Lan Congxiao

"Long time no see, how are you?" Qiuzhu saw that Aunt Qing had gained a few strands of white hair, and Aunt Qing didn't realize it, and her smile never faded away, "No, after you went to Qingzhou, Aunt Qing prayed like a Buddha every day Ping An, I have been worried for almost a year, and your child didn't come to visit earlier."

As soon as Lin Qi saw Qiu Zhu, he took the hint, and helped Aunt Qing to stand up, "Aunt Qing, what kind of delicious food do you want to cook for the young master this time? It came so suddenly, I must have been unprepared, I will accompany you to the backyard to have a look."

After Aunt Qing left, a woman in plain clothes with a calm expression came quickly, holding a string of Buddhist beads in her hand.

"Qiu Zhu, you're here." The woman's face was too pale, and she looked a little thin. "Why don't you say hello, so mother can prepare for you. Qingzhou has lost a lot of weight after half a year."

"No need." When Qiu Zhu saw her mother, she was no longer as close as she was to Aunt Qing just now, and the relationship between mother and child was a little strange.

"How long have you been back from Qingzhou?" Qiu Zhu's mother slowly walked to Qiu Zhu and sat down, still maintaining the elegance of a lady in her demeanor, "Did Qingzhou embarrass you?"

"The war must not be easy, but after the guards there suppressed the bandits, Qingzhou has stabilized a lot, and the winery has recovered some vitality." Qiu Zhu answered all questions, but only a few simple sentences, and the atmosphere was slightly cold.

"How are you?" She gently took Qiu Zhu's hand, and at a glance, she was safe and sound, and the stone in her heart was put down, "Your father came to see me a while ago, and he told me that you are back, I miss us Qiu Zhu was too busy, so I didn't ask him to say anything to you?"

She must have been waiting for her son to come over a few months ago, but she didn't dare to send someone to invite her since his son hadn't arrived yet.

"I have been studying with the old masters in the winery, and I have seen initial results." Qiu Zhu quietly withdrew her hand, which was empty, and took it back in embarrassment.

"This is a good thing. What your father wants is for you to become talented. Qiuzhu, you know how to work hard at a young age. He praised you several times."

"Mother, I have something important to ask you when you come here this time." Qiu Zhu felt that such politeness was unpleasant, so she cut straight to the point.

"Okay, you can just ask." The mother looked very surprised, she didn't know why she wanted Qiu Zhu to ask her for advice.

"Did Qin Juan'er serve you in the past?" As soon as she said this, Qiu Zhu saw her face change, full of panic, and her sleeve dropped to the ground with the teacup. "Mother? What's wrong?" Why does a maid make so many people uneasy.

"She came to look for you? Have you seen her?" The mother, who had always been calm and indifferent to the world, was holding Qiu Zhu's clothes in a panic, "How is Juan'er now?"

"Mother, what happened? Is it related to Erniang?" Qiu Zhu asked, but Mother kept shaking her head and waving her hands, "This matter has nothing to do with you. Don't listen, don't talk about it, just treat yourself as an outsider!" Sudden panting, Qiu Zhu hurriedly supported her mother's thin shoulders, her face turned pale in an instant, her lips trembled slightly, and she fell into Qiu Zhu's arms in a blink of an eye.

Qiu Zhu was by the side of his mother who was unconscious on the bed, feeling restless and mixed, Aunt Qing stood aside after cooking, comforting him instead.

"Aunt Qing, mother..." Qiu Zhu knew that Qin Juan'er must not be simple, but when the second wife was imprisoned for so many years, her mother's mood changed drastically when she heard it.

"It's okay, let Madam rest for a while, let's sit in the front hall." Aunt Qing held Qiu Zhu, unable to stay for a while, and left.

"Aunt Qing, why is Madam so excited? You just asked out of curiosity." Lin Qi was very puzzled by this. He had followed Qiu Zhu for many years, and he had rarely seen Madam act like this.

"Young master, how on earth did you know about Qin Juan'er?" Aunt Qing calmly served tea for Qiu Zhu and Lin Qi.

"Not long ago, a woman in the villa committed suicide without knowing her identity and hanged herself in the firewood room. After our investigation, the dead woman was most likely Qin Juan'er." Qiu Zhu described what happened before. Ten told Aunt Qing.

After several verifications, Aunt Qing's expression became a little gloomy, "I see."

"Aunt Qing, who is Qin Juan'er?" Qiu Zhu was more certain that Qin Juan'er was probably her mother's dowry maid, but what happened is still unknown.

Aunt Qing served scented tea for them, sighing again and again, "Poor Juan'er was so stupid for a while, she would have been worse off than dead for ten years."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Your mother, Qin Yun, was originally the daughter of the Qin family and the wife of the Weiming Villa. She lived a bright and beautiful life, thanks to Juan'er. She was in debt and could only accompany the ancient Buddha with the green lamp to atone for her sins." Aunt Qing no longer concealed it, and began to talk eloquently, "After the master took a concubine, the second wife gave birth to a young master, and in the same year as his wife gave birth to a young lady. The young master may not remember. The lady's boudoir names are both , at that time, you and Miss Shuangshuang were the best friends, playing and having fun together."

"Shuangshuang?" When Qiu Zhu was mentioned by this name, there seemed to be some vague memories in his mind, a delicate and exquisite little girl, who often took him to play in the villa.

"It's a pity that Miss Shuangshuang has such a bad life. She passed away at the age of five. This is all due to Juan'er." As she spoke, Aunt Qing couldn't help patting her legs and sighing.

"Shuangshuang's death has something to do with Qin Juan'er?"

"It is said that Juan'er was the victim. At the beginning, the second wife was charming and charming, and the owner of the villa favored her a little bit. The wife was left out, so she couldn't help sighing. Not long ago, she sighed, 'It would be great if this villa didn't have them.' The speaker has no intention, but the listener has intentions, Juan'er has been following Madam since she was a child, probably because of Madam's sighs, Juan'er did not expect to do something stupid, push Miss Shuangshuang into the pond, alas..."

"That's why the second lady hates her so much that she is tortured so much, it turns out it's revenge for the loss of her daughter." Hearing what Auntie said, Lin Qi cleared up all doubts. Even being poisoned dumb, there is such a thing happened."

"After the incident, Madam was greatly shocked. She knelt in front of the Buddha for three days and three nights without eating or drinking. As for Juan'er's whereabouts, we don't know. When Madam Dai recovered from her illness, she had disappeared. The second lady drove her away and sold it to someone else, but we have been searching for a long time but we couldn't find Juan'er." Aunt Qing's words made Qiuzhu a little puzzled, "Qiuzhu also thinks so, but Erniang has resentment in her heart, so she has to be locked up to isolate her from the outside world." , it is more common to be beaten to death with sticks."

"Perhaps the second lady felt that death was too cheap for Juan'er. Since then, the lady left the villa and came to this house to worship Buddha and Bodhisattva, and chant scriptures every day. She blamed herself for her unintentional words. Let Miss Shuangshuang end like this. In the first few years when I first came here, my wife often dreamed of Juan'er, and Juan'er pointed at her with blood on her hands and said, "You are the murderer." Since then, no one dared to mention this name. , Madam will be out of order, just like today."

"Maybe it was just an accident. Besides, I have never blamed my mother when I saw my father for many years." Qiu Zhu saw that his father still cared about her for many years, and he had not helped the second wife for a long time, so he thought that his feelings for his mother should not be lost.