Chapter Thirty-One: Separation

  Everyone in the hall looked at Zhou Nian's eyes with even more malice, as if they would chop Zhou Nian into pieces the next moment.

  Nanny also knew that the more she spoke, the more she would offend everyone. But if she didn't speak, the consequences waiting for her would be even worse. She had to simplify and soften the situation at the time, trying her best to make these people listen without killing her directly or torturing her half to death, which was what she least wanted.

  "That night, two days before, I received a letter from those hidden in the dark, saying that they would take action in two days and asked me to do some hands and feet, secretly helping them. I agreed, so I gave Fan's wife some medicine that made her sleep unconscious, and then Miss didn't sleep for two days because she was taking care of her aunt. That night, Miss's fainting was just an opportunity. After Miss fainted, I sent some sweet soup with medicine to the maids in Miss's room, and indeed, they all fainted. At this time, I went to Aunt's room and forced her to drink a bowl of medicine. Miss, these were all done under Xu's wife's coercion, I didn't want to do it!" Zhou's servant was scared by several people's murderous eyes, only knowing that she kept shouting that it was Xu's wife who instructed her to do so.

  "Shut up." Xu Mingjin's calm voice made the servant girl, Zhou, who had been shouting that it was Madam Xu's orders, immediately fall silent.

  "Don't talk nonsense, continue with what you were saying."

  "Yes." Zhou hurriedly responded, wiping the sweat from her forehead, and continued: "The maids in the mistress's room were keeping watch, so I couldn't do anything at first. Later, I thought there was no time to waste, so I just went ahead and gave them all medicine too. I saw Mistress Fan go myself. She left quickly, without much suffering." Zhou was racking her brains to think of more things to say to mitigate her guilt, when suddenly

  "Zhou Niangniang, what did my mother say before she died?" interrupted by Xu Mingjin.

  Xu Mingjin had just been rescued by Ze Gongzi and managed to escape, but when he ran to Fan Furen's house, she had already been dead for a long time. Zhou Mama was shocked upon hearing this, she hadn't expected Xu Mingjin to ask her such a thing, so she stood there in a daze.

  "Zhou Nianiang, what did my mother say before she died?" Xu Mingjin asked again.

  Nanny Zhou made an effort to recall: "At the time, Madame Fan was unconscious and didn't wake up until the servant girl gave her medicine. She struggled constantly but never got a chance to say anything before she died."

  Xu Mingjin stood up from his chair, walked slowly to Zhou's side and looked down at her eyes, saying: "Look into my eyes and say it again."

  Nanny Zhou slowly raised her head, but as soon as she met Xu Mingjin's gaze, she was immediately intimidated by the ominous clouds in his eyes and quickly lowered her head: "I am guilty! I lied. At that time, Madam Fan had been drugged and couldn't die immediately. She struggled to get up and go outside, calling out for Miss and Young Master's names. I held her down tightly. Just a moment later, she died." Nanny Zhou finally finished speaking and quickly kowtowed: "I am guilty! Please spare my life, Miss!"

  "You'd better ask your mother about that! If she can forgive you, I won't kill you!" Xu Mingjin said coldly.

  Old Mrs. Zhou's pale old face immediately showed a desperate look.

  Xu Mingjin didn't let her off: "Continue speaking."

  Nanny Zhou wanted to say some words of apology, but she knew that no one here wanted to listen. She was afraid that if she continued to talk nonsense, she would be cut off directly, so she could only endure the fear in her heart and continue: "After putting Madam Fan's body back on the bed, I led a few other nannies into Young Master's room and set fire to it. When the flames got bigger, we escaped with our people. As for what happened next, I don't know."

  Xu Mingxuan didn't wait for her to finish, and rushed up to her, punching and kicking her. It was all her fault! This old woman had ruined his face. If it weren't for Zeyou's good medicine, he wouldn't be able to show his face now.

  Xu Mingxuan was only a seven-year-old child, how much strength could he have? So everyone let him punch and kick Zhou Ayi. Chun Xing was afraid that if Zhou Ayi hurt Xu Mingxuan, what would happen. So she persuaded him with kind words and pulled the angry Xu Mingxuan back.

  Xu Mingjin seemed to have not seen Xu Mingxuan's violence towards Zhou Mama, and said to her: "Next, you will tell me everything about the Xu Shangshu Mansion, no matter how big or small, you must tell me all."

  Nanny Zhou listened, and in her heart, she had even more worries about Mrs. Xu. Originally, she was very certain that Mrs. Xu could easily control a small concubine like pinching a little chicken, but now, her thoughts were overturned. To be fair, between Xu Mingjin and Mrs. Xu, Nanny Zhou was more worried about Mrs. Xu. She harbored deep worries for Mrs. Xu, yet didn't dare to hide anything as she spoke to Xu Mingjin about the past affairs of the people in the Shangshu Mansion.

  The old lady then unfolded a four-hour academic conference to describe the past of the Shangshu Fu people's thousand postures and hundred appearances. The audience included Ze Gongzi, Fan Yicheng, Xu Mingjin sister and brother, and guest Yan Yuwei.

  Also, with Chun Xing as the leader, a group of maidservants waited. There were too many people to count, and only remembered that Zhou Mama's expression was dull and her mouth was dry when she finished speaking, and she rolled her eyes. Xu Mingjin showed a thoughtful expression.

  Zhou Nainai was carried back to the prison cell, finally fainting from talking too much. The other nannies and maids who were kneeling with her showed expressions of sadness and grief.

  This night is finally over.

  On the second day, everyone was ready early in the morning.

  Ze Gongzi then called Xu Mingjin and Fan Yicheng to one side, asking about their arrangements after arriving in the capital. This should have been discussed last night, but because Xu Mingjin spent all his time questioning Zhou Mama, Ze Gongzi only called them aside at the moment of departure.

  Fan Yicheng listened to Ze Gongzi's words and turned his head towards Xu Mingjin, waiting for her to make a decision.

  Xu Mingjin didn't notice Fan Yicheng's expression, she thought for a moment as usual and said to Ze Gongzi: "My uncle will go to the Qi family medicine shop first."

  "And you?" Zhe Gongzi gazed deeply at Xu Mingjin.

  "I'm a girl from a good family, it's really not proper for me to live in someone else's home." Xu Mingjin said.

  "Are you going back to the Xu family?" asked Zé Gōngzǐ.

  Xu Mingjin shook his head and said: "I will definitely go back to the Xu family, it's just not now."

  "Then where will you stay first?" Fan Yicheng asked.

  "Then I'll stay in an inn first." Xu Mingjin thought for a moment and said, "I can still afford to stay in an inn. It's just that I don't know how the housing prices are in the capital city. If they're not too expensive, I'll buy a courtyard house to live in first. I'm sure I'll think of a way to return to the Xu family."

  "Has Miss Xu ever thought of going back to the Xu family directly?"

  "It's not time yet."

  The conversation ends here.

  Next was to set off on the road, Xu Mingjin originally thought that Ze Gongzi's identity was different from ordinary people, and it was very likely that he was the crown prince, although she had not confirmed it yet. For someone like him, generally when traveling or something, they would make a big show of it, with a lot of fanfare, the more lively the scene, the better, but later on, she thought that Ze Gongzi should be his alias, they were already friends, their friendship was deep, he hadn't told her who he really was, his identity was secretive, and people who are secretive generally keep a low profile.

  Xu Mingjin wasn't wrong, Ze Gongzi indeed didn't have any grand procession or fanfare, very low-key, so low-key that on the way back to Beijing, they only had these few horse-drawn carriages. They were the most ordinary horse-drawn carriages, the kind you could see everywhere on the streets, not even as good as the one Mrs. Xu used to pick them up. Xu Mingjin pouted, it seemed that they had suffered a lot on this trip, with such poor-quality horse-drawn carriages, which must have been even more bumpy, and Xu Mingjin couldn't help but worry about his own little butt.

  Zhe Gongzi's move was actually out of consideration for her lack of protection. If he were to openly bring Xu Mingjin and his entourage back to the capital, it would certainly cause a stir throughout the city the next day. He didn't want that, and neither did Xu Mingjin, who absolutely wouldn't want to be the subject of gossip among the entire city as soon as she returned to the capital. After all, there had never been a woman escorted back to the capital by the current crown prince in the Shengxi dynasty. Zhe Gongzi looked at Xu Mingjin and saw that she was showing a worried expression towards those carriages, and he couldn't help but slightly raise the corner of his mouth.

  Xu Mingjin felt something was off as soon as he got into the horse carriage.

  The carriage was equipped with all sorts of facilities, but the most impressive thing was that the entire floor of the carriage was covered with a thick layer of cushions. As soon as Xu Mingjin sat down, he felt extremely soft and comfortable. It seemed to have its own unique charm, what was this called? Xu Mingjin racked his brains for half a day, and could only think of one phrase: understated luxury.

  Xu Mingjin didn't think about anything else, she went up and leaned there to make up for her sleep. Chun Xing and Qiu Yun, etc., all knew that Xu Mingjin was thinking of making up for her sleep at this time, so they sat aside wisely and carefully made no noise.

  Xu Mingjin was sleeping drowsily when she felt the carriage swaying, so she turned over and found a more comfortable position to continue sleeping.

  This trip also took half a month, but all the way to the capital was just a smooth ride, no thrilling scenes of assassination or ambush that Xu Mingjin had imagined. Although they had Zegongzi's low-key luxurious carriage, which wasn't too uncomfortable, Xu Mingjin still felt it was too boring. The reason was that it was too idle. By the end, she didn't even know whether to hope for an assassin to appear or not, and she was torn about it all along the way.

  That evening, they finally arrived in the suburbs of Beijing.

  The horse carriage suddenly came to a stop.

  Xu Mingjin was perplexed, and just then, she heard a low knocking sound coming from the window of the carriage. She pulled open the curtain inside the carriage and saw Zhe Gongzi standing beside the carriage. Xu Mingjin asked in confusion: "Zhe Gongzi, do you have something to say?"

  Zi Gongzi said: "Miss Xu, I still have something to attend to, so let's part ways here. If you encounter any trouble, go to the Qi family medicine shop and look for me. Take out that jade pendant I gave you, and the shopkeeper will help you." After finishing speaking, Zi Gongzi turned his horse around and led his men onto another road, disappearing from view in no time.

  Xu Mingjin blinked, and suddenly felt a tinge of sadness in her heart. However, she quickly hid this emotion. At this time, Fan Yicheng also rode over on horseback and asked Xu Mingjin, "Is he gone?"

  Xu Mingjin nodded.

  "Then let's go too!" Fan Yicheng said. Xu Mingjin nodded, put down the curtain, and the horse carriage quickly started running towards the big road in the direction of the capital again.