Chapter 765: Chapter 578: The Door Lock
"Ten people?" This sentence baffled Yang Xiao and his companions—how could there be ten people? Wasn’t Yuan Ruoci considered a person?
Yang Xiao immediately checked the boxes carried up by Steward Wu’s men. After counting, he was surprised to find that there were only ten boxes—one short.
Chang Chuchu and the others searched the room for any evidence that Yuan Ruoci had ever existed, yet shockingly, everything was gone—clothes, wooden hairpin, even the spare clothes and shoes prepared for changing, all had vanished.
Steward Wu sneered, "You claim another woman drowned during her bath, but where is the body? Even if we concede that someone did die, surely their clothes should have remained. It’s not like she came here naked, did she?"
"Steward Wu," Lou Huixiang spoke up coldly, raising his hand to point at the damaged wooden tub, "Since you say only three women came with us, how do you explain these four wooden tubs?"
Seven wooden tubs downstairs matched the seven men, but up here, four were prepared for three women—that obviously didn’t make sense.
Unexpectedly, Steward Wu was unfazed, glancing at Lou Huixiang, "This tub was never meant for you. It was prepared for the bath assisting maids. You will soon be changing into festal attire to celebrate the Ancestor’s longevity feast; we can’t have impure maids assisting you."
"Heh, not everyone treats their body as carelessly as you do," Steward Wu implied something with his words while covering his nose and revealing a disdainful sneer. The next second, Lou Huixiang’s face changed drastically, as if a sore spot had been hit.
Seeing the situation at a stalemate, Xiang Fengchen bowed slightly to Steward Wu, offering an apologetic smile, "Steward Wu, we were drunk last night, spouting nonsense this morning. Please don’t take it to heart and kindly convey to the Manor Master that it’s our great fortune earned over several lifetimes to be able to celebrate the Ancestor’s birthday. We will give our utmost effort."
"That sounds somewhat reasonable. But let me tell you, not a single step can go wrong at tonight’s celebration. If anything happens, you know the consequences." Steward Wu’s face was tense, putting the others in their place.
"Of course, of course." The group could only accept the bitter pill in silence.
"Follow me downstairs," Steward Wu strutted down the stairs, followed immediately by a line of manor servants.
After most had left, Yang Xiao also stepped out of the water-covered room. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the wall across the way. At first, it just seemed odd, but in the next second, he widened his eyes in shock—at a startling realization.
Before he could fully comprehend, someone pushed him from behind:
"Move it, don’t block the way."
It was Nalan Shuo’s voice, showing some impatience, but Yang Xiao instantly understood—not only he had noticed something amiss, Nalan Shuo had too, yet no one spoke up.
Cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his forehead. There were a total of three rooms upstairs, and when he had gone up earlier, he clearly remembered that both doors on the opposite wall were locked. But just now, he saw that the lock on the door of the room furthest inside, where it was dimly lit, was gone!
That door had been opened!
Just a short while ago!
A terrifying scene materialized in Yang Xiao’s mind—after they left, Yuan Ruoci’s body had stood up and hidden in the next room.
Of course, there was an even more terrifying speculation, Yuan Ruoci’s body had been taken away by a ghost, and that ghost... was hiding in the locked room next door!
As he descended the stairs, Yang Xiao sharply sensed that several people had noticeably quickened their pace, as if they wanted to flee from the second floor as quickly as possible.
Arriving downstairs, Yang Xiao took a deep breath, gradually calming his tense mood. With a wave of Steward Wu’s hand, ten boxes were lined up in a row in the spacious downstairs hall. Each box was sealed with a strip of paper that also bore the character for "longevity," presumably containing the festive attire for the ancestral celebration.
Just as Yang Xiao and the others stepped forward, Steward Wu stopped them. He first stared at Xiang Fengchen’s face, then, with a wave of his hand, a servant came over, holding a box solemnly in front of Xiang Fengchen.
Next came Gong Banlan, then Fang Zhou, Director Nalan...
There seemed to be no pattern to the names being called, not by age, ability, nor related to gender. Moreover, from the way Steward Wu looked at them, Yang Xiao got the feeling that this man seemed to have seen them before; he was recognizing their faces!
A strong unease fermenting within him, could it be that they had been to this ghostly place before?
Soon, Steward Wu looked towards Yang Xiao, and a box was also placed in front of him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please change into your clothes quickly. I still need to bring you to meet our Manor Master. We must not miss the auspicious moment for our Ancestor," Steward Wu instructed, then turned and walked out of the hall with a group of servants, simultaneously closing the main door from outside.
"Change clothes and get out of here fast," Xiang Fengchen whispered urgently. "Yuan Ruoci hasn’t left; she’s still upstairs!"
"Where... where is she?" At this moment, Fang Zhou’s face had gone pale, his few hours of experience more thrilling than half a lifetime of reading supernatural novels.
But no one answered him. With the seal on the box torn, Yang Xiao lifted the lid and discovered that the clothes inside were not the festive attire he had imagined, but rather a plain scholar-like robe with an extremely fine and soft material, obviously very expensive.
The festive clothes of the others were even stranger: plain black coarse fabric garments, a wealthy elder’s satin long jacket, and the weirdest of all had to be Zhang Songde, Lou Huixiang, and Jiang Qingluan. Among them, Zhang Songde, who was tall and intimidating, received a set of armor, while Jiang Qingluan donned a yellow satin bizarre outfit, checking herself below from time to time, looking very odd.
As for Lou Huixiang, the more Yang Xiao looked at what he wore, the more familiar it seemed, until he suddenly remembered. Isn’t this the eunuch attire often seen in old movies?
What was the significance of dressing someone up as a eunuch for a celebration?
At this moment, Lou Huixiang’s expression also turned extremely ugly, his eyes even exuding a viciousness.
Wearing a brown garment, Xiang Fengchen stared deathly at Jiang Qingluan, and he was staring very impolitely at her lower body, "I’m asking you, is the... the crotch of your pants... is it open?"
Jiang Qingluan nodded her head, speaking in a low voice, "Yes, there’s a row of buttons that can be fastened, but... it’s drafty."
"It’s a long buttoned robe, something that a female official at the Imperial Palace would wear," identified Nalan Shuo in an instant, also scared by the realization.
Xiang Fengchen’s expression became even more unsightly, "Palace robes come in different grades, with patterned dragons for top-grade, yellow for mid-grade, red and purple for mid-grade, and black, blue, and green for low-grade. This family dares to have a filial guest play the role of a top-grade female official in the palace for the Ancestor’s celebration, are they seeking death or madness?"
