Soft plush, smooth and thick.
The tip of the hair is red with a little golden brown, gorgeous and precious. However, this beauty was snatched back, and the flesh and blood under the skin no longer existed.
Dressed in fox fur, although it was neatly cleaned, there was still a faint fishy smell.
Xu Zhihuai could recall the bloody scene just by looking at it.
She frowned slightly and asked Jinhua to get some sachets, wrap the fox fur, put them away first.
Out of sight out of mind.
Jinhua smiled and nodded, and put it safely into the camphor wood box.
That night, Xu Zhihuai had a strange dream.
In the dream, the skinned red fox dragged its bloody body and kept screaming pitifully at her feet.
When she woke up leisurely, she was shocked to realize that Zhu Xuxing was not around.
Every time she woke up from a nightmare, she would subconsciously lean towards Zhu Xingxing and absorb his body temperature.
He wasn't here at the moment.
Xu Zhihuai lifted the curtain and looked outside.
The candlestick on the table was burning brightly, and the room was dimly lit, with no one in sight.
She put on a robe, stood up in a hurry, and called out, only to see Jinhua running over sleepily.
"Where is your highness?"
Jinhua rubbed her eyes and pointed outside.
"Your Highness went to the study?"
Jinhua nodded silently.
It's so late, there must be something important.
Xu Zhihuai asked Jinhua to pour her a cup of hot tea and drank it while waiting. Unexpectedly, when it got daybreak, His Highness did not come back.
She counted the time, washed and changed clothes, and was waiting in the study early. As a result, we waited for more than half an hour before Zhu Xiuxing showed up with a heavy look on his face.
"Your Highness."
Xu Zhihuai spoke softly, and saw him raising his eyebrows in surprise, then he walked towards her in three steps at a time.
Yue Yichuan behind him also had a serious face, and the moment he saw her, his eyes turned sharp.
"How did you come?"
Zhu Xuxing took her hands hanging by his sides and held them gently. It was indeed cool.
"I woke up last night and couldn't see His Highness. I was a little worried...what happened?"
Zhu Xuxing lowered his eyes and warmed her hands with his own body temperature: "Xie Ningchao is dead."
"ah?"
Xu Zhihuai was inexplicably surprised.
Why did that old fox die suddenly?
Didn't he just get the prince's pardon and prepare to go to Huaizhou to collect tax money?
"how could be?"
"He is really dead, and his body will be found."
Zhu Xuxing's tone was slightly hoarse, which was obviously due to staying up late.
"Who did it?"
Zhu Xuxing pondered slightly: "We haven't decided yet, but it's not that important anymore."
It doesn’t matter who the real culprit is.
Xu Zhihuai noticed his complicated and entangled mood, and hurriedly took his arm and said softly: "I made ginseng tea for your highness. Your highness, please drink some while it's hot."
The two of them came to the study together. Xu Zhihuaian sat down opposite him quietly, with concern in his eyes: "Can you still get the thirty thousand taels of silver back?"
Zhu Xuxing curled his lips, seeming to be smiling bitterly.
"In addition to countless wealth, Xie Ningchao also has countless secrets. Now that he is dead, the money may not be recovered, and no one knows those secrets."
Xu Zhihuai sighed softly: "Did someone do it on purpose? Or...had ulterior motives?"
Zhu Xuxing took another sip of ginseng tea: "It's not difficult to find out. Wei Li is here."
"His Highness still wants Qing Yihou to investigate? Can his eyes be used?"
"I don't trust anyone except Wei Li."
Xu Zhihuai nodded: "I understand."
She was silent for a long time, and suddenly sighed: "Your Highness has worked hard and only wants to do good things for the people. Why is the process always so difficult?"
Zhu Xuxing heard her melancholy and raised his hand to stroke her head: "Fool, why are you so wronged?"
"I'm not worth it for Your Highness. I'm worried about Your Highness." After saying this, her eyes had a faint light, soft and timid, like a cute little animal that had been bullied.
Zhu Xuxing looked at her with distressed eyes, and his worried brows finally relaxed a little.
Although the old fox is dead, the fox's tail is still there.
In the afternoon of that day, Xu Zhihuai asked Aunt Nan to send someone to send a message to Xie Wuyou.
Xie Wuyou was raised in the outer room and once again lived a life of fine clothing and fine food, with people taking care of his food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Xue Yao keeps a low profile, coming and leaving quietly every time.
Perhaps because he was afraid that she would be lonely alone, Xue Yao bought her a thrush and hung it on the porch.
Xie Wuyou looked at the bird and felt that he had seen it before. It took him a long time to remember that he had also given Xu Zhihuai a thrush, which was even more precious and beautiful than this one.
At first she wanted to use a bird to mock her, but now she has become a bird being laughed at.
Being fed by others, watched and played with by others, you will lose your freedom for the rest of your life.
Xie Wuyou looked at the thrush in trance for a while, until a little maid came to call her: "Madam, there is a master from a tailor shop outside, saying he is here to bring materials to Madam."
"What material?"
"It's the material that Madam ordered."
Xie Wuyou hesitated and said, "Let him come in first."
Her courtyard is very secluded and no one will come unexpectedly.
The best Su silk, everything is top quality.
Dark green embroidered jasmine, dark white magnolia...
This pattern, color and style are obviously good products that can only be found in the palace.
Xie Wuyou was instantly alert. He looked at the smiling tailor boss and asked in a probing tone, "Where did this guy come from?"
The boss smiled kindly: "Madam, I don't remember, it was the third day of the lunar month last month."
Xie Wuyou understood everything immediately.
She left the material and sent the maid away. She slowly rubbed it with her hand, and sure enough, she pulled out a small note from the roll of cloth.
Black and white are clear and shocking.
"Xie Ningchao is dead, and the murderer is unknown."
Xie Wuyou's breath was suffocated, and his heart and liver were clenched.
Grandpa is dead...what about the others?
The little hope she had left in her heart was now completely gone.
That night, Xue Yao stopped his friend's drinking party and hurried back.
As soon as they entered the hospital, they saw the maids standing in the corridor with anxious faces. They accompanied them and said carefully: "Madam seems a little unhappy today..."
Xue Yao saw that there were no candles in the room and it was pitch dark. He immediately scolded her: "How are you serving me? Madam, if you don't light the lamp, what's the use of you standing outside?"
He pushed the door open and entered, lighting the candlestick. When he saw Xie Wuyou lying beside the bed, looking listless, he hurriedly called out, "What's wrong? The ground is so cold."
He went over to help her and saw a little face stained with tears.
"why cry?"
Xie Wuyou trembled and remained silent, silently swallowing his sadness.
Xue Yao frowned, with a suspicious expression on his handsome face: "Did you hear something? No, you haven't been out for a long time, you shouldn't know."
Xue Yao wiped her tears distressedly: "Get up first, it will be bad if you catch a cold."
Xie Wuyou fell into his arms, choking with sadness.
Xue Yao couldn't hide it anymore and could only tell the truth to her.
"Your grandfather... was ambushed on the way to Tongzhou."
