Peng Shi is dead?!
Xu Jing listened to the increasingly loud clamor outside, steadied her mind, and calmly said, "Help me get dressed and washed first. I want to go out and see the crime... hmm, Peng Shi's corpse."
Chunyang and Chunxiang were both quick with their hands and feet and soon helped Xu Jing get dressed neatly.
However, just as Chunyang was helping Xu Jing pin up her hair, the people outside were clearly getting impatient, and faint sounds of door-banging could be heard.
Xu Jing frowned slightly, raised her hand to stop Chunyang's movements, and walked out directly with her hair down.
Indeed, someone outside was already banging on the door. As the three of them walked into the hall, they happened to see the door being rudely smashed open.
Chunyang was startled, and Chunxiang, who was always quick-tempered, instinctively wanted to curse out loud.
Xu Jing, understanding a bit about these two's temperaments, gave Chunxiang a reassuring look, then calmly looked towards the opened door.
Two tall and sturdy men in matching gray and white short outfits strode in. Upon seeing Xu Jing, they immediately shouted, "Found her! Found her! That vile woman who killed the Lord is right here!"
With his shout, more men hurriedly rushed in. They were all wearing the same outfits, and Xu Jing guessed they were the Peng Family's Protectors.
Seeing two men quickly approaching to escort her out, a flash of disgust crossed Xu Jing's eyes as she shouted sharply, "Don't touch me! I can walk by myself!"
Saying so, she walked straight towards the door, head held high.
The protectors were somewhat stunned, completely not expecting this woman to be so composed!
Was she too bold, or was she lacking sense, not realizing the magnitude of her crime?
However, one must admit, this woman was truly... beautiful.
At this moment, the sky had just brightened, with a faint glow of green light at the horizon.
The woman's small face was pale, and in the dim light, she looked even more fragile.
Yet the expression on her face had nothing to do with weakness or pitifulness. Her silk-like black hair was unbound, swaying gently in the morning breeze, as if she were a divine Goddess descending from the heavens, sacred and inviolable.
No wonder their Lord, having seen this woman just once by chance, had clamored to take her as his twentieth concubine!
The protectors stared in a daze until she walked out, snapping back to reality with awkward glances at each other, hurriedly following out.
Xu Jing was unaware of the men's thoughts behind her. Once she stepped into the courtyard, she instantly locked eyes on a man's corpse lying rigidly in her yard.
The man was six feet tall, obese with a large head and ears. Though his indigo auspicious-patterned robe was mostly stained with blood, it was evident it was made of fine silk. His face was ashen, and his muscles were evidently stiff.
A knife the length of a woman's forearm was thrust into his chest, blood pooling everywhere. In the dim sunlight, it appeared dark and murky. From a distance, the man seemed to be lying in a pond of blood, chillingly eerie.
Chunxiang's eyes widened, her body trembling slightly, partly from fear, partly from shock.
Usually cooking in the kitchen, she immediately recognized that the knife stuck in Peng Shi appeared to be... their kitchen knife!
Xu Jing furrowed her brows, focused on observing the corpse, when suddenly, an excited woman's voice interrupted her thoughts—
"You crazy woman, you finally came out! What did our Lord ever do to you? You're just some nameless woman with nothing. Being fancy to our Lord is your blessing!
You were ungrateful, yes, but how dare you... how dare you kill our Lord!"
"What are we supposed to do now? Wailing, without the Lord, how will our Peng Family's hundreds of people survive?"
"A life for a life! You crazy woman, you must pay the price! If you don't join our Lord in death today, we won't swallow this humiliation!"
Only then did Xu Jing lift her eyes, looking at the crowd tightly encircling her small courtyard.
The ones standing at the front were actually all women!
These women varied in size and height, yet without exception, they were all good-looking, each unique, like spring flowers blooming, each one captivating.
Among them, the oldest looked to be in their thirties, and the youngest seemed only thirteen or fourteen!
Still, they all had their hair styled into married women's hairstyles, evidently all already wed.
Xu Jing guessed who they were—besides being the nineteen wives Peng Shi, the old lecher, often bragged about, who else could they be!
She felt a little disgusted, considering some of those kids didn't even look of marriageable age. Peng Shi was truly worse than a beast!
Standing at the center of this group was a woman in her thirties, dressed in a crescent-colored robe and a lake green ruqun. She had delicate eyebrows, dignified features, with faint traces of age at the corners of her eyes.
At this moment, she pursed her lips slightly, her eyes filled with helplessness and hatred as she gazed directly at Xu Jing, gritting her teeth, "Miss Xu, our Lord genuinely wanted to bring you into the home! If you weren't willing, you could have just said so. Was it necessary... was it necessary to kill him outright!"
Chunyang and Chunxiang gradually regained their composure from the shock and discomfort of witnessing the crime scene. Seeing everyone looking at them as if they were murderers, they became anxious.
Chunxiang couldn't help but shout, "Mrs. Cao, don't you slander us! Our lady has been precious and noble since childhood, she's never even killed a chicken, how could she kill a person!"
Since that shameless Peng Shi demanded to take the lady, Chunxiang had thoroughly investigated the Peng Family, quickly guessing that the woman speaking was Peng Shi's legally wedded wife—Mrs. Cao.
Mrs. Cao's face turned pale, seemingly weak from excessive grief, reluctant to speak, but a maid supporting her couldn't hold back, "If it wasn't your lady, the fox spirit, who killed our Lord, then who was!
The Lord was very happy yesterday, saying he sent a matchmaker to propose to you, and was about to bring you into the house. Who knew... who knew you were so ungrateful, throwing out the betrothal gifts the matchmaker brought!
The Lord was furious upon hearing this, cursing as he prepared to confront you. It was our madam's kindness, saying it was too late at night, and the Lord visiting Miss Xu at this time might harm her reputation. If she was a fierce character, who knew what she might do on the spot. That's why he held back, deciding to visit you the next day!
Who would have thought, in the middle of the night, the madam came out to tell the maid the Lord was missing. We searched the entire Peng Mansion, couldn't find the Lord! Later we discovered the Lord seemed to be wearing outdoor clothes when he left, then thought he might have gone to your place.
Unexpectedly, the Lord did come to your place and was murdered by your ruthless methods!"
Seeing her words increasingly sounded true, Chunyang and Chunxiang were deeply anxious, hastily trying to find an opportunity to refute. Just then, an urgent man's shout came from behind—
"Madam, we found packed luggage in Miss Xu's room! Surely, they killed our Lord, planning to flee to escape punishment! Such wicked intentions! Luckily, we arrived just in time!"