Chapter 62: Blackened Prodigy
Later, Liu Sheng still didn't get to eat the wontons.
Instead, she and the auntie were taken to the yamen.
Miss Wen was also taken along.
However, Liu Sheng and the auntie were invited as witnesses, while Miss Wen was escorted.
But it hadn't been confirmed that she was the culprit; she was just a major suspect and needed to be taken back for questioning.
The deceased had been stabbed in the abdomen with a dagger, and the murder weapon was Miss Wen's dagger.
Moreover, what was even more undeniable was that the deceased had been with Miss Wen in a private room on the top floor of Baihe Tower before falling.
There were only two people, the door was closed, and one person fell to their death after being stabbed with a dagger; the other person, no matter what, couldn't explain herself.
Miss Wen indeed offered no rebuttal, silently allowing the yamen officials to tie her hands, her head bowed low, following them back to the yamen amidst the public's gaze and discussions.
Liu Sheng really hadn't expected that the esteemed Miss Wen of the Wen Family would one day become a prisoner.
Moreover, after ten days apart, the extent of Miss Wen's change was beyond Liu Sheng's expectation.
She remembered that when they first met, Miss Wen was dressed in luxurious clothes, with a calm and arrogant expression.
But just now, when Miss Wen was escorted downstairs by the yamen officials, Liu Sheng almost didn't recognize her at first glance.
At this moment, Miss Wen looked utterly exhausted, her complexion pale, with extremely deep dark circles under her eyes; her hair was slightly disheveled without a carefully styled bun, and she was only wearing a simple coarse blue gown, looking exceptionally plain.
Furthermore, the Guai Qi on her was extremely dense!
Little Tentacle almost happily popped out.
It also told Liu Sheng that this Guai Qi felt very familiar, but it didn't know where it came from yet.
Liu Sheng didn't know what Miss Wen had encountered to undergo such a drastic change.
Upon arriving at the Qinghe Prefecture Yamen, Liu Sheng and the wonton stall auntie were only asked a few simple questions, signed their names, and were then released.
After all, the two of them just happened to be unluckily hit by the corpse; what they knew was truly very limited.
"I've really offended the Grand Duke Jupiter! It seems it's not suitable to open for business these days. I might as well go to Bishui Temple to ask for a talisman for peace of mind. Young Miss, care to join me?" After being questioned, the auntie patted her chest, saying to Liu Sheng with lingering fear.
Liu Sheng looked thoughtful and said, "Thank you, auntie, no need."
With that, she walked straight towards the back yamen.
The auntie looked at Liu Sheng's back, shaking her head in confusion. This Young Miss wasn't afraid of bad luck and stayed here; she herself had better leave first.
Liu Sheng arrived at the location of the back yamen's jail and coincidentally saw a maid carrying a food box at the entrance, pleading with the jailer.
"Big brother, please, I beg you to let me in to deliver food to my Young Miss. Please accept this small token of my appreciation." The maid said, slipping a small brocade pouch into the jailer's hand.
Only then did Liu Sheng realize that this maid's purpose was similar to hers.
The jailer squeezed the brocade pouch, put it into his sleeve, and then said, "It's no use pleading with me. Let me tell you, Miss Wen has already been transferred to the Weaving Institute."
The maid was greatly alarmed: "Why the Weaving Institute?"
The jailer sneered dismissively, "You're her personal maid and you don't know? She's full of Guai Qi; the esteemed Miss Wen has already become a weird objects. Where else could she go but the Weaving Institute? Don't defile our Yamen."
"And you, hurry up and leave! Maybe you've also turned into a weird objects by being around her every day!"
After speaking, the jailer turned away, no longer paying attention to the maid, nor did he have any intention of returning the brocade pouch to her.
The maid immediately walked out dejectedly. As she passed Liu Sheng, she was grabbed by Liu Sheng.
Liu Sheng pulled the maid a little further away. The maid was in a daze at this time, so she just let Liu Sheng lead her.
"Now that you know this, do you still want to see your Young Miss?" Liu Sheng asked, staring intently into her eyes.
The maid's eyes welled up with tears as she said, "Of course I do. I don't believe my Young Miss has become a weird objects; I must see it with my own eyes."
"Now, Young Miss has no one left by her side. Only I still remember her kindness. If I also abandon Young Miss, Young Miss will truly be too pitiful..." The maid took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
Liu Sheng nodded: "Alright, I am from the Weaving Institute. I can try to think of a way."
She took out the Weaving Institute's token. The maid's tears immediately stopped, and she looked at the token with immense surprise, her eyes filled with hope.
Liu Sheng saw that her concerned expression didn't seem feigned, so she said, "Give me the food box, and also, tell me your name."
"And, prove that you are truly Miss Wen's maid."
...
Liu Sheng returned to Ten Thousand Affairs Hall, where Su Yanjun and Gao Yisheng were enthusiastically discussing something.
Today was Liu Sheng's day off, so Su Yanjun was naturally on duty there.
"Why are you back instead of resting?" She turned her head and saw Liu Sheng, looking very surprised.
However, she didn't wait for Liu Sheng's answer but excitedly pulled Liu Sheng over: "Perfect, you've come at just the right time! We were just talking about today's big news in Qinghe!"
"Have you heard! Miss Wen of the Wen Family killed someone!" Su Yanjun said with an exaggerated tone.
Gao Yisheng scoffed, "If you ask me, there's no need to be so surprised. If it were me, I'd kill too."
As he spoke, his fan snapped open with a "pa" sound, and he fanned himself.
Liu Sheng immediately perked up her ears.
"That's Miss Wen! All of us children in Qinghe grew up hearing our parents praise Miss Wen. She was always perfect in everything, superior to others..."
Su Yanjun's tone became low, perhaps remembering her childhood overshadowed by Miss Wen's brilliance.
Gao Yisheng shook his head and said, "So what? Now the entire Qinghe knows that Miss Wen is just a cripple who has lost all her cultivation."
Liu Sheng's eyes widened in shock, and she couldn't help but interject, "When, when did this happen?"
She remembered that Miss Wen was fine when she delivered the goods ten days ago. How could she suddenly lose all her cultivation?
"This, everyone in Qinghe knows about it. Didn't I just mention it a few days ago? You're really too out of touch with what's happening around you, aren't you?" Su Yanjun said helplessly.
Indeed, recently Liu Sheng had been too focused on her pile of tasks; she couldn't even finish her own work, so how could she have time to listen to Su Yanjun gossip?
"It was probably five or six days ago. Miss Wen went out to hunt weird objects again, but she encountered something and was discovered unconscious on the mountain by a medicine boy who was out gathering herbs. Then she was carried all the way back." Su Yanjun decided to tell Liu Sheng again.
"That day, everyone in Qinghe saw Miss Wen being carried into the city unconscious," Gao Yisheng added. "Later, I heard that Miss Wen's Foundation was completely destroyed, and her Initial Realm eighth-stage cultivation vanished into thin air."
"How was that known?" Liu Sheng asked curiously.
Su Yanjun pouted: "I don't know where it came from, maybe the servants of the Wen Manor, but anyway, it was said with great detail."
"They also said that Miss Wen was abandoned by the Wen Family like that..."
This kind of abandonment naturally didn't mean being kicked out; she was still a Wen Family member after all. But if she was no longer valued or cultivated, and simply treated as an idle person kept at home, then for Miss Wen, who was once a Prodigy, it was also abandonment.
Upon hearing this, and comparing it with what the maid Cui Cui had just said, Liu Sheng knew that these rumors were mostly true.