A brief confusion appeared in A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s eyes.

That voice became even more gentle, as if merging with the raindrops falling from the eaves: “Look carefully, what can you see?”

“I, I see a person…”

Qiao Zhao smiled slightly.

For someone under hypnosis, when the hypnotist poses a general question, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the most unusual recent event.

Qiao Zhao believed that for A’Zhu’s sister-in-law, the most unusual recent event should be someone instructing her to steal something from the Li Residence.

“What kind of person is it?”

“What kind of person? I, I don’t know…”

Qiao Zhao frowned slightly, but her tone remained calm: “Can’t you see his appearance?”

This time, A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s answer was much more fluent: “Right, he’s wearing a bamboo hat. I can’t see his face.”

“Then is he a man or a woman?”

“A man.”

“What distinctive features does he have?”

“Distinctive features? I, I can’t remember…”

The young lady’s voice became even softer, with a hint of encouragement hidden in the gentleness: “No, you do remember. Open your eyes wide and look at that person more carefully…”

A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s eyes suddenly widened. After a moment, she suddenly said: “I can see it! That person has a mole under his chin, as big as a soybean!”

Qiao Zhao patiently asked a few more questions. Seeing that the timing was about right, she softly asked: “What does that person want you to do?”

“He, he wants me to go to the Third Miss Li’s residence and find a string of prayer beads…”

“After you find the prayer beads, how should you give them to him?”

“Go to the tofu stall at the entrance of Copper Coin Alley in the eastern part of the city to buy two jin of tofu, five qian of silver with no change needed. The next day at the si hour, I’ll go to the Zhang Family Noodle Shop and give him the prayer beads…”

“What does he want the prayer beads for?” Qiao Zhao knew that person wouldn’t mention this to A’Zhu’s sister-in-law, but still asked with a slight hope.

“I don’t know. He didn’t say anything, only that he’d give me a large sum of silver after I find the prayer beads.” At the mention of silver, A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s expression became somewhat alert.

Qiao Zhao felt both amused and exasperated. Her tone suddenly became heavier: “Unfortunately, you’ve never been able to find the prayer beads. What should you do then?”

A trace of struggle appeared between A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s brows, as if she had some doubt about not finding the prayer beads.

Qiao Zhao knew that getting a hypnotized person to accept something contrary to reality was much more difficult than accepting something that never happened. She had anticipated A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s current reaction.

She calmly softened her tone, her speech rhythm carrying a peculiar cadence: “If you still can’t find the prayer beads, that person will be angry, and you won’t get the silver…”

“Silver?” A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s eyes lit up. “Right, I need to get the silver. I need to quickly find the prayer beads to get the silver!”

“Then keep looking. Remember, you still haven’t found them…”

“I need to keep looking, I must find them…” A’Zhu’s sister-in-law stood up, her eyes vacant as she reached out and walked forward a few steps, suddenly bumping into the corner of the table.

A’Zhu’s sister-in-law was stunned for a moment, her eyes suddenly regaining clarity.

She gradually regained her consciousness, raised her hand to rub her eyes, looked around, and saw that the room’s owner was still lying on her side on the bed, sleeping soundly. She breathed a slight sigh of relief, hurriedly restored the disturbed items to their original state, and quietly slipped away.

“Miss, she, she—” Binglu pointed at the doorway, incoherent.

“She’ll come again tomorrow.”

“But you’ve already gotten the information out of her. Why not punish her severely?”

Qiao Zhao smiled: “How should I punish her? She hasn’t signed an indenture contract with our family, so we don’t have the right to sell her. At most, we could send her to the authorities. But then the Li Residence’s reputation for poor household management would spread, and ultimately, we’d be the ones at a disadvantage.”

“Then, then we’ll just let it go?”

Qiao Zhao calmly looked toward the doorway and smiled slightly: “Of course not. Come, let me tell you what to do tomorrow.”

The next day was clear. Qiao Zhao took her two maids, Binglu and A’Zhu, to stroll through the back garden.

A’Zhu’s sister-in-law slipped in with practiced ease and began searching.

She came to the bedside and stared at the wooden board at the head of the bed, suddenly feeling somewhat puzzled: This place seemed to have been searched before, yet also seemed not to have been. Why couldn’t she remember clearly?

Never mind, she’d search once more. She always felt there should be something inside.

A’Zhu’s sister-in-law reached out her hand when she suddenly heard a stern shout: “What are you doing?”

A’Zhu’s sister-in-law spun around abruptly.

Binglu walked over with an angry expression, reaching out to grab A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s wrist: “Excellent! The master sent me back to get tea utensils, and I didn’t expect to catch a thief! Come, go with me to see Miss!”

“Oh my, Sister Binglu, please pity me—I have elderly parents above and young children below. For A’Zhu’s sake, please spare me this once. I was possessed by ghosts, just this one time—”

Halfway through her pleading, A’Zhu’s sister-in-law suddenly grabbed a vase nearby and smashed it toward Binglu.

Binglu tilted her head to dodge the vase and raised her hand to slap A’Zhu’s sister-in-law.

Binglu was strong and had trained with Chen Guang. This blow left A’Zhu’s sister-in-law dizzy and unable to stand steady.

But Binglu didn’t stop there. She struck left and right, hitting A’Zhu’s sister-in-law hard more than ten times. She thought: She needed to hurry before Miss and the others arrived—she had to vent all the frustration from these past days! Unfortunately, Miss wouldn’t let her hit the face, which limited her performance.

“Who are you calling big sister? Who are you calling big sister? I’m still a delicate young girl! Do I look that old?”

A’Zhu’s sister-in-law couldn’t dodge and pleaded: “Miss… Miss Binglu, please stop—”

“You’re talking nonsense again! Can a maid be called ‘Miss’? If our Miss heard this, how could I continue working? I’ll beat you to death, you malicious schemer!”

“Binglu, stop.” A faint voice came from the doorway.

Binglu reluctantly stopped.

Qiao Zhao entered with A’Zhu, looking coldly at A’Zhu’s sister-in-law.

A’Zhu’s sister-in-law slumped to the ground in relief.

The third Miss had finally arrived! If she hadn’t come, she would have been beaten to death by this damn girl!

“Tell me, what were you looking for?”

“Nothing, I wasn’t looking for anything. I came to find A’Zhu, but A’Zhu wasn’t here. I saw the jade ornaments on the table and… and became greedy for a moment…” A’Zhu’s sister-in-law pleaded repeatedly. “Third Miss, please let me go. I’ll never dare again.”

Seeing Qiao Zhao’s expressionless face, A’Zhu’s sister-in-law looked toward A’Zhu: “Little sister-in-law, please plead for your sister-in-law. You can’t just watch your mother, your brother, and your two nephews all starve to death, can you?”

“Enough!” Qiao Zhao sat down and nodded to Binglu.

Binglu turned and went into the room, emerging moments later carrying a box.

“Open it.” Qiao Zhao said to A’Zhu’s sister-in-law.

A’Zhu’s sister-in-law hesitated somewhat.

“Hurry up!” Binglu shouted coldly.

Just hearing Binglu’s voice made A’Zhu’s sister-in-law’s scalp tingle. She quickly reached out and opened the box.

The gleaming white silver inside nearly blinded A’Zhu’s sister-in-law. She looked at Qiao Zhao with complete amazement.