Chapter 19

The wet nurse Zhang shi kneeled down. “Da furen, in the afternoon, I had taken San shaoye out for fresh air in the garden but shaoye had disappeared. I looked everywhere several times. There’s only this place left to search.”

Li Xiao Ran’s eyebrows furrowed even more. Sanfang didn’t have any children. All they had was the one adopted son. If something happened, it would be uncertain whether or not Zhou shiwould be able to endure it. As he contemplated, he questioned, “Does San furen know about this?”

The wet nurse’s face paled. “No, she doesn’t. Nubi was afraid furen wouldn’t be able to endure it. Instead I said Lao furen had invited San shaoye over.”

Li Xiao Ran knew how important the child was to Zhou shi and immediately ordered people to search for him.

The corners of Li Chang Xi’s mouth lifted up. “That’s right, we have to search thoroughly, otherwise who knows if someone could slip and fall into the pond in this dark night.”

Li Xiao Ran looked at her stonily. “What kind of jiejie are you that you would curse your San di? Preposterous!”

“I was simply worried about San di and had said something nonsensical!” Li Chang Xi quickly responded.

Li Xiao Ran snorted coldly.

Da furen glanced over the still water. In a quiet voice, she said, “Laoye, what Xiaowu said isn’t wrong. Everything is possible. Wasn’t it last year that Zuo Yushi’s youngest son fell in the water when he was playing around? There’s so many people here. You and I should head to Nan Yuan and rest there while we wait for the results.”

Li Xiao Ran couldn’t believe the heap of misfortunate events happening. His mood worsened as he nodded his head and made his way towards Nan Yuan.

Meanwhile Da furen was giving orders, “Thoroughly search the area around the waters.” Then she briefly exchanged a look with Li Chang Xi.

Li Chang Xi understood right away. “Mother, don’t you worry. I’ll stay behind and make sure we’ll find San di.”

Satisfied, Da furen took her people and headed towards Nan Yuan.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Li Chang Xi regained her composure as she lifted her chin and arrogantly barked, “All of you, hurry and search that area over there!”

Everyone present immediately began searching the wild grass and the pond. Using their lantern, they walked around and repeatedly called “San shaoye”. However, even after a long moment, there was still no reply.

Right then, someone shouted in horror, “San shaoye’s shoes!!” The person picked up the floating shoes, holding it as if it was a precious gem, and handed it over to Li Chang Xi.

Li Chang Xi nodded and said, “Oh no, it looks like San di really did fall into the water. Hurry and search again!” In her head, she was going over what the two mumus had said, that they had tossed the body into the pond. It must be somewhere here. The body should float up anytime soon. Li Chang Xi instructed the people to search carefully and they quickly obeyed.

Li Chang Xi waited for a very long time, to the point she was losing patience. Looking around, for some reason, she suddenly slipped and fell. She yelled out loud but didn’t even have enough time to hold onto the rocks before she found her body sinking into the water.

Growing up in the Capital, Li Chang Xi had an easy and luxurious life as a xiaojie. She didn’t know how to swim. The only thing she could do was splash around and raced forward. Out of nowhere, she felt a pair of hands grabbing her ankle and pulled her downwards. Her mind went blank as she screamed at the top of her lungs only to end up drinking water instead. She panicked. The weeds in the pond were deadly as they tangled around her, causing her to struggle vigorously. As a result, she found herself even more tangled to the point she couldn’t breathe.

In the waters, she thought she saw a pale, white face. But it was gone as quick as it had appeared, not giving her a chance to examine carefully, as if it was just her imagination. Her entire body was dragged down.

“Quick! Quick! Hurry and rescue Wu xiaojie!” Meanwhile on the shore, everyone was shouting in unison. In a matter of seconds, bodyguards came running over and yet, everyone was hesitant to jump in. This was because everyone knew how precious Wu xiaojie’s body was. If she was touched by a man not worthy of her status then death would be the only way out for the man.

At long last, there was a wet nurse who knew how to swim as she jumped in the water. Time passed as the nurse searched for Li Chang Xi. Eventually she was found tangled with all the weeds. The nurse quickly swam over and dragged her out of there onto the shore. Everyone began to surround Chang Xi. Her pupils had dilated and turned white causing everyone to panic as they started slapping and shaking her. Soon, Li Chang Xi began to breathe again.

One of the wet nurses suddenly made a noise. Everyone focused and noticed on the left side of Li Chang Xi’s face was two wound marks. The marks appeared to be made by a sharp rock. The wound was so deep that one could see the bones and it didn’t stop bleeding either.

Everyone present knew this was going to be a big problem. They began to shout loudly, “Quick! Quickly bring Wu xiaojie to Nan Yuan!”

In a hurry, they carried Li Chang Xi to Nan Yuan. As everyone entered Nan Yuan, they immediately saw Li Xiao Ran sitting in the yard and Da furen had a strange expression on her face. Qi yiniang, who was supposed to be sick, was also present and cautiously serving tea.

When Li Xiao Ran entered Nan Yuan, he had intended to lecture Li Wei Yang. However, Li Wei Yang was nowhere to be found. Added to that, he witnessed a whole bunch of people carrying Li Chang Xi inside, causing him to be upset. “What happened now?!”

A wet nurse instantly spoke up, “Laoye, Wu xiaojie was standing beside the water and for some reason, she suddenly fell in. I thought it was very weird.”

Li Xiao Ran abruptly stood up.

Da furen rushed over to Li Chang Xi’s side with affection. When she saw Li Chang Xi’s face though, she was frightened and stumbled backwards. “Aiya, my poor child, what happened to your beautiful face?”

Li Xiao Ran briefly looked at Li Chang Xi’s face. His heart dropped. The wounds have ruined the face!

“Nubi also found San shaoye’s shoes but we couldn’t find the body. Nubi’s afraid San shaoye has already fallen into the water and met an unfortunate fate. . .” the wet nurse explained.

Da furen was initially shocked over the fact that Qi yiniang was still alive and then she had to see Li Chang Xi’s ruined beauty. She suppressed the panic within her, putting on a sorrowful expression. “Our family has always been peaceful. . .”

Lin mumu added her two cents on the side, “Ever since San xiaojie returned, the misfortunate things kept happening. This time, her cursed fate had even killed San shaoye. How are we going to explain this to San furen? Not to mention, San shaoye is the sole heir to Sanfang!”

Qi yiniang’s face turned ashen. She finally understood this was all part of Da furen’s scheme. And part of Da furen’s scheme was to associate her supposed death to Wei Yang’s cursed fate. Wei Yang was supposed to visit Nan Yuan and as a result, caused Qi yiniang’s death. To top it off, her fate had also caused the sole heir of Sanfang to die. Even if Wei Yang was innocent, in order to give Sanfang justice, laoye would definitely punish Wei Yang. . . .

Da furen . . . is truly vicious!

Qi yiniang quickly knelt on the ground. “Laoye, Wei Yang is only a child. This has nothing to do with Wei Yang. Wei Yang—”

Lin mumu glared at Qi yiniang. “Qi yiniang, what you said is incorrect. San xiaojie shouldn’t have ignored the rules set out by laoye and visited Nan Yuan. The moment San xiaojie arrived, San shaoye disappeared and right now, even Wu xiaojie is injured. Qi yiniang, how can you say this has nothing to do with San xiaojie?”

“Father, what has happened here?” A voice sounded from outside the courtyard. Then slowly, Li Wei Yang, along with Bai Zhi, entered. She was wearing a pale yellow dress, looking like the first blossom in spring. It was fresh and youthful. Her eyes were big and sparkled with clarity, yet there was suspicion in her gaze as she walked in.

Li Xiao Ran was stunned. He was about to get angry, but for some reason, he couldn’t anymore.

Da furen was tense. Then she immediately put on her benevolent mother act. “Wei Yang, because of you, San furen’s beloved son has disappeared. It looks like we cannot keep you here in our estate!”

Li Wei Yang’s eyes widened, looking very innocent. “Mother, what did you just say about San di? But I just saw San di playing in the flower garden!”

Da furen’s expression instantly changed.