Jiang Qian, already fuming, suddenly saw a huge creature pouncing towards her. She immediately forgot all about decorum, screamed, and turned to run.
The large dog leaped, its paw landing on Jiang Qian’s skirt. With a ripping sound, the skirt was shortened by a section.
What’s this? Er’niu impatiently shook off the half-skirt with its paw.
The small piece of gold-sprinkled pomegranate flower skirt flew directly onto a noble lady’s face.
“Ah—” That noble lady, lacking Jiang Qian’s composure, screamed and fainted.
Er’niu, being petty and holding grudges, continued chasing Jiang Qian.
Jiang Qian ran and screamed, with the large dog following behind, trampling the carefully tended flowers and plants in the garden.
The noble ladies scattered in all directions, fleeing.
“Oh no, a vicious dog is attacking people—”
At this moment, the heir of Marquis Changxing was meeting with Zhen Shicheng.
“I heard from Father that you wanted to see me, Official. May I ask what this is about?”
Zhen Shicheng coldly observed the heir of Marquis Changxing.
The young man was wearing a sky-blue robe with subtle patterns, almost new, adorned with jade bat-patterned buttons that complemented the garment perfectly. He was rather thin, with an unhealthily pale complexion, but his eyes were deep, showing rare calmness.
This was a young man with depth, who often spoke little in front of others, giving an impression of modesty and politeness.
Zhen Shicheng had seen all sorts of people and rarely misjudged. He quickly concluded.
This young man seemed to care a lot about his appearance. The sky-blue fabric was worth thousands, its color vibrant, perhaps too luxurious for a man to wear.
Or rather— Zhen Shicheng unconsciously glanced towards the garden, silently adding: Or rather, assuming the heir of Marquis Changxing took pleasure in abusing and killing women, he might have dressed up because he had a target at the flower-viewing banquet.
Zhen Shicheng almost instinctively believed this guess.
What he needed now was for the young man before him to slip up.
“I wanted to talk to you about a murder case,” Zhen Shicheng said, intentionally misleading.
In that instant, he saw the heir’s pupils contract, his hand at his side unconsciously grasping his robe tightly before releasing it.
The sky-blue fabric showed no wrinkles.
“I don’t quite understand what you mean, sir,” the heir said calmly.
Marquis Changxing couldn’t help but interject, “It’s about the sudden death of ‘Imperial Uncle Yang.’ Official Zhen heard that you had met ‘Imperial Uncle Yang’—”
At this point, the Marquis suddenly realized his mistake and smiled awkwardly at Zhen Shicheng, “Please forgive me, Official Zhen. I misspoke…”
“Imperial Uncle Yang” was just a common term used by the people, spoken with flattery and fear when Yang Consort’s brother was alive, and with mockery after his death. In any case, it had become a habit, but, no matter how favored a consort was, her brother could not be called an Imperial Uncle.
Zhen Shicheng smiled, “I understand.”
His gaze remained fixed on the heir of Marquis Changxing.
Upon hearing the Marquis’s words, the heir’s tense body immediately relaxed. He looked surprised and said, “I’ve never met him.”
Zhen Shicheng’s lips twitched slightly.
Although the heir put on a surprised and confused expression, his entire demeanor was relaxed, even excessively so.
This kind of reaction often unconsciously revealed relief at narrowly escaping something unpleasant.
What was the heir trying to avoid when he mentioned the murder case? And why did he relax upon hearing about the “Imperial Uncle Yang’s” sudden death case?
Zhen Shicheng was gradually piecing things together.
At this moment, screams could be heard from behind.
The three men were already outside, so the sounds were quite clear.
“What’s—” Zhen Shicheng realized the commotion was coming from the garden direction, feeling both alarmed and pleased.
He was alarmed that those young ladies might be in danger but pleased that this gave him a legitimate reason to go and take a look.
“What’s going on?” Marquis Changxing, losing face, sternly asked a servant hurrying past.
The servant quickly replied, “My Lord, it’s terrible! A vicious dog has entered the garden and is chasing the young ladies!”
“What?” The Marquis’s face changed dramatically as he hurried towards the garden.
Those young ladies were all from friendly, noble families. If anything happened to them, it would be hard to explain.
The heir’s face looked even worse than his father’s as he hurriedly followed.
Zhen Shicheng stroked his beard, thinking this was heaven-sent. He called to his subordinates following at a distance, “Hurry and follow to help!”
The garden was in utter chaos.
Jiang Qian was already drenched in sweat, yet the large dog kept chasing her like a cat playing with a mouse.
As the dog was about to catch up again, Jiang Qian nearly fainted.
Why was this beast fixated on her? It would be better if it just bit her and got it over with, instead of this chase that was utterly humiliating her.
Er’niu looked serious.
It wasn’t easy for the dog. It had to follow its mistress’s orders to cause a big scene, endure these women’s screeching, and deal with the people coming with sticks.
Amid the chaos, Jiang Si hid behind some nearby flowers and shrubs, a smile playing on her lips.
She hadn’t expected Er’niu to sneak into the Marquis’s mansion.
With Er’niu here, it would be easy to create enough commotion to draw Official Zhen.
There should be some action by now, right?
Jiang Si looked in a certain direction and saw the Marquis and his son hurrying over, with the “County Magistrate” she had just parted with following a few steps behind.
“Er’niu—” Jiang Si called softly.
In the chaos, only Jiang Qiao beside her heard this soft call, but Er’niu immediately turned its head.
A dog’s hearing was far superior to a human’s.
Jiang Si made a discreet hand gesture.
Er’niu’s front paws hit the ground in a sudden stop, abruptly changing direction.
Jiang Qian, just recovering from her shock, had barely shown a relieved smile when her expression turned to horror.
The large dog was now heading towards the original peony patch.
Whether it was due to exceptionally good “fertilizer” or not, this large patch of peonies was blooming unnaturally well, still in full bloom even at this time.
The noble ladies and even the somewhat educated men of the capital all fancied themselves refined, and if those of high status or close acquaintance suggested viewing the flowers, it was hard to refuse.
This patch of peonies, concealing a corpse, had been admired over and over, causing the couple no small amount of anxiety.
Now the small section of peonies hiding the corpse had been slightly moved. Once they survived this flower-viewing banquet, they would soon wither. Then the entire patch of peonies could be cleared away, allowing them to rest easy.
But now that beast was heading towards where the peonies had originally been, how could Jiang Qian not lose color in her face?
The heir of Marquis Changxing also changed his expression dramatically.
“Quickly, beat that dog to death!” the heir shouted.
Er’niu glanced at the heir, suddenly stopping its body, and began digging rapidly with its front paws.
In an instant, dust flew everywhere, and even the noble ladies who had been scared and fleeing peeked out curiously.
Was this large dog looking for a meaty bone?