The wet nurse Zhang Shi fell to her knees with a thud: “Grand Madam, this servant was playing with Third Young Master in the garden this afternoon. Before long, the young master disappeared! This servant has searched everywhere—only this place is left!”

Li Xiaoran’s brows furrowed even tighter. The Third Branch had no heir, only this one adopted son. If something happened to him, would Zhou Shi survive! As he thought this, he asked: “Does the Third Madam know?”

The wet nurse’s face turned deathly pale: “No, this servant feared the madam couldn’t bear it, so I only said the Old Madam had taken Third Young Master away!”

Li Xiaoran knew how much Zhou Shi valued this child, so he quickly ordered people to go search.

Li Changxi curved up the corners of her mouth and said: “Yes, we must search carefully. What if he accidentally falls into the river in the dark!”

Li Xiaoran looked at her coldly: “Is this how you curse your third brother? Outrageous!”

Li Changxi quickly said: “Yes, your daughter was also worried about Third Brother, which is why I misspoke!”

Li Xiaoran snorted coldly. The Grand Madam glanced at the seemingly calm lake surface and said in a low voice: “Master, Little Five isn’t wrong. Everything has a one-in-ten-thousand chance. Didn’t Left Censor’s youngest son drown in a pond while playing the year before last? There are many people here. I’ll accompany you to the South Courtyard to rest for a while and wait for their search results.”

Li Xiaoran hadn’t expected one mishap after another and was in an even worse mood. He only nodded, then turned toward the South Courtyard. The Grand Madam instructed those searching: “Pay special attention to look around the lake.”

Then she glanced at Li Changxi and gave her a look. Li Changxi understood: “Mother, don’t worry. Your daughter will watch here and will definitely find Third Brother.”

Thus, the Grand Madam left with her people in satisfaction. Li Changxi came back to herself and ordered imperiously: “You all, hurry and go look in that reed marsh over there!”

The servant women all rushed over, illuminating with lanterns and loudly calling Third Young Master’s name, but for a long time, there wasn’t half a sound.

At this time, suddenly someone cried out in alarm: “Third Young Master’s shoe!” She fished the shoe from the water’s edge and presented it to Li Changxi like a treasure.

Li Changxi nodded and said: “This is bad. Third Brother must have fallen into the water. Hurry and search more carefully!”

In her heart, she thought that those two nannies had reported the body was thrown into the lake water, probably in this area. It should float up soon. Li Changxi instructed them to search carefully, and those people truly began searching meticulously.

Li Changxi waited for a long time and impatiently walked to the water’s edge, looking around. For some unknown reason, her foot suddenly slipped. She screamed, and before she could grab the stones at the lake’s edge, her entire body tumbled into the lake water.

Li Changxi had grown up in the capital and was a pampered young miss who didn’t know how to swim at all. She only knew to desperately claw upward, but suddenly felt a cold hand very abruptly grab her foot and forcibly drag her down. Her mind was completely blank. She desperately screamed, but only swallowed more water. In her confusion, the water plants in the lotus pond that could kill a person all wound around her body. She struggled even more desperately, but the result was getting more and more tightly bound, almost suffocating.

In the rippling water, she vaguely saw a pale face, but it only flashed by—she couldn’t see clearly—and her entire person was dragged down.

“Quick! Quick! Hurry and save Fifth Miss!” On the shore, countless servant women kept shouting. Then guards from the distance ran over, but not one dared to go down to rescue her. One must know that a miss’s body was very precious. If a man touched her and this person’s status didn’t match the miss, he would certainly die.

Finally, a servant woman who could swim jumped down. After searching in the water for who knows how long, she finally found Li Changxi lying in the water plants. She quickly swam over and dragged her up like dragging a dead pig. Everyone crowded around, but Li Changxi had already rolled back her eyes. Everyone was startled and hurriedly patted and slapped her with seven or eight hands. After a long time, Li Changxi finally had breath.

A servant woman cried out in alarm. Everyone looked closely and saw that on Li Changxi’s left cheek, there were now two crossing bloody marks, as if carved out by sharp stones, deep enough to see bone, constantly gushing blood outward.

Everyone knew this was a major disaster. At this time, they couldn’t care about anything else and hurriedly shouted: “Quick! Quick, send Fifth Miss to the South Courtyard!”

They hastily wrapped up Li Changxi and sent her to the South Courtyard. Upon entering, they saw Li Xiaoran sitting in the courtyard. The Grand Madam’s expression was somehow very strange. Seventh Concubine, who should have been bedridden with illness, was also beside them carefully serving tea and water.

When Li Xiaoran arrived at the courtyard, he had originally wanted to catch Li Weiyang and rebuke her, but who knew Li Weiyang wasn’t here. At this time, seeing Li Changxi being carried in like a water duck, he immediately flew into a rage: “What happened!”

The servant woman quickly said: “Master, Fifth Miss was standing properly by the water. We don’t know what the reason was, but she suddenly fell into the water! This servant and the others are puzzled!”

Li Xiaoran stood up at once. The Grand Madam ran to the side with concern. Upon seeing Li Changxi’s face, she was immediately so frightened she stepped back and said: “Aiya, my unfortunate child! How did your perfectly good face become like this!”

Li Xiaoran glanced at Li Changxi’s face, and his heart thumped—with this injury, her face was ruined!

The servant woman quickly added: “This servant and the others also found Third Young Master’s shoe, but couldn’t find the person. I’m afraid Third Young Master has already drowned…”

The Grand Madam was just shocked about why Seventh Concubine hadn’t died, and now encountered Li Changxi’s accidental drowning and disfigurement. She suppressed the unease in her heart and put on an extremely grieved appearance: “Our family has always been very peaceful…”

Nanny Lin beside her said: “Ever since Third Miss returned, bad luck has been following us. This time she even caused Third Young Master’s death. How will we explain this to Third Madam! He was the Third Branch’s only heir!”

Seventh Concubine’s face turned deathly pale. She suddenly realized that the Grand Madam had designed this trap. Originally, she herself should have been on the list of those “cursed” to death by Weiyang! Coming to the South Courtyard once and causing the death of her birth mother and the Third Branch’s only child—even if Li Weiyang were innocent, for the sake of giving the Third Branch an explanation, the Master would have to deal with her…

The Grand Madam’s heart—was too venomous!

Seventh Concubine quickly knelt down and said: “Master, Weiyang is just a child. All of this has absolutely nothing to do with her. She—”

Nanny Lin glanced at her: “Seventh Concubine, you’re wrong to say that. Third Miss shouldn’t have violated the Master’s orders and run to this South Courtyard. As soon as she came, Third Young Master was gone. Now Fifth Miss has also had an accident. How can you say it has nothing to do with Third Miss?”

“Father, what happened here?” A voice suddenly rang out from outside the courtyard. Then they saw Li Weiyang bringing Bai Zhi, gracefully entering from outside the gate. She wore a goose-yellow jacket and skirt, looking like a fresh winter jasmine flower, fresh and charming. Her pair of bright, shining eyes were looking in full of doubt.

Li Xiaoran was startled. Originally prepared to become angry, he didn’t know why, but somehow couldn’t release his full belly of fire.

The Grand Madam’s breath caught. She immediately put on the appearance of a loving mother: “Weiyang, because of you, Third Madam’s beloved son is gone just like that. Our manor, I’m afraid, can no longer keep you!”

Li Weiyang widened her eyes and said with seeming innocence: “Mother, what do you mean happened to Third Brother? I just saw him playing in the garden!”

The Grand Madam’s expression suddenly changed—