They saw a young servant anxiously standing next to Fen Dai. In her hand was a platter carrying tea, but she had already spilled it by accident. Han shi was frowning and wiping away the tea that had spilled on her.
The servant appeared to want to say something to Fen Dai, but Fen Dai suddenly shouting caused everyone to look over. This caused the words she was about to say to be swallowed back down.
Feng Yu Heng glanced to the side at Huang Quan and saw Huang Quan slightly nod, giving her an understanding, thus she spoke up and said: “It’s just a servant spilling some tea. It’s nothing worth fussing over.”
Hearing her say this, everyone felt this was insignificant, and Fen Dai could see that the servant seemed to have something to say. Moreover, this was one of her courtyard’s servants, so she took advantage of the situation and said: “That’s right, I will just take care of handing down a punishment to this servant later. Today is the day of father’s welcoming feast. There is no need to ruin the atmosphere over this small matter.” Seeing that nobody was looking over anymore, she quietly asked the servant: “What exactly happened?”
The servant leaned over and whispered into her ear: “Didn’t send people to secretly looked for Pei’er? Just now, this servant received words saying that someone saw Pei’er next to a well in the eldest young miss’ courtyard?”
“What?” Fen Dai was extremely shocked. Forcefully lowering her voice, she asked: “What is Pei’er doing there?”
“I heard that she was kneeling next to the well.”
Feng Fen Dai’s indignant little heart exploded once more. That damnable Feng Chen Yu captured her servant and dared to punish her secretly?
She suddenly stood up, but her movements were too wide, knocking over the bowls in front of her. Everyone was given another shock, as they wanted to ask her what exactly was happening, but they saw Fen Dai had a face full of anger. Rushing straight over to Feng Chen Yu’s side, she raised her hand and slapped her twice across the face.
These two slaps dazed Chen Yu, and they also managed to daze everyone present. Feng Chen Yu even forgot to cry. Just staring blankly at Fen Dai, the burning pain on her face could not compare with the fear that filled her heart.
This girl actually dared to hit her? To even do it in front of the matriarch and Feng Jin Yuan, had this girl gone crazy? But when she reconsidered, she felt that even though Feng Fen Dai was crude by nature, she should not be so foolish. Something terrible must have happened for her to take this course of action.
Feng Chen Yu’s face immediately drained of color, as she seemed to have thought of something. She could not help but glance sideways at Yi Lin and saw that her face was also filled with horror. The two people had clearly thought of the same thing.
After everyone in the Feng manor got over the shock of Fen Dai hitting Chen Yu, it was the matriarch and Feng Jin Yuan that both became furious, but before Feng Jin Yuan could say anything, Fen Dai immediately spoke first. Pointing at Chen Yu’s nose, she began to curse: “Slut! You dare to go over to grandmother and speak glibly while pretending to be innocent. You still dare to say that I entered your courtyard alone on that day. Then I will ask you, why was has my servant, who has been missing for a few days, been found kneeling next to a well in your courtyard?”
Chen Yu was extremely shocked. Pei’er was kneeling next to the well? “That’s not possible!” She then suddenly turned to ask Yi Lin, “How can fourth young miss’ servant be kneeling next to the well in my courtyard?”
Yi Lin calmed herself and said: “Young miss, do not worry. This is something that definitely cannot be possible. Fourth young miss’ servant never entered our courtyard.”
Only then did Feng Jin Yuan get a chance to speak, but he asked Fen Dai: “What exactly is going on?”
Fen Dai turned and pointed to her own face: “Father has seen the wound on Fen Dai’s face. That’s right, Fen Dai did break eldest sister’s vase, but because of that, I found a secret hidden inside that vase. There was originally a cloth bag hidden in that vase. I don’t know what was inside that bag, but just as Fen Dai was going to pick it up, eldest sister suddenly pushed me down. This wound was caused by that. Following that, her servant” She pointed at Yi Lin: “Yi Lin picked up the cloth bag and ran out. My servant, Pei’er, gave chase after her. After that, Pei’er disappeared.”
The matriarch also remembered something from hearing what she said: “It has been many days since I last saw that servant of yours. Last time, wasn’t it said that you punished her?”
“Grandmother!” Fen Dai was on the verge of crying, “Isn’t a master punishing a servant a very normal matter? Can grandmother guarantee that none of your servants are ever punished? I have never heard of a servant disappearing because a master punished them. Also, even if the Feng manor is large, it is not large enough to disappear for so many days. Grandmother believed eldest sister that day. Can you believe Fen Dai just this once today? Everything that Fen Dai said is the truth.”
The matriarch did not know what she should say. She had originally believed Chen Yu on this matter, but now Fen Dai actually dared to hit Chen Yu in front of her father. To then dare to speak of this matter, it clearly meant that there was a standpoint on this matter. This meant that the matter was worth thinking over.
“Grandmother, father.” Not waiting for the matriarch to speak, Feng Yu Heng raised a proposal, “Eldest sister and fourth sister have gone back and forth for many days. Since we can not tell who is telling the truth and who is lying, now that we have some clues, why don’t we all head over to eldest sister’s courtyard. We will know the truth when we get there.”
Chen Yu trembled and wanted to say something to stop them, but the matriarch had already stood up, “This is true. Let us all go over and take a look.”
The matriarch had spoken, so even Feng Jin Yuan had to stand up and walk towards Chen Yu’s courtyard. Huang Quan’s eyes were sharp and saw Yi Lin quickly walk towards a small path after whispering something into Chen Yu’s ear. She walked over and stopped Yi Lin, “Yi Lin, your young miss is still here. If you aren’t going to stay at her side, where will you be going?”
Yi Lin’s arm was held so tightly by Huang Quan that it seemed as though it would break. She wanted to cry, but there were no tears. It was as though she had been tied up by Huang Quan and brought back to Chen Yu’s side. The two looked at each other, and they began to panic.
Feng Jin Yuan was not very clear on this matter, but An shi was present at the time, thus he went and had An shi explain it along the way. By the end, Feng Jin Yuan had a clear understanding. What was important lay in what Chen Yu was hiding that she worried would be discovered by others. Could it be something shameful that must not be seen?
He thought things over in his mind. He had already been critical of Chen Yu because of the matter with the eldest prince. When he now looked at his eldest daughter, he felt that she became even more unpleasant.
When the group finally arrived at Chen Yu’s courtyard, none of the courtyard’s servants understood what was happening. Why had all of the family’s masters come here? The servant who had brought the news to Fen Dai said: “Should be next to the well in the garden.” Thus everyone walked towards the small garden.
The faces of the servants who had participated in filling the well all turned white, as they all turned to look towards their leader, Xing’er. But Xing’er was also confused. Ever since she became a first-rate servant, the division of responsibilities with Yi Lin was very clear. Yi Lin continued to be in charge of taking care of the eldest young miss, and she would occasionally go and help, but she was still mostly in charge of managing the matters of the courtyard. This included the distribution of work and dispatch of servants. Hearing them call her sister Xing’er, she felt very lively.
Xing’er understood that there was something in the well, so the people she dispatched were those that had been there on that night. She had also paid attention to the movements around the courtyard, ensuring that no outsiders had come or gone since that day. But what was going on now? Why had the masters entered the courtyard then headed straight to the garden? What did the servant at the fourth young miss’ side mean?
Xing’er was in a panic, and Chen Yu was in even more of a panic. When panicked, it was easier to make mistakes. As she walked along, she stumbled. Just as she was about to fall, Feng Yu Heng reacted quickly and stopped her fall: “Eldest sister, take care when walking. You absolutely must not trip. If you fell, we would need to take care of you, and we would not have time to go look in your courtyard for Pei’er.”
Feng Chen Yu looked at her in shock and suddenly understood this situation “It was you who did it, right?”
Feng Yu Heng looked at her with a smile, “What did I do? Younger sister does not understand. I welcome eldest sister to clarify her statement.”
What could Chen Yu reveal now? She could not ask Feng Yu Heng whether it was her that discovered the corpse in the well. Was that not just making an unwitting confession? Thus she silently lowered her head and ate the loss.
When everyone finally reached the small garden, Zi Rui, who had been walking with Xiang Rong, suddenly pointed to the opening of the well and shouted: “Look, there really is a person kneeling there!”
Everyone followed Zi Rui’s finger and looked in that direction. Sure enough, there was a person’s figure kneeling with their back facing the group. That person was only wearing a white undershirt, and their hair was scattered behind their head. Their body was wet and very worn.
Feng Jin Yuan frowned and asked Chen Yu: “Who is that?”
Chen Yu shook her head, “Daughter does not know.”
“You don’t know?” Feng Jin Yuan’s breathing became unstable, “This is your courtyard, and you say that you don’t know?”
At this time, Fen Dai ordered the servant at her side: “Quickly go and call that person over. See if it’s Pei’er or not. Regardless of who it is, they can not be kept kneeling. If they have something to say, have them say it to us.”
The servant quickly went over to call them; however, who knew that before she had a chance to speak, that person would fall sideways and fall to the ground. Immediately after that, the servant that had gone to call that person let out a shrill scream. Her legs gave out, as she practically crawled back over to everyone and hoarsely said: “Dead person! It’s a dead person!”
“What?” Everyone was very shocked, and the females all retreated in fear.
Feng Jin Yuan waved his hand and ordered his male servant: “Go over and investigate.”
The male servant was a bit braver than the women, as he trotted over to take a look. After looking for a while, he returned to report to Feng Jin Yuan: “Responding to master, that person is indeed dead. The corpse has been in water for many days, and the face has become distorted. But the identity is still somewhat discernible. It does appear to be fourth young miss’ personal servant, Pei’er.”
Pei’er was a longtime servant of the Feng manor. She had been with Fen Dai for many years. This male servant was also a longtime servant of the Feng manor, so he naturally had a good grasp of Pei’ers appearance, thus he dared conclude that the identity of the body was Pei’er.
Hearing this, Fen Dai became even more furious. No longer having time to fear, she escaped from Han shi’s firm grip and rushed towards the corpse. Not long later, they heard her scream from the side of the well “It’s Pei’er! It really is Pei’er! Father, Pei’er has accompanied daughter from the age of six. Daughter definitely would not make any mistake. This is definitely Pei’er. She was killed by eldest sister!”
Feng Chen Yu dropped to her butt in fear.
That’s not right! The rocks that were used to fill the well were still there. Everything was still in its original place, so how had Pei’er’s corpse come out and even end up kneeling at the side of the well? Could it be that it was haunted?
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” She continuously repeated, “You must have made a mistake. It can not possibly be Pei’er!”
At this time, Feng Yu Heng took a step forward and leaned over, saying to Chen Yu: “Eldest sister, do not panic. We will see if it’s Pei’er with some investigating.”