Chapter 54: Chapter 54: The Aftermath

Living next door?

Young master?

Xia Wenjin?

Huangfu Jingchen was taken aback and said to the servant, “Help me go and take a look!”

The servant smirked, about to mock Huangfu Jingchen for being oblivious, just a plaything of the Eldest Miss, daring to give him orders? But before the words left his mouth, he met Huangfu Jingchen’s gaze, and swallowed his mocking words, obediently moving forward to assist him.

That gaze was terrifying, as if it could freeze a person.

It seemed like it could pierce a large hole through his heart.

Not only did it provoke fear, but it also prevented any thoughts of resistance, only making him subconsciously obey.

This presence, this gaze, this authority, even his own Lord Governor seemed to lack!

How could there be such a frightening gaze in this world? This was a sickly person — if he recovered, wouldn’t he be even more terrifying?

The servant dared not ask further, supporting Huangfu Jingchen as they walked outside.

Though he was trying hard to support him, it didn’t feel laborious. This sick young master was truly light.

Actually, it wasn’t that Huangfu Jingchen was light; he was just anxious to know what was happening next door and wanted to quickly go over to see. The so-called supporting was merely a formality.

In the next room, several servants and maidservants were present, but none dared to approach the bed while a pool of water was on the ground before it.

On the bed, there were two people.

That’s right, two.

One was inside the brocade quilt, the other outside it.

The bed was covered in blood, the quilt was in disarray, slashed multiple times, stuffing flying out. A knife stabbed through the quilt, pinning the person inside to the bed, while the person outside had a dagger thrust into their side by the one inside.

Clearly, after a fierce struggle, they perished together.

Both were thoroughly dead.

Huangfu Jingchen merely glanced at the scene, his heart skipped a beat, and his gaze immediately landed on the face of the person inside the quilt.

The face had been slashed twice, flesh turned out, but it vaguely resembled Xia Wenjin.

Indeed, earlier he had seen Xia Wenjin wearing those clothes.

Xia Wenjin… was dead?

A servant stumbled in hurriedly, speaking in a trembling voice: “Make way, make way, Mr. Xing is here.”

In the Governor Mansion, Governor Wang’s right-hand man, the house steward.

Someone asked quietly, “Does the Eldest Miss know yet?”

The servant, though frightened himself, shouted, “How could the noble Eldest Miss come to see such a bloody scene? The Master is aware and sent Mr. Xing over!”

Huangfu Jingchen had the servant support him to a corner.

Soon, a lean, gaunt man in his forties, with a mustache, entered accompanied by several servants. It was Housekeeper Xing. Alongside came Cao Ji’an as well.

Cao Ji’an felt incredibly unlucky; what was going on tonight? Had his ancestors failed to offer enough incense, drawing all the bad luck together at once?

The thief had visited the Ronghua Pavilion, and despite having so many men, they hadn’t stopped them. His own hand was still cracked, his wounds just bandaged.

A fire had broken out in Cuihua Pavilion, burning half the courtyard, nearly injuring the Eighteenth Madam, who had scolded him, accusing him of incompetency.

Now, someone had died here too.

He hadn’t slept all night, thinking about how to explain to Lord Governor when he returned. Upon hearing about this incident, he jumped up from his chair, rushing over.

Seeing the scene on the bed, his eyelids twitched violently; it was a person wearing the patrol uniform of the mansion. A patrolman, a patrolman had entered the room of the Eldest Miss’s kept man and killed him?

This was due to his failure in oversight and discipline, and he couldn’t escape responsibility!

Housekeeper Xing inspected the scene, ordering the search for anything suspicious in the room, when suddenly someone pointed at the bed and exclaimed: “Blood is flowing out here!”

Cao Ji’an bent down to look and saw a pitch-black figure sprawled beneath the bed.

Cao Ji’an shouted, “Get him out immediately!”

Everyone rushed to pull the person out from under the bed haphazardly.

The person beneath was dressed in black, with a black cloth over their face, stabbed to death with a single knife.

Cao Ji’an’s eyes widened to the point they nearly fell out of his sockets, then he burst out laughing: “Good, good, this bold thief dared to break into Ronghua Pavilion at night, and finally couldn’t escape my setup!”

The incident of a thief breaking into Ronghua Pavilion was known to Cao Ji’an and Mr. Xing, after all, it had caused a big commotion, alarming most of the Governor Mansion, with personnel being mobilized, shouting and chaos.

Apart from the extremely secluded courtyards, few were unaware within the Governor Mansion; such a secret was hard to keep! Especially Mr. Xing, whom he was hoping to put in a good word for him.

Mr. Xing glanced at the scene, being a scholar, he hadn’t gone to the scene until now, his expression subtly changing as he looked at Cao Ji’an, a faint smile seeming to appear at the corner of his mouth.

Cao Ji’an grinned sycophantically: “Mr. Xing, you are the most knowledgeable and wise, and always make sound judgments, please continue to analyze what’s going on here?”

Mr. Xing chuckled, stroking his mustache, asked the servants some questions, and summoned someone to identify the individuals, one person identifying the person on the bed in the patrol uniform as one of their patrolmen.

Mr. Xing pondered for a moment, finally concluding that the black-clad thief was driven to desperation by Commander Cao’s men, seeking refuge in this secluded yard but was discovered by the patrolman here.

The patrolman, spotting the suspicious behavior of the black-clad individual, followed them here and sought an opportunity to kill them.

But after the killing, he found the young master in bed handsome, and developed a lustful intent, trying to take advantage, alarming the young master, who resisted desperately, resulting in their mutual destruction.

As for why the black-clad man was beneath the bed, it should be the patrolman, after killing, not wishing to frighten the young master, affecting a pleasant night, thus intending to hide the body for pleasure, seeking credit at daylight.

Upon this explanation, Cao Ji’an breathed a significant sigh of relief, saying: “Mr. Xing’s thoughts are indeed meticulous, the analysis is seamless and reasonable, this must be the truth!”

The servants speculated about the boldness of this patrolman, daring to lay hands even on the Eldest Miss’s people, such nerve, though dead, his family must face punishment collectively as well.

Regarding the three corpses, Housekeeper Xing ordered them to be swiftly dealt with, rolled into a coarse mat, and tossed to the mass grave!

These servants were deeply moved.

No matter male or female, those born good-looking don’t necessarily have good fortune.

The lucky ones soar to become phoenixes, even the chickens and dogs at home bask in reflected glory;

The unlucky ones are harmed by villains, unable even to preserve their lives.

Hence the ancients said beauty is a thin fate. This beauty doesn’t only refer to pretty women, it applies equally to handsome men!

As Housekeeper Xing drew his conclusion, Huangfu Jingchen had the servant help him back.

The maids and servants eyed his weakened figure, nearly his entire weight relying on the servant, staring with complex gazes, whispering among themselves: He caught the Eldest Miss’s eye for his looks, yet was unlucky to be poisoned, his health betraying him, still weak after days of treatment, not having been favored by the Eldest Miss, now scared by a companion’s death, surely frightened inside, right?

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