“Was the Ke family’s former eldest daughter-in-law, Lu Shi, murdered by your master?”

Wan Fu was greatly shocked and nearly jumped from his chair, saying: “How is that possible?”

The person behind the curtain spoke softly: “So she was murdered by people from the Grand Tutor’s mansion then.”

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

All around was deathly quiet.

Wan Fu suddenly realized where that strange feeling in his mind had come from. He looked toward the pale blue bamboo curtain, wishing he could see the person behind it clearly, and asked: “Who are you?”

This person had immediately asked about Lu Shi’s affairs and also mentioned the Grand Tutor’s mansion in their conversation. Furthermore, though Wan Quan was normally troublesome, he wouldn’t just randomly lose several thousand taels of silver.

But if someone had deliberately led him there, that would be different.

The other party had clearly come prepared—this entire setup was probably all for this moment.

“You deliberately lured Quan’er to Kuaihuo Tower to incur massive debt. You want to target the Ke family?” Wan Fu gritted his teeth. “Who exactly are you?”

Behind the bamboo curtain, Lu Tong lowered her eyes to look at the teacup before her and smiled sarcastically.

Wan Fu was Ke Chengxing’s most trusted servant. According to what Nanny Wan had told Yin Zheng, before Qin Shi entered the household, 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 been kept.

This servant was not young, and besides being loyal, he was also very tight-lipped. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that 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 carry bewitchment. “You only need to answer the questions, and the three thousand tael debt contract can be voided. If you don’t answer…” She sighed. “Master Wan might as well look down and see what’s in the table drawer.”

Wan Fu instinctively looked down. The black lacquered square table with decorative edges had a flat drawer. He pulled it out and saw a snow-white silk handkerchief lying inside. Wan Fu opened the handkerchief and immediately cried out “Ah!” nearly tumbling from his chair.

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

“Quan’er!”

A mournful cry escaped from Wan Fu’s throat, and tears immediately rolled down like broken pearls as he held the severed finger and wept bitterly.

Just as he was crying with grief and indignation, he heard the voice from behind the curtain: “Master Wan, don’t cry yet. You might want to look more carefully.”

Wan Fu suddenly stopped, looked more intently, and suddenly exclaimed with joy: “No… Quan’er has a black mole on his little finger, but this finger doesn’t have one. This isn’t Quan’er’s little finger!”

The person behind the curtain laughed: “Master Wan’s paternal love is truly touching. Earlier was just a little joke with Master Wan. This severed finger belongs to another young master at Kuaihuo Tower who owed gambling debts.”

“Master Wan probably doesn’t know Kuaihuo Tower’s rules yet—one hundred taels of debt means one severed finger. Your son owes three thousand taels. Even after cutting off all his fingers and toes, there would still be one thousand taels unaccounted for.”

“Right now I’m discussing this with Master Wan here, while my people are still watching Young Master Wan. If we can’t reach an agreement and my people don’t see me return after one incense stick’s time, they’ll have no choice but to follow Kuaihuo Tower’s rules.”

The person behind the curtain asked: “Actually, I’m quite curious—does Master Wan’s loyalty to Master Ke outweigh his love for his son, or does he care more for his child?”

Wan Fu’s face turned ashen.

If he had still harbored some hesitation before, thinking to maneuver with this person and speak nonsense to deceive them, now he had completely lost any will to resist. That severed finger had destroyed all his defenses, making him instantly collapse.

If Wan Quan really had his fingers and toes chopped off, he would truly 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 from behind the curtain spoke again: “I want you to tell me exactly how the eldest daughter-in-law of the Ke family, Lu Shi, died.”

Upon hearing this, Wan Fu’s heart shook. His eyes flickered several times before he carefully said: “The eldest daughter-in-law fell ill…”

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

“Wait!” Wan Fu quickly called out to stop her. After gritting his teeth, he said: “Actually, this servant doesn’t know either. At that time… at that time this servant 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: “That was already the year before last.”

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

The Ke family were merchants who had once been quite famous in the capital, but after Old Master Ke’s death, the family’s porcelain kiln business had declined dramatically. However, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse—though not as prosperous as before, they could still get by.

Every year after New Year, merchant associations held spring banquets to entertain major merchants from various families.

Ke Chengxing also had to attend these social functions.

The banquet was held at Fengle Tower in the southern part of the city. Ke Chengxing had poor alcohol tolerance and became somewhat tipsy during the feast. When drunk, he sent Wan Fu home to have Lu Shi prepare some sobering plum and osmanthus soup.

Wan Fu tried to dissuade him several times but failed, so he had to return to the Ke mansion.

When Lu Shi heard this, she good-naturedly agreed. Late at night, she hurriedly prepared the sobering soup and took a carriage to Fengle Tower to fetch him. The people at Fengle Tower said Ke Chengxing was dead drunk and was sleeping in a warm pavilion upstairs. So Lu Shi went upstairs with her maid.

Since Wan Fu was a male servant, it wasn’t convenient for him to follow upstairs, so he first delivered the prepared spring gifts to people from the merchant association. After completing the courtesies and seeing the banquet disperse, estimating that Ke Chengxing should have sobered up, he went to the warm pavilion upstairs.

The warm pavilion upstairs was empty. Wan Fu found Ke Chengxing, who was drunk as mud, but Lu Shi was nowhere to be seen.

Wan Fu became somewhat panicked and searched everywhere, finally finding Lu Shi in a warm pavilion at the very end.

Wan Fu recalled the scene from that day, his voice unconsciously trembling: “At that time… at that time the eldest daughter-in-law was covered in injuries, with blood still flowing from her forehead. Her chief maid, Dangui, was on the ground, already dead.”

He was so frightened he was about to cry out, but someone stumbled out from inside—a richly dressed young master with an unsteady expression, who just glanced at him with a silly smile. He wanted to pursue, but for some reason felt afraid. Meanwhile, he heard Lu Shi’s thread-thin cries from the bed, so he temporarily abandoned that thought and went to attend to Lu Shi first.

Not long after, Ke Chengxing also sobered up. Wan Fu knew something terrible had happened and didn’t dare delay, quickly informing Ke Chengxing of the matter. Upon hearing this, Ke Chengxing flew into a rage and was about to find Fengle Tower’s manager to seek out the perpetrator. Wan Fu had to watch over Lu Shi and didn’t dare follow.

The room was very quiet as the person behind the curtain calmly asked: “And then?”

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

He vaguely guessed something but didn’t dare ask more, so he brought Lu Shi back to the Ke family. However, Lu Shi’s disheveled appearance and numerous injuries when she returned home inevitably aroused suspicion. People in the mansion began whispering.

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

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

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

Wan Fu said: “The eldest daughter-in-law… the eldest daughter-in-law kept making trouble.”

Given Lu Shi’s condition that day, anyone would have suspicions. At first, seeing her near-death state when brought back, everyone thought she wouldn’t survive. Unexpectedly, after some days, she gradually recovered.

But the recovered Lu Shi began frequently quarreling with Ke Chengxing.

When she quarreled, her voice was very loud, even hysterical, repeatedly saying that the Grand Tutor’s son had defiled her. Gradually, rumors began spreading outside. To avoid trouble, Old Madam Ke ordered people to claim publicly that Lu Rou had failed to maintain wifely virtue and was slandering the Grand Tutor’s mansion’s young master out of spite after her seduction attempt failed.

“People like us, how dare we oppose the Grand Tutor’s mansion? If the Grand Tutor’s mansion learned that the eldest daughter-in-law was spreading wild rumors outside, our entire Ke family would suffer,” Wan Fu instinctively defended Ke Chengxing.

The person behind the curtain said flatly: “It wasn’t just that, was it? Master Ke is a man, yet to avoid disaster he actively took the cuckold’s shame upon himself. It seems he values life over face.”

Wan Fu choked and didn’t answer for a moment.

The person behind the curtain continued asking: “And then? To avoid inviting gossip, Master Ke killed Lu Shi to eliminate future troubles?”

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

“Originally the master just confined the eldest daughter-in-law at home, not letting her go out, claiming publicly that the eldest daughter-in-law had suddenly contracted a mad illness. But later… later…” he hesitated somewhat.

“Later what?”

Wan Fu hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: “Later, after a few more months, they discovered the eldest daughter-in-law was with child.”

“Bang!”

The teacup toppled on the table, scalding tea water spilling everywhere, soaking the woman’s frost-white sleeves.

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