Rebirth of the High Family's Beloved

Shen Furong was a little surprised that someone dared to speak to her.

At first glance, it was the girl called A Ci, who looked obedient and pretty, and she was not annoying. And because she and Qiu Fuqiu discovered it together, Shen Furong did not get angry immediately, but gave Yan Ci a chance to speak.

Shen Furong raised her eyebrows, suppressed her impatience and said, "What do you have to say?"

Yan Ci lowered his eyes and said slowly: "According to what I have seen, this strange man has nothing to do with the ladies outside, otherwise they would not dare to come when the princess is holding a camellia party."

Qiu Furong nodded as if in agreement, and then asked, "You mean, whoever didn't come has something to do with him?"

Yan Ci shook his head: "It's only possible, but I just want to say that this matter has not been spread yet. Princess should not leave so many people in Golden Maple Garden. This will only make everyone suspicious. If it is spread out at this time, it will not be conducive to finding the real culprit, and it will cause panic among everyone."

Seeing that Shen Furong did not refute, Yan Ci continued, "The Camellia Festival was held on a whim of the princess, not every year. I heard that the princess usually comes to Golden Maple Garden in autumn. Now is summer, and there are still two or three months to autumn. But if we find the body by then, we will not be able to tell whether it is a human or something else."

Following Yan Ci's explanation, several young palace maids thought of that scene and couldn't help but dry heave out of nausea, but were stopped abruptly by Shen Furong's fierce glare.

Shen Furong seemed to be interested, "Go on."

"The murderer probably didn't expect the princess to come so early and find the body intact. So, what we have to do now is to hide the news and secretly investigate the people and things related to the deceased. I guess the truth is not far away."

Shen Furong nodded with satisfaction. Qiu Fuqiu's friend was actually a smart man.

When Qiu Fuqiu heard Yan Ci's complete conclusion, her eyes lit up, "Ah Ci, you are amazing!"

Yan Ci smiled shyly at the right moment, showing the expression that a Yan Ci of his age should have, and said modestly: "I just happened to think of it."

Shen Furong didn't care about the unusual calmness she saw in Yan Ci, and only said: "If you really find out the truth as you said, and catch the murderer one day, this princess will definitely reward you well."

After saying that, he left the back garden with his men.

She didn't want to stay in this filthy place any longer.

Yan Ci had some ideas after the coroner determined the cause of death, but they were just her guesses, so she didn't tell Shen Furong.

Shen Furong took this matter very seriously. She had so many people under her, and once the identity of the deceased was found out, many problems would be solved.

The girls who were anxiously waiting in the front garden stood up as soon as they saw Shen Furong coming out.

From the moment the gate was guarded until the coroner was brought in, their mood was like a roller coaster, running all the way to the bottom, and they all vaguely guessed that something big had happened in the garden.

Now seeing Shen Furong's extremely cold face, he felt even more uneasy.

Shen Furong glanced at the quail-like girls and gradually felt that what Yan Ci said seemed to make sense.

But she didn't dare to relax and had to give some instructions.

"I wanted to have some tea and chat with you ladies today, but something happened in the garden. I can't entertain you. I will not keep you here. Please keep your mouth shut about what happened in the garden and don't speculate."

At the end of her words, Shen Furong swept her sharp gaze across the crowd. Coupled with the aura she had developed from being in a high position for a long time, everyone was silent.

She only nodded and replied: "I will keep my mouth shut."

Shen Furong nodded with satisfaction and waved her hand to let the guards at the door to pass.

Everyone was very happy to see that they could leave. They had been feeling very uncomfortable here ever since they met the coroner, and now they could finally leave.

They didn't care about their image at all. They lifted their skirts and ran out of Jinfeng Garden in big strides.

Qiu Fuqiu and Yan Ci walked at the end. After saying hello to her cousin, Qiu Fuqiu left with her maid Tongxiang and Yan Ci.

Shen Furong looked at Yan Ci meaningfully but didn't say anything. After the two of them left with their maid, Shen Furong kicked over a nearby table.

"Keep an eye on it. If this princess hears anyone spreading the news of today's incident, I will pluck out their tongues and throw them into the garden as fertilizer for the trees."

Of course, she hoped that those people would behave well after listening to her, but there were always people who thought that this was just a trivial matter and it wouldn't hurt to talk to their family members about it, and the princess wouldn't know.

After a day, Dongdu was still relatively peaceful, without any rumors. The guard Jincheng also led people to find out the identity and family of the deceased.

The deceased was named He Lu, who lived in Liuxiang, Dongdu Street and was a scholar.

There was a widowed mother and a strong wife in the family, but no children.

When Jin Cheng took He Lu's portrait to his home to inquire, He Lu's mother and wife were busy.

The old mother was sitting by the well picking vegetables, her dim eyes narrowed into slits.

He Lu's wife was chopping meat on the stove in the yard, and the shiny kitchen knife made a thumping sound on the chopping board.

Seeing a stranger coming in, He Lu's wife looked up and asked without stopping her work, "Who are you looking for?"

Jin Cheng then showed He Lu's portrait and asked, "Is this your husband He Lu?"

He Lu's wife, He Li, took a quick glance and replied nonchalantly, "It's him."

Seeing that several people were holding up the portrait and had no intention of putting it away, He Li stopped chopping meat with the knife, wiped her greasy hands on her apron, reached out to take the painting, and looked at it carefully.

"Who are you and how come you have a portrait of He Lu?"

Jin Cheng said: "We are officials from the Dali Temple. We have been ordered to investigate He Lu's family situation. We ask the family to cooperate."

When she heard that they were the officials, the old lady who had been sitting on the well-platform picking vegetables with her back to them shook her back inadvertently, and then stood up tremblingly.

"Wife, the vegetables have been selected, it's time to cook."

He Lishi put the portrait aside and took the bamboo basket full of vegetables from the old lady, "Let me do it, mother."

Then he turned to Jin Cheng and the others and said, "Please wait a moment, my dear officials. I will go to cook first. My mother-in-law is old and cannot stand being hungry."

As he said that, he walked towards the kitchen with the dishes.

Jincheng didn't say anything and let He Li enter the kitchen.

For a moment, the only people left in the yard were the gray-haired old lady and Jin Cheng and others.

Jincheng winked at a few guards, and they walked out of the yard. He then moved a small stool and sat in front of the old lady.

Her tone was unusually gentle: "Auntie, why don't I see your son He Lu?"

The old lady's hands were shaking, and her eyes seemed to be focused on Jincheng's face. "You mean Lu'er? He went to the academy to study. He only came back once in a while."