The Wang Shaoqing residence was filled with joy and celebration, while Duke Chengguo’s manor was suddenly struck by a violent storm.

“You beast, explain yourself clearly—where has your second sister gone!” Duke Chengguo gripped his whip and lashed it down again and again on Zhu Erlang’s body.

Zhu Erlang knelt on the ground, his mourning garments already torn from the beating. He dodged while shouting, “Your son doesn’t know!”

The forty-nine days would soon pass. Once Mother’s funeral was complete, it would be time for Father to deal with Second Sister. By then, helping her escape would become impossible.

Second Sister was right—if she wanted to flee the Duke’s manor, doing so while the household was in chaos was the best opportunity.

“Don’t know?” Duke Chengguo glared at his second son, his face iron-dark. “The guard watching your second sister, Old Woman Zhang, has already confessed. You secretly visited three times these past days. Not long after you left this last time, Old Woman Zhang and the others fell into a deep sleep, and when they woke, your second sister was gone. If you didn’t help her escape, then who did?”

“How would your son know? Perhaps Second Sister managed it on her own—”

Duke Chengguo kicked out, “Unfilial wretch! You still refuse to admit it! Are you like your second sister, determined to ruin the Duke’s manor before you’re satisfied?”

Zhu Erlang stumbled from the kick but this time showed no intention of dodging. Instead, he stared directly at Duke Chengguo and asked, “Father, what crime did Second Sister commit to be locked up? How has she brought ruin to the Duke’s manor?”

There was one sentence he forcefully held back from shouting: Wasn’t it Father who caused Mother’s death?

Duke Chengguo’s expression twisted, his clenched fists cracking audibly.

Unlike his eldest son, who could now share his burdens, in his heart the second son had always been an unambitious, immature child. He had never planned to tell his second son the truth.

Given his second son’s recklessness, knowing too much would only cause trouble.

He never expected this wretch would take advantage of the Duke’s manor’s funeral chaos to secretly release his sister.

“You’re protesting your sister’s innocence, so you secretly let her go?”

Zhu Erlang froze, but still stubbornly insisted, “I didn’t! I don’t know anything!”

“Good, good.” Duke Chengguo pointed his finger at Zhu Erlang, fury reaching the heavens. “Today I’ll beat this ‘I don’t know anything’ beast to death.”

The whip fell, splitting skin and tearing flesh.

This time he truly struck without mercy.

Heart-piercing pain assaulted him, and Zhu Erlang blurted out, “Father, go ahead and beat me to death—Mother was killed by you anyway—”

“Second Brother!” The Duke Chengguo heir, who had rushed over to mediate, shouted sternly and grabbed Zhu Erlang’s wrist. “What nonsense are you spouting!”

Zhu Erlang shook off the Duke Chengguo heir’s hand and laughed coldly, “Am I wrong? Second Sister was locked up because she saw Father kill Mother. Once Mother’s funeral is complete, who knows if Second Sister will follow in Mother’s footsteps—”

“Unfilial wretch!” Duke Chengguo was so enraged smoke seemed to pour from all seven orifices.

The Duke Chengguo heir looked toward Duke Chengguo. “Father, you should tell Second Brother the truth.”

With Second Brother harboring such misunderstandings, if they didn’t clarify matters now, an even greater disaster might be waiting.

Duke Chengguo kept his face grim and said nothing.

The Duke Chengguo heir knew this meant agreement. He said coldly, “Second Brother, get up. I’ll explain it to you clearly.”

Zhu Erlang climbed to his feet and viciously wiped the corner of his mouth. “Speak!”

By the time the Duke Chengguo heir finished, Zhu Erlang was stunned speechless, murmuring, “Second Sister ordered someone killed? Big Brother, are you really talking about Second Sister?”

The Duke Chengguo heir shook his head. “If it weren’t true, why would Father be so furious? Second Sister is my sister too. My affection for her is no less than yours. It’s just that the mistake she made this time was too great. That’s why Father wouldn’t let her see anyone, and after Mother’s funeral, he’ll confine her at home to worship Buddha…”

Zhu Erlang’s eyes narrowed. “Father doesn’t intend to silence Second Sister permanently?”

Blue veins bulged at the Duke Chengguo heir’s temples, his face darkening. “Second Brother, what are you thinking? No matter how angry Father is, he wouldn’t take Second Sister’s life. That day he punished Second Sister because his anger got the better of him.”

Zhu Erlang opened and closed his mouth, then said nothing more.

“Second Brother, now that you know the truth, you should tell us where Second Sister is.”

Zhu Erlang’s expression was conflicted.

“Second Brother, you still won’t speak even now? Do you truly want to wait until Second Sister causes an even greater disaster?”

Zhu Erlang was finally persuaded. Hesitantly, he said, “I placed Second Sister in a private residence—”

“A private residence?”

Zhu Erlang lowered his head slightly. “I secretly rented it some days ago and even bought a young maid to serve Second Sister…”

Only after arranging all this did he dare help Second Sister escape the Duke’s manor. Otherwise, how could Second Sister—a noble lady who had lived in silks and jade, surrounded by servants from childhood—survive outside?

Duke Chengguo had been about to curse again, but hearing Zhu Erlang’s arrangements, the words died in his throat.

Though this wretch was impulsive and reckless, his feelings for his sister contained something worthy of approval.

Of course, he was still angry. Once they found the wretched girl, he would strictly discipline this bastard.

As for Zhu Hanshuang, Duke Chengguo no longer had the heart to discipline her. Once they brought her back, he would send her to the family’s ancestral nunnery in their hometown, never to see outsiders again.

“Dalang, go with Erlang and bring your second sister back immediately.”

The Duke Chengguo heir agreed and had Zhu Erlang lead the way straight to the private residence.

“Second Sister is in here?” Examining the half-open courtyard gate, the Duke Chengguo heir felt inexplicably uneasy.

Zhu Erlang didn’t think much of it. Seeing the gate wasn’t locked, he pushed it open and entered directly.

The courtyard wasn’t large. Only a bare pomegranate tree stood alone in the corner, and a long clothesline held several garments and a curtain.

Zhu Erlang strode toward the interior of the house but was forcefully pressed down by the shoulder by the Duke Chengguo heir.

Zhu Erlang turned back, looking at the Duke Chengguo heir in confusion.

The Duke Chengguo heir’s face had turned ashen. He walked step by step toward the clothesline.

“Big Brother?” Zhu Erlang grew even more puzzled.

The Duke Chengguo heir hurried over and lifted up the curtain draped over the clothesline.

The curtain was still somewhat damp, obviously washed that very day.

But that wasn’t the reason the Duke Chengguo heir had come over.

On the other side of the curtain lay a young girl.

The girl was curled up on the ground, a painful expression frozen on her face. She had clearly been dead for some time.

What the Duke Chengguo heir had seen was the girl’s hand extending out from the other side of the hanging curtain.

“She—she’s the maid I bought! Second Sister—” Zhu Erlang’s face changed drastically as he rushed into the house.

The room was empty. Where was any sign of Zhu Hanshuang?

Zhu Erlang ran back out. “Big Brother, Second Sister is gone. Did something happen to her?”

The Duke Chengguo heir pointed to the ground not far from the corpse and said in a heavy voice, “Second Brother, look at what that is.”

It was a bloodstained pair of scissors.

A cold wind blew, shaking loose the few leaves desperately clinging to the pomegranate tree branches. They fell reluctantly, caught by the wind and swept across the ground.

The Duke Chengguo heir’s entire body went cold. He murmured, “Second Sister didn’t have something happen to her. She killed the maid you bought for her and escaped.”

Zhu Erlang’s eyes widened, his lips trembling continuously. After a long while, he finally managed to ask one question: “Why would Second Sister do this?”

The Duke Chengguo heir glanced at Zhu Erlang and said nothing.

Probably because she anticipated that Second Brother would break down and bring him here.

He had truly underestimated this sister of his.