People came over, either carrying lamps or candles, or in twos and threes.
When they saw the intact servant, some of them just said impatiently, "What killed someone? Where is he?"
Although the servant didn't leave many injuries, it was obvious that the psychological shadow just now had been left behind.
He only trembled his lips, and then pointed his fingers tremblingly to the corridor near the princess's room.
After hearing this, people only half-believed and walked in the direction pointed by the servant.
Unexpectedly, when we got there, we saw that the corridor was already crowded with people. Among them, Cui Qiao, who was on duty tonight, only lightly patted Lian Ying's cheek.
What people saw was no murder scene, and no signs of fighting.
The only thing they saw was Lingying lying on the porch and sleeping on the ground.
One of them couldn't help but tease the servant, "Didn't you say killing people? Where are the people?"
At this time, the place was full of people, and the servant finally recovered some thoughts. When he heard the words, he immediately said, "Just now, Miss Lianying suddenly floated over here in her middle coat, which scared me a lot, but when I watched After I knew it was Miss Lianying, I didn't take it seriously. I didn't want to ask the girl what she was doing here, but she didn't answer me. Instead, she just suddenly pounced on me, and then she strangled my neck like this."
The servant just described the situation and simulated the actions just now.
But obviously not many people believed his statement. Some people said nonchalantly, "You are a grown man, how can you not beat a little girl?"
Some people even speculated in a low voice, "I think Miss Lianying didn't sleep well. Why did she come to bully you? I don't think you want to do anything wrong to her now, do you?" @
Hearing such malicious speculation, the servant instantly became angry and said, "I definitely didn't do such a thing. She came over and pinched my neck by herself. There must be fingerprints on my neck now. If you still don't believe it, wake her up." Go ask her!”
However, Lianying did not leave any deeper mark on the servant's neck just now. As time went by, the traces on the servant's neck disappeared early.
Therefore, people did not see anything. On the contrary, at this moment, Lianying finally opened her eyes. She obviously did not know what situation she was in now. After opening her eyes, she saw a crowd surrounding her. Looking at the crowd of onlookers and Cui Qiao who was accompanying her, she only asked in a confused voice, "Why am I here?"
So after hearing Lianying's words, the others looked at the servant with even more suspicion.
The servant also felt as if he had suffered some unfair injustice.
He immediately looked at Lianying and said, "Miss Lianying, you suddenly came over and pinched me just now, do you still remember?"
How could Lianying have any impression of this? Instead, when she heard this man's words, she immediately warned, "Why am I pinching you? Why am I pinching you! I have no enmity with you."
Then she looked at Cui Qiao and said, "Ah Qiao, why am I here?"
Cuiqiao had a closer relationship with Lingying. When she heard this, she immediately glared at the servant and said, "I don't know what the situation is, but when I came over, I found you sleeping outside the corridor and banging your head." On the pillar."
Then she just pointed her finger at the servant and said, "This man just said that you strangled his neck. Lianying, did you strangle him?"
Hearing this, Lianying naturally became wary. She shook her head, and then asked doubtfully, "Why did I choke him? Didn't I go back to my room to sleep? Why am I here?"
After listening to Lianying's words, everyone naturally thought that the servant was just calling for a thief.
And because this servant is not very formal on weekdays, and he also likes to have sex, so some people who are familiar with him just subconsciously said, "Don't you want to take action against Miss Lianying?"
"I think it must be like this! He usually talks nonsense. He also said that he wanted to sleep with the four girls in the princess's house." Someone raised suspicion, and others naturally followed suit. At the moment, you and I are the only ones making inferences about the servant's guilt.
Although the servant anxiously explained that he had never done anything obscene, his argument alone was not supported by strong evidence.
Next, he seemed more and more unable to argue.
Even Lianying, who did not feel that she had been violated in any way, could not help but be wary of the family member. She subconsciously hid behind Cui Qiao. Cui Qiao naturally only protected Lianying behind her, and such a dispute , which naturally also caused a quarrel among the stewards in the courtyard.
"What happened? Why is it so noisy here?" Ling Xiu, who had become the steward, only asked lightly from the outside.
However, upon hearing Xing Xiu's voice, the others immediately and consciously made way for Xing Xiu.
Then Lingxiu's eyes naturally fell on the two parties involved. She first glanced at Lianying, who was only wearing a white tunic. After she looked at Lianying, her tone naturally and unconsciously became much gentler, "Lianying, Can you tell me what happened just now?"
Although Lingying felt that she was still very suspicious lying here, and she was full of doubts about the servant, but when she woke up, she did not feel any discomfort, and she did not see that the servant was doing anything wrong to her. behavior, so she could only whisper, "I don't know what happened, but I came out of the lady's room after dinner tonight, and I haven't been here since. After eight o'clock, I should I fell asleep, and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself sleeping on the ground outside the lady’s door, and there were many people watching me.”
Jixiu then asked, "Do you have any witnesses during this period?"
Naturally, Lianying hadn't thought of any witnesses. After all, the four maids had always had separate bedrooms.
Unexpectedly, Cui Qiao immediately spoke up and said, "I can prove that Lian Ying returned to the room after waiting for Madam to go to bed. Today I am taking over her shift, and I live next door to her."
After hearing Cui Qiao's words, Ying Xiu had already convinced Lian Ying. Then she turned to look at the servant and said coldly, "What about you? What's your situation?"
Seeing that someone finally asked him, the servant immediately described in detail what had just happened under the corridor to his chattering colleague.
However, Lianying had no grudge against him at this time, and secondly, he had no actual evidence to prove that Lianying pinched his neck, so naturally no one believed what he said. On the contrary, others only inferred guilt based on their words. It seemed more logical than what the servant said.
So after hearing this, Lingxiu naturally chose to remain suspicious of the servant.
She just said loudly, "You still want to quibble? Everyone has said that you usually think about things you shouldn't think about. Even if you do something, it doesn't count as wronging you. What's more, Miss Lianying sleeps well." , and some people have proven that she did go back to her room at night. How could she, a good living person, appear here?"
Seeing that Yingxiu didn't believe him, and that he, a victim, had suddenly become a perpetrator, the servant became even more anxious. "Steward, I really didn't do anything to him? What am I going to do to her? I can still go anywhere." Yelling?"
"Besides, it's not impossible for this person not to go out even if he's asleep!"
Then the servant looked at Lianying anxiously and said, "Miss Lianying, do you think it's possible that you have some sleepwalking habit? And then you pinched me?"
The servant thought of this, and then as if he had grasped some truth, he immediately said, "I think this may be quite big. After all, you were really expressionless when you came here just now, just like A Piao, and you walked quietly. Silently, I was almost scared by you."
However, before Lingying could reply, Cuiqiao said, "That's impossible. Lingying doesn't have the habit of sleepwalking. If she has this habit, Madam can't let her stay overnight."
Hearing this, the servant was extremely depressed.
Yingxiu only asked, "What else do you have to say now?"
But the servant insisted, "I really didn't do anything. She pinched my neck."
Seeing that he was still struggling so pointlessly, Lingxiu suddenly became more and more angry at the servant.
She just whispered, "You didn't do anything? Can she be here? You didn't do anything? She will look like this? It's already like this, and you still want to quibble?"
The servant immediately retorted, "I'm not making excuses! I...I don't even know how to say this myself."
As for his defense, to other people's ears it sounded more like it was out of
He felt guilty and quibbled, so after someone shouted out that since he refused to admit, he would be sent to see the official, the current scene seemed to be getting more and more out of control.
Under this kind of instigation, Lingxiu, who no longer trusted the servants, naturally complied with everyone's suggestions. However, because it was late at night and he could not go to the Yamen to complain during the curfew, Lingxiu had to give up first. Several big men tied up the servant, and then they sent the servant to the woodshed, intending to send the servant to prison early tomorrow morning.
The servant naturally struggled again when he heard this, but his struggle only seemed so powerless amidst the power of the crowd.
After determining all this, Ting Xiu not only asked someone to take over the duties of the servant, but also asked everyone to go back to their respective houses and perform their duties.
Cui Qiao naturally only asked other maids to accompany Lian Ying back to the house.
She herself returned to Jiang Nianjiao's outer room.
Unexpectedly, she had just returned to the outer room and was about to lie down when Jiang Nianjiao's voice came from the inner room, "Aqiao, what happened outside?"
Cui Qiao was disgusted by what just happened, and she and Jiang Nianjiao were not used to having so many master-servant etiquettes. When she saw Jiang Nianjiao woke up, she simply walked over and complained, "Actually, it's not that big of a deal. This blind guy actually wanted to belittle Lingying! When it didn't work out, he actually slandered Lingying and said that Lingying pinched his neck, and he didn't even look at his moral character."
