The mistress has no feelings, why do you provoke her?

The following day, feeling depressed, Zhou went for a walk by the lake in the back garden.

Since Qi's mother went missing, Hong'er has been taking care of her these past few days.

However, Hong'er did not understand Zhou's preferences, nor did she know how to comfort or console her, so Zhou was very dissatisfied with her.

As she strolled along, Zhou thought of Madam Qi and couldn't help but sigh, "Where on earth has Madam Qi gone? She hasn't been seen for days. If we don't hear from her soon, we'll ask someone to go to her brother's house to look for her."

The reason Zhou did not report it to the authorities was because she trusted Qi Mama.

She was a servant born into the Zhou family and had served her since childhood.

Over the years, he has contributed a great deal to the Zhou family.

Hong'er didn't know the reason behind this, and she was also bad at speaking, so she didn't know what to say when she heard Zhou Shi muttering.

He simply did his best to serve Zhou Shi and didn't want to make any mistakes.

Feeling annoyed, Zhou walked to the corridor, intending to sit in the pavilion.

After Hong'er helped her sit down, she prepared to get some tea and snacks.

Zhou glanced into the water unintentionally and suddenly saw something bobbing up and down in the water.

It floated on the water's surface in a dark shape, looking like seaweed but not quite.

Zhou stood up in confusion, pointed at the dark shape, and asked, "Hey, what's that?"

Because it was too far away, and because Zhou's eyesight wasn't very good, he couldn't see what was in the water.

Hong'er looked in the direction she pointed and saw a corpse floating on the water.

The corpse was face down, its hair spread out and floating around it, looking extremely creepy.

Hong'er screamed in terror, "A dead person! A dead person..."

"What?" Zhou was also frightened and turned pale, clutching her chest: "Help! Help!"

Soon, the steward arrived with his servants.

After a series of attempts, the body was finally pulled from the water.

Zhou dared not look and was helped back to the house by Hong'er.

After the steward recognized the deceased, he hurriedly reported to Madam Zhou: "Reporting to Madam, the body has been retrieved. It is, it is Qi Mama."

"Aunt Qi, how could it be her?" Zhou slapped her thigh, both excited and angry: "How could she have fallen into the water out of nowhere?"

The steward shook his head and sighed, "It looks like he accidentally fell into the water. I have already reported this to the Marquis."

Madam Zhou wiped away her tears with a handkerchief and waved her hand weakly: "Let the Marquis give her a proper burial. Mother Qi has worked hard and made great contributions. The Marquis's mansion will take care of all the funeral arrangements."

"Yes, this servant will go and report to the Marquis immediately."

Seeing Zhou Shi heartbroken and shedding tears, the steward turned and went to find Gu Huaizhou.

Gu Huaizhou had been recuperating at home these past few days. The steward bowed as he entered and respectfully asked, "My lord, the First Madam says that the funeral arrangements for Madam Qi should be handled by the household. What do you think of this..."

Gu Huaizhou's face remained expressionless, but the fingers holding the book turned white.

He raised his head and looked coldly at the steward: "She's just an old nanny, why make such a fuss? The manor should just spend money to buy her a simple coffin, that's already a huge favor. Mother is getting more and more confused."

Gu Huaizhou felt absolutely no pity for Qi's mother's death.

If it weren't for Qi's mother discovering Jiang Miaoyin's secret and demanding money from her, she wouldn't have lost her life.

The steward understood the implication in Gu Huaizhou's words; clearly, the Marquis's residence did not want to get involved in this matter.

A simple coffin costs only five taels of silver. Although it's not much, it's a token of goodwill.

The problem is that Qi's mother's family might not agree.

Indeed, the butler's prediction came true.

When he returned to the servants' quarters, he indeed saw Qi Mama's son and daughter there, crying and waiting.

Upon seeing the steward return, the two hurriedly came forward: "Steward Song, what did the Marquis and the mistress say about my mother?"

The one asking the question was Qi's mother's son, Xu Dalin.

He was honest and kind, and worked as a pruner and other odd jobs in the backyard of the mansion.

He's always been a bit slow-witted and doesn't have many ideas.

Steward Song sighed and said, "Only the Marquis and the First Madam know about this now. The Mistress has not been informed. She just gave birth and there are more children in the courtyard. We are afraid of frightening the Madam. The Marquis is very kind and is willing to give five taels of silver to bury your mother."

"What? Such a big incident happened in the manor, and it was just dealt with so hastily? This is a human life!"

Xu Shuang'er was a second-class maid in the mansion.

She doesn't usually serve the master; she does the work in the kitchen.

Because of Zhou's support, although she was a servant, she regarded herself as half a mistress among the servants.

Upon hearing Steward Song say that the manor would only contribute five taels of silver, Xu Shuang'er was the first to object.

Steward Song sighed and advised, "The dead cannot be brought back to life, so why make trouble for yourself? The manor is already giving you a huge favor by providing five taels of silver for your mother's funeral. If you make a scene, it will only make things worse. You might as well take the silver and let your mother rest in peace as soon as possible."

Xu Shuang'er bit her lip and retorted with red eyes, "I disagree. Mother died under mysterious circumstances. How could she have accidentally fallen into the water? I want to find a coroner to find out the cause of Mother's death."

"Shuang'er, stop making a fuss. There are no external injuries on my body. I've already said it was an accidental fall into the water, and you still want to call a coroner. Isn't that a slap in the face to your master?" Xu Dalin hurriedly advised.

With Qi's mother dead, he and his sister lost their support.

If this continues, they might even lose their job.

Xu Shuang'er glared at Xu Dalin, pulled him aside, and whispered, "Brother, how can you be so brainless? Mother can't have died in vain. Isn't the manor rushing us to bury her just to shut us up? If we don't make some money now, when will we?"

Xu Dalin looked at his sister in astonishment: "You, how could you do this? That's our own mother!"

“It’s precisely because she’s my own mother that I have to make a fuss, otherwise people will think we’re unfilial.”

"But we're just servants. Whether we live or die is up to our master," Xu Dalin said with some worry.

Xu Shuang'er sneered: "Even servants can't be executed at will. Besides, we just want to know the cause of Mother's death. If the master is innocent, why won't he let us find out the truth? The more they cover it up, the more it shows they have something to hide."

Xu Dalin lowered his head in fear: "But, I dare not."

“I’m going to find the mistress and ask her to set an example for us.”

Xu Shuang'er has always been a woman of her own mind. Knowing that she couldn't rely on her brother, she had to find a way on her own.

Qi's mother is dead, so she has to make good use of this opportunity.

She had seen the body; there was a purplish-blue bruise on the back of Qi's neck from being strangled.

How could there be pinch marks if someone accidentally falls into the water?

Since the Marquis doesn't care, she'll find someone who can.

Xu Shuang'er walked towards Qiufeng Courtyard, determined to find out what was going on.