It took Su Muer a month to reach Jiangnan City, which is located in the middle of Jiangnan. It was here that Ye Shihan managed the water, and he fell into the water in a ditch not far away and disappeared.
She came to Jiangnan Mansion with the gold medal given by the emperor in her hand. The governor here is a middle-aged man about fifty years old. The people in Jiangnan City know that there is official business in the city and they want to see him.
It's not easy, but Su Mu'er is different. She is a person holding a gold medal, and he doesn't dare to miss her.
Sitting in the main hall of Jiangnan Mansion, Mr. Zhu, who had small eyes, squinted his small eyes and looked at Su Muer again, then clasped his fists and said:
"I wonder why the princess is visiting Jiangnan Mansion this time?"
For some reason, Su Mu'er had an unreasonable dislike for Master Zhu. She felt that Master Zhu was a person who wanted to follow people's influence.
She narrowed her eyes and nodded, "Yes, I want to investigate the matter of the seventh prince falling into the water."
As soon as she said this, Mr. Zhu was stunned for a moment, and then he cleared his throat, "Well, this... Mr. Bai has already come to investigate. The seventh prince fell into the water accidentally. I searched for him along the river for more than half a month.
There are still no clues at all, so Princess, it’s better not to work in vain.”
Su Mu'er frowned and waved her hand, "I don't believe that others checked. Please ask Mr. Zhu to find several people who were present at the time. I want to inquire about the situation in detail."
"this……"
Mr. Zhu looked a little embarrassed, "It was true that she was surrounded by several officials from Jiangnan Mansion at that time, but I don't remember exactly who was promoted to official. It would be better to go back to the official and find someone to ask, and report truthfully after questioning."
princess."
Su Mu'er didn't know whether to believe Master Zhu's words or not. She frowned and looked at him, and then nodded, "Okay, then I'll help Master Zhu. I'm a newbie here and I'm not familiar with Jiangnan City. Please forgive me, Master Zhu."
Prepare a place for me to stay."
Mr. Zhu nodded hurriedly, "That's right. You are a noble person. It is my honor to come to Xiaguan's small office. Xiaguan will definitely prepare an upper room for the princess in the post house."
.”
Post house?
Seeing that Su Mu'er had some doubts, he hurriedly explained, "Princess, please don't mind. Although I am nearly fifty years old, I only have one room for concubines. She has not been in the house recently, so I may have inconvenience for the princess to live in the house. I am the official
That’s why I came up with this bad idea, I hope the princess won’t mind.”
This is quite reasonable.
Su Muer nodded and said:
"Okay, then there's Lord Lao Zhu."
In a short time, Mr. Zhu prepared a room for Su Muer in the most upscale post house in Jiangnan City, and arranged for two girls to serve her.
This girl B was young and good-looking, but her face was cold. They stood in front of Su Mu'er with their hands lowered, waiting for her instructions.
"What are your names?"
"My **Hua, her name is Qiuyue."
One of the girls said.
Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon, this name is quite poetic.
She nodded slightly and said, "Okay, Chunhua Qiuyue, I will help you take care of me these days. Please tell me about Jiangnan first. How much do you know about what happened during the flood control period?"
The girl named Qiuyue shook her head quickly, "Princess, please forgive me, we didn't know."
Chunhua glanced at Qiuyue and nodded, "Yes, we don't know."
Su Mu'er was a little surprised by how panicked these two girls were, but seeing how aggressive they were, no matter how much she asked, they wouldn't say anything more, so Su Mu'er simply stopped mentioning it.
"Qiuyue, go and prepare some light side dishes for me. I'm hungry. Chunhua, make me a bed. I've been traveling for a few days and I want to take a rest."
After Qiuyue and Chunhua heard this, they went down one after another to do their own business.
Su Muer sat at the table and took a sip of tea, then said to Chunhua:
"How long have you been in Jiangnan City?"
Chunhua made the bed, turned around, saluted and replied:
"About three years."
"Looking at your age, you have been a girl for three years?"
Chunhua stood there and nodded aggrievedly, "Well, I was brought into the government office as a fire girl when I was ten years old. I was only officially promoted to the girl in front of the hall last year. I have the honor to serve the princess today. It is a slave's honor."
Ten years old?
Su Muer shook her head in disbelief, "You became a girl at the age of ten. Your fate is really rough."
Chunhua breathed a long sigh of relief, and then said:
"I don't want to be a girl either. My mother died because she wanted me to die, and my father wanted me to go back, but he was also..."
"cough……"
Speaking of this, Qiuyue came in with a tray in her hand. She made a loud noise, then glared at Chunhua, stepped into the threshold and put down the tray in her hand. She put food on the table and said:
"Chunhua, I've left some steamed buns for you below, go and eat them."
Chunhua lowered her head and nodded and was about to exit when Su Muer stopped her.
"etc……"
Qiuyue looked up at her in confusion, "Princess, please forgive me, this girl is young and sometimes talks nonsense."
Su Muer waved her hand directly, "You guys sit down and eat with me. There are so many dishes, it would be a pity not to eat too much."
Hearing this, Chunhua looked at Qiuyue in astonishment, while Qiuyue's brows were furrowed. She quickly stepped back and bowed.
"Princess, please don't joke. We are slaves. How can we eat with someone of such noble stature, Princess?"
"It's okay. When I was in the capital, I often ate at the same table with the girls in the mansion. This world is originally fair, but it makes people feel unfair. Sit down."
Her words made Chunhua's jaw drop. She stared at her and asked in disbelief:
"Do you really mean what you say, princess? Have you really eaten with a girl? You are the princess, and you are a person of wealth."
Su Muer shook her head helplessly and smiled bitterly,
"Princess is just a title. If the prince is gone, where will the princess come from?"
Upon hearing this, Qiuyue and Chunhua looked at each other, and then still stood aside with their heads bowed.
Seeing that the two of them had not moved, Su Muer tried to persuade her again:
"Sit down. I'm new here. You can tell me about the customs and customs here so that I can have a better understanding of this place. Don't stand all the time."
The two of them still didn't move, and Su Muer said again:
"I now order you to sit down. If you continue not to sit down, it will go against your Lord Zhu's original intention of asking you to serve me."
Hearing these words, the two girls exchanged glances again. Qiuyue sat down first. Seeing this, Chunhua also sat down timidly.
Su Muer handed two pairs of bowls and chopsticks to them, "Eat, let's chat while eating."
The two girls were obviously a little restrained, but when they saw something they had never eaten on the table, even Qiuyue, who had always had a cold face, couldn't help herself.
They picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
After a while, there was a sudden sound of thin sobbing. Su Muer was a little surprised and looked for it, only to see Chunhua lowering her head, stuffing food into her mouth and crying at the same time.
"Chunhua, what's wrong with you?"
She looked at her with puzzled eyes. Seeing this, Qiuyue hit her with her elbow in displeasure, and Chunhua reacted immediately.
"I...I'm fine, I'm just...just happy."
Su Muer shook her head helplessly. It seemed that Mr. Zhu was too harsh on these two girls. One meal made them so excited.
After the meal, Chunhua put away the dishes and chopsticks, while Qiuyue stayed in the room. She was helping Su Muer take off the beaded hairpin she wore on her head.
Looking at Qiu Yue, whose face was as calm as water in the bronze mirror, Su Muer always felt that there was some secret in her body, but she couldn't ask directly. Even if she asked, Qiu Yue would not tell her.
Thinking of this, she sighed softly,
"Well, actually, I am just like you, a little girl from the countryside."
Hearing her words, Qiuyue looked at her through the bronze mirror, "Is what the princess said true?"
Su Muer nodded, "Of course it's true. If it weren't for the fact that I didn't want to harm anyone, I would have met the prince later."
Her words made Qiuyue's hand holding the comb tremble, and then she unconsciously combed her hair again.
Su Muer continued:
"I was young at that time, and I was sold to a landlord's house. The landlord wanted me to poison his concubines. I thought about it for a few days, but finally didn't do it."
"and after?"
Qiuyue seemed to ask casually, but her hands continued to tremble. Su Muer clearly felt that her guess was indeed correct. These two girls came with bad intentions.
So she pretended to smile calmly, "Later... Later, I didn't do that. The concubine forgave me because I didn't have the evil heart to kill her. Later, she was killed by her relative who had lost contact with her for many years.
Dad found out that her biological father turned out to be an official, so she naturally took me out of the house, and then I had the opportunity to get to know the prince until I sat in the position of the princess."
Su Mu'er's words were obviously made up to match Qiu Yue's words, because she sensed a problem from the look in Mr. Zhu's eyes.
Qiuyue swallowed hard, combed her hair, slowly took a few steps back, bowed and said:
"Princess, please have a good rest. This servant has resigned."
Su Mu'er nodded, "Go on, you have to remember that no matter when, as long as you don't take steps to do evil things, you must not take steps, otherwise it will only be a road of no return."
Her voice suddenly became cold, Qiuyue's body trembled, and then she hurriedly knelt down,
"Princess, spare your life."
Su Muer pursed her lips and looked at her, pretending to be confused and asked:
"Why are you doing this? Why do you want me to spare my life?"
"The princess is a shrewd person at first glance. How can the slaves' little tricks escape the princess's eyes?"
Su Muer pursed her lips and chuckled, "How did you know that I discovered your purpose?"
Qiuyue laid her head on the ground and whispered:
"The princess asked us to sit down and eat together. Whichever dish we were eating, the princess would take the dish. At that time, the slave girl still felt strange. After hearing what the princess said, the slave girl understood that the princess had already seen the clues. It was because the slave girl was stupid.
"
Su Muer pulled the corners of her mouth and smiled,
"You are really a smart girl. Now that you have said this, you should tell the truth. Who asked you to harm me? Who gave you those three steps?"
Hearing this, Qiuyue looked up at her in shock, "How did the princess know that it was a three-step fall?"
Su Muer stood up and stood in front of her, and then said:
"I have been proficient in medicinal materials since I was a child. Not to mention your three-step mistake, I can detect it even if you use Soul Reaper Sand."
Fine beads of sweat began to appear on Qiuyue's forehead, and she actually put a pack of soul-killing sand in her breast pocket. She originally planned to put it in Su Muer's rouge box, but she hadn't found the opportunity yet.
Now hearing her ask this question, she felt like a transparent person who had been stripped naked and looked at.
She took out the bag of soul-stealing sand from her arms and offered it respectfully, "The princess wants to be killed or cut into pieces. I just obey. I just ask the princess to spare Chunhua. She doesn't understand anything."
She actually begged for Chunhua? It seemed that Qiuyue was not hopeless yet. She looked at her with some confusion.
"Why do you want to plead for her?"
Qiuyue lowered her head, bit her lip and said:
"Because...because she is my sister."
Hearing this, Su Muer looked at her in astonishment,
"You two sisters joined the government as slaves together? How could your parents be willing to do so?"
Mentioning her parents, Qiuyue shook her head with tears in her eyes, "My parents didn't want to do this. Since the princess found out today, I have nothing to hide. We were captured by Mr. Zhu's people and taken into the palace three years ago.
"
Su Mu'er looked at her as if she didn't understand, "What did you say? You were arrested? How can there be such a thing in the world? Aren't girls all bought and hired?"
Qiuyue shook her head again, "We are not in Jiangnan City. All girls of the right age in Jiangnan City must be looked down upon by the government officials. Those he likes will be kept, and those he doesn't like will be sent to brothels. We sisters are considered good.
Because he didn’t look good enough but was obedient and honest, Mr. Zhu didn’t treat us..."
Speaking of this, Qiuyue trembled all over and seemed unable to speak anymore.
Su Muer frowned and looked at her. She really didn't expect that there was such a thing in the world. Is this still the king of the Eastern Jin Dynasty? Is there still king's law here?
She stepped forward to help Qiuyue up and whispered to her:
"If you have any grievances, just tell me and I will make the decision for you."
Qiuyue hurriedly shook her head, "I won't bother you anymore, Princess."
"Why?"
She looked at her in confusion, "You don't want to leave here?"
Qiuyue shook her head again, "We can't leave, and it's even more impossible for us to leave after taking over the task of serving the princess."
"Why?"
She raised the question again. Looking at Qiuyue's appearance, she must have something to hide.
"because……"
Before she could say anything, Chunhua, who was standing at the door, answered directly:
"Because our mother is dead and our father and brother are still in Master Zhu's hands, Master Zhu said that as long as we can kill the princess, he will let our family of four go and give us a sum of money to make a living.
"
Qiuyue raised her head and glared at Chunhua hatefully. Chunhua bit her lip and said:
"I've been listening at the door for a long time. Since you have said everything that needs to be said, what else can't be said? Isn't that the truth?"
Su Muer shook her head helplessly again, "If you really kill me, will Lord Zhu let you and your family go?"