After His Majesty was reborn, the poor little girl in his previous life was spoiled to death

"The young lady is finally back." Chuncao stretched her neck and hurried to meet her: "If you don't come back, I will have to go to the old lady to look for you."

Ning'er had just separated from Chu Huan and still felt a little guilty for having done something wrong. She cooperated with Chuncao's actions and took off her wet cloak.

"Huh? Why is there a small lamp in the girl's hand?" Ning'er looked down in the direction Chuncao was looking, and then she remembered that Chu Huan had stuffed the glass lantern into her hand, which she had carried all the way back to the room.

She mumbled, "It's late now, I can't see the road clearly, I brought it back from the front."

Chuncao took the flower bud-shaped glass lamp in her hand, looked at it over and over, and praised it, "It's amazing that this palm-sized thing is so carefully made. I'll put it in the Duobao Pavilion for you, young lady."

She helped Ning Er take off her soft hat, brought a basin of hot water and other things, and helped her wash up before she spoke worriedly, "The girl has been gone for so long, what did the old lady say? The sisters in the room are all very panicked, but they have no way to find out."

Ning Er thought of what Chu Huan had told her, and she couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted. She said softly, "Hey, let everyone bear with it for one night. Don't go back to your rooms tonight. There's unrest in the mansion - a girl disappeared last night."

Chuncao was shocked: "How could this happen!" She couldn't help but get scared: "Could it be the sound we heard earlier..."

Ning Er shook her head: "I don't know what happened, let's wait for more news." She rubbed her hair: "Ask Zishan to come over and help me take off my hair. I've been wearing it for most of the night and I can't stand it."

Chuncao went to call for help with a worried look in her eyes. She was one year younger than Ning'er. When she heard that someone had died in the mansion, she couldn't help but feel scared.

Zishan brought an octagonal bronze mirror with a diamond pattern and placed it in front of her. Ning'er looked in it and said in surprise, "Why did you bring this bronze mirror here? It's so blurry that I can't see clearly."

Zishan deftly took off the hairpins on her head and said softly, "It's past midnight now, and according to the old rules, you can't look in the mirror. If you must use one, this bronze mirror is better than a silver mirror."

Chuncao stood close to the side and interrupted, "What kind of rule is this?"

Zishan wanted to tease her and exaggerated: "Children's souls are not complete. If they look in the mirror at night, a ghost will come out and take their souls in!"

Unexpectedly, Chuncao screamed "Ah", covered her face in fear, and scattered the towel in her hand all over the floor.

Zishan was startled and apologized quickly: "I was just joking. I'm sorry, I didn't expect to scare you!"

Ning Er shook her head helplessly: "How could she be scared by this?"

Zishan had just taken off the big bun on her head when there was another hurried knock on the door. Chuncao jumped up and said, "Someone's knocking on the door again!"

If this happens several times in one night, even the bravest person can't stand the fear.

Ning Er felt as tired as expected. She sighed, "Forget it. I knew I couldn't live in peace. Zishan, help me tie it up again. Forget about the hairpins."

Before Ning'er finished combing her hair, the person outside the door seemed to be unable to wait any longer and kept knocking on the door more and more urgently.

Lingzhi went over and asked, "Excuse me, who is that person outside the door?"

It was Agate's voice outside: "The old lady asked me to come and look for Miss Ning. There is something she wants you to identify. She is in a hurry now!"

Lingzhi came over and replied to Ning'er in confusion: "...Miss Manju also said that you should bring the maid who is in charge of the dowry with you."

Chuncao complained, "We just released the person, why are you calling him back again? There's no point in going back and forth."

Ning Er didn't answer this. She had a vague guess in her mind that the urgent call for them must be related to the murder case.

She remained expressionless, and urged Zishan: "Hurry up, and come with me when you are done."

He also reminded Chuncao: "Remember, as I told you before, guard the door and don't walk around, wait for me to come back."

It was just a waste of time to wash and dress. Fortunately, I haven't changed into pajamas yet, so I can just put on a coat and go out.

Outside the house was a pitch-black night without a single ray of light, like a giant beast choosing its prey for its prey, opening its huge mouth and waiting for its prey to fall into its trap.

Ning Er retracted her gaze and tightened her cloak. Why was this night so long? It seemed as if she would never see the dawn.

----

When I returned to the old lady's room, the second master was still waiting in the hall. When he saw Ning'er coming, he nodded to her attentively.

Madam Zhu got straight to the point when she spoke: "Ning girl, I called you back to let you take a look. Have you ever seen this thing?"

Her face was ashen, three times uglier than when they first met.

Ning'er didn't dare to delay and apologized quickly. Then a little girl came up tremblingly with a tray.

She looked at it for several times before she realized that it was a twisted hairpin, as if it had just been washed, and the hairpin was still glistening with water.

It took her some effort to recognize that the hairpin was a sixteen-petal golden sunflower, each petal inlaid with a tiny gem, either red or blue, but the quality of the gems was not very good.

Although the craftsmanship of this gold hairpin is acceptable, its texture is ordinary and there is no seal on it. It does not look like it was made in the Marquis' Mansion.

Ning'er was a little surprised. When it came to jewelry, any second-class maid in the Marquis's Mansion would probably be much more proficient than her.

She could tell from the style of the gold hairpin that it wasn't something an unmarried girl would wear, so why would she bother asking herself?

But she still looked at it carefully before replying, "Madam, I have never seen this style before."

Old Madam Zhu waved her hand and asked her to sit down, as if she expected this answer.

"Wait." Unexpectedly, at this moment, Zishan beside her suddenly spoke up: "Old Madam, can you allow me to come closer and take a look?"

She was originally a maid from Song Shou Tang. She learned the craft of making hair buns since she was a child and was very sensitive to hairpins.

Mrs. Zhu was extremely anxious at this time. When she suddenly heard Zishan's words, how could she refuse? She hurriedly asked her to come forward and take a closer look.

Zishan did not touch it, but let the little girl gently turn it over. After a while, she leaned over and said, "Madam, if I am not mistaken, this hairpin is a pair of hairpins."

"Oh?" Mrs. Zhu was very excited: "How did you know?"

Zishan hurried forward to pay her respects and said something shocking: "I think I've seen this jewel-inlaid hairpin before!"

For a moment, everyone in the room looked at her. Old Madam Zhu said in a deep voice, "Look carefully and don't talk nonsense."

Zishan said respectfully, "I dare not lie to you, old lady. If you don't believe me, you can ask someone to get a pair of scissors to twist the hairpin open and see if there is silver wrapped in gold inside."

Madam Zhu asked hurriedly, "Where have you seen this?"

Zishan replied, "My own mother once had a pair of almost identical gold hairpins inlaid with gemstones. The color, appearance, and craftsmanship were almost the same. But they were not maintained as well as this one."

Madam Zhu and Shen Chongyao exchanged a glance and asked in astonishment, "What? Who is your mother? Is she in the mansion? Send her over quickly!"