Chapter 353: Cold Winter (middle)

Shichahai, Li family courtyard, inner hall.

Li Nai's face was a little haggard and his eyes were already sinking. He was ten years older than Li Ding and now he is over thirty years old. Although he sometimes feels a little jealous of his younger brother who has been extremely intelligent since childhood, it has not affected his brotherhood.

Today is October 26th, Suzhou received news from the capital on the 19th. Li Xu and Li Nai and his son were both worried.

Li Ding is not a person who doesn’t know the rules. Even if he has something to do, he will not ask for leave from the guard office.

Where did they go? But they were plotted by others? The Li family still has some face in Jiangnan, and it is nothing to go to the capital, a place where powerful people gather. Even the Cao family had the in-laws of Pingjun Palace as their in-laws in the early years, so Cao Yong was almost beaten to death.

When Li Xu thought of his son's temperament, after all, he was old here. He was sensible and had a stronger mind. Who would know which one would offend him if he had sex?

However, even though he was worried, Li Xu did not dare to go to Beijing without asking for the imperial edict, so he sent his eldest son Li Nai to the north to investigate Li Ding's whereabouts.

Li Nai set out from Suzhou on October 19th, and took a few guards to the post station all the way, changing horses and not changing people. He caught up with the capital early this day.

Qian Zhongxuan, the steward of the Li Mansion in the capital, is Li Xu's confidant, but he is not very close to Li Ding on weekdays. Qian Zhongxuan has been in the capital for more than ten years and can represent his master in various deeds. He is a very transparent person.

When Li Ding first entered Beijing, Qian Zhongqiu wanted to sincerely assist the little master, and also pointed out the inappropriate aspects of Li Ding's behavior. Li Ding was used to being smart and had no one else in his eyes. He thought that this butler was relying on his seniority and was suspected of bullying himself.

After the Wanbao Festival was over and after Li Xu returned to Suzhou, Li Ding stopped giving Qian Zhongqi a face and used several managers to follow him. It took half a month to cut off the old housekeeper.

Qian Zhongqiu's kindness was not rewarded, and he was also depressed. He wanted to write to the old master and express his grievances. He was afraid of provoking the relationship between his master and his son, so he could only grit his teeth and endure it. Unexpectedly, in just half a year, such a mistake happened.

Although Guo Mao talked a lot a few days ago and talked about his master's secrets, the butler Qian Zhongqi was very angry. But when he thought about the people his second master had been in contact with each other, everyone knew that. Only Li Ding's confidant was aware of the fact that he was entertaining at the outer house and acting more concealedly.

After checking Li Ding was still missing, not only Guo Mao, who followed Li Ding, suspected that even Qian Zhongqi also suspected that Bai Yang's head.

Although the yard here is not sealed, the people who came from Li's house were also kept in the yard, just waiting for people to come to the south to deal with it.

Li Nai has only one younger brother. Now that he has no one to see people in his life, he will never see corpses. He is also full of burning hearts and his mouth is full of water. After hearing Qian Zhongqiu's general situation, he was blind and had to come to the house to examine people.

*

Yang Ruixue is not a smart person, but looking at the situation in the past half month, he also figured out some reasons. If Li Ding was still alive, how could he disappear? Li Ding was probably like her deceased husband and had lost his life.

Is this considered "good and evil will be rewarded in the end"? Yang Ruixue was a little excited. What can she feel uncomfortable about? She has never harmed anyone. She is just a helpless little woman. What kind of sin does she have to go with the flow?

But it’s just a lifetime. Is it because I have to slapped her neck and hang her?

However, she also knew that if Li Dingruo died so ignorantly, he would have to suffer the disaster of the fish in the pond. In order to exhale, it was normal for the people of the Li family to take her life.

She thought about escaping, but the yard here had already asked Qian Zhongqi, the butler of Li's house, to let someone die. Although she was anxious, she could only endure it and wait for the opportunity.

A few days ago, the manager Shen Liu was also afraid of being implicated, so he packed up his package and wanted to escape. He was caught by the Li family guarding the yard and threw his leg into the woodshed.

With the lessons of the past being placed here, Yang Ruixue had to think of another way. The Li family had no other master in the capital, and even the butler Qian Zhongqin had no right to deal with everyone. She was so detained, just waiting for someone to come from the south.

If it was Li Xu, Yang Ruixue could not help but feel a little expectant. Li Xu really loved her in the spring. Even when he returned to Suzhou, he also sent people to the capital every month. With his love, Yang Ruixue had nothing to be afraid of.

I was afraid that Li Xu would not come, so I changed to other nephews...

Yang Ruixue made two preparations. One was to clean up, not look ostentatious, but also looked lovely and provoked; the other was to wear all the bracelets and beads that Li Xu gave her. If it really didn't work, she, Li Xu's concubine, would show off her identity as a concubine, and those people would not be able to be casual.

Now, I heard that it was Li Ding's brother, Li Xu's eldest son, the eldest uncle of the Li family. Yang Ruixue thought of the father and son's dissatisfaction with ordinary people, and she couldn't help but feel a little hot. Sitting in front of the dressing table and looking at the makeup in the mirror, she felt like a deer in her heart, and she couldn't move.

The ones who looked at Yang Ruixue at the inner house were all the nannys who came from Li’s house. How could they take her seriously? Seeing that she was slow to get up, the two nannies were a little impatient. One of them muttered, "Grandma Yang, the uncle is waiting, don’t make things difficult for the old slaves!"

Although he was honored, the nanny had no respect on her face, and she said it very hard.

Yang Ruixue was angry and glanced at the nanny, trying to scold her, but she felt that it was not the time. At this critical moment, there was no need to bother with her servants. She suppressed her anger, got up and followed the two nanny out of the house and arrived at the inner hall.

Li Nai was waiting to be impatient and wanted to send someone to see him when he saw a young woman coming in with the two nannies. She had a snow-green shirt and a lotus-colored skirt, with simple and light faces on her face, and two beads on her head.

Li Nai was quite surprised. He heard Guo Mao say that the woman raised by his younger brother here was not serious, so he came to interrogate him, wanting to see if it was related to his younger brother's disappearance.

Now it seems that this woman does not look like a woman in the wind, but rather a good family.

It's strange that when Yang Ruixue was a young lady in Jiangning, she liked bright clothes and exquisite makeup. Now she is forced to follow Li Ding, but she is less and less fond of fiddling with those, and she is a little bit back to nature.

Yang Ruixue followed the two nannies to the hall and saw a man in a gorgeous dress sitting on the main seat. He was in his thirties, with a national face and short beards, and his appearance was somewhat similar to Li Xu.

I think this is Li Nai, the eldest uncle of the Li family, and Yang Ruixue said in his heart.

Seeing Li Nai looking at her, Yang Ruixue felt very solemn in her heart, and she lowered her eyes, and she said seriously: "I have seen the uncle in Yang!"

Her behavior made Li Nai confused. He knew that his younger brother was a romantic man. He had many women around him when he was in Suzhou in his early years, but Yang looked like he was not as close as everyone else.

Moreover, although Yang is polite, he does not mean humility in his words. She has a southern accent, and she has a Jiangning accent...

Li Nai was a little surprised and asked, "Yang? Are you from Jiangning?"

Yang Ruixue calmed down Zhuang Rong, nodded slightly, and said, "I am a native of Jiangning!"

Li Nai vaguely remembered that his younger brother proudly talked about getting a pearl scene in Jiangning last year. Because Li Nai heard his father mention that the Cao family made this, he was afraid that his younger brother would act like this, so the Cao family was too cautious and even advised him a few words.

Li Ding disagreed. He mentioned that he had taken over a young widow and made the fortune, and there was nothing to cover up. He also said that the widow's family was young and her husband's family was forced to do so. Instead of taking advantage of the outsiders, it would be better to fall into his hands.

Yang Ruixue was wearing colored clothes, which was obviously a filial piety period.

When Li Nai thought of her good family identity, he was a little unbelievable about the previous words of the manager. Therefore, he was much gentler on his face, pointed to the chair in the hall, and said to Yang Ruixue: "Madam Yang, please sit down and talk!"

Yang Ruixue thanked her mouth, then sat on the chair with her waist straight and stared at her eyes.

Li Nai asked about the eighth night of the first lunar month. Yang Ruixue blushed and said everything when Li Ding came and when he returned. At the end, she suddenly remembered something and thought about it: "I remembered that at the third update that night, the servant sent by the mansion was taken to the window to reply, in a daze, as if she mentioned Miss Tong..."

Before she finished speaking, someone heard someone say angrily: "You slut, don't swear with blood!"

As the saying goes, "If you hit someone, don't hit someone in the face", but this sentence is about stepping on Yang Ruixue's painful foot.

She immediately stood up, her face turned red, and looked at the voice. She saw a cute and pretty young woman flashing from behind the butler Qian Zhongqi, staring at her with her eyebrows and eyes wide open.

Although Yang Ruixue is virtuous in front of her husband, she looks like a "little Aries" in front of Li Ding and is also delicate in front of other men, but after all, she is a business girl, not as shy as an ordinary lady.

In the past six months in Beijing, she also knew a little about the inner house of Xiangtong, Li Ding's favored maid from Li's house.

She sneered at the corner of her mouth and looked at the maid and said, "There is no inner ghost, and it cannot attract external thieves. You maid is so guilty. Could it be that you are the black seller?"

Because Xiangtong was a person who was trusted by Li Ding's inner house, she knew more about Li Ding's affairs, so Li Nai and the butler took her with her.

In Xiangtong's heart, the most suspected person is naturally the slut on this side. Since the escort came back, Ye Xian, the sister Zhixian, and Miaoyun in front of him, and he had to prepare for a marriage. Li Ding stayed at the outer house less often than in the past. Could it be that this slut couldn't stand the loneliness, seduced outsiders, and murdered the second master?

Unexpectedly, in front of the old man, the slut bit her like a mad dog. Xiangtong gritted her teeth and stared at Yang Ruixue, tearing her heart apart.

The whole room was full of people from the Li family. Although Yang Ruixue was nervous, she was forced to do so and sat on the chair again.

Li Nai had heard from the butler before that, but the servant Mao Xiangtong went to invite Li Ding. However, he had already checked that night, Xiangtong had rested early, and did not come to the front yard, nor did he send someone to invite Li Ding.

Xiangtong's parents and brothers both gave birth to children from Li Jia family. She has been with Li Xu for many years, so Li Nai does not doubt her.

This matter is not complicated at all. Someone bribed the servant on Li's house and slandered Li Ding away under the banner of Xiangtong. How could he be a kind-hearted person like this?

Li Nai felt his hands and feet were cold. Although he had such a vague guess in his heart before, he still held a hope, thinking that maybe his younger brother would have other hidden feelings, but he couldn't keep it up.

He just felt confused and didn't know what to do.

I heard a servant come to report: "Uncle, the young master of the Cao family and two messengers from the palace are here!"

The young master of the Cao family, cousin Cao Yong! Li Nai suddenly had a backbone, immediately got up from the chair and greeted him in person.

Before entering Beijing, my father told me to find Cao Yong if I need help. The Cao and Li families are close relatives, and his cousin is also a promising cousin.

Yang Ruixue sat on the chair, but was a little confused. Even if she could act like a serious woman in front of Li Nai, she had no face to play in front of Cao Yong.

Anyway, no one wanted to call her, so she couldn't be happy to stay in the inner hall.

But not everyone can't remember her. When Li Nai took everyone out, Xiang Tong slowed down and followed the end.

When she walked to Yang Ruixue, she stopped, reached out and shaved a big ear, cursing: "You bad-tongued prostitute... a prostitute who cared for her wife..."

Yang Ruixue was not prepared and was held straight, with a slutch on her body and a chair down. She wanted to get up, but Xiangtong stretched out her legs and kicked her feet hard. She spitted on her face, and then she left with a cold snorted.
Chapter completed!