Chapter 444 - The Witness Could Be Handed over to Someone Else!
Chapter 444 The Witness Could Be Handed over to Someone Else!
"He's gone? Chase him and capture him dead or alive!" Old Madam also heard it in the room. She got so furious that her face turned livid. Didn't Rui'an Great Elder Princess mean it?
"Yes, Mother, I'll send some servants to look for him right away," Madam of Duke Xing said anxiously.
Watching Madam of Duke Xing leaving in a hurry, Old Madam thought with her face darkening that she might have been too kind to this daughter-in-law so that now she did wrong repeatedly.
"Grandma..." Shao Cailing said in a choked voice.
Old Madam waved impatiently and said, "Go back and take care of your mother. Your second aunt will find out the truth."
Seeing Old Madam was angry, the two sisters exchanged glances helplessly and didn't dare to say anything else. They could only leave with grievances and hurried back to the Third Madam's courtyard.
"What? He ran away yesterday, and no one discovered it?" Lying in bed, the Third Madam showed anger on her pale face after hearing her two daughters' words.
She was not stupid, and was more thoughtful than her two daughters. The servants of Duke Xing's Mansion had always stuck to rules. Shouldn't the missing of someone be reported to Madam of Duke Xing as soon as possible? How could they find that the coachman had gone till now? Shouldn't such an important person have been locked up and interrogated yesterday?
She had just been suspicious before, but now she was almost sure that it had something to do with Madam of Duke Xing.
However, she had always been no match for Madam of Duke Xing and in less favored with Old Madam. Compared with Madam of Duke Xing who was Old Madam's niece and had been raised by Old Madam since her childhood, the Third Madam was considerably inferior to Madam of Duke Xing.
What was more, now the entire Duke Xing's Mansion was in the hand of Madam of Duke Xing. The third branch was much more inferior to the second branch, and her husband was less capable than Duke Xing and just held a nominal position of an intermediate rank at present.
"Mother, does it have anything to do with Second Aunt? Did Second Aunt deliberately let the coachman go?" Shao Cailing said indignantly.
Shao Caihuan didn't say anything, but her expression suggested that she had the same thought.
The Third Madam clenched her teeth and thought for a moment. Lying in bed, she reached out to shake her hand with difficulty and said, "Caihuan, Cailing, it has nothing to do with you. Since your Second Aunt has begun to check it out, just leave it to her!"
Not to mention her two daughters, even the Third Madam had no confidence in herself when confronting her second sister-in-law. So she wouldn't let her two daughters argue with Madam of Duke Xing.
Otherwise, they could be blamed for disrespecting their elder before explaining the matter. The marriages of her two daughters were going to be discussed, so their reputation couldn't be damaged at all.
She could only keep this in mind now and see what she could do later.
The chief branch had a daughter whose identity had been admitted by Rui'an Great Elder Princess. Based on Rui'an Great Elder Princess's persistence in protecting the kid, she could tell that Rui'an Great Elder Princess would definitely support the kid. Although the Third Madam did not see the scene in person, she had struggled to send someone to inquire about the whole story just now.
The Second Miss of Ningyuan Army General's Mansion seemed to be a delicate girl.
However, as an orphan, she defeated the First Miss of Ningyuan Army General's Mansion who had the support of Duke Yong's Mansion and was even in collusion with Madam of Duke Xing, which indicated that she was unusual.
The second branch had always been overbearing, including Madam of Duke Xing and her two children. Now the chief branch had the support of Rui'an Great Elder Princess and the wise girl Qin Wanru. It seemed that Duke Xing's Mansion would become lively. That was good. She decided to do nothing for the time being and just wait for the opportunity.
"Mother, I think it has something to do with Second Aunt. If she begins to check..." At the thought that her mother had been deceived, Shao Cailing held her mother's hand and said.
"Shut up. What are you talking about?" the Third Madam said with a serious face. She had made up her mind to avoid getting her daughters involved in this matter. Let alone her two daughters, even the three of them were no match for the Second Madam of Duke Xing's Mansion for the time being.
Shao Cailing was startled. Seeing her mother's face turn pale due to rage, she immediately panicked and said tearfully with grievances, "Mother..."
"Huan'er, teach her a lesson and make her understand how to respect elders. Since your second aunt has intervened in this matter, you two should stay away from it." The Third Madam turned to her elder daughter and said with difficulty.
"Mother, I understand!" Shao Caihuan also had doubts, but seeing that her mother was really angry, she didn't dare to talk back and hurriedly dragged Shao Cailing to stop her from talking.
Hearing her Mother's and sister's words, Shao Cailing felt both angry and aggrieved. At the thought that she considered everything for her mother but was blamed by her mother, she stood up and ran out with tears.
Seeing her little daughter run away in anger, the Third Madam intended to get up. However, she was not only weak, but also strained her wound. So she fell on the bed again because of the pain.
"Mother!" Shao Caihuan screamed and hurriedly came over to help her.
"Go... to watch your sister. Don't let her get into trouble." The Third Madam gasped and said. At this moment, the entire mansion was in a mess, so Old Madam must be very upset. She was afraid that her naive little daughter would really go to Madam of Duke Xing's courtyard and say something. In this case, Old Madam would definitely not help her daughter.
"Okay, Mother. I'll go right away!" Shao Caihuan also understood it and hurriedly chased after her sister.
When Rui'an Great Elder Princess found Qin Wanru, she had freshened up with the help of two maids and put on a suit of clothes Madam of Duke Xing sent here for showing her kindness.
The clothes were beautiful of an appropriate size.
The gorgeous patterns, which were almost embroidered with gold threads, made the clothes not only beautiful but also eye-catching. Two flying wide half-sleeves were even more striking.
Seeing Qin Wanru dressed in this clothes, Rui'an Great Elder Princess looked less sullen. Her granddaughter should be dressed in such gorgeous clothes.
Seeing Rui'an Great Elder Princess come in, Qin Wanru, who was sitting in front of the dressing table and having her hair stirred by Qu Le, stood up and bowed to Rui'an Great Elder Princess.
"Do you still have a headache? Why did you wash your hair just now?" Rui'an Great Elder Princess dragged her aside, sat down, looked at her beautiful black hair and asked.
"It's warm in the daytime and gets cold at night, so it's easy to catch a cold and feel uncomfortable. I don't have a headache now. I'm fine?" Qin Wanru said with a smile, and her eyes were filled with tenderness and gentleness.
She had delicate features. She had not fully grown because of her young age, so her petite figure and childishness made her less striking than those bright Misses. Nevertheless, her sweet look was unique.
Rui'an Great Elder Princess felt her heart melted when stared by her watery eyes.
Qin Wanru was such a pretty and sweet girl. She wondered what the old woman of Duke Xing's Mansion was thinking and what made her pleased with the First Miss of Qin's Mansion while displeased with Qin Wanru!
"That's good. Just now I went to Duke Xing's Mansion and told Old Madam to ask the clan elder to open the ancestral hall tomorrow. She agreed. But I heard that the First Miss of Qin's Mansion bumped into the Third Madam of Duke Xing's Mansion and it was a premeditated accident. There were several quilts in the carriage."
Rui'an Great Elder Princess said with her face darkening.
"There were several quilts? Does it mean that she was prepared to bump into the carriage? How could she have such powerful connections?" Qin Wanru was shocked and said to herself in surprise.
"Exactly. Not to mention her, even Ningyuan Army general is incapable of extending his connections to Duke Xing's Mansion. It hasn't been long since they moved to the capital city. Duke Xing's Mansion isn't a place where anyone can extend his connections," Rui'an Great Elder Princess said with a sneer, and her face became increasingly gloomy.
She had seen it clearly. Madam of Duke Xing was definitely involved in this.
Afraid that Qin Wanru would be anxious, Rui'an Great Elder Princess comforted her, "Take it easy. Nothing to be achieved rashly. The two daughters of the third branch of Duke Xing's Mansion went to check the carriage, but they were stopped by an old maid. The old maid is here at this moment."
"An old maid stopped them from checking?" Qin Wanru raised her watery eyes and looked at Rui'an Great Elder Princess.
"Yes, an old maid dared to do that with no master's order!" Rui'an Great Elder Princess snorted. She certainly did not believe an old maid could be so bold.
However, Qin Wanru didn't say anything. After thinking for a while, she grabbed the hand of Rui'an Great Elder Princess and said in a sweet tone, "Grandma, let's hand the old maid over to Third Madam!"
"The third branch of Duke Xing's Mansion?" Rui'an Great Elder Princess frowned in confusion.
"Think about it. The old maid just received an order to guard the carriage over there and prevent others from checking it. Although it's Qin Yuru's carriage, she can claim that it's the other mansion's carriage and shouldn't be checked by others. Otherwise, no other mansion will dare to come to Duke Xing's Mansion."
Qin Wanru said with a sweet smile. Her eyes were carefree, and her fluttering long eyelashes covered the slight darkness in her eyes.
"That's true. But there were quilts in Qin Yuru's carriage. The one behind the old maid must be afraid of being found out!" After thinking for a while, Rui'an Great Elder said seriously.
"But the old maid must know nothing. She just received the order to do this job well. Even if you find out the person giving the order, she didn't do anything wrong, because she just instructed the old maid to guard the carriage of the other mansion and not allow others in their mansion to check it."
Qin Wanru continued saying with a pleasant smile.
Rui'an Great Elder Princess fell silent for a moment and nodded. Qin Wanru was right. No mansion would allow anyone in their mansion to check the carriages of other mansions at will.
"So this old maid is useless although you've brought her back!" Qin Wanru said softly with a smile.
"So I should just let her go?" Rui'an Great Elder Princess said reluctantly.
"Of course not! Since we've caught her, we can't just let her go. You can hand her over to the Third Madam. If there's anyone else who can get some clues out of her, it should be the Third Madam. Besides, she's the victim, so it's reasonable for her to inquire about the situation!"
Qin Wanru explained.
Rui'an Great Elder Princess was not familiar with Duke Xing's Mansion. Although she caught the old maid, she would find out nothing in the end. However, the situation was different when it came to the Third Madam. Although she could not compare with Madam of Duke Xing, after living in their mansion for so many years, anyway she had some connections enabling her to find out something.
It could be said that the old maid must be useless in the hands of Rui'an Great Elder Princess, but she was not necessarily useless in the hands of the Third Madam of Duke Xing's Mansion. Moreover, it didn't matter even if she was useless. She was an idle chess piece, and it was not the time to turn it.