Wei Qingshan, the daughter of the prime minister, witnessed this scene!
Isn't she the girl beside the prince? Her name seems to be... Miss Manman? What does Father want to see her for?
Qin Manman returned home dejectedly and told Zhang and her father, Qin Jiang, about this.
"What? The current prime minister wants to meet us in person?... Just because of this bracelet?" Zhang asked in disbelief.
Qin Manman replied affirmatively, "Yes. He said this bracelet was a gift for an old acquaintance. It also seems that he knows you, Father, and Grandma!" Seeing her parents exchanging a look without saying a word, she continued to ask, "Mother? This bracelet isn't yours, right? I've never seen you wear it all these years!"
"Could the current prime minister be that guy, Wei Zhong?" Zhang slumped onto a stool. "If so, we might even be related!"
"It's a pity my sister died early. When Wei Zhong was in love with my sister, we only knew he was from a wealthy family. Who would have thought he'd become the prime minister one day? Then I'd be the prime minister's brother - in - law! Who could have guessed that!" Qin Jiang sighed.
Zhang said disdainfully, "Back then, he was from a wealthy family. Your family was as poor as a church mouse! The two families didn't match. His family would never have agreed to the marriage!"
Qin Jiang nodded and sighed beside her.
Hearing them, Qin Manman guessed incredulously, "Could this bracelet be the relic of Wan Ruo's mother? Is it something from a dead person?"
Frightened, she quickly took off the bracelet and threw it on the table. Thinking it was something a dead person had worn, she shivered all over.
Seeing Qin Manman's action, Zhang immediately flew into a rage. "Oh, be gentle, my dear!"
She quickly picked up the bracelet gently and carefully checked if it was damaged. Then she continued, "This bracelet is not just a bracelet now! Whether our family can become wealthy depends on it!"
"What do you mean? Wan Ruo's mother is already dead, isn't she?" Qin Manman asked.
At this time, Qin Jiang jumped up happily and said, "Yes, Qin Mo is dead, but Wan Ruo is still alive! As long as we get on good terms with her, we're relatives after all. Maybe we'll also enjoy wealth and honor! Maybe!"
Just as Qin Jiang was still daydreaming, Zhang slapped him awake.
"What are you thinking? We treated her so badly before. How could she ever forgive us? Even if, in the most unlikely case, she forgave us, how can you be sure she'd let us benefit from her?"
Hearing Zhang's words, which did make sense, Qin Jiang felt his hopes dashed and slumped dejectedly onto the stool.
"However, I do have an idea worth trying!" Zhang seemed to have already come up with a plan.
She grabbed Qin Manman's hand and forced the jade bracelet onto her wrist. Looking seriously at Qin Manman, she said, "No matter how much you dislike this bracelet, you must wear it. It's your mother's thing. You'll take Wan Ruo's place and become his daughter. By then, he'll surely feel guilty towards you. And as your foster parents who have raised his daughter with so much hardship, he naturally won't treat us badly!"
Hearing that she had to wear this jade bracelet that belonged to a dead person all day, Qin Manman was extremely resistant.
"It's so inauspicious! Mother... I don't want it! Mother..." Qin Manman said, clinging to Zhang's arm and acting coquettishly.
Zhang took her hand and exhorted earnestly, "For the future wealth and honor, what's this bit of grievance? If you can't even accept this, how can you achieve anything great in the future?"
Hearing this, Qin Manman just wanted to cry.
"Invite him over tomorrow. I'll handle it. You just act according to the situation and try to say as little as possible."
On the other hand, Si Hongxi suddenly received an order from the emperor to re - supervise the investigation of the strange deaths of the people in Zhang's Butcher Shop in the imperial city in the past few days.
"Your Highness, this is the dossier about the incident in Zhang's Butcher Shop sent by the yamen. Please take a look!" Mu Qing handed over the dossier.
Si Hongxi took the dossier and carefully examined it. The more he read, the more suspicious he became.
"The dossier states that two dead bodies were found. After investigation, their identities were confirmed as Zhang Biao, the owner of Zhang's Butcher Shop, and his wife, Zhang Xiaoyan. When Zhang Xiaoyan's body was found, it had been dismembered. Her head and limbs were all found at the scene. The murder weapon was also found at the crime scene and was confirmed to be the boning knife that Zhang Biao often used." Si Hongxi recited the contents of the dossier.
Mu Qing beside him then guessed, "Could it be that Zhang Biao killed his wife, Zhang Xiaoyan?"
"Yes. The dossier infers from this that Zhang Biao might have been the one who killed his wife. What's even more strange is Zhang Biao's death!" Si Hongxi stood up and paced back and forth.
Mu Qing asked doubtfully, "What do you mean?"
"Zhang Biao's death is described very vaguely in the dossier. It's attributed to suicide... He had many injuries on his body, but none of them were fatal. The only fatal injury was that his neck was broken! His head was rotated 180 degrees. Could he have done that to himself?" Si Hongxi voiced his speculation.
Wouldn't his head have been twisted off? Mu Qing tried to twist his own head with both hands beside him.
"What a strong hand it would take!" Mu Qing sighed.
"There's something fishy about this. To find out the truth, we need to go and see the bodies of the two deceased, and then go to the crime scene again to carefully look for any clues left behind!" Si Hongxi said firmly.
At this time, the sun had set and it was getting dark.
Shananfang was unusually quiet. Wan Ruo was still scolding Wan Zi in the yard. "You've been so elusive these days. Where were you yesterday? I didn't even see a trace of you!"
"Yesterday when you went to the prince's mansion, I originally planned to go too. But then I saw Lord Bai Chen also heading in the direction of the prince's mansion, so I didn't follow. I planned to wait for you to come back at night, but who knew he would come back with you! As soon as I saw him, I wanted to avoid him as much as possible! So I had to hide. I just came back after he left!" Wan Zi said aggrievedly.
How annoying! Suddenly, something seemed to flash past the door of Wan Ruo's house!
She quickly chased out to check. From afar, it seemed like a red fox was running in the direction of Bai Chen's residence.
"Wan Zi, come on. Let's go and have a look!" Wan Ruo followed closely.
When Wan Zi saw they were going to Bai Chen's residence, he immediately shivered all over and was very resistant in his heart. But since Wan Ruo had already gone, he had no choice but to summon up his courage and follow.
When they reached Bai Chen's residence, they saw the red fox enter Bai Chen's room. Wan Ruo quietly peeked through the crack of the door.
They saw the red fox instantly transform into a human form. Wan Ruo widened her eyes. This person was actually...