The daily life of a concubine's daughter

Chapter 380 The Old Duke Vomits Blood

Someone thought of the missing Shi Mingwei and felt that something was wrong. They quickly tied the well rope and went down to fish the person out of the well.

The body was still warm, the belt was loose, the pants were pulled down to the knees, and the buttocks were exposed. It was obvious that he drowned in the well while urinating.

Turning around, who else could it be but the Second Master?

The news immediately reached the ears of all the masters, and they were frightened out of their wits.

The old Duke got up in the middle of the night to investigate, and only found out that Shi Mingwei stepped on his own urine, slipped into the well and drowned.

The old man was angry, ashamed and sad.

Shi Mingwei was angry because he disrespected his ancestors. How could the well in the ancestral hall be used as a toilet? It was shameful that Shi Mingwei died in a very undignified way. It was sad that the old man sent the young man to his death.

He did not dare to fully believe that Shi Mingwei died accidentally, so he interrogated everyone one by one and found out that the woman was Shi Mingchen's servant.

The few guards who knew about the incident were afraid of being beaten to death by their master, so they insisted that they had no idea a woman had entered the ancestral hall, let alone who the woman was.

The old Duke was not a good person and ordered his men to beat him with a stick.

One of the guards could not bear the beating and cried, "Old Master, we really didn't see any woman. Maybe she sneaked in. We were really careless. If there really was a woman, and if the Second Master was really killed by that woman, why not try those maids that the Second Master had hurt!"

The old Duke knew Shi Mingwei's habit and scolded him severely. The Duke of Zhenguo warned him to change. It had been many days since he had heard any rumors about Shi Mingwei harming maids, so he thought he had really changed.

Moreover, these days, there are a lot of things going on inside and outside the palace, and the old duke has long forgotten about this useless second grandson.

He also ordered someone to fetch the maids that Zheng had "dealt with".

Some maids stayed in the Duke's Mansion, doing the dirtiest and most tiring work. They were so scared that their souls left their bodies. They cried and rushed to prove that they had not been to the ancestral hall last night.

Another group of maids were sent to the farm, and by the time the guards went to investigate and came back, it was already dawn.

The lights in Hanxu Hall were on all night.

Everyone had worked hard for several days to prepare for Shi Yao's wedding. They had finally sent all the guests away last night and were planning to take a rest, but then this tragedy happened. They had been sitting all night and were exhausted, like eggplants hit by frost.

When the lady heard the bad news, she fainted.

Le An Ning and her two children changed into linen clothes and wrapped white scarves on their heads. The three of them hugged each other and cried bitterly. One of them called out to her husband miserably, and the other two cried out to their father.

The guard reported: "According to the head of the village, eight of the maids from Tangxi Courtyard who were sent over by the eldest wife have passed away, and the remaining five have married and had children in the village.

Last night, the village head specially prepared a banquet to celebrate the second aunt's wedding. After the banquet, the five women stayed to clean up the leftovers. They were busy until midnight and then went back to their rooms.

What this means is that these maids who were released had the motive to kill Shi Mingwei, but they did not have the time to do so.

The coroner under the old Duke found out that Shi Mingwei died at the hour of Kuaizi.

Some people remember that firecrackers were being set off in the mansion at that time. There was some noise when Shi Mingwei fell into the well, and he may have even called for help, but it was drowned out by the sound of firecrackers.

The old Duke was tired and angry, his eyes were red and bloodshot, and he said, "Mingwei was most likely murdered."

The Duke of Zhenguo sat in a chair, looking sickly. He glanced coldly at Shi Mingkui, Shi Mingchen, Rong Shi, Le Anning and others, and pounded the table angrily:

"Investigate, continue investigating! How dare this person kill my son in the Zhenguo Mansion? If this person is not found, won't everyone be in danger and there will be no peace forever? Father, your son requests that you thoroughly investigate everyone in the mansion!"

Fu Nanjun lowered his head and thought, other people are not as bad as Shi Mingwei, who treats human life as a joke. Unless they are forced to a dead end, who would risk killing someone for no reason?

The people in the third room were all silent.

Shi Mingchen knelt on the ground, his knees aching but he dared not cry out.

He never expected that, feeling sorry for his second brother being lonely in the ancestral hall, he ordered the servant to send two jars of wine, and his second brother would get drunk and fall into the well.

The elders didn't say anything about him for his second brother's death, but he was to blame.

The old king was about to order everyone in the palace to come out and confront him one by one, when the butler hurried in, his face pale and sweaty, and his voice was filled with tears:

"Oh no! Old Master, Duke, the courtyard of the eldest aunt in Prince Cheng's mansion caught fire last night, and the eldest aunt and her maid Shi Mi were killed!

King Cheng didn't believe that his great aunt was gone, so he sealed off the capital and was searching the entire city!

The first place to search is our house. Right now, King Cheng is on his way to our house!"

Just these few sentences contain so much information.

Others may not know Shi Mingzhu's background, but don't Shi's family members know?

The same thought popped up in everyone's mind: Shi Mingzhu was either killed, died in the fire, or she was alive and fled to the northwest to seek refuge with the Fifth Prince!

King Cheng Zhou Shao suspected the Shi family and was the first to search the Shi family. Did it mean that the emperor suspected something and deliberately condoned it?

The Shi family was caught off guard by the news. The old Duke felt a sharp pain in his chest and saw stars. He clenched his fists tightly, trying to endure the pain and quickly make some arrangements. Unexpectedly, he suddenly vomited blood.

Then he slumped limply into his chair.

"Old Master!"

Everyone in the Shi family was suddenly in chaos.

The chief steward was experienced and pinched the old Duke's philtrum so hard that blood oozed out of it. Only then did the old Duke slowly open his eyes.

He couldn't see the person in front of him clearly, so he just said weakly: "Don't tell the old lady, keep it a secret for as long as possible. The Shi family, just treat Zhuzhu as dead."

After saying these two sentences, he could no longer speak and just raised his hand and pointed at his eldest son.

The Duke of Zhenguo's anger had disappeared, and he said with tears in his eyes: "Father, I know what to do."

He ordered Shi Jianan to take care of his old father, and he immediately took people to deal with the old duke's and his own study, burning all the things that should not be kept.

He handed this matter over to the third son Shi Mingzhen and the fifth son Shi Mingying from the second branch, while he himself led the chief steward to negotiate at the gate of the mansion to buy time for his nephews.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhou Shao arrived and the Duke of Zhenguo personally opened the door to welcome him.

Before Zhou Shao opened his mouth, the Duke of Zhenguo asked in tears: "Fourth Prince, where is my Zhuzhu? I handed her over to you, but where is she?"

Zhou Shao's words were stuck in his throat, and his doubts were also stuck in his throat. In the end, he just bowed to the Duke of Zhenguo and said, "It's my fault for not taking good care of Zhuzhu. In three days, I will give you an explanation."

Seeing the Shi family hanging up the white banner, he was stunned for a moment and murmured, "Zhuzhu, she may not be dead. I will find her. How can you hang up the white banner first?"

The Duke of Zhenguo was inconsolable: "I am not worthy of being called 'son-in-law' by the prince. Zhuzhu has married the Fourth Prince, how can her parents hold a funeral for her married daughter?

This white banner is hung for my second son and my wife. My son was murdered last night, and my wife died of illness after hearing the bad news.

After saying this, she covered her hands and cried bitterly.