Chapter 405: Chapter 396: The Death of Xu Dagui
Song Tingfan was silent for a good while, "Alright."
Lin Han awkwardly "coughed" and changed the subject, "Teach the children well, don’t hit them. If you hit them too much, they won’t be smart."
"Hmm." Song Tingfan nodded.
Li Guifen and her husband proposed to leave right after lunch. Lin Qiao was planning to buy some things, but the two were insistent on leaving, not even willing to stay for an extra day.
In the end, Lin Qiao tucked fifty taels of silver into their baggage.
Once they left, the residence became much quieter. Song Tingfan likely had matters at court, as he hadn’t returned for several days.
On this day, the accountant from the shop came, and Lin Qiao, hearing about this in her room, felt slightly surprised. She put down her needlework and went out.
The accountant looked panicked and, upon seeing her, tremblingly said, "Boss, it’s not good, Manager Xu has been detained."
"What’s going on?" Lin Qiao’s expression turned serious.
"Yesterday, we ran out of yarn, so Manager Xu and I went to Lan City. We hadn’t gotten far before a group of people stopped us on the way."
"Bandits?"
"Doesn’t seem like it. They seemed to be targeting you, Boss, saying you have to go, otherwise they won’t release him, and they said not to tell General Song, or they’d kill Manager Xu."
Lin Qiao frowned. From these words, it seemed those people were either targeting her or Song Tingfan.
It was clearly a trap. If she went, she’d be jumping right into it.
However, she couldn’t not rescue Xu Dagui. He was implicated because of them.
She turned to the steward, "Did the General say when he would return?"
"I don’t know. Someone from the palace said it would be in the next day or two."
The steward paused, then added, "Madam, don’t worry. I’ll send someone to the palace right away."
He quickly ordered a servant to handle the matter. After a while, the servant ran back, out of breath, "The palace won’t allow a message, saying they’re discussing important matters."
Lin Qiao’s face darkened. It seemed the person had calculated that Song Tingfan wouldn’t be able to return. Was it the Third Prince?
The sky grew darker, and the accountant pressed urgently, "Boss, they said that if they don’t see you by noon, they’ll kill Manager Xu."
Lin Qiao glanced at the sky. There was still half an hour until noon. She forced herself to stay calm, thought for a moment, then quickly turned to the steward and said, "Report to the government, say someone is plotting against an official’s family, and hurry."
"Madam, you can’t go. The General said you shouldn’t leave the residence."
The steward firmly disagreed with her leaving, then added, "I’ll have someone report to the government, Madam should stay at home."
"No."
Lin Qiao shook her head. These people were no good—they wouldn’t just talk.
She couldn’t gamble with Xu Dagui’s life.
Nor would she gamble with Song Tingfan’s life.
Thinking of this, she felt stifled. There’s always a price to pay in this kind of life.
The steward likely had Song Tingfan’s orders and shook his head firmly, "Madam, don’t make it hard for me. When the General left, he said that if you left during this period, he’d drive me out."
"I’ll explain to him, the situation is too urgent."
Lin Qiao lifted her foot to head out, sensing things were amiss, the steward called out, "Everyone, stop Madam. If anyone lets her out, break their legs and sell them off."
"Madam, forgive me, I dare not go against the General. You can hit or scold me, I won’t complain."
Immediately a dozen servants and strong men surrounded her, Lin Qiao looked slightly grim. Song Tingfan had said it wouldn’t concern her, but it did.
No wonder there were more people in the residence these days.
She knew Song Tingfan too well; if he had people guarding her, he wouldn’t let her leave.
Even if she got out of here, there’d be people at the gate to stop her.
The steward, understanding the seriousness of the matter, dared not delay and quickly went to the government, but the government was slow to respond.
They said they were out handling affairs.
How could the entire government office be out handling affairs? In a flash, he felt a bit relieved he hadn’t let Madam out earlier.
If Madam went, she probably wouldn’t return.
The noon sun dipped westward, and noon had passed by half an hour.
Inside the house, Lin Qiao grew increasingly uneasy. Finally, she got up, and just as she stepped out of the room, a group of strong men surrounded her.
Although they said nothing, she knew she couldn’t get out.
She was momentarily angry, her inner panic growing stronger.
At this moment, a maid in green came over carrying a box, placed it on the table, and said cheerfully, "Madam, items from Cuiyu Pavilion, said to be bought by the General."
Seeing Lin Qiao not moving, she hesitated for a moment then added, "Madam, the people from Cuiyu Pavilion are waiting outside for a reply."
Lin Qiao didn’t have the heart to care but didn’t trouble her either, raised her hand to open the box, and was instantly stunned. She quickly retreated, her face drained of all color.
Her reddened eyes widened, filled with visible terror.
Xu Dagui was dead...
Dead...
Her mind went blank, wanting to scream but unable to make a sound.
"Ah..." the maid screamed, collapsing to the ground in fright, then got up and ran out.
Strong men rushed over at the sound. They saw the items on the table, their faces changed, and instinctively looked at Madam, quickly covering the box and carrying it out.
Inside the house, Lin Qiao seemed to be choking, unable to breathe, finally collapsing onto a chair.
She had caused Xu Dagui’s death.
Back then, she shouldn’t have saved him. If she hadn’t, he’d still be fine.
It was at this moment she felt the fear of a society without law.
...
At midnight, a carriage stopped at the residence gate. Immediately a tall shadow stepped out, and as soon as he entered, the steward hurriedly came over, "General, Xu Dagui is dead, Madam has been locked in the room all afternoon."
Song Tingfan frowned, his tone remained cold. If it weren’t for Lin Qiao, he might not have asked even a single question, "How did he die?"
"This afternoon, someone said Xu Dagui had been captured and would only release him if Madam showed up. Madam wanted to leave right away, and I was afraid something would happen, so we stopped her."
The steward paused, then continued, "After that, I went to report to the government, but they were slow to respond. I waited for a while and then returned to the residence to think of a way, see if we could contact the General."
"But... but as soon as I got back, I heard that someone’s head had been sent to Madam."
Song Tingfan’s expression changed dramatically, striding into the room. In no time, he reached the room, pushed twice and couldn’t open it, so he kicked the door hard.
"Bang," the wooden door collapsed with a sound.
The room was pitch black, nothing could be seen, and there was no sound. He fumbled to light a candle.
"Qiao’er?"
As soon as the words fell, he saw the curled-up figure of the woman on the bed. Fear flashed across his eyes, and for a moment he dared not approach, afraid to see her hatred.
He had overlooked Xu Dagui...
At this moment, the woman sat up, turned to look at him, somewhat broken, stating the fact, "You said you wouldn’t confine me." By the end of her words, her voice was already hoarse.
She didn’t dare close her eyes now, as all she saw were those eyes when she did.
If she had gone, Xu Dagui wouldn’t have died.
Since she stood on this path, she knew there would be danger, but Xu Dagui was innocent, he hadn’t done anything.
Only knowing her...
She had killed someone...
