“Was the Ke family’s previous first lady, Lady Lu, killed by your master?”

Wan Fu was startled, nearly jumping from his chair, and exclaimed, “How could that be possible?”

The person behind the curtain spoke softly: “In that case, she must have been killed by someone from the Grand Tutor’s mansion.”

At these words, Wan Fu suddenly looked up: “How do you know about the Grand Tutor’s mansion?”

Silence fell around them.

Wan Fu suddenly realized what had been nagging at him earlier. He looked toward the light blue bamboo curtain, desperately wanting to see the person behind it clearly, and asked, “Who are you?”

This person immediately asked about Lady Lu and mentioned the Grand Tutor’s mansion. And while Wan Quan was usually troublesome, he wouldn’t normally lose thousands of taels of silver for no reason.

But if someone had led him there, that was different.

The other party had come prepared – this entire setup was probably designed for this moment.

“You deliberately lured Quan’er to the Kuaihuo Building to rack up huge debts. You’re trying to deal with the Ke family?” Wan Fu gritted his teeth. “Who exactly are you?”

Behind the bamboo curtain, Lu Tong lowered her gaze to the teacup before her and smiled sardonically.

Wan Fu was Ke Chengxing’s most trusted servant. According to what Granny Wan had told Yin Zheng, before Madam Qin arrived, the Ke family had replaced a batch of servants, especially those in Lu Rou and Ke Chengxing’s courtyard.

Wan Fu was the only one who had stayed.

This servant wasn’t young, and besides being loyal, he was also very tight-lipped. Perhaps this was why Ke Chengxing had kept him by his side even after Lu Rou’s death.

Lu Tong spoke slowly: “Master Wan, who I am isn’t important. What’s important is that your son’s safety now rests entirely in your hands.” Her voice seemed to contain a bewitching quality. “You only need to answer my questions, and the three thousand tael debt note can be voided. If you don’t answer…” She sighed, “Master Wan, why don’t you look in the table drawer and see what’s there.”

Wan Fu instinctively looked down at the black-lacquered square table with its flat drawer. He pulled it out and found a snow-white silk handkerchief inside. Wan Fu opened the handkerchief and immediately cried out “Ah!” nearly falling from his chair.

On that snow-white silk handkerchief lay a bloody severed finger!

“Quan’er!”

A cry of anguish escaped Wan Fu’s throat, tears immediately falling like broken pearls as he cradled the severed finger and began to weep bitterly.

As he was crying in grief and anger, he heard the voice from behind the curtain: “Don’t cry yet, Master Wan. Why don’t you look more carefully?”

Wan Fu suddenly froze, then looked more closely, suddenly crying out in joy: “This isn’t right… Quan’er has a black mole on his little finger, but this finger doesn’t have one. This isn’t Quan’er’s finger!”

The person behind the curtain spoke with amusement: “Master Wan’s love for his son is touching. I was just playing a little joke earlier. This severed finger belongs to another young master who couldn’t pay his gambling debts at the Kuaihuo Building.”

“Master Wan probably doesn’t know the rules of the Kuaihuo Building – for every hundred taels of debt, one finger is cut off. Your son owes three thousand taels. Even after taking all his fingers and toes, there would still be a thousand taels unpaid.”

“While we’re discussing matters here, my people are watching your young master. If we can’t come to an agreement, and my people don’t see me return after the time it takes to burn an incense stick, they’ll have no choice but to follow the Kuaihuo Building’s rules.”

The person behind the curtain asked: “I’m quite curious – is Master Wan more loyal to Master Ke, or does he care more about his son?”

Wan Fu’s face turned ashen.

If he had harbored any thoughts of stalling earlier, thinking he might feed this person some nonsense to placate them, now he had no will to resist. That severed finger had destroyed all his defenses, causing him to crumble instantly.

If Wan Quan truly had his fingers and toes chopped off, he would become a cripple!

He looked dejectedly toward the curtain: “What exactly does Miss want to know?”

The room fell silent for a moment.

After a while, the voice behind the curtain spoke again: “I want you to tell me exactly how Lady Ke, Lady Lu, died.”

Hearing this, Wan Fu’s heart shook. His gaze flickered several times before he carefully measured his words and said: “The First Lady fell ill…”

“I see Master Wan doesn’t want to talk with me.” The person behind the curtain rose decisively to leave.

“Wait!” Wan Fu hurriedly called out to stop her. Gritting his teeth, he said: “Actually, I don’t know. At that time… at that time, I didn’t go in.”

The person behind the curtain paused in their movement and sat back down.

Wan Fu breathed a sigh of relief, then sighed again and said: “That was already two years ago.”

In the thirty-seventh year of Yongchang, shortly after the New Year, after the Awakening of Insects, Wan Fu had accompanied Ke Chengxing to deliver New Year’s gifts to the shop.

The Ke family were merchants and had once been quite renowned in the capital, but after old Master Ke passed away, the family’s porcelain kiln business declined sharply. Still, a lean camel is larger than a horse – though not as prosperous as before, they could still get by.

Every year after the New Year, the merchant guild held a spring banquet to entertain the major merchant households.

Ke Chengxing had to attend these social functions.

The banquet was held at the Fengle Building in the South City. Ke Chengxing couldn’t hold his liquor well, and when he became tipsy during the feast, he sent Wan Fu back to ask Lady Lu to make some hangover soup with preserved plums and osmanthus flowers.

Wan Fu tried to dissuade him several times but failed, so he had no choice but to return to the Ke mansion.

When Lady Lu heard this, she good-naturedly agreed. Late at night, she hurriedly brewed the hangover soup and took a carriage to the Fengle Building to pick him up. The people at Fengle Building said Ke Chengxing was dead drunk and sleeping in the warm room upstairs. Lady Lu then went upstairs with her maid.

Since Wan Fu was a male servant, it wasn’t appropriate for him to follow, so he first delivered the prepared New Year’s gifts to the people in the merchant guild. After completing the ceremonial duties and figuring Ke Chengxing must be sober by now, he went up to the warm room.

The upper warm room was empty. Wan Fu found Ke Chengxing, who was drunk as mud, but Lady Lu was nowhere to be seen.

Wan Fu began to panic and searched everywhere, finally finding Lady Lu in the warmth room closest to the end of the hall.

Recalling the scene from that day, Wan Fu’s voice trembled unconsciously: “At that time… at that time, the First Lady was covered in injuries, with blood still flowing from her forehead. Her chief maid Dangui was lying on the ground, already lifeless.”

He was about to cry out when someone stumbled out from inside – a richly dressed young master with an unstable expression who just gave him a grinning glance. He wanted to chase after him but was somehow afraid, and then heard Lady Lu’s barely audible cry from the couch, so he temporarily abandoned that pursuit to tend to Lady Lu.

Shortly after, Ke Chengxing also sobered up. Knowing something terrible had happened, Wan Fu didn’t dare delay and quickly informed Ke Chengxing. Upon hearing this, Ke Chengxing flew into a rage and was about to find the Fengle Building’s manager to seek the perpetrator. Wan Fu had to watch over Lady Lu and couldn’t follow.

The room was very quiet. The person behind the curtain calmly asked: “Then what happened?”

Wan Fu swallowed: “The master went to find the manager, but returned shortly after with a very strange expression. He didn’t say anything, just told me to quickly take the madam home.”

He had vaguely guessed something but didn’t dare ask more, so he took Lady Lu back to the Ke mansion. However, Lady Lu’s disheveled appearance and numerous injuries inevitably aroused suspicion. People in the household began to whisper.

Afterward, those gossiping maids and servants were either beaten to death or sold off.

The entire household was strictly forbidden from mentioning this matter again, and Wan Fu didn’t dare say more.

“What about Lady Lu?” asked the person behind the curtain.

Wan Fu said: “The First Lady… she kept causing trouble.”

Given Lady Lu’s condition when she was brought back that day, anyone would have guessed something of what had happened. At first, seeing how she was barely breathing when returned home, everyone thought she wouldn’t survive. Unexpectedly, after some days, she gradually recovered.

But after recovering, Lady Lu began to frequently quarrel with Ke Chengxing.

When she quarreled, her voice was very loud, even hysterical, repeatedly saying the Grand Tutor’s son had violated her. As rumors began to spread outside, to avoid trouble, Old Madam Ke ordered people to announce that Lu Rou had been unchaste, trying to seduce the Grand Tutor’s son and then making false accusations when she failed.

“For a family like ours, how dare we oppose the Grand Tutor’s mansion? If the Grand Tutor’s mansion learned that the First Lady was spreading such tales outside, the entire Ke family would suffer the consequences.” Wan Fu instinctively defended Ke Chengxing.

The person behind the curtain spoke flatly: “That’s not all, is it? Master Ke is a man, yet he actively takes on the cuckold’s role to avoid disaster. It seems he valued his life more than his face.”

Wan Fu choked, unable to respond for a moment.

The person behind the curtain continued asking: “Then what? To prevent further gossip, did Master Ke kill Lady Lu to eliminate future troubles?”

“No!” Wan Fu hurriedly said. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Initially, the master just confined the First Lady at home, not letting her go out, claiming to others that she had suddenly gone mad. But later… later…” He hesitated.

“What happened later?”

Wan Fu hesitated for a long while before finally speaking: “Later, after several more months, they discovered the First Lady was with child.”

“Bang!”

A teacup fell over on the table, hot tea spilling everywhere, soaking the woman’s frost-white sleeve.

Lu Tong slowly raised her eyes: “What did you say?”