In Zhao Shuning's mind, doubts welled up one after another.
She returned to the house and picked out a few things that Luo Feiyan often used. Then she leaped out through the back door of the yard.
For convenience, before leaving the Changkong Academy, Zhao Shuning changed out of her academy uniform and put on a long cyan silk dress of the Ruoqiang style. She also changed her veil to cyan.
Zhao Shuning left the academy. When walking on the street, she thought of going to the Foji Alley to buy two jars of good wine and some writing brushes and ink to relieve Luo Feiyan's boredom. Since Luo Feiyan had trouble moving around, the gifts would cheer her up.
When passing by the alley, a woman in gray clothes came to a silk shop in the middle. Zhao Shuning vaguely felt that she was familiar, so she paid more attention.
After she bought the wine and passed by the shop again, there came a quarrel from inside.
"I've got only the finest silk from the Marquis's Mansion. You'd better take a good look. Ten spirit stones for them is really not much."
"Miss, your price is indeed a bit high."
"Boss Li, I'm a regular customer. You should know my character. Every time the goods I bring are of the highest quality. If you don't take them, there are plenty of others waiting for them."
"This... Well... Miss, can't you lower the price a bit? After all, the origin of your silk is unclear. I'll take some risks when reselling it."
"Nine spirit stones then. No less."
"Okay."
When the woman inside finished bargaining, she casually glanced outside.
Zhao Shuning originally thought that bargaining was quite normal in business, but then something strange happened.
As soon as the girl saw Zhao Shuning, and then noticed the red lotus between her eyebrows, she even ignored the spirit stones the boss offered and ran away at full speed.
This made Zhao Shuning even more suspicious. However, before she chased after the girl, she didn't forget to take the spirit stones the boss offered and put them in her bosom.
"Miss, these are for that girl."
"I know her. It's okay."
Zhao Shuning made up an excuse casually and then chased after her.
The girl should have some spiritual cultivation because she ran much faster than ordinary people.
Zhao Shuning followed her out. Although she could catch up with her easily, she didn't rush to act. Instead, she waited until the gray figure ran out of the market where there were few people before showing up.
The girl thought she had got rid of Zhao Shuning. Just as she let out a sigh of relief and was about to sit on a rock to catch her breath, she heard a voice behind her.
"Why are you running in such a hurry?"
The woman turned around, terrified.
"You, you, you—"
"What about me? Why did you run away as soon as you saw me?"
"You, I, you, Miss, I'm sorry. I was wrong."
The girl stammered for a long time. Seeing that she couldn't get away, she immediately knelt down.
Zhao Shuning said, "Yanzi?"
"Miss, Yanzi was wrong. Please don't tell the Marquis and the Lady. Otherwise, I'll be completely finished."
Zhao Shuning frowned.
"The things you sold just now were Luo's, cough, cough, cough... were mine, weren't they?"
"I'm sorry, Miss."
The girl lowered her head. But Zhao Shuning didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse from her.
"You're my personal maid. My Luo family has never treated you badly. Why did you do such a despicable thing?"
"I thought, I thought Miss you were gone. That day, you bled so much."
That day? So Yanzi was there that day? But according to Mingyue and Qiuxia, this maid had disappeared before the accident, and Luo Feiyan never told her that Yanzi was on the scene.
"Were you there that day?"
"I, I was. But Miss, please forgive me. I didn't stand by and watch you die. Although I'm your guardian maid, my spiritual power is only about level four. I couldn't fight against them. If I rushed out, I would only die."
Zhao Shuning didn't accept this explanation. This should be said by Luo Feiyan, not from this maid's mouth.
"Miss, you're so kind. You definitely won't watch Yanzi go to her death, right?"
Zhao Shuning smiled. Luo Feiyan definitely wouldn't. She was so gentle. But gentleness and kindness shouldn't be used as weapons by those around her.
"Yanzi, you're really eloquent and have found all the ways out for yourself. I'm afraid you had already planned to harm me and rob all my things before that."
"Miss, what are you talking nonsense about?"
Zhao Shuning pressed the standing Yanzi back down again.
"Don't be in a hurry. Wait for me to analyze it with you carefully."
Zhao Shuning sat on the rock and put down the wine jars. She said, "That Wu Xuan is indeed hateful and domineering, but she didn't necessarily want to kill me."
"Miss, have you forgotten? You know her secret. She won't let you live."
"Oh? So you also know her secret?"
Yanzi realized that she had let something slip. She lowered her head, with a panicked look in her eyes.
Zhao Shuning had noticed something wrong when tidying up the room today. Luo Feiyan was a noble lady from the Marquis's Mansion. How could she have only a few pieces of decent silk?
Then she found a few long dresses. The fabric of the dresses was very good, but the size was much smaller than Luo Feiyan's. This was even more strange. Luo Feiyan had a very good figure, and such clothes were completely unlike her style.
Zhao Shuning had already met the other three maids in the yard. Their figures didn't match either. So it seemed that these clothes should belong to the maid Yanzi that Luo Feiyan had mentioned.
A mistress couldn't even wear such good clothes, but the maid was more delicate than the mistress. This looked really strange.
Later, Zhao Shuning found the Soul - Breaking Powder on the bed.
Not long after, she saw that gray figure.
Then she met the gray - clothed figure again in the alley.
If Yanzi wasn't guilty, why did she run away when she saw Zhao Shuning?
"You saw Wu Xuan and Xia Qingyan together that night and heard their conversation, didn't you?"
Yanzi didn't say a word. But her expression had already said it all.
"You saw what you shouldn't have seen and heard what you shouldn't have heard. But you didn't tell 'me' about it, which means you wanted to use this to do something."
A look of cruelty appeared on the girl's face.
"If I remember correctly, I didn't even finish my words that day, but Wu Xuan wanted to kill me. That means someone had already told Wu Xuan that 'I' knew what had happened that night."
Yanzi lowered her body.
Zhao Shuning smiled.
"Yanzi, it was you who informed on me, right?"
The little maid didn't move. But Zhao Shuning could feel that she wasn't nervous. On the contrary, Yanzi had secretly clenched her hands. It seemed that she was preparing for a final blow.
"It's really pitiful. You said Luo Feiyan treated you well and trusted you very much, but you let her down."