Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After my legitimate sister vanished, the old woman guarding the door was scared out of her wits and crawled to report the news to the matriarch.

Since my guest quarters were near my legitimate sister’s, I heard the commotion and rushed to her room with my maid, Yingge.

The interior was perfectly tidy. The guest quarters of Xiangguo Temple were not as spacious as the rooms in the Marquis Manor; everything could be seen in a single glance. The doors and windows were shut tight, and there wasn’t even a shadow to be found.

After the matriarch arrived with her attendants, they searched the place inside and out.

But she was gone.

Yingge’s face turned pale at the time. She tugged at my sleeve from behind and whispered with a sob, “Seventh Miss, has Third Miss… has she run away?”

I quickly covered her mouth.

“Do you want to die? Listen, from this moment on, do not say a single word.”

Even my own maid’s first instinct was this.

Let alone anyone else.

I suspect the loyal Cuihong and Cuilv felt the same way back then, which was why they preferred to be beaten to death rather than say a word, insisting they knew nothing.

The matriarch was hell-bent on taking their lives. Cutting out Mama Liu’s tongue was also effectively a way to seal her mouth.

But now, both maids had been beaten to death. Whatever they had done at the West Market the day before, or whoever they had met-even if one wanted to ask now, there was no one left to answer.

When the matriarch walked out of my legitimate sister’s room, her face was completely bloodless. Supported by an old nursemaid, she actually stumbled in her gait.

In the deep of the night, the guest quarters of Xiangguo Temple were suddenly ablaze with light.

One could almost see the Great Buddha towering on the mountainside, looking down at everything happening here with merciful eyes.

All the servants involved in the matter were dragged outside to be beaten, their screams never-ending.

My legitimate sister’s personal maid was beaten until she drew her last breath.

Everyone seemed to be kneeling on the ground, but in reality, they were kneeling in a cauldron of boiling oil, watching as the fire slowly licked at their bodies.

One did not know when a single wrong word would burn them to ash.

This was the second time I had entered my legitimate sister’s room.

Inside the screen, the water in the wooden tub, which had once been fragrant with incense, was now ice-cold.

Behind the screen sat a half-finished double-sided embroidery of “Lamb Kneeling to Suckle.”

My legitimate sister had planned to finish it before her wedding to give to the matriarch. It was meant to be placed in the matriarch’s room, so that by looking at it daily, it would be as if her daughter were still by her side.

The lamb had its eyes tightly shut as it knelt with its head raised; only the tearful eyes of the mother sheep remained unfinished.

My legitimate sister had said that the eyes were the most crucial part of this piece.

I leaned down to take a closer look. The tip of the silver needle was habitually tucked into the bottom right corner-a characteristic habit of my sister.

The needlework was orderly, intricate, and delicate, showing that the embroiderer’s state of mind at the end had been steady and focused.

Both the maids and the watch-woman said they saw her focusing on her embroidery by lamplight before her bath.

This was hardly the state of mind a person would have if they were planning to elope and abandon their marriage.

The small window where a thread of Shu brocade had been snagged faced the north mountain. It was unguarded and had originally been bolted from the inside; it could only be opened from within.

Pushing it open revealed a patch of shade-loving greenery, which led directly to the back of the mountain.

Not just outside the window, but even the roof had been thoroughly checked by Dawu and Xiaowu, who had leaped up to investigate.

On the mountain slope, there was a small path that the sweeping monks often used as a shortcut; it was extremely difficult to traverse.

On that path, a branch had snagged my legitimate sister’s sachet, which was embroidered with a “Red Plum in Snow” pattern.

She had embroidered a pair of them herself; one was on the matriarch’s person.

This one was my legitimate sister’s; there was no mistake.

The ground was dry and cracked due to the drought, so no footprints could be found, but there was a clear patch of crushed branches the size of a water vat.

On the path down the mountain, there were obvious male footprints.

But this path was only known to the sweeping monks after questioning. How could my legitimate sister have known about it?

Even if she did know and really did climb out the window to run up the mountain, the time between Cuihong and Cuilv going to fetch water and the watch-woman discovering her disappearance was less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

The matriarch had decisively ordered the blockade of Xiangguo Temple, even alerting the Abbot.

Even if someone had been there to receive her, she couldn’t have flown out even if she had wings.

So…

A chill began to creep up my spine.

It was highly likely that my legitimate sister was still hidden within the temple!