on the table, pretending to be dead with her head resting on it. "I'm so thirsty... Water, water."

"What?" Chu Qingfang didn't understand a word of the sticky words. He leaned closer and put his ear to the edge of the table. "What do you want?"

"Yunli, pour me a cup of tea. I'm thirsty."

It turned out that he was thirsty, Chu Qingfang sighed. Drunk people are indeed prone to thirst, and he actually neglected this point at the banquet just now and did not serve tea to the guests, which was indeed a miscalculation.

"Okay, then please wait for me for a moment. I'll go get the tea now." Chu Qingfang patted A's back soothingly and hurried away with the umbrella.

It was not until she walked out of the carved door of the garden that Ah's squinting eyes finally opened.

The tabletop was too bright, so she stood up quickly. Her eyes were clear, and she no longer had any trace of alcohol in them. Just like the green leaves that had been hit by the rain, they looked as new as new.

Looking at the direction where Chu Qingfang had just left, A'ao couldn't help but sigh.

I feel a little embarrassed for taking advantage of her.

But this is not the top priority right now.

Ah'ao quickly walked out of the pavilion and left the garden through the small door in the corner.

According to the layout map of the Chu Mansion that Hengzhi had shown her earlier, if you go west from the back door of the garden and pass a straight corridor, you will reach the tile-roofed house where the servants live.

Although Butler He has a residence outside the Chu Mansion, he always lives here when he is on duty.

Yun Cheng took advantage of the fact that Steward He was in the mansion today and went to check on him at his residence in the West Quarter. Ah-yi took the wrong road because she was drunk and went to check on the tile house. At this time, the servants were all on duty in the front yard, and no one would come back for no reason.

For Ah-yi, this was simply an aimless search. With only a vague suspicion, it was very likely that she would return empty-handed.

She entered through the courtyard gate of the tile-roofed house and saw that the room in the middle was the largest, so she decisively went to that room first.

The layout of this room is simple. Although it is up to the individual to choose frugality, officials like Chu Hui, although not of high rank in the capital, have a very spacious place to work.

However, judging from the construction of the entire Chu Mansion, perhaps the most valuable things are the dozen or so peonies in the flower garden.

After closing the door carefully and looking to the left, Ah-yi saw a tall clothes hanger. This kind of clothes hanger is made of bamboo, hollow and light, with the bamboo joints smoothed, so it is easy to hang clothes on it.

Ah-yi twisted the material of the dress and found it was a strong cotton cloth. She usually wore cotton dresses, but this one was a bit rougher. The friction would easily cause the cotton fibers on the surface to gather into lumps, making it rough to the touch.

This dress is the same as the one Butler He wore today. I guess I found the right place.

Ah-yi checked every cabinet and storage compartment one by one. In addition to some personal belongings, small change hidden in a box, she even found a rolled-up erotic picture stuck in a wide-mouthed bottle.

Ah-yi rolled her eyes helplessly, rolled it up and stuffed it back in. It seemed that she was going to end up with nothing, Ah-yi looked around, but she was not willing to give up.

There wasn't even a pot of fragrant flowers in He's room, let alone an incense burner. Even his clothes didn't smell of incense, which showed that he didn't like to use spices.

The smell on his body couldn't have come out of nowhere. If he didn't give it to Liu Jingming, then Liu Jingming gave him the smell.

One is the steward of a military officer's mansion, and the other is the chief manager of a chamber of commerce. They have never had any intersection with each other, so how could they have the same taste?
When the two of them meet, they must have some proof. Anyone entering the state government hall must be searched. Steward He goes to the state government with Chu Hui every day to work, so it is impossible for him to leave all his belongings on him.

So where is it hidden?
It had been about a quarter of an hour since Chu Qingfang left. If he still couldn't find it, Chu Qingfang would find it when he returned to the octagonal pavilion. If everyone in the mansion came to look for it, he would be discovered to have secretly searched other people's bedrooms, which would be an even more difficult situation.

Ah'an weighed the pros and cons and left the room quietly.

The rain was still lingering. When I left the small courtyard, there was a patch of hazy green dirt at the door. A small path next to the courtyard wall was planted with red-leaf plum trees.

strangeness.

Ah-yi couldn't help but stop in front of the tree. Who would plant a row of trees in front of the courtyard wall? Although the trunk of the red-leaf plum tree is thin, the height of the treetop is almost the same as the courtyard wall. Wouldn't this make it easier for thieves and assassins to climb into the courtyard?
When I walked under the tree, I saw that the soil between the trunk and the ground was freshly turned, as if it had just been cultivated.

However, the fertilizer used was too pure. The fishy smell mixed with Ah's alcohol was almost nauseating.

Ah's face was twisted into a frown, and she blocked her nose with her sleeve. She took off the silver hairpin on her head, squatted down and dug up the new soil. While digging, she had to look back to see if anyone noticed.

As the silver hairpin dug deeper and deeper, the fishy smell became stronger and stronger.

Even that familiar smell suddenly appeared again!

When it was on a person, the smell spread with the air and was not offensive. But now, I don't know what the fragrance is gathering on, and the sharp smell is rushing straight to the top of the head, so fragrant that it stinks.

The silver hairpin touched something hard and A'ao suddenly stopped.

It was a pile of some living thing that had been rotted to such an extent that no shape could be seen. New corpses were piled on top of old corpses, so densely packed that in some places the bones could be seen, and in some places the flesh and blood was still attached to the bones.

There had been plenty of rain recently, and the soil was moist. Along with a mess of feathers, there was also sticky black blood mixed in the soil. Not only the silver hairpin, but even Ah's hands were splashed with the sticky blood.

There was some chopped coriander and earthy brown spices on the side, and the smell of Liu Jingming and Butler He was probably from the same family as this thing.

The sensory impact made Ah-yi's stomach churn, her throat rolled, her body twitched, and she retched violently. She was still afraid of being heard, so she covered her mouth with her hands.

The tears brought out by this action almost fell.

At this moment, someone suddenly patted A's shoulder.

A'ao was already feeling guilty, so she turned her head suddenly. The distance was too close and her nose hit the person hard.

The force of the collision made his legs, which had been squatting for so long, numb and he lost all feeling. His body had no place to gain balance and he almost fell backwards into the pit of corpses behind him.

A'an immediately thought, let me die.

But as expected, the feeling of falling into the pit of corpses and being splashed with blood and mud did not happen.

When she felt the familiar cloth in her hands, Ah'ao suddenly opened her eyes.

It’s Hengzhi.

The tears that I had just held back, perhaps because of the smell, suddenly filled my eyes again, as if they had rolled through the world of human and hell.

"Why are you crying?" The voice like mellow wine sounded, and even the ending tone contained a smile.

Ah-yi stood up with his help, and before she could adjust herself, she used her clean hand to hit Heng-chi's shoulder several times. The movement was so violent that tears finally flowed down her eyes.

Not only was she scared to death, Ah-yi had been unable to stop crying since she was a child when she was excited. The gap that seemed to have been saved from a disaster just now also made her throat feel raw.

Hengzhi looked back at the corpse pit, and saw her unfortunate hairpin lying next to it. She almost understood.

The disgust and shock gave Ah-yi a big shock. Her eyes were as red as the rabbits at home, and her lips, which had been wiped off their rouge, were bloodless and twitching because she was trying not to cry.

From time to time, I could hear her taking a breath.

His heart softened instantly, and he didn't care about her beating, he just wanted to go forward and wrap her in his arms, "Okay, okay, don't be afraid, I'll block you."

"Let go!" Ah-yi struggled to get rid of him, "There's a smell on your clothes."

After calming down, Ah-yi knew that this was not the place to gossip, and the two of them had to leave quickly to avoid being discovered. "Hurry up and fill the hole, otherwise it will be hard to say if someone comes later."

It is ridiculous for the young marquis and his wife to dig the soil in a minister's house.

Hengzhi was originally in front of Ah's face, using his body to block the filth in the pit. When he turned away, Ah's eyes were hit by this thing again, and her stomach churned again.

"Don't move, wait here."

Hengzhi pushed her away from behind at this moment, appearing extremely reliable.

(End of this chapter)