Lin Wei Xi was wearing a light white jacket, underneath it was a blue eight-fold muslin long skirt, standing by the window carefully trimming the flower branches. The maid stood behind Lin Wei Xi with a pair of scissors, big and small, and Gao Ran waited on the side. Lin Wei Xi was very patient while pruning. She bent over to hold the gorgeous and thriving flowers, and took a long time before she trimmed down with a knife. This process was undoubtedly a long one. Gao Ran could understand putting flowers in the house as a sentiment, but how long you need to stand for a bunch of flowers? What for?
The cool wind blew after the rain, lifting the corner of Lin Wei Xi's light blue skirt. A stunning woman dressed in refreshing colors, leaning in front of the long window, engrossed in tending the dew-dropped flowers. Lin Wei Xi looked at the blossom, but she also the scenery in other people's eyes. Beautiful scenery, elegant atmosphere, just like inside a painting.
Even Gao Ran felt it was extremely pleasing to the eye, let alone a man. In this area no matter if it was men or women, all watched attentively at Lin Wei Xi, and the little maids who followed Lin Wei Xi almost looks stunned. The beautiful and fair Wangfei was the pride of everyone in Yan Wang Mansion. As long as there was Lin Wei Xi in the place, the servants would unconsciously hold their breath.
Gao Ran was impatient and while standing her mind couldn't help but wandering. It rained a lot last night, from the evening until midnight, the wind was chilly this morning, all the trees, flowers and plants were washed clean and glistening, and on the roadside could be seen a lot of blown branches.
It's natural to leisurely listen to the night rain in the room, but if someone couldn't make it home last night and stayed outside all the time, then that would be a great suffering.
Gao Ran was in a trance, suddenly saw a person at the corner of the corridor waving at Gao Ran, motioning her to come out. Gao Ran recognized that this was her dowry maid. She looked anxious, as if there was something urgent.
Lin Wei Xi also saw it. She glanced outside, her hands kept moving, and said lightly: "It looks like an urgent matter, Shizi Consort go out and take a look."
Gao Ran thanked her, and then saluted to retire. Gao Ran didn't come back after going there for a long time, Lin Wei Xi instinctively felt that something was wrong, and soon Lin Wei Xi also knew what happened.
Duke Yingguo Shizi went out on horseback the night before and accidentally fell into the mountain stream. He was trapped in a rock and couldn't move. He lasted for a day and a night, but in the end he didn't survive the heavy rain last night, and died because he lost too much blood.
Lin Wei Xi was about to repair a flower, instead she snapped it in the middle.
Lin Wei Xi's face turned pale when she rushed to Duke Yingguo Mansion, but fortunately everyone's face was dejected, and no one noticed her strangeness. The mama who came to meet Lin Wei Xi wiped her tears and said: "Wangfei came here early, even the relatives in the family was not as fast as you. Your heart we have written down, the old madam is crying inside, Wangfei, you go inside to persuade."
The crying eyes of Duke Yingguo old madam were very red. Seeing Lin Wei Xi, she still forced herself to stand up: "This old body greet Wangfei."
At this time, Lin Wei Xi couldn't be in the mood to pay attention to these empty courtesy. She almost impatiently asked: "How could Shizi get injured and fall outside, dying of blood loss? Where is the guard by his side?"
When it mentioned, Duke Yingguo old madam cry again: "I only found out yesterday morning that he was out at night. I thought he went to someone else's house for a drink, so I didn't take it seriously. Who knows that he never come back. In the evening I let someone ask other families, who knew that there was a heavy rain in the sky before there was results. After the rain stopped, the servants finally searched for some traces, who would have thought when we found him, he already become a corpse."
The old madam burst into tears. She had only one son, but now the white-haired person sending off the black-haired person, the grief could be imagined. Lin Wei Xi stood there, startled for a long time.
Even if Gao Ran didn't really regard Duke Yingguo Shizi as her father, but after all these years of getting along, she still felt a little sad when she heard these words. Gao Ran sighed and held Duke Yingguo old madam's hand, and said: "Grandma, the dead are gone, the living should take care. Please restrain your grieve."
Lin Wei Xi somehow raised her head, her eyes widened, her pupils were full of emotions: "He is your father, and now the father who loved you the most since childhood is dead, and you actually said restrain your grieve?"
When Lin Wei Xi said this, the people at the side were stunned. Although the listener sighed, it didn't hurt if the knife didn't cut them. Those who came to mourn, which one didn't wipe one or two tears, and then said some condolences, a polite phrase. How could Yan Wangfei be so emotional?
Gao Ran was stunned by Lin Wei Xi's questioning, and she also realized that she was too cold, even not as good as Lin Wei Xi, not like a daughter who was experiencing the pain of losing her father. Gao Ran shuddered in her heart, bowed her head and blinked, her eyes immediately burst into tears: "I am also very sad in my heart, and I wish I could follow my father like this. But grandmother is still here, so how can I leave my elders behind? I'm afraid grandmother is grieving too much then injured her body, so tried to persuade her to stop crying."
As soon as Gao Ran said these words, the people in the room were drawn into tears again, some of them wiped their tears, and some of them advised Gao Ran not to be sad and excessively damage her body. Gao Ran always excelled at superficial skills like this. Lin Wei Xi raised her eyes, there was dazzling white everywhere. She was standing in a strange and familiar Duke Yingguo Mansion. She couldn't cry or laugh.
Her mother was dead, and now, her father had left early. Lin Wei Xi thought countless times that Duke Yingguo Shizi was stupid and arrogant. He deserved to be cleaned up one day. But in any case, he shouldn't be lying alone in the mountain stream, shout and shout but no one respond, so lonely and desperate till he die from blood lose.
Gao Ran held Duke Yingguo old madam while soothing her in a low voice, and after a while, the grandmother and grandchildren cried together. Lin Wei Xi looked coldly at those two people cried on each other shoulder, as if the most important thing in the world was crying. Lin Wei Xi's eyes were sore, but she couldn't shed a single tear.
Lin Wei Xi had never heard her own voice this cold, which could almost freeze a person's muscles and bones: "Why there was no one following Shizi that night? When finding out that Shizi is gone, why didn't you try to find him? Even if Shizi wouldn't let you follow, could it be you don't you even know where he went?"
This series of questions made everyone hesitate that no one could lift their head up. Lin Wei Xi's gaze swept across the "loyal servants" in front of her, and everyone who was looked at all bowed their heads and almost couldn't bear to kneel down.
No one had time to think about why Yan Wangfei was so emotional and how it was Yan Wangfei who gave orders in Duke Yingguo's territory. Everyone subconsciously obeyed Lin Wei Xi's orders, staring while holding their breath, not daring to make trouble.
"Who was the last person who saw Shizi the day before yesterday?"
Han shi changed into a white clothes. She lowered her head and said softly: "It's this concubine."
"What did Shizi say to you? Why is he going out?"
"Shizi didn't say anything." Han shi kept her head down, and her voice was as thin as a mosquito. "He just asked some ordinary questions, asked about Chen boy's study, and then went out. This concubine didn't know where Shizi go after he went out, Shizi was obviously fine when he left this concubine."
The more Lin Wei Xi asked, the more she found it fishy, in the majestic Duke Mansion how could this thing happen? Duke Yingguo Shizi couldn't move until it rained last night. During this day and two nights, if anyone found any clues and followed them, he would not have lost his life. A full fifteen hours, with a little bit of information, it's unlikely to end like this.
Lin Wei Xi walked over and offered incense to Duke Yingguo Shizi. She stayed in front of the coffin for a long time, but still didn't have the courage to take a look. Today's obituary has just been issued, and the official condolences have not yet come. Those who came at this time were only close relatives. People in the Duke Yingguo Mansion all thought that Lin Wei Xi came so quickly because of Gao Ran, who could think of the real reason.
Gao Ran cried for a while, acted like a filial daughter, and then she was supported to go down to clean her face. Han shi also took the opportunity to follow, Gao Ran sent everyone out, and took Han shi's hand and asked in a low voice: "Yiniang, what is really going on with my father?"
Gao Ran knew a lot about Han shi, and Han shi's excuse could fooled the people of Duke Yingguo Mansion, but it couldn't fool Gao Ran. Now that there was no one, Han shi paused for a moment, lowered her head and said, "He came to me the night before because he found out about the Yin Yang pot."
"What?" Gao Ran couldn't believe it, "How could he have that?"
"I don't know where he learned about it. In short, our Yin Yang pot fell into his hands. He found out about Yun Niang back then and came over to question me late at night. Later, he was very angry and spoke cruelly that the next day he would tell the old madam early in the morning to sell me, and even your siblings would be implicated. I was frightened all night, and when I went to pay respect the next day, I realized that he has not returned all night."
Gao Ran gradually heard that something was wrong, and she opened her mouth in surprise: "In other words, do you actually know where he went?"
"How could I know that he was there? How could I know that he had an accident?" Han shi couldn't help but raise her head to argue, but her voice became quieter as she said, "When the old madam asked me, I was too scared... Just say I don't know anything and everything was normal. This should have no relations."
How could this not have any relation, if Han shi said that Duke Yingguo Shizi had a dispute with her earlier, Duke Yingguo old madam would not regard Shizi's missing as gone out drinking, but would immediately realize that her son had an accident. At that time, Duke Yingguo Mansion's manpower would all search, could they still not find the injured Shizi? But Han shi didn't say anything, it delayed the time and also delayed the chance to save Duke Yingguo Shizi.
Of course, Han shi knew that she had killed Shizi, by letting him suffer from blood loss in the wild. She was very scared in her heart, but at the same time a crazy and cruel idea came up. Duke Yingguo Shizi already died, then the Yin Yang pot' matter, she killed two lives' matter, and even Gao Ran and Gao Chen' matter, no one knew. She would not be sold, and Gao Chen could be the only descendant of Shizi, and smoothly become the heir of Duke Yingguo Mansion.
Han shi were frightened by her own rebellious thought that her hands got cold, but she couldn't restrain herself and gave birth to infinite desire. If Shizi was dead, then this Shizi's position was her son's.
Gao Ran was also shocked by the explosive news. She and Han shi sat in a relative silence for a while before suddenly reacting. Gao Ran held Han shi's hand tightly, and her strength almost crushed Han shi's bones: "Yiniang, you are doing the right thing, don't say anything, so no one know what happened, Shizi's position is on younger brother. Now the title is on the grandfather. When grandfather dies, it will be passed on to father, and it will be passed on to younger brother after number of years. But now that he's dead, and grandfather already has half his foot on the grave, don't know how much times he has left. Very soon we will achieve the success, and when younger brother became the Duke, wouldn't all of the Duke Yingguo Mansion become our world!
Han shi bit her lip and nodded. The mother and daughter looked at each other for a moment, and turned their eyes away in silence, not wanting to see themselves in each other's eyes. They were all accomplices in Duke Yingguo Shizi's death.
However, huge benefits were waiting for them.
The Duke Yingguo's hair turned white overnight, and he seemed to be ten years older. But the pain of losing a child was not the only crisis, and now a more realistic problem lied in front of Duke Yingguo Mansion. What's to be done with Shizi's candidate?
Duke Yingguo Shizi died unexpectedly, and it should be his son who assumed his position. But here was the problem. Duke Yingguo Shizi did not have a di son. But if it was the shu line, then why Shizi's younger brothers wouldn't work?
The worst case scenario was to let the shu son inherit. In order to limit the nobility family, the founding emperor set extremely strict rules on the succession of the titles. A Marquis position that was conferred because outstanding military service was only honorary Marquis, it couldn't be passed on. And Duke Yingguo Mansion this kind of nobility, a noble beheaded after three generations, whether you could retain the ancestral name depended on the mood of the emperor. However, within these three generations, if ones want to inherit the nobility at the same level, the heir must be a di son, otherwise it would be downgraded one or two levels. In contrast, a Qinwang and Junwang could be passed on endlessly from generation to generation.
Their founding emperor always established double standard on his courtiers. Several highly respected elders of the Gao family have all received the news and rushed over. They sat in the same room, and the one with the oldest seniority came up with a new idea: "Shizi only leave one shu son, and there is no di son. If let the shu son inherits, according to regulation the title would be lowered. Although we can entrust it to Yan Wang, but after all it still risky. I and several other clan elders discussed a compromise on the road. If not pick a child from the clan and adopt him under the deceased Shizi Madam Wei's name. In this way, he will be a proper heir. It's easier to support an adopted successor than a shu son."