An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

On the first day of the new moon, Nie Ce went south to Jiaozhou.

In the following days, Sang Ling went to the Hall of Right and Wrong alone to pay his respects. The beginning of October in winter is probably the busiest time. There were not many people around the old man during these days. There were many things to do in the office, so the second uncle and the third uncle had not come for several days in a row. The things in the fields and towns had to be sorted out at the end of the year, so the fourth uncle had not come for two days. Not to mention Madam Zhao Yu, although she would come, she was the first to leave. There were also a lot of things to do in the West Mansion, so Shen and Nie Guang and his wife did not stay for long. When the adults left, the remaining seven-year-old Nie Fei was also taken away. Third Aunt Cai was a strange person. When she saw everyone leave, she took her son Nie Yu and ran away without saying a word. In the end, only Sang Ling, the new daughter-in-law, and Fourth Aunt Zhang were left.

Mr. Nie received daily greetings, but it was just a matter of reporting for duty. From the moment the first person left, he became daydreaming. Even those who were still sitting in the main room went back to the back room to rest. Sang Ling and Zhang looked at each other, smiled to themselves, and finally walked out of the hall together.

"I wanted to go to Wuyuan to find you earlier, but Xuanwen was there, so I couldn't go." Zhang said.

How could she say that? With Nie Ce here, does she, the fourth aunt, have to avoid suspicion? Sang Ling asked, "Why do you want to avoid him?" Zhang covered her mouth and laughed twice, "You are his wife, I can't say that."

The more she talked, the more bizarre it became. Sang Ling raised his eyebrows and continued to question her with his eyes.

"Then I'm telling you, don't complain to your husband later."

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded and said, "I won't say it."

"As for me." Zhang walked slowly, "I'm actually quite afraid of that boy."

As they talked, they walked to the backyard of Jingsi Residence. This was the garden of the East Palace for entertaining guests. It was the time for morning sweeping, and servants could be seen walking around everywhere. Zhang lowered her voice and said, "Although I am his elder, I am only three years older than him. He usually has a stern face. Except for Taigong, no one in this palace can control him. I am afraid of offending him."

That's what she said, but when Zhang and Sang Ling talked about this, there was always some inexplicable weirdness. She smiled calmly and said, "He's actually a good person, but he's a bit serious at home."

After saying that, he thought about it. In fact, Nie Ce seemed to be quite serious in many occasions. He only behaved differently in front of Nie Taigong and Gao Heng. In front of his grandfather, he was flexible and would kowtow when asked. In front of Gao Heng, he would make jokes from time to time and was not serious at all. Sometimes he even acted like a young man from Wuling. The reason why Sang Ling felt that he was not so serious was also when Gao Heng was around.

Now that I think about it, the students in the school are actually afraid of him. Ban Le and Dai Chengjun only dare to mention him in private, and they don't even dare to look at him at other times. Those dudes are even more so. When Nie Ce is not around, they are all kings and tyrants, but when Nie Ce comes, who doesn't become as quiet as a chicken? After Qian Shao's leg was broken, Cao Xin and his men took a detour when they saw Sang Ling because of Nie Ce. Even when they went to hunt in Huanlin Mountain, I heard that Cao Xin and his men also went there, but those people never appeared in Sang Ling's world again. Thinking about it carefully, I'm afraid they were also intimidated by Nie Ce.

When you think about it this way, it’s normal for people to fear him.

She thought again of running into him in the woods at the horse race. She was actually a little afraid of him at that time, not only because of the cold weapons he and Ying Buzhi were carrying, but also because of his aura.

However, everything seemed to be fine now. There was only an awkward atmosphere between the two of them. She was lost in thought and did not listen to what Zhang said next.

When they stopped in front of the flower garden, Zhang smiled and said to her, "I'll come to see you this afternoon. You can stay in Wuyuan."

Before Nie Ce left, he only mentioned that she should stay away from the Shen family. Sang Ling withdrew his thoughts and nodded, "Okay."

*

At noon, the maid came and said that Madam Zhaoyu was looking for Sang Ling. She hesitated for a while, then asked Wei Chu to go to Jingyuan to inform Zhang Shi so that she would not have to go there in vain in the afternoon.

This time when she went to Yunyue Pavilion, Sang Ling was inexplicably nervous. In the past, she had taken the initiative to meet Madam Zhaoyu, but she was busy and had not been able to meet her for many times. Now it was the beginning of the month, which was supposed to be the busiest time, and she couldn't even sit for long to say good morning. Now she suddenly asked to see her, which made her feel uneasy.

Or, has anything been found out about Ya Nu?

The area of ​​the East Palace may be as large as two or three Taiwei Mansions. The Yunyue Pavilion where Madam Zhaoyu lived was on the north side. She followed Fang Madam and several servants to the back, passing by an artificial lake. She saw frost on the lake surface in winter and a few withered lotus leaves left on the water. She couldn't help but tilt her head to look several times. When she saw the people in front of her slow down their steps, she realized that the Yunyue Pavilion was right beside the lake.

"She is a slave who has signed a contract to sell herself. How do you want to deal with her? I will do whatever you say."

Madam Zhaoyu brought the murderer to the hall. Sang Ling glanced sideways and saw a thin man kneeling below. His skin was yellow and black. Perhaps he had been hiding for a long time, and the oil stains and dust on his hair were mixed together and formed lumps. At this moment, his legs and feet were tied up with straw ropes, so his face could not be seen clearly. Only from the top of his head could he see clearly: there was an obvious scar on his high nose bridge.

She stood up from the table and walked towards the man, stretching out her hand to lift his face for a better look. But as soon as Madam Zhaoyu opened her mouth, someone came to stop her.

"Don't touch such a dirty and smelly person."

He immediately regained his composure, but frowned. He somehow felt that this was not the case - it was said that this man coveted Ya Nu and had evil intentions, and Ya Nu could not resist, so she threw him into the well.

Ya Nu is not dumb, so she wouldn't scream if she was held hostage? Even if we take a step back and say that he covered Ya Nu's mouth, would her struggle not make any noise? There were people coming and going around the bridal chamber at the time, it was very lively, how could no one be seen?

The most crucial thing is that the backyard and the back of the bridal chamber are adjacent to each other. The windows of the ancients were separated by cloth and were not soundproof. Even if others were deaf and could not hear the noise, Sang Ling in the bridal chamber could definitely hear the noise.

But it was just so quiet, as if the person died in the blink of an eye. She always felt that there was something fishy about this matter, and she couldn't make it right no matter how hard she tried. She slowly retracted her hand that was suspended in the air, "How do the government deal with these things..." She took a deep breath, "How do they usually deal with this matter? Just follow the rules."

What if I dealt with it in my own way? She was not convinced by this answer, and she could not get rid of the suffocation in her chest.

The man was taken away immediately. Madam Zhaoyu acted swiftly and decisively. According to the rules of the Marquis' Mansion, the man was to be beaten to death with sticks. When she gave the order, her tone was light, as if she was dealing with a rat that was caught by the foot.

Perhaps she saw that Sang Ling still had doubts in her heart, Madam Zhaoyu put down the jade cup in her hand, observed her for a while, and said, "It has only been a few years since the two mansions merged, and there are still good and bad people in the mansion. This matter will be left as it is for now. Mother promises you that when things get better, she will definitely restore the truth."

So there is something else going on? She raised her head tremblingly, "Who did you find out?"

Madam Zhaoyu shook her head and said, "We have only found out that someone poisoned the wedding wine. The wine jug your maid was holding was the one."

She froze suddenly, remembering that night when she asked Ya Nu to go out and get water. At this moment, a vague inference came into her mind.

"So who was the murderer's original target?" She felt a little breathless.

"It's you." Madam Zhaoyu paused, her expression becoming more solemn. "Maybe... most of them are here for Xuanwen."

"So the murderer originally wanted to poison us, but when he saw Ya-nv took out the poisoned wine, he killed her."

"Yes."

"Then you..." She had to choose her words carefully, "then do you have anyone you suspect?"

All her previous speculations were overturned. This person was not just trying to show off his power to the bride. A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. Nie Ce's current momentum is indeed too great. If a few uncles and relatives want to take action against him, there are too many reasons: property, heir, reputation, momentum, or just jealousy, all of which may be the source of poisoning.

This is probably the seed of conflict that had been planted long ago in the Marquis' Mansion.

Madam Zhaoyu did not directly respond to this question, but only said, "You have just entered the mansion and have not yet established your foothold. Don't dwell on this matter to avoid alerting the enemy. We really can't let trouble happen at home right now."

The mother and son had similar ideas. Nie Ce also said something similar before he left, saying that Grandpa Nie just wanted a peaceful family.

But if it is really discovered that it was done by a family member, and the person to be killed was Nie Ce, could the old man really let it go?

How could Madam Zhaoyu not notice Sang Ling's hesitation? After she pondered for a while, she spoke softly, "Every family is suspected in this matter. It's not good to bring it up because Xuanwen is going to Jiaozhou this time, and there can be no mistakes. Grandfather doesn't like family discord. If we really find out which family did it, it will cause unrest and distract Xuanwen."

"But since someone wants to touch him, I can't just sit there and do nothing. I'll just have to wait until this period of time has passed. Everything will be fine after this period of time has passed."

That's true. If someone wants to kill her own son, how can a mother just leave him alone?

In fact, if it was really a fight among the Nie family, Sang Ling could have stood as an outsider and enjoyed the drama. But Ya Nu's death had already drawn her in, and if someone wanted to murder Nie Ce, it meant that she couldn't completely get away.

After all, she was supposed to drink the wedding wine that night.

At this moment, her heart seemed to be put in a layer of shackles, forcing her to be cautious.