A will!
Xie Fengran blurted out instinctively, "Although I was still young when Grandfather passed away, I know that Grandfather's will was already submitted to the emperor."
"The will the Marquis submitted was to save the entire family of the Marquis Mansion. This one left behind was a precaution to protect the descendants. The Marquis gave it to this old servant before he passed away and told this old servant that if there was ever a crisis in the Xie family in the future, this old servant must take this will to the old madam."
"But unexpectedly, right after the Marquis passed away, there were people hunting this old servant down. To protect the will, this old servant had to plan a fake - death scheme, entered the palace with nothing, and has since lived furtively, not daring to show up."
"This old servant thought that the Marquis's last wish would be buried with this old servant. But fortunately, God has eyes. Finally, this old servant got to see Miss Sun!"
"The Marquis's last wish will finally not be in vain."
Xie Sheng had been loyal to the Marquis Mansion and the old Marquis all his life. He had never dared to forget this will.
Little did he know that his words had stirred up a storm in Xie Fengran's heart.
What kind of secret did Grandfather know back then that even the servants around him were not spared!
Was this will the secret that Qin Junxing had been investigating?
Her intuition told her that all the things she couldn't understand before could find answers here.
She wanted to reach out and take it, but then retracted her hand.
Looking at the truth that was within reach, she felt unwilling and reached out again...
After several times like this, Qin Junxing couldn't stand it anymore. He snatched the thing from Xie Sheng's hand, opened it in a few quick moves. After seeing that there was nothing wrong, he dusted it off and threw it into Xie Fengran's arms.
"Read it!"
"..."
Well, now she didn't have to struggle anymore!
Xie Fengran held the will and glanced at Qin Junxing. "Aren't you going to read it?"
"After you read it, if you want me to read it, I will!"
He wouldn't scheme against her, but if she offered it to him on her own initiative, it would be different!
Xie Fengran, unaware of his little thoughts, opened the paper in her hand.
This will had been well - kept by Xie Sheng. The ink had not smudged at all. If it weren't for the aged handwriting, she would have almost thought it was fake.
But after reading the content on it, she didn't dare to think so anymore!
Time passed little by little. It only took two short pages, but Xie Fengran spent half an hour reading it. Seeing that the hand holding the will was getting stiffer and stiffer, Qin Junxing couldn't hold back anymore. He walked over and patted her on the shoulder.
"What's wrong? What's written on it that's so scary!"
"Ah!" Xie Fengran was startled. Her hand trembled, and the will fell to the ground. She came back to her senses. "This... You'd better read it yourself!"
Qin Junxing bent down to pick up the will, held it in his hand, and asked uncertainly, "Do you trust me?"
Xie Fengran seemed to be stunned by the content of the will. She shook her head. "You'd better read it first!"
Her appearance piqued Qin Junxing's curiosity. So he unfolded the will in his hand...
"Miss Sun!" Seeing Qin Junxing take the will, Xie Sheng called out worriedly.
Xie Fengran shook her head and pointed at Qin Junxing. "Do you know who he is?"
Without waiting for Xie Sheng to answer, she continued, "He is the son of the Grand Princess and the only descendant of the Imperial Consort Zhou, Qin Junxing!"
"A person from the Zhou family!"
Xie Sheng looked at Xie Fengran and then at Qin Junxing. Suddenly, he sighed and slumped back down, sighing deeply, "What a fateful entanglement!"
Back then, the Marquis and Lord Zhou were close friends, both extremely talented. One married the reading companion of Emperor Dezong, and the other became in - laws with Emperor Dezong.
Back then, they even intended to become in - laws with each other. But unexpectedly, that incident separated these two close friends...
"Is what's written here true?"
Xie Sheng was pulled up from the ground by Qin Junxing, with the yellowed will in front of his face.
The young face was full of vitality, but it looked extremely ferocious because of extreme anger. The killing aura on him made it a bit hard for Xie Sheng to breathe.
After struggling in the palace for so many years, he had met many noble people, but no one had such a powerful aura as him.
Feeling the strength of the hand in front of him getting stronger and stronger, Xie Sheng coughed, his face flushing red. "Yes, it was written by the Marquis himself!"
"Qin Junxing! He's almost out of breath!"
Qin Junxing suppressed his anger and shook off his hand. He stared fixedly at the man on the ground. "You were the most trusted person of the old Marquis. He surely wouldn't just let you keep a will without any proof. Tell me!"
Xie Sheng covered his neck and coughed twice. He wanted to deny it, but when he met Qin Junxing's eyes, he couldn't say the words of denial. He nodded. "This old servant also has evidence in hand! But this evidence concerns the fate of the Marquis Mansion. This old servant can't give it to you!"
"Are you sure?" Half of Qin Junxing's face was hidden in the candlelight, looking coquettish and terrifying. The corner of his mouth curled up in a strange arc, and he said menacingly, "This prince respects you as someone from Ranran's mansion, but it doesn't mean this prince will blindly indulge you."
"If Ranran doesn't let this prince know about this, it's fine. But now that this prince knows, this prince won't let it go easily. If you don't say it, this prince can still find out even if I kill you!"
Xie Sheng nodded calmly, as if he hadn't heard the threat. "You're right. But if the Crown Prince really marries the eldest miss and the Wang family manages to win over the forces left by the old Marquis, if you still haven't found out the truth by then, the Wang family will be invincible!"
Seeing that Xie Sheng was so fearless as to confront Qin Junxing, Xie Fengran quickly said, "Grand Steward!"
"Miss Sun!"
"Just say what you have to say. The Prince is trustworthy!"
Xie Sheng looked at Xie Fengran and then at Qin Junxing. Suddenly, he smiled and shook his head. "Miss Sun, please forgive this old servant for not following your order on this matter."
Xie Fengran was so angry that she stammered, "You..."
But before she could finish her words, Qin Junxing interrupted her. Qin Junxing looked at Xie Sheng coldly and asked, "What on earth do you want to do?"
"Can this old servant make a deal with you?" Xie Sheng calmly sat on the ground and looked up at Qin Junxing. "Anyway, this old servant is already half - disabled and in a complete mess. I won't live long. Even if you kill me, if I want to take the secret to the grave, you can't do anything about it!"
"Don't worry. This deal won't embarrass you at all. This old servant just wants a promise from you!"
Qin Junxing narrowed his eyes. He suddenly glanced at Xie Fengran and nodded. "I promise you. What deal do you want?"
"Qin Junxing, whatever the deal is, I can make him tell!"
Xie Fengran didn't even realize that when facing this crazy old steward and Qin Junxing, she instinctively trusted Qin Junxing rather than the so - called old steward.
This discovery made Qin Junxing's anger dissipate in an instant. The killing aura on him faded. "It's okay. Trust me!"
Before Xie Fengran could say anything, Xie Sheng sighed faintly. "This old servant wants this deal to be known only between us."
"No way. What can't I know!"
Qin Junxing tilted his head and whispered to Xie Fengran, "Go find Qingye first. Walk around here. I'll tell you later."
"..." Xie Fengran looked at him suspiciously. Then she looked at the determined old steward. After thinking for a while, she finally turned around and left the room, following the guard to find Qingye.
Seeing that she had left, Qin Junxing put away his smile and asked coldly, "She's gone. Now tell me, what's the deal?"
Xie Sheng looked up. There was a glint in his cloudy eyes. He said word by word, "Marry Miss Sun! As long as you marry Miss Sun, this old servant will immediately present the evidence in hand!"