Chapter 420
Chapter 420 The Scent Gave Them Away
“This way?” Wei Yuewu asked with a smile while looking at the desolate courtyard.
“Yes, this way. It’s a shorter route to Fengyao’s courtyard,” Prefectural Princess Jia’nan pointed with her finger and explained, giggling.
“Alright. Let’s go then,” Wei Yuewu said indifferently and looked at Wei Qiuju beside her. “Fifth Sister, what do you think? Is it okay to go this way?”
The appearance of Prefectural Princess Jia’nan frightened the life out of Wei Qiuju, who had been standing on the side and dared not say a single word.
“I… I… I-I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Wei Qiuju stammered timidly and uneasily as she looked at the seemingly desolate courtyard.
There was a gravel road on the side where they could bypass this particular courtyard. For some reason, the courtyard looked particularly creepy and bleak. Wei Qiuju thought that there was no reason for them to walk through the courtyard.
“It’s a big detour that way, but it’ll be much faster to go from here. Fengyao told me that she wanted to see her sisters as soon as possible, so why don’t we just go through this way?”
Prefectural Princess Jia’nan insisted on taking the shortcut because Wei Fengyao had been looking forward to meeting her sisters. However, it was a known fact that Wei Fengyao was at odds with Wei Yuewu, and she always despised Wei Qiuju, who was a concubine-born daughter.
Prefectural Princess Jia’nan seemed to be asking for Wei Yuewu’s and Wei Qiuju’s opinions, but she kept walking toward the desolate courtyard.
Wei Qiuju looked timidly at Wei Yuewu and leaned toward her. She had also sensed that there was something strange about this place.
Meanwhile, Wei Yuewu looked calm and indifferent as she stepped forward and followed Prefectural Princess Jia’nan. It was indisputable that there was something fishy going on here, and Wei Fengyao must be the one who set up this plot. Needless to say, Prefectural Princess Jia’nan was Wei Fengyao’s accomplice.
Despite that, Wei Yuewu was never intimidated by other people’s schemes and tricks. Those who tried to scheme against her would come after her over and over again, but once she found out about their tricks—no matter how meticulous the plan was, she would not let them succeed!
Coincidentally, her nose spotted their flaw, and the scent gave them away.
Wei Yuewu, who had the experience of concocting medicinal powder, had a heightened sense of smell and had a very sensitive recognition toward some special medicinal fragrance.
The courtyard was really desolate as they had assumed. Wei Yuewu glanced at Prefectural Princess Jia’nan and saw the peculiarity in the latter’s expression beyond the casual and leisurely smile on her face.
Wei Yuewu looked composed and poised as she followed behind Prefectural Princess Jia’nan, but Wei Qiuju carefully walked one step away from her, not daring to stay too far away.
“Prefectural Princess, what’s over there?” Suddenly, a maid beside Prefectural Princess Jia’nan cried out in alarm. She pointed to a corner on the left side of the corridor, her face pale with shock.
“What’s wrong?” Prefectural Princess Jia’nan narrowed her eyes and growled in dismay.
“I-I-I don’t know. I-I think there’s something flashing by!” the maid stuttered in fear, her entire body trembling.
“What thing?! I’ve walked through this place so many times, but I’ve never seen anything before!” Prefectural Princess Jia’nan snapped furiously.
Then, she turned around and smiled apologetically at Wei Yuewu. “I’m so sorry, Sixth Young Lady. This is so embarrassing. The maid is feeble. She must have been mistaken.”
“No, Prefectural Princess, I was not mistaken. I-I really saw something…” The maid stuttered as she opposed Prefectural Princess Jia’nan’s words. She seemed as if she was about to faint out of extreme shock.
Wei Yuewu remained composed and poised as she looked at Prefectural Princess Jia’nan and her maid. There was not the slightest change of expression resulting from the maid’s claims.
No matter what kind of evil tricks Prefectural Princess Jia’nan was going to play, she would go along with it!
Wei Yuewu was very vigilant despite her calm expression, but she was not perturbed. She said lightly, “Prefectural Princess, how about you send someone to take a look?”
It was not late at night. Even if the maid really saw something, it wouldn’t be so spooky. She went a little overboard with her act.
“Uh… You! Go and take a look!” Prefectural Princess Jia’nan seemed to be very angry. She pointed at the maid and shouted angrily.
“B-But I’m scared…” The maid’s legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground. Her whole body shivered because of fear.
The few maids who were originally not afraid exchanged glances. For some reason, they began to feel a chill down their spines too. They immediately lowered their heads, for fear that Prefectural Princess Jia’nan would order them to take a look.
Actually, they couldn’t let the imagination fester in their head. The more they thought about it, the scarier it became. All the maids looked pale and daunted now as they were spooked by their own imagination.
“You, go!” Prefectural Princess Jia’nan pointed at another maid. The maid also knelt down with a pale face. “Please, Prefectural Princess, I’m scared!”
“You!”
“You!”
Prefectural Princess Jia’nan pointed at the maids one by one. Prince Nan’an Mansion’s maids knelt down and shivered in fear. No one dared to go forward.
“You…” Looking at the maids’ timid and cowardly look, Prefectural Princess Jia’nan was so exasperated that her face turned livid. She snorted coldly and grunted, “Hah! You’re nothing but a timid bunch of losers! Okay, since none of you dare to go, I’ll go! I want to see what it is that frightens the life out of all of you!”
After that, she waved her sleeve and turned to go to the corridor. After she took a few steps forward, she seemed to feel faint-hearted as she was alone, so she turned to look at Wei Yuewu. “Sixth Young Lady, can you come with me, please? I want to show these maids that there is nothing there. I want them to see how humiliated they are for making such a big fuss over nothing. It’s an embarrassment to Prince Nan’an Mansion!”
“But…” Wei Yuewu hesitated for a moment.
Prefectural Princess Jia’nan suddenly turned around and walked to Wei Yuewu. She affectionately held her hand, leaned toward Wei Yuewu’s ear, and whispered, “Please do me a favor, Sixth Young Lady. I can’t embarrass myself in front of these maids!”
They were all daughters of aristocratic families, so they understood the importance of prestige and dignity in the hearts of maids and others. After her earlier remarks, Prefectural Princess Jia’nan had to go over and take a look in order to prove her point. Otherwise, the maids would despise her and not obey her orders in the future.
It was even more important for Prefectural Princess Jia’nan to establish her reputation since she had just come to Prince Nan’an Mansion. She could not let the maids and old maidservants in the mansion dishonor her. Now that she had a chance to prove herself, it would not be good if she messed it up.
“Alright!” Wei Yuewu nodded slowly and slipped her hand out of Prefectural Princess Jia’nan’s grip without batting an eyelid. She was not used to holding hands with someone who was hostile to her.
“Sixth Young Lady, are you afraid? Don’t worry. Yes, someone died in this courtyard a long time ago. She was a concubine. I don’t know what happened then, but everyone in this courtyard died, and I heard that the way they died was very strange. I wonder if they attracted some vile spirits or whatnot. Anyway, it happened a long time ago, and it is daytime now. There’s nothing to be afraid of,”
Prefectural Princess Jia’nan explained with a smile.
Despite her casual tone, Wei Qiuju was so frightened that she almost cried out loud. Her legs were trembling, so much so that she had to grab Yueya in order to stand firm. She first looked at the maids who were kneeling on the ground, and then at Wei Yuewu who looked calm and poised. She felt that it was better to follow Wei Yuewu.
At the thought of that, she reluctantly walked forward and followed Wei Yuewu.
At this moment, even the sunlight in the air felt chilly. She felt as if something had crawled over her back, and it gave her a creepy feeling.
“Sixth Younger Sister…” Wei Qiuju took two steps forward and mumbled with a trembling voice.
“What’s up, Fifth Sister? Are you alright?” Wei Yuewu stopped in her tracks and asked softly.
“Fifth Young Lady, are you afraid? Actually, this is just gossip. I’ve never met the concubine who died in this courtyard. Maybe, the concubine was desperate, so she took all the maids and old maidservants with her when she died! But this is none of our business. She has never seen us. Even if she wanted to curse us, she couldn’t!”
Prefectural Princess Jia’nan also stopped and chuckled as she talked.
Wei Qiuju was already scared. After hearing Prefectural Princess Jia’nan’s remarks, she was so spooked that her teeth began to chatter.
“S-Sixth Younger Sister, I won’t go over. Y-You go ahead!” Wei Qiuju stopped decisively. Although the maids behind them were cowardly, they didn’t have to enter the courtyard. She could be less afraid since there were so many people out there, but if she followed them into the courtyard, something bad might happen.
This incident was scarier and more peculiar than a concubine committing suicide. As a daughter of prominent families, she was used to listening to various deaths of people in their mansions. Most of them hung themselves, jumped into the river, or were beaten to death.
However, Wei Qiuju had never heard of the death of all the people in one courtyard. This matter was inexplicably strange and horrifying. The more she thought about it, the more afraid she became. She could not even move her feet forward.
Yueya tried hard to keep a straight face and did not dare to show a look of fear as she held Wei Qiuju’s arm, but when she heard that Wei Qiuju decided not to follow Wei Yuewu, she inevitably let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly nodded. “Okay, Miss. Come on, I’ll help you to rest there. We’ll wait for Sixth Young Lady to come out.”
As she spoke, she directly pulled Wei Qiuju back a few steps and did not dare to take a step forward.
“Alright. Stand here and wait for me then.” Wei Yuewu nodded, her gaze becoming colder and colder.
Was the purpose of this story to scare Wei Qiuju away and not let her follow them? No, it was not that simple. It seemed that Wei Qiuju was not the only one Prefectural Princess Jia’nan wanted to scare. Wei Yuewu knew that Prefectural Princess Jia’nan had been observing her expression and reaction keenly as she kept checking on her from time to time.
Did Prefectural Princess Jia’nan try to catch any frightful expression on her face? Did she expect her to be so scared that her legs were trembling and she couldn’t speak properly? What would happen next? Would some accident happen when she got cold feet?
Everyone was trembling with fear under such circumstances. If some accident really happened to her at this moment, people would claim that she deserved it because she was showing off. After all, at a moment like this, she was expected to stay back as Wei Qiuju did.
She should stop being a hero if she didn’t have what it took to be one. If she insisted on doing it, and something bad really happened, she would end up being a laughingstock.
But it was not that simple, wasn’t it? Wei Yuewu remained expressionless, but her gaze was cold and solemn. In this case, she had to be more careful…
“Sixth Miss Wei, let’s hurry up and take a look. If there’s nothing, we can go straight to Fengyao’s courtyard. As for this bunch of losers…” Prefectural Princess Jia’nan glared at the shivering maids and Wei Qiuju with contempt. “They can stay here and walk slowly!”
As she spoke, she took a few steps forward, and Wei Yuewu slowly followed her.
When they passed through the corridor and were about to reach a corner, Prefectural Princess Jia’nan, who was walking at the front, suddenly cried out in surprise and retreated. She happened to step on Wei Yuewu’s foot, and Wei Yuewu subconsciously pushed forward…
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