The elder sister killed the whole family, and came back to be beaten to death

Ginkgo went to inquire about the matter, while Qiutong stayed to serve Shen Tang.

Shen Tang stayed in the pavilion for a while and then returned to Qingyi Garden.

After returning to the house, Shen Tang sat on the small couch drinking tea. Gingxing came in through the beaded curtain. Qiu Tong asked, "Did you find out?"

Ginkgo shook her head. "No, I went to the North Courtyard and asked several maids. There's no maid named Chunlan around the Fourth Madam. But there is a maid named Chunlan in the Third Madam's courtyard..."

But obviously not.

Chunlan is trapped in Wangzhou Baihua Tower and is waiting for the Fourth Madam to use five thousand taels of silver to redeem her.

Five thousand taels can buy so many maids. I don’t know how Chunlan was so sure that the Fourth Madam would redeem her with just a letter. Could it be that the letter contained something against the Fourth Madam?

But since you are threatening the Fourth Madam so openly, aren’t you afraid that the Fourth Madam will send someone to silence you?

Mother Zhou took the account book into the house and walked to the door. She heard what Ginkgo said and stopped.

Seeing her standing there without moving, Qiu Tong felt a little strange, "Why doesn't Mother Zhou come in?"

Mother Zhou then stepped in and asked, "Why is the young lady looking for the maid named Chunlan who is by the Fourth Madam's side?"

It sounds like the Fourth Madam has a maid named Chunlan by her side...

Shen Tang asked, "Does Mother Zhou know?"

Madam Zhou nodded. "Chunlan was the maidservant who came with the Fourth Madam. Fifteen years ago, on the day the girl was born, Chunlan left the house in a hurry and never returned. I remember that on that day, besides Chunlan, the maidservant beside the Fourth Madam, there was also Qiaohui, Madam Sun's daughter, who was with the Second Madam..."

Because Jiang was convinced that she had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and that Shen Xi was not hers, Jiang asked Shen Sui to help her find her son, suspecting that he had been sent out of the house. Shen Sui checked all the servants who had entered and left the house that day.

The only suspicious thing is the disappearance of Chunlan and Qiaohui.

Normally, if a maid was missing from the mansion, at most they would report it to the government, but they would not go out to look for her in a big way. Because the day the two maids disappeared was special, the mansion sent people to search all over Kyoto. After Chunlan disappeared, there was no news of her. Qiaohui was found in a dilapidated temple outside the city a few days later. She was naked and had been tortured to death.

It was impossible for the Fourth Wife to steal Jiang's son, and since Chunlan could not be found, the matter was left unresolved.

Unexpectedly, she heard the name again after fifteen years. Mother Zhou thought Chunlan might have the same fate as Qiaohui, which would not be much better even if it was good.

Mother Zhou told Shen Tang everything she knew, and then asked, "Why are you asking about Chunlan?"

Shen Tang didn't say anything. It was Ginkgo who answered, "It was Chunlan who asked someone to bring a letter to the Fourth Madam, asking her to go to Wangzhou Baihua Tower to rescue her."

The letter was placed on the small couch, and Shen Tang looked over.

Shen Xian said that her newborn second brother was buried alive by them. He would definitely not be buried in the Marquis' Mansion. He must have been sent out of the mansion for burial, and the task was entrusted to a trusted person, most likely Qiao Hui.

Chunlan was confident that with just one letter, she could get the Fourth Madam to send someone to Wangzhou to redeem her...

Could it be that Chunlan saw it?

Shen Tang thought about the time in her previous life when the Fourth Madam came back from her parents' home. Although she was exhausted from the long journey, she still went to see her at Prince Jingyang's Mansion the next day. She felt sorry for not being able to drink the wedding wine at her wedding, but she fell ill within two days. Could it be because of this letter?

"Give me the letter."

Qiu Tong handed the letter to Shen Tang, and Shen Tang didn't care about being rude by opening someone else's letter, so he tore it open.

Just opening the letter, Shen Tang's brows were twisted into knots.

There was a picture of a food box on the letter.

But the lunch box did not contain food, but a shoe.

Could a letter like this make the Fourth Madam spend several thousand taels to redeem Chunlan?

Shen Tang looked at the letter over and over again. There was only the envelope and nothing else.

Ginkgo said, "I heard from that man that Chunlan has been looking for someone to help deliver letters to the Fourth Madam for years, but Wangzhou is too far from Kyoto, so there's no one to help. She agreed to marry that man after being redeemed. The man was in Kyoto on business and wanted to see the prosperity of Kyoto, so he helped Chunlan. But he ended up delivering such a confusing letter."

Shen Tang said, "Chunlan is the maid of the Fourth Madam. Just because we don't understand doesn't mean the Fourth Madam doesn't understand."

Wait for the fourth wife to come back and give the letter to her.

Shen Tang was disappointed, thinking that what was written in the letter was related to his second brother being switched.

Qiu Tong asked, "Do you want to change the envelope?"

There was no signature on the letter, so if it were another Fourth Wife, she wouldn't have known it had been opened.

Shen Tang said, "No need."

The more you conceal a letter that others cannot understand, the more likely the Fourth Madam will suspect that the letter is forged, which will affect her decision to send someone to redeem Chunlan.

Shen Tang handed the letter to Ginkgo, who took it and put it away.

Mother Zhou gave the account book to Shen Tang and asked him to take a look. Although there was not much work in the yard, there were still some things to do. Shen Tang had to know clearly where the expenses were. After the marriage was settled, he would have to learn how to be a housekeeper. Mother Zhou did not expect the second wife to teach Shen Tang these things, nor did she dare to let the second wife teach her.

Shen Tang knew in his heart how devoted Zhou Mama was to her. Now that Qingyi Garden had Zhou Mama and Qiu Tong, and a few maids had been sold, the little maids didn't dare to go to Qinglan Garden and South Courtyard.

Shen Tang was flipping through the account books when a maid came in and said, "Young lady, there will be a banquet in the harem in three days. The Queen wants all the unengaged daughters of fourth-rank officials to attend."

Shen Tang, “…???”

There was no palace banquet held at this time in the previous life. How come such a palace banquet suddenly appeared and all the unengaged girls from the fourth-rank official's family were asked to attend?

Shen Tang felt strange, and Ginkgo had already asked, "Are you choosing a concubine for the prince?"

The little maid said, "I heard that it's to select a princess for Prince Ning..."

...If they were choosing a princess for Xiao Huan, it would most likely be related to Prince Ning helping Xiao Huan to marry her.

The emperor didn't know that there was no possibility for her and Xie Guimo, and thought that Xie Guimo would definitely marry her, so he couldn't grant her marriage to Xiao Huan. There were only the old Prince Ning, the old Princess Ning and Xiao Huan in the Ning Palace. The old Princess Ning was old and in poor health, so she couldn't leave the palace. If the palace held a banquet and invited ladies from wealthy families, there would be no one to welcome them. So the emperor simply held the banquet in the palace to show his appreciation for the Ning Palace.

Then the question came. Ginkgo asked, "Will the young lady go to the palace for a banquet in three days?"