Chapter Eighty-Seven Interrogation

  Zhao Xuan hugged Pearl and cried. This nanny could be said to be the person who spent the most time with her during her initial crossing, although sometimes her words and deeds made her angry, but she was genuinely concerned about her. Even in the critical moment of capsizing and falling into the water, she didn't forget to hold her tight, and it wasn't until she went to seek help for her that she encountered danger and disappeared. Zhao Xuan thought she had already died, but unexpectedly she was still alive, how could she not feel overjoyed?

  After crying for a while, Zhao Wei told them about their experience of finding Pearl, and only then did Zhao Xuan understand the whole story.

  Zhang and Zhao Wei passed through Linqing, thinking that Zhao Zhuo's wife had died here, so they stayed to pay their respects. Then there was a severe drought in Shandong, and the people of Linqing were struggling to make ends meet. Zhang felt a pang of sympathy and decided to stay for a few more days, donating money and goods to help the poor. She thought that she would have to stay here for some time, so on the one hand, she sent someone back to Fengxian with a letter, and on the other hand, she sent someone to the fields in Gaotang County where the former Duke of Jianan's estate was located to find the head of the farm and ask about the whereabouts of Tu Sanyang and his wife.

  Tu San Yang and his family rushed over from the capital, relying on this Zhuang head. The person sent by Zhang's family naturally didn't have to work hard to find Tu San Yang and his wife. After learning of his intentions, Tu San Yang immediately let him report back to Zhang a stunning message - Pearl Sister is still alive!

  At that time, Pearl was beaten with a boat paddle by Zhao Kuang's men and sank into the water, seemingly meeting with disaster. In fact, Tu Sanyang was on the deck at the time and recognized his niece. The couple had no children and treated their niece as if she were their own daughter, so how could they just watch her die? Tu Sanyang saw Pearl sink into the water and was frightened out of his wits. He was an ordinary sailor who wasn't very noticeable, and when the ship reached the shore, many people would be sent to busy themselves on land. He naturally had the opportunity to get off the boat, and relying on his excellent swimming skills, he quickly dove into the water and rescued his niece in the dark. Pearl was almost out of breath at the time, and if they had been a moment later, her life would have been absolutely impossible to save.

  It just so happened that among the servants of the Hou Mansion who were on duty on several ships, there were many familiar faces or relatives. They had all been serving in the Hou Mansion for many years. Seeing the miserable state of Xiao Er Fang, they were also shocked, even though they were servants under the name of Xiao Chang Fang. Zhang Shi was also a manager who had taken charge of them for many years and was their superior. He treated them with kindness and generosity, except for a few loyal followers of Zhao Jiong and Niu Shi. They didn't have much animosity towards the masters of Xiao Er Fang. Seeing Zhao Jiong wanting to kill them all, they couldn't help but whisper a few words in their hearts, but they didn't dare speak out loud. They were just ordinary servants and couldn't compare to those skilled guards, so even if they pitied them, they didn't dare rescue anyone. When they discovered that Tu San Yang had saved one of them, who was his niece, and no one had noticed for the time being, they pretended not to have seen anything, and no one reported it to their superiors.

  Tu San Yang took advantage of the opportunity to hide Pearl in a pile of dead bodies. Taking advantage of the occasion to transport some servant corpses to Gaotang Zhuangzi, he had her sent away. When he arrived at Gaotang, he was afraid that the news would leak out and did not dare to mention it to the owner of the villa - who was also his younger brother's father-in-law. Instead, he rented a room near the villa for Pearl to rest. She had been soaked in water for too long and was injured, which made her illness worse, and she fell ill. In order to invite a doctor to prescribe medicine for her, Tu San Yang spent all the money on his body and borrowed several taels of silver from his relatives, and it was not easy to make her body recover slightly.

  He stayed by his niece's side, not daring to leave lightly. He also heard that Zhao Jiong's affair had been exposed and a certain Wang Ye had discovered it. The government soldiers even came to Gaotangzhuangzi and took away the bodies of the small two house slaves who had been sent over with him. The people carrying the corpses were also taken away, so he didn't dare show his face anymore. After hiding for a month, seeing that Pearl was recovering well enough to take care of herself, he asked him to go deliver a message to his master's family and only then did he quietly return to Beijing.

  Tou San Yang did not choose to go to Fengxian, but chose to return to the capital city. In fact, there was no deep reason for this, it was simply because... compared to Fengxian, the capital city is closer to Shandong!

  At this time, the King of Guangping had not yet returned to the capital, and the Emperor had not said how to deal with this case. The South Building was still there, and although the reputation of the small house was bad, it was still jumping around. Even more arrogantly, they sent people to the mansion of Xia Er in the capital, drove out Lu Ma and others, and then moved those valuable things back to their own home. Tu San Yang took a look at this situation and felt that he should keep it secret for the time being. He went home and discussed with his wife, and resolutely went to the Hou Mansion to resign.

  The couple themselves were not people of any standing, and they claimed to have relatives who died in the sinking ship. As soon as the manager of Xiaolong House heard this, he considered them unstable elements and directly asked them to leave. They then went to find Chen Lao San, the husband of Pearl Sister, but found that he had become a person of Xiaolong House, abandoning his parents, wife, and sister's great revenge, and did not dare to mention the truth to him. They quickly escaped from Beijing and returned to Gaotang. With relatives around, their days were not difficult, and they could still take care of their niece. In the countryside, news was blocked, and they were afraid of exposing Pearl Sister's existence, so they deliberately kept a distance from Tian Zhuang. It wasn't until they knew that Xiaolong House had lost its title, Zhao Jiong had died, Jiang Shi had entered prison, Xiao Er House had retreated to Fengxian, and the grandparents were safe that nearly a year had passed.

  Zhenzhu sister has been thinking of her son and master, Tu Sanyang couple had to return to Beijing again, did not dare to contact Chen Lao San, only secretly contacted the people in Xiao Er's house. Unfortunately, Lu Dashi refused to respond to them, nor would he send a message to Zhang Shi on their behalf, so Zhenzhu sister was unable to contact Zhang Shi and Zhao Xiu until this year. When Zhang Shi came to Beijing, Tu Sanyang couple decided to make one last attempt; if it still didn't work out, they would take Zhenzhu's son, who had been tortured by his father and stepmother until he was covered in scars, back to Gaotang, and never think of the Zhao family again.

  At this time, the person sent by Zhang's family actually took the initiative to find them, which really made them overjoyed. Pearl's sister had just reunited with her son and naturally wanted to follow her master. Tu Sanyang considered that he was on Zhao Jiong's ship back then and didn't know how the people in Xiao Erfang would treat him, but the couple was worried about their niece and followed along, planning that if Xiao Erfang couldn't accommodate them, they could always come back later.

  After listening to Pearl's narrative, Zhao Xuan felt that in life, anything can happen. In those years, Pearl was able to escape with her life in such a dangerous situation, it was truly too fortunate.

  Zhao Xun had another idea, that with so many servants, they were all connected by kinship. Even the masters couldn't keep track of who was related to whom, making it impossible to guard against them. Although the two households had already divided up the servants when they split apart, this only separated close relatives from one another. Relationships like those between Tu Sanyang and Zhenzhu Shu would be viewed as being between people from different families, but their feelings for each other were no less strong than those of close relatives. If Zhao Kuang had known that there were still family members of the servants from the smaller house around him when he killed them off, wouldn't he have been shocked? Tu Sanyang couldn't get near him and wasn't impulsive enough to hug a grudge, stab Zhao Kuang with a knife, or poison his food and drink. Otherwise, he would have lost his life long ago.

  Let's get back to the point. Why did Lu Dasou refuse to help Tu Sanyang deliver the letter? Although Tu didn't explicitly tell him, Pearl was still alive, but he didn't have to stop him either. Was it because Tu had been on Zhao Kuang's boat before? What could delivering a letter possibly do? He clearly stated that there were important matters to be told to Zhangshi, and Lu Dasou still refused to help, wasn't he afraid of delaying his master's affairs?

  Zhao Xuan remembered what Zhang said earlier, that Lu Dasou and his wife had made a mistake, and wondered if it was related to this matter. She thought for a moment, then smiled at Pearl Auntie and said: "Nanny, since you're back, I'll take care of the rest. You just focus on taking care of Dongsheng Ge and living a peaceful life here. Your aunt and uncle's errands, I'll arrange them."

  Pearl's face showed joy, but the one from the Third Young Master's house looked a bit worried: "Sister is kind-hearted, but our family originally belonged to the small main room..." Zhao Xiu waved her hand: "Don't worry, you can stay at home for two days first, and after I discuss it with my grandmother, we will arrange something for you."

  She had a servant lead Pearl and her husband, along with Third Sister-in-law and her husband, to a separate small courtyard on the servants' side of the house. It had three rooms, which was enough for them to live in, and since it was a single entrance, they wouldn't be easily disturbed by others. With her instructions, the old mansion's servants didn't dare to neglect them.

  Zhao Wei asked in a low voice: "You really kept Tui San Yang and his wife here? Why didn't you ask Grandmother's opinion?"

  Zhao Xuan smiled and glanced at him: "Brother is trying to fool me again, if grandmother couldn't tolerate them, she wouldn't have brought them back." The servants of the Xiao Erfang house almost all died out that year, the ones who survived were basically those who stayed in the capital city mansion, except for Lu Ma's family, the others either left or scattered, where was there anyone to hold a grudge against Tu Sanyang? Moreover, he hadn't participated in the silencing action, it was just a coincidence, and he even saved Xiao Erfang's people. Zhang Shi had already spoken out, and with this young master who was increasingly influential protecting him, who would still dare to offend Tu Sanyang and his wife?

  It's better to figure out what's going on with Lu Dasou. What has he been up to in the capital these past few years while looking at houses?

  Zhao Xun led Zhao Wei back to the courtyard, where the maidservants attended to him and helped him clean up. After changing into a fresh set of clothes, they returned to the main hall for a late lunch. Once lunch was over and tea had been served, Lu Changxiu and his wife brought their servants from home to pay their respects to Zhang Shi. The accountant presented several months' worth of accounts, but Zhang Shi only flipped through a few pages before setting them aside. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed everyone except for Lu Mama and Lu Changxiu, who were allowed to stay behind.

  Zhao Wei recounted the good deeds that Lu Dasou and his wife had done in the capital city, emphasizing one point: Pearl's uncle had wanted to send a message to Xiao Er Fang several years ago to tell them that Pearl was still alive, but because they hadn't given Lu Dasou any benefits, the matter had been dragged out until today. Due to Pearl's poverty and inability to afford medical treatment in time, her illness had left behind residual effects, and she still wasn't in good health today.

  Lu's mother was terrified, and Pearl was also one of her loved ones. Suffering such a disaster, she was naturally heartbroken. But what pained her even more was that her son would actually do something so foolish! How could he be so stupid?! A strong sense of guilt overwhelmed her, and all she could do was silently shed tears, unable to say a word.

  Lu Changxiu's reaction was different from his wife's. He repeatedly asked, "Is it really Dasou who stole the things? Or is it his daughter-in-law who stole them? Or maybe someone else stole them? If he really wanted to steal and sell the valuable items in the master's house, why did he only steal this one kang screen? He could have stolen other more valuable and less noticeable things!"

  Zhaowei glanced at him: "Stealing things is secondary, our family doesn't lack that kang screen either. But the matter isn't that simple, Lu Dasou might not have stolen it just to sell for money. Because someone saw this kang screen in the Yingwang Fu, and it's said that someone specially offered it as a gift to the Ying King."

  Lu Changxiu's face changed suddenly.