The night deepened.
The young man's face paled, but he didn't get angry; instead, he looked at Cui Cui with a soft heart, gently pulling her hand away with a slight struggle.
“Cui Cui Jie, you’re tired.”
Hearing this, Cui Cui finally couldn't hold on any longer and squatted on the ground, crying sadly.
The old wet nurse said apologetically, “This old servant didn’t want to disturb the Young Master, but today people from the Weaving Institute came to investigate… that person’s matter, and they wanted to see her former courtyard…”
The Young Master, looking quite reasonable, nodded and said, “That’s understandable.”
He turned to Liu Sheng and the others and said openly, “You can go in and look yourselves. There’s nothing I need to hide. I want you to know that I, Wen Xuanning, am not the thief others claim me to be.”
The last sentence was for Cui Cui.
Miss Wen’s former residence was naturally exquisite and luxurious. The spacious courtyard even had a training ground. The two-story embroidery building no longer showed any trace of Miss Wen; everything belonged to the young man.
While Fu Ze and Liao Chengpeng were being led by Cui Cui to search, Liu Sheng quietly asked the old wet nurse who this young man was.
Although the old wet nurse felt the young man’s identity was a bit awkward, she had to tell.
It turned out that this Wen Xuanning was Miss Wen’s half-brother, his mother unknown.
Although after the Empress, men having three wives and four concubines was not encouraged, it couldn't stop some stubborn individuals who honored ancestral customs.
Miss Wen’s father doted on this son very much after he was born, raising him by his side until this year, when he returned to Qinghe to live for a period to prepare for the imperial examination by becoming a disciple of Master Nangong.
Therefore, most people in Qinghe only knew of Miss Wen from the Wen Family and were unaware that Miss Wen also had a younger brother.
“Then, what’s this about stealing cultivation?”
The old wet nurse scolded, “Don’t listen to that little hussy’s nonsense. How can cultivation be stolen? It just so happened that on the day Miss Wen lost her cultivation, Young Master Wen just had a Breakthrough.”
Such a coincidence?
After asking what she wanted to know, Liu Sheng also joined the search for Guai Qi.
However, after everyone walked around, the sky was completely dark, and they still found nothing.
It was indeed consistent with what Wen Xuanning said; there was nothing suspicious here.
After all, with this great Spirit Gathering Array purifying it day and night, no traces of Guai Qi could remain for too long.
…
Wen Xuanning politely escorted everyone out of the courtyard and then had the servant close the courtyard gate.
The servant rubbed his aching back, saying with a troubled expression, “Young Master, they are just a few minor officials from the Weaving Institute with no rank whatsoever. You didn’t have to hit me so hard for their sake, did you?”
Wen Xuanning glanced sideways and said, “If your mouth still doesn’t know when to speak and when not to, you might as well tear it off.”
“What’s wrong, Young Master? Did Mingde cause trouble again?” At this moment, a beautiful maid in a peach-red jacket happened to walk out of the room, covering her mouth and smiling charmingly.
“This kid almost revealed my identity again,” Wen Xuanning said, swatting Mingde on the back of the head exasperatedly.
“Ouch! Young Master! You can’t hit my head, I’m already stupid enough.” Mingde exaggeratedly covered the back of his head and cried out, then asked puzzledly, “But I don’t understand, everyone in the Wen Manor knows your identity, and everyone in Chang'an knows it. What can’t be said?”
Wen Xuanning shook his head: “They are just people I met once; there’s no need for them to know so much.”
He sighed, looking up at the divine face shining in the night sky.
“I just wonder how my elder sister is doing. May the Supreme God bless her. I hope these people from the Weaving Institute can truly clear her name…”
He clasped his hands in prayer, his face full of genuine worry, truly caring for his sister.
The maid comforted him, “Don’t worry, Young Master. Miss Wen is a good person and will naturally be blessed by heaven.”
Wen Xuanning sighed, “I hope so… Where have those people gone now?”
A deep male voice came from the rooftop, answering, “Replying to Young Master, I saw them heading towards the ancestral hall.”
…
According to Cui Cui, when Miss Wen was in the Wen Manor, she would go to the ancestral hall every morning to offer incense to the Lu family Old Madam, without exception.
“Miss Wen and the Lu family Old Madam had a very good relationship, right?” Liu Sheng asked.
Cui Cui nodded: “Young Miss was raised by the Lu family Old Madam herself; their affection was deep and unmatched. Last year, when the Lu family Old Madam was seriously ill and finally couldn’t hold on, that was the first time I saw Young Miss cry.”
Liu Sheng remembered Wen Weilan once saying that her strange dreams began when she fell asleep in the ancestral hall last month while paying respects to her grandmother.
From this perspective, there might be something in this ancestral hall.
So, everyone followed Cui Cui towards the ancestral hall, with Wang Momma and the maid walking helplessly behind.
The entrance to the ancestral hall was already in sight, with pine and cypress trees providing shade on both sides. At the entrance was a clear pond, with a stone sculpture of a Dragon turtle guarding several brocade carp in the pond.
“What are you doing?” Fu Ze suddenly turned and grabbed the old wet nurse’s hand.
The old wet nurse was holding a spirit message, flickering with faint light, seemingly contacting someone.
The old wet nurse’s eyes flickered, but she couldn’t struggle free from Fu Ze’s grip: “This old servant, this old servant was just asking the head steward for permission to go to the ancestral hall! The ancestral hall is an important place for the Wen Family, where our ancestors are enshrined. The Old Master would surely be displeased if he knew, and then this old servant would be punished!”
The maid next to her also trembled and echoed, “Yes, Aunt Zhao was just, just being cautious. If the Old Master says you can enter, then it’s naturally fine.”
Liu Sheng glanced at the two, then turned to look at the flickering candlelight inside the ancestral hall, feeling a bit uneasy.
She had a feeling something was waiting for them inside.
Cui Cui, however, snorted coldly: “I don’t know when the Wen Manor became so secretive. I want to see if the thing that harmed Young Miss is inside!”
Saying this, she walked directly towards the ancestral hall.
Liu Sheng was silent for a moment, her gaze firm, and she gestured to Fu Ze and Liao Chengpeng before closely following her into the ancestral hall.
The old wet nurse and the maid hesitated, but ultimately did not follow.
They walked past the pond, covered in starlight and divine radiance from the heavens, and slowly stepped into the ancestral hall.
Inside the ancestral hall, past the courtyard, the first thing that came into view were the ancestral tablets of the Wen Family covering an entire wall, with an incense burner and offerings on the altar table.
Cui Cui stood inside the ancestral hall, respectfully took three incense sticks from the altar table, lit them on the candle holder, bowed, and then placed the incense into the incense burner.
“The one in the middle is the Lu family Old Madam’s tablet,” Cui Cui indicated, her eyes glistening with tears as she murmured softly, “If the Lu family Old Madam were still here, how could Young Miss have ended up in such a desolate and miserable state…”
She raised her sleeve to wipe away her tears.
Her sleeve dropped.
Before her was a vast wilderness shrouded in night.
Under her feet was a dirt road leading nowhere, surrounded by blurry darkness.
When did she come here?
For some reason, the scene before her eyes was very familiar.
Cui Cui instantly felt a chill run through her body; she remembered what Young Miss had said.
So, Young Miss was really harmed by a weird object?
So… Young Miss really isn’t a weird object?
But what should she do now?
As Cui Cui was feeling lost and helpless, something heavy landed on her back.
A pair of small, pale, cold arms had already clamped around her neck.
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Although this genre is a bit niche, I will still work hard to write the story I want to tell.