There was a burst of noise, a burst of children's screams, followed by a brief silence. As the footsteps approached quickly, the sound of tiny sobbing became clearer and louder.
Jiu Fangze quickly stepped upstairs and saw three maids hugging each other at the corner. One of them was sobbing softly. The bright red blood under her forehead wetted her front and made her look painful.
Seeing him striding towards him, the three people immediately stood up and bent down to signal. But the injured one quickly collapsed. The two people beside her immediately pulled her up.
"I'm sorry! I feel dizzy and can't stand up straight..."
"Take her to stop the bleeding." He said, "Lie in bed for the next two days and don't move around. There is no government doctor now."
The other two nodded repeatedly, not daring to look at him. The maid who was injured in the middle had red eyes and tears. She sniffed hard and said as clearly as possible:
"The young lady refused to eat... she beat all the food cooked by the kitchen. She also hit me..."
The companion on the left tugged on her sleeve to signal her not to say too much. Jiu Fangze just pretended not to see it and ordered:
"I know. Return the key to me. You take her down to lie down, and I'll go talk to the old lady. You, take the broom and clean up the food at the door. I'll go to the kitchen and ask them to prepare things again. I'll deliver them. .”
The maid who was originally crying suddenly took a step forward: "Master Jiufang, please don't go there... The last thing the young lady wants to see now is you. If you are also injured, we-"
Jiu Fangze waved his hand, and the older maid immediately pulled her away, while the other one hurriedly found tools to clean. After a burst of messy footsteps, the place returned to the quietness of the night again. Jiu Fangze walked to the kitchen alone. Ben, the chef, huddled at the foot of the wall and dozed off. Hearing his arrival, he stood up in excitement.
"Isn't it...not to your liking, young lady?"
He rubbed his hands together nervously and laughed. Jiu Fangze only said: "Is the medicine ready?"
"Okay, it's cooked. I'm afraid it will get cold, so I'm still simmering in the casserole. Do you think there is anything else to prepare?"
"No, I'll do it. You take out the sugar bowl." As he said that, Jiu Fangze grabbed a handful of rice from the bag.
"well……"
The cook took the things and left the kitchen with relief. It doesn’t take long to cook a bowl of porridge. After it was out of the pot, Jiu Fangze poured the sugar into the rice soup as if it was free of charge. Then he took the soup and sweet rice porridge on a tray and walked to the eldest lady's room. He skillfully opened the lock with one hand and held the tray steadily with the other hand.
The moment the door opened, he grabbed the tray with both hands and ducked behind the door.
The inkstone slammed against the wooden door, making a dull sound, and then the inkstone broke into several pieces and fell to the ground. Jiu Fangze slowly appeared from outside the door, took a few steps forward, and placed the tray on the nearby table.
"You haven't eaten for a day. You must drink the medicine. You are not in good health. This is not only the old lady's request. As usual, this is white porridge with sugar. You drank the medicine and it just cooled down. .”
"Get out!" Yu Ying screamed, "Do you think I really want to see you now?!"
"Sorry. But your body comes first."
"I'm so worried about you! I was going to open the safe immediately - but you didn't let me go. I wasn't here to save you. Damn the family law, it's all that old man who has the final say. I I'm not afraid of her! But you actually did that. I can't see any guilt on your face! Jiu Fangze, you are really ruthless. If you put some water in it, if you shirk it, if you please Come on, if you show even the slightest apology, I won't hate you as much as I do now!"
"I'm sorry. That's what Mrs. Yu meant. It's my duty to follow orders."
"Your duty is to protect me! Not to hurt me!"
Things hit him one after another. Pillows, candlesticks, shoes, bottles and jars. Most of them were thrown crookedly, and some were thrown into Jiu Fangze's face. He doesn't dodge.
"I apologize for making you unhappy."
"You have never really felt sorry!!" Yu Ying shouted hoarsely, "Never! You just said that! If you really felt sorry, you wouldn't always be like this! Thirteen years! You are like this every day, I I actually naively thought that you would change your mind, that you were really doing it for my own good! You only listened to that old guy and pretended to protect me in front of outsiders. You are exactly the same as those bitches who work in disguise... That old man actually used a dog to humiliate me!"
"Well, I'm sorry. But even so, I think you shouldn't be angry about drinking medicine."
Yu Ying, who was completely irritated, rushed forward barefoot. She slammed the tray on the table onto Jiu Fangze. The warm and bitter medicine splashed on his face, and the white porridge stained his dark clothes. He still made no resistance and showed no expression. Just raising his hand to wipe away the water stains that covered his eyes, Jiu Fangze knelt down on one knee and picked up the remains on the ground onto a plate.
"Don't mess with these fragments, you will cut your hands. I will get things to clean up later. The medicine will be brewed again until you are willing to drink it. I am very sorry, these are my jobs."
When he walked to the door, Yu Ying called him.
"Jiufangze."
"exist."
"Why are you always calm? Why do you make me look like the only crazy person? Why do you do that?"
"It is also my responsibility to handle the Yu family's housework calmly. You are not crazy, it's just that I didn't do a good enough job. I'm sorry."
"You're so inhuman."
Jiu Fangze, who seemed to be truly bloodless and tearless, did not look back, even though his eldest lady was already so angry that she was shaking all over.
The maids in Yu Mansion are not very old. The eldest of the three just now was just an adult, and the injured one was no more than two years older than the young lady. Now, a square piece of gauze is attached to the injured person's head, and he is lying flat on the bed.
"Why are you talking so much?" Another maid scolded her, "You shouldn't talk about Miss in front of the housekeeper Jiufang. You have only been here for less than a year, why are you so unruly?"
"But... you have been here for a long time, so of course you know what the young lady is like. Mrs. Yu can't even see her. Her words are like the judge's signature dropped on the ground. In the entire Yu family, only the housekeeper can take it. We take the lives of our servants seriously.”
The maid sitting by the bed shook her head and said: "That's what you said, but what the old lady and the young lady said can never be said in person or behind their backs. Today he thinks you are ignorant, so you can forget about it next time. Got it. Butler Jiufang is the most senior, has been here the longest, and understands the thoughts of the Yu family best. However, this also means that no matter what kind of person he was originally, he is now as repetitive as the Yu family. You I don’t know who will disappear one day, let alone what they have committed..."
"Sigh... people like us are worthless. He dared to let me rest for two days. This is something that my family would never dare to think about. After my parents gave birth to my brother, I stopped welcoming him. . They sold me to the Yu Mansion, saying they wanted me to live a good life - but do you know? What is the reputation of the Yu Mansion now?"
"Listen to me... When I was ten years old, my father was seriously ill, and he was the one who took care of the seven mouths in the family. I went to the Yu Mansion myself and negotiated some money for medicine. It was the housekeeper Jiufang who met me at that time. After that, my father's illness seemed to be cured, and he even sent me letters twice. Of course I knew he was a good person... and of course I knew how difficult it was to be in the Yu family. At that time, they said, You can't even get out of the Yu family's door. Even the sales of fruits, vegetables and utensils are handled at the small door, and everything must be done under the eyes of the housekeeper. Someone once secretly took a bracelet from the house and wanted to entrust someone with it. She was sent home... Later she was arrested and the family law was punished, so she went crazy. She walked around the house every day and said to everyone she met: "Where is my hand? Look at my hand. Where is it?" 'But her hands were just on her wrists. Within a few days, she couldn't eat and starved to death because of her handless hysteria."
"...Then, did the handyman who was caught trying to escape last year really receive a subsidy and let him go home?"
"Don't ask any questions that raise any suspicion. However, the person who was handed over to the police station two days ago probably really escaped..."
"Are you familiar with him?"
"He was already here when I came. He is a rare 'old man'. He doesn't like to talk to others, but he has a good heart. I think it is unlikely that he is a spy planted by another family. It's just that he has been wronged for a long time, and in his heart It was inevitable that he was holding his breath. In addition, he had a daughter, but he couldn't even receive a letter. I guess someone outside managed to bribe him with letters from home... and also gave him a gun. No matter how bad the old lady's ears were, the sound of the gunshot must have been If you hear it, you will be investigated strictly afterwards. Therefore, I urge you to be careful in your words and deeds..."
"...It's just you and me at the moment. I won't say anything after today. You know, the Yu family has been recruiting people all the time, and no one has seen anyone go back. I also came in and found that the place was empty. I was busy. It was just a few of us in the end. Except for the housekeeper, everyone was so young——"
"say no more……"
"Where have people... gone?"
The temperature in the basement was clear and cold, and the light was so dim. No one could tell whether the damp, musty smell spreading in the air was blood or rust.
Yi Zhaochen, who was used to the smell, gasped for air. He put his hand into the basin for the umpteenth time. It was filled with red liquid that was turbid and bottomless. He sat on the chair, and the police officer beside him carefully handed him a new towel. He snatched it away, frightening the police officer.
"Changing the fucking water? You don't have any eyesight!"
The police officer walked away shivering with a basin in hand, and almost bumped into the director who was walking in the door. He didn't know how to salute, but his face was pale and he was in a daze. Yi Huian waved his hand, signaling him to get out of here. Only the person behind her carrying the box smiled and bowed to him. The police officer nodded hurriedly in response, and fled the place of trouble on the ground.
The director led people to walk next to Yi Zhaochen. She picked up the metal pliers on the table, looked at the bloody tooth on them, and asked:
"You've eaten a lot of meat for lunch today. Why can't Section Chief Yi use the strength to open his mouth?"
Yi Zhaochen's patience is reaching its limit. He stood up suddenly and pulled the red towel to the table.
"You you on the line?"
"Hey, he's so angry. Did the Yu family cut out his tongue or cut off his hand, and he didn't explain anything?"
"None of them, it's his brain that's broken. He's mentally abnormal. What's going to happen if you interrogate a madman? If the interrogation continues, let him tell you his confession in a dream!"
"That won't work. Don't let the people of Yinshe laugh to death if the news spreads? Forget it, just rest. There are specialties in the art, so we'd better call in the professionals. Treat the disease, and then try again after it's cured. That's all. A responsibility to respect human rights. Please help me, Teacher Tang."
Yi Zhaochen glanced at the guy named Tang Zhen behind her - a man with short hair and wearing black square glasses with only the lower half of the frame. His eyes are as narrow as these lenses, maybe because of his smile. When he stepped forward, Yi Zhaochen saw from the side of his neck the long, thin hair tied behind his head. The man held the suitcase with both hands and bowed several times respectfully.
"Chief Yi, you have worked hard - you have worked hard."
