In Shanxi, a carriage slowly stopped at the entrance of the Cui family's old house. Mrs. Cui and the manager immediately met.

This was the first time that the Zhou family came to worship after Zhou Rujun was buried five years ago.

Miss Zhoutu stepped forward and helped Mrs. Zhoutu get out of the car.

The journey along the way made both of them feel a little tired, but after lifting the curtain and seeing the Cui family's door, Miss Zhou Er was energetic.

Mrs. Pai patted her daughter's hand and whispered: "The Cui family is very rules. Don't talk much when you go in later."

"Daughter remember," Zhou Ruzhang said, "My daughter bowed to Mrs. Cui Si and went to pay homage to the elder sister."

Zhou Ruzhang followed his mother to the Cui family's main hall, and talked with the elders for a while before taking the sacrifice to the house where Zhou Rujun's tablet was worshipped.

He put the pastries and hand-written Buddhist scriptures on his own. Looking at the dark tablets, Zhou Ruzhang's expression was very sad. She looked at the manager of the Cui family: "I want to recite the auspicious scriptures for my elder sister several times."

The Cui family manager knew it immediately, "Miss Zhou Er asked us if he had any instructions." After that, he took the people out.

Zhou Ruzhang knelt on the cushion and opened the scriptures in his hand.

The room was quiet, and Miss Zhou Er's lips raised slightly, showing a smile. Dingning Hou married Miss Zhang two years ago. Unexpectedly, Miss Zhang was seriously ill shortly after entering the house, and it was almost impossible. After Miss Zhang's family went, she married Dingning Hou as her second wife... It was a good talk for her sisters to marry the same person, so she came to Cui's family. As long as she slowly opened the joints, it would be a natural thing.

Zhou Ruzhang thought of this and looked up at Zhou Rujun's tablet. There was a scent of blue smoke in front of the tablet. She lowered her eyes and was about to start chanting scriptures, but suddenly she felt something was wrong. She raised her head again and her eyes fell on the pastry offered on the long table.

Just now, two pieces of osmanthus cakes were missing from the white porcelain plate.

There is no one else here except her. Who took the osmanthus cake?

Zhou Ruzhang frowned and took a closer look, confirming that he was not wrong.

My elder sister liked to eat osmanthus cake the most during her lifetime. When she thought of this, she suddenly felt a hint of chill on her neck, and the hairs on her body also stood up one by one.

Zhou Ruzhang clenched the scriptures in his hand and was about to call the servants outside in to ask clearly. The blue curtain beside the altar suddenly had no wind to rise. After the curtain fell, a white shadow stood there with her back facing her.

Immediately afterwards, a slender hand stretched out from the white shadow and pinched up another piece of osmanthus cake.

The lights in the room began to shake, as if they would go out at any time.

Zhou Ruzhang stood up in panic, and the white shadow seemed to be alarmed by her, and suddenly turned his head and rushed towards her.

Zhou Ruzhang felt that he was covered by something, and then a pair of cold hands began to grop on her body, and finally stayed on her neck.

"Come on... Come on!"

Zhou Ruzhang couldn't help but shout, his hands and feet kept moving, wishing he could throw away his things immediately.

The servant at the door heard the movement in the room and immediately opened the door to check.

The strong wind blew into the house and blew out the candles in front of the tablet. Everyone was shocked by the scene in front of them. They were stunned for a moment before they stepped forward and pulled them forward.

Zhou Ruzhang was like a drowning person, waving his hands and feet constantly, and finally felt a lighter on his body, and the cloth covered on his head was pulled away.

Bai's mother's voice came: "Miss, it's okay, it's okay."

Zhou Ruzhang suppressed the fear in her heart. She just saw the ghost of her elder sister, right there...

Her eyes swept around, searching in panic, and finally landed on a girl not far away.

The girl looked fifteen or sixteen years old, and her big eyes were looking at her without blinking, with a pure smile on her face. Her facial features should have been beautiful, but her expression seemed too childish and dull, just like cracks and flaws on her beautiful jade, which could no longer arouse the interest of others to explore.

Could it be that the white shadow just now was this girl?

Then she made a big joke?

"Miss Cousin, why are you here?" The manager of the Cui family looked at the girl, "Miss Baotong is looking for you everywhere."

"Where is Baotong?" The girl showed a happy smile and looked very childish. "I was picking flowers in the garden, and I couldn't find her in the blink of an eye."

Before the girl could finish her words, a voice sounded: "Miss, Miss..."

Immediately afterwards, a maid swayed her big foot and walked into the door in a hurry. Before Zhou Ruzhang and others could see clearly, she rushed to the girl: "Miss, I've found you."

The maid said and looked at the girl carefully. When her eyes fell on the girl's messy clothes and loose hair, she immediately frowned and looked at the people in the room rather unkindly: "Who bullied my lady?"

The girl's shoulders shrank and hid behind the maid.

The manager of the Cui family's face tightened and immediately explained: "Miss Baotong, how dare we neglect Miss Chou? This is all a misunderstanding, just now..." As he said that, he went to peek at Miss Zhou Er.

Zhou Ruzhang said: "I was reciting scriptures for my elder sister just now, and this lady suddenly rushed towards me. I couldn't hide and fell to the ground."

Baotong bowed to Zhou Ruzhang and said coldly: "Why is the only lady in my family so embarrassed?"

Zhou Ruzhang couldn't help but frown. Only her lady was embarrassed? The person in the room was clearly her. The maid's eyes seemed to have no one else except her lady.

Bai's mother immediately said, "You will know if you ask this lady carefully."

Baotong seemed to have been touched by the reverse scale, and immediately widened her apricot kernel eyes: "My lady is only three or four years old, how could she say better than you?"

Three or four years old.

Zhou Ruzhang looked at the girl again in surprise. How could such a big man be three or four years old?

Baotong continued: "My eldest lady, after taking the elixir, she will be healthy forever. This is something that everyone knows."

Zhou Ruzhang looked at the Cui family manager. The Cui family manager nodded slightly. She immediately understood that this girl was actually a fool, no wonder she looked so strange.

Although the maid was so rude, no one could talk about the strengths and weaknesses of a silly girl. She held her back and forth, but it was her fault. Zhou Ruzhang looked at the girl: "Is it okay, sister? It's all my sister's fault, I'm not there. I've apologized to you."

The girl smiled, looked confused, ignored Zhou Ruzhang who was bowing, and happily pulled the maid's hand: "Baotong, I'm going to the garden."

"I will accompany you." Baotong supported the girl, and the master and servant left.

When the two of them walked away, the manager of the Cui family stepped forward to apologize to Zhou Ruzhang: "Miss Zhou Er, it's all the fault of my servants. I made Miss Cousin enter this room for a moment, which scared you."

"Who do you think she is?" Zhou Ruzhang asked.

The manager's mother replied: "The eldest lady of the Huaiyuan Hou family, whose boudoir is named Mingzhu, is the treasure of the Gu family."

Zhou Ruzhang murmured: "It turns out it's Miss Gu."

The wife of Huaiyuan Hou is the cousin of Mrs. Cui. Both families are nobles. They must have been walking a lot on weekdays. However, the Marquis of Huaiyuan Hou is completely opposite to the Marquis of Dingning. Dingning Hou is the humble man of the country and is deeply trusted by the emperor. However, Huaiyuan Hou is a declining noble man and has only a title.

Although the family background is declining, it is enough to support a fool, but so what if you have any more baby? If you can't get married for the rest of your life, it's okay when your parents are there, but they will inevitably end up miserably when their parents leave.

The manager of the Cui family stepped forward and bowed and said, "Miss Zhou Er, I will serve you to change your clothes!"

Zhou Ruzhang nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a false alarm.

...

Gu Mingzhu walked into the garden and looked up at the blue sky.

After she was killed in prison, she woke up again and became Gu Mingzhu. At first, she was in poor spirits and spent most of her time sleeping. The Gu family carefully took care of her. After raising her for several years, she gradually recovered.

In the past, her parents went too early and had never had the chance to have fun. Now they have made up for her all at once. Her father's indulgence and mother's doting have made her a pearl in her hand.

My father and mother took care of her for many years, so she should have let her guard the Gu family. However, in the eyes of outsiders, she will always be a silly girl, Gu Mingzhu, and the Gu family does not need to stand out. It attracts attention, as long as you live a good life steadily.

"Miss?" Baotong whispered.

Gu Mingzhu took out a purse from her sleeve, which she had just untied from Zhou Ruzhang.

Baotong looked at what Gu Mingzhu took out of her purse: "Is this a wax ball?"

Gu Mingzhu nodded, the wax balls were sealed well and had never been opened.

A wax ball of this size usually contains secret letters. Obviously, a lady in the inner hut should not have such things on her body.

In recent years, Shanxi suffered serious bandits. At the beginning of the month, another caravan was robbed and killed by bandits on the official road. The Zhou family carriage happened to pass by the official road and found a dying merchant. The Zhou family sent the merchant to the nearest city for medical treatment. Unfortunately, the merchant was too seriously injured and died on the way.

The clues of the case were suddenly cut off. However, after this incident, Zhou Ruzhang began to ask the merchants about the situation and sent a letter to Ning Hou. Now he came to the Cui family with great swagger, and his intention of seeking credit was beyond words.

Dingning Marquis Cui Zhen was in Datong in the past two years. Xuanfu led his troops, and most of the food and grass came from Shanxi. Several bandit troubles in Shanxi caused the army of Dingning Marquis to suffer. The food and grass went wrong and he was defeated without fighting. Dingning Marquis was naturally very concerned about this matter. Zhou Ruzhang wanted to help Cui Zhen capture the bandits and win Cui Zhen's joy.

She guessed that Zhou Ruzhang should have obtained some clues from the merchants. In the past few days, she made people stare at Zhou San’s wife and Zhou Ruzhang, and finally found some clues. So today, she took the opportunity to test Zhou Ruzhang close to her and found this wax pill in Zhou Ruzhang's close purse.

Gu Mingzhu said: "It seems that Dingning Hou will be back in the old house in Shanxi in the next few days."

Baotong said, "What should I do with this purse? Otherwise, I would return it secretly, but the things inside..."

Gu Mingzhu put away the wax balls, and she would find a good way to make the purse disappear naturally.

"Miss Cousin," said the mother of the Cui family manager, who walked over quickly. "Mrs. Fourth said that there were guests at home, and the weather was good now, so I asked me to invite the Ms. Cousin to go boating."

Gu Mingzhu showed a happy smile: "Let's go, Baotong, let's go rowing."

...

"When the boat is docked, go and look for it," Zhou Ruzhang told Bai's mother, "maybe it was in the house, or maybe it fell off when changing clothes."

She wants to hand over the contents in the purse to the Marquis and must not be lost.

When Zhou Ruzhang thought of this, he felt regretful. After being shocked by Miss Gu, she was panicked and forgot about her wallet.

She got the wax ball from the merchant, secretly hid it without giving it to the yamen, and secretly investigated the case, just to make Dingning Hou Gao look at her.

Now that she has arrived at the Cui family, Dingning Hou has agreed to meet, but her purse has disappeared.

Not to mention the news that the detectives cost a lot of money to buy those people, how would she explain to Dingning Hou?

Zhou Ruzhang had a lot of worries and had no time to enjoy the scenery on the lake.

"Pu" sound of falling into the water came. Zhou Ruzhang subconsciously looked over and saw the silly girl Gu Mingzhu standing on the bow of the boat and throwing stones into the lake.

"Zhuzhu," Mrs. Cui Si couldn't help but say, "You should slow down, the lake is deep."

"Okay, okay, let's come back after throwing away those!" Mrs. Cui Si waved to Gu Mingzhu.

Gu Mingzhu obviously hadn't had enough fun yet, and she was thinking with her hands behind her back. Zhou Ruzhang only found that she was funny and was about to move her eyes away from the silly girl when she found a pinkish red color under Gu Mingzhu's long sleeves.

The pink color looked very much like her lost purse. She wanted to see clearly, but Gu Mingzhu's sleeves hanged and covered the pink color again.

Zhou Ruzhang couldn't help but said in a hurry: "Sister Mingzhu, what are you holding in your hand?"

Zhou Ruzhang's words seemed to startle Gu Mingzhu. The next moment, Gu Mingzhu waved her hand and threw the things in her hand straight into the lake.
Chapter completed!