Actually, Fu Zhen didn’t want to excessively dig into anything, it was just that when the incident occurred, it was just after Mr. Ning’s passing and at the ti Mrs. Fu was beginning to live through tumultuous tis. The Fu Family had long since moved into this mansion, so why was Mrs. Fu, who was supposed to be resting at the Fu Residence in the middle of the night, found in that inn?
Mrs. Fu indeed frowned, as if she was sinking into so thoughts.
Then she lowered her head, slowly drinking the soup. Afterward, she stopped and looked up at Fu Zhen: "Zhen Er, I want to ask you a question, are you really still my Zhen Er?"
It was Fu Zhen’s turn to be stunned.
Mother and daughter just stared at each other like this, seemingly unwilling to speak first.
But after a while, it was Mrs. Fu who, as a mother, took a step back.
She lowered her gaze, picked up the spoon, and stirred the chicken soup in the bowl slowly.
The movent was so slow, so steady, as if her chest was filled with stones.
"As you said, my eting with Miss Liang was indeed very unusual." Just as Fu Zhen was digesting the implications of her words, Mrs. Fu spoke, "Before your grandfather passed away, he left a ssage saying that soon one of his old friends might co to seek my help, and he asked to do my best to assist.
"He also ntioned that the person has a very strong background and that if I could entertain his old friend well, it would be beneficial to and your father—at that ti, we didn’t know what kind of person your father actually was—
"In short, your grandfather said that helping this person would definitely result in future rewards for us, whether it be your father’s position, your dical treatnt, Jia Ge’er’s studies, or even his future and the entire Fu Family! All would benefit.
"Naturally, I followed orders, so in early August of that year, I received a letter.
"The person was very polite, only asking to book an inn for him, saying he would arrive in the capital around Mid-Autumn Festival.
"The night I t Miss Liang was August 12th, at the inn where I was supposed to et this person.
"Because the person said they would arrive in the capital in those two days, I wanted to entertain them well, and it just so happened that after your grandfather’s death, the main shopkeeper from Jiangling ca to the capital to deliver account books.
"To avoid your father and grandmother’s ddling with these accounts, I deliberately took them with , booking a room next door to review the accounts while waiting.
"That night as I was about to blow out the lamp and sleep, I heard movent in the alley downstairs, and then I saw Miss Liang in danger under the window. So I helped her up, invited her upstairs, and thus, had a brief encounter with her."
Fu Zhen asked, "Mother, how did you know she was Miss Liang?"
Mrs. Fu smiled faintly at the night sky: "That lady is not ordinary; she has fought in battles, and in the entire Great Zhou, how many won are as gallant as her?
"And she often rode through the streets on a horse, shining brightly, so of course, I had seen her."
Fu Zhen continued, "Since it was deep into the night, the alley must have been dimly lit; mother, on the upper floor, must have seen her for quite a while to recognize her. What kind of commotion was there in the alley that made mother stop reviewing the accounts and watch downstairs for so long?"
Mrs. Fu pondered: "Downstairs, soone died."
She brought the soup to her lips but stopped without drinking, looking straight at the ground: "I heard a child crying downstairs. Initially, I thought it was a child in a neighboring house crying at night, but then the crying stopped abruptly after a few cries. It didn’t seem right, so I looked down through a partially open window.
"Just then, I saw soone under the moonlight attacking a pair of adults and a child. The dagger was raised high, but the attacker was extrely skilled. I could only watch helplessly as the two victims fell to the ground.
"Though I had never encountered such events myself, your grandfather had been around the world for years, and many of the traveling shopkeepers in the family had experienced such murderous matters. Though startled, I wasn’t completely panicked.
"I intended to wait for the perpetrator to leave before calling soone to report it to the authorities, but at that ti, I saw another person arrive below, appearing to be a girl who had inadvertently co to this place.
"—Because I saw it was a girl who shouldn’t be traveling alone at night, I made sure to take a closer look. There were not many won like her in the capital, and very soon, from her nimble movents, I guessed her identity.
"She was examining the deceased, and soon after, more people ca to the other end of the alley. When she looked up for sowhere to hide, I saw her face—positively confirming it was her, and without thinking, I gestured for her to co up to the window.
"The next day, I expected this matter to spread all over the city, but indeed, there was not a single whisper. Everything in that alley felt like a dream to .
"If it weren’t for Miss Liang’s death at Baihe Temple three days later, I would surely have thought it was all a dream!"
As she spoke to this point, Mrs. Fu’s voice grew slower and quieter.
Under the blackness of night, it felt as though the atmosphere in the room had returned to that very night.
Fu Zhen silently added a scoop of soup for her, and then asked, "After Miss Liang left, did mother return to the residence?"
"No." Mrs. Fu gazed at her intently, "I indeed wanted to leave in the latter half of the night, but the group Miss Liang was avoiding was different from the previous group. Their attire was entirely different.
"The two who committed the murder earlier were dressed decently, with veils that hid their faces, but the later group had at least ten people, all dressed in black from head to toe, also wearing veils.
"Miss Liang left shortly after from the front yard of the inn, but those people stayed on. They cleaned up the scene and seed to be searching for sothing, scouring the entire alley until just before dawn, only then leaving reluctantly. So there was no chance for to leave the inn at night either."
When Fu Zhen climbed through Mrs. Fu’s window that night, how could she dare show her face? Naturally, she left promptly.
Therefore, the first part of Mrs. Fu’s account was sothing she had known roughly, but the latter part was only revealed now.
The later group was still searching for sothing, most likely the missing dagger.
So the next day, it wasn’t the n in black who ca looking, but Xu Yin found his way to her—
The twist and turns in this matter, now that was intriguing.
If they were determined to obtain the dagger, then tracing back to the alley where Xu Yin was staying at the ti, and consequently finding Xu Yin due to their thodical investigation, was entirely possible.
And just on the night before, Xu Yin had also found out from Liang Ning about the incident, and he saw the dagger, hence the reason for his inquiries about its whereabouts afterward.
Thinking about this, her heart strings suddenly tightened: "Did the people mother was waiting for, ever co?"
"No." Mrs. Fu looked at her with bright eyes, "They never ca back.
"Because they were already dead in that alley on that night."
"..."
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