Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C010

The great aunt said a lot to Wushuang, even though Wushuang didn't want to listen, she insisted on saying it.

In fact, it wasn't that Wushuang didn't want to listen, she just didn't want great aunt to say these things, because she was obviously making arrangements for her funeral. The more she said, the less time she would have left after she finished speaking. And Wushuang had just met great aunt, so how could she accept such a thing?

However, the great aunt was too persistent. After she finished explaining these matters, she didn't keep Wushuang any longer. Instead, she handed Wushuang a box and was about to drive her away.

The excuse was that the old woman who had been taking care of her during her illness was sent by the Marquis's mansion after she fell ill. When Nanny Zhao came earlier, the old woman avoided her. This person wouldn't be gone for long and would be back soon.

“Grandmother…”

“My good child, go quickly. I can rest easy now that I have seen you and we have resolved our differences. Go back and take care of yourself. What happens next is no longer your concern.”

“Grandmother?”

“Be good, go back first. If you want to see Grandmother, wait until after today, then find an opportunity.”

Xiaohong rushed in and said, “Hurry, someone’s coming.”

Wushuang could only reluctantly let go of her great aunt's hand and was hurriedly helped out the door by Meifang and Xiaohong

As soon as they entered the backyard, an old woman came in through the front door. Wushuang even heard the sound of her opening the door.

Therefore, the three of them did not dare to speak any more and hurriedly walked into the night from the back door.

At the same time, the old woman who came back first came to the bedside and looked at the great aunt on the bed. Seeing that the great aunt was sleeping with her eyes closed, she snorted and said, "Can you sleep like this?"

But what could one do when the night was deep and silent, and one could not sleep?

All sounds of nature had ceased, and the lamplight was dim and yellow.

The old woman sat at the table for a while, but she couldn't hold on any longer.

Normally, she served the great aunt, but because she was the only one, she didn't have to stay up at night. However, since Nanny Zhao had come, she didn't dare to be lazy, even if it was just for show.

So it wasn't long before the old woman fell asleep at the table. She didn't realize that her nap would cause a great disaster.

***

When Wushuang returned, she was exhausted.

She couldn't fall asleep, but she couldn't light a lamp to attract attention either. She could only stroke the box her great aunt had given her in the darkness while her mind wandered.

Before she knew it, she fell asleep, but she had dreams all night long.

The scenes in her dream were all things that had happened in her previous life. There was her wandering, being led by Mei Wuxia to scheme against Zhao Jianzhi, her sneaking into the Zhao family like a rat crossing the street, and Ji Yang...

Because she was dreaming, everything was like a revolving lantern, bizarre and completely out of order. It seemed that whatever she didn't want to happen would happen. She clearly knew that she was dreaming, but she couldn't wake up no matter what.

Until she dreamed of the capricious Ji Yang punishing her for doing something wrong... Wushuang finally woke up from her dream in fright.

“Miss…”

Mei Wushuang faintly heard someone calling her, but her head was pounding, and her whole body was sore, as if she had been run over by a carriage.

"What's wrong?" she asked, rubbing her forehead.

“The great aunt is gone.”

***

The great aunt passed away last night.

Because the old woman who served her was a heavy sleeper and didn’t stay by her side, no one knew when she had passed away. It wasn’t until the morning that they discovered she was already cold.

When Wushuang arrived, Nanny Zhao was furious.

The sleepy old woman collapsed on the ground like a pile of mud, crying her eyes out. The room was in a mess, as if someone had ransacked it.

When Wushuang arrived, some servants of the Marquis's mansion were still rummaging through the boxes and cabinets. As soon as they saw the Third Miss, they stopped and slipped out along the wall.

Wushuang felt a chill in her heart. She didn't want to get involved in these people's dogfights. She just wanted to go in and see her great aunt.

After not seeing her for a night, Wushuang felt that her great aunt's face was very unfamiliar. The kindness and gentleness were gone, and her face had suddenly become unrecognizable to her.

She felt cold to the bone.

She reached out to touch her great aunt's hand, which was as cold as ice. She held on, her whole body chilled to the bone, her teeth chattering uncontrollably, but she refused to let go.

"Miss," someone called out to her. It was Xiaohong.

Xiaohong approached her, pretending to help her up, but in fact she quietly held her hand and took it from the great aunt's.

It was not until someone spoke behind her that Wushuang realized that Nanny Zhao had arrived.

"The dead should be respected. Miss, you must accept the inevitable."

Nanny Zhao wiped her tears with a handkerchief, seemingly very sad. "Great aunt had been ill for a long time. Now that she has passed away, Miss, you shouldn't be too sad."

If it had been any other time, Wushuang might have pretended to be friendly with her, but she was in no mood for it now.

Looking at Nanny Zhao's hypocritical expression, she felt nothing but anger and sorrow, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Now that Grandmother was gone, she could no longer disrupt Grandmother's plan.

The great aunt would not live long, Wushuang knew, but her death last night was clearly intentional.

Originally, she had planned to give the Marquis's mansion the money and valuables, but now that she had changed her mind, the Marquis's mansion would certainly not let it go. How to explain it was also a problem.

Last night, Wushuang had thought of this, but she had not asked in detail. She had thought that her great aunt had not yet made arrangements for this matter and wanted to keep her great aunt for a few more days, so she had deliberately not asked. However, she had never expected that her great aunt had already made arrangements for this matter in the simplest way.

Now that the person was dead, could they possibly call the dead back to life to ask?

“Has this news been sent to the mansion? How should the funeral of the great aunt be handled?”

Wushuang pretended to know nothing. She neither appeared to be very close to her great aunt, nor did she show any signs of confusion or helplessness that would be expected from the death of her only relative.

Nanny Zhao quickly said, "Don't worry, Miss. I've already sent someone back to the capital to inform the mansion. As for your great aunt's funeral, I've also sent someone to make arrangements. You don't have to worry about it."

As she spoke, she glanced at Bailu. “I see that your complexion is not so good. This place has just witnessed a death, after all. Your body is weak. If you were to be affected by the evil spirits…”

Bailu quickly said, “Yes, Miss. You should go back with this servant first. Leave this place to Nanny Zhao to deal with. You cannot be of any help here.”

Just now, Wushuang came in to see her great aunt. Bailu, because she was afraid of dead people, did not follow Wushuang, and let Xiaohong stand by Wushuang's side.

At this time, Nanny Zhao's glance suddenly awakened Bailu, who hurriedly tried to persuade and scare Wushuang into leaving, and Wushuang, as she wished, left.

After she left, Nanny Zhao's face changed immediately. She walked outside in a few quick steps and said, "Search properly, look carefully. If you can't find the items, you know the consequences!"

Upon hearing Nanny Zhao's words, the faces of the servants in the courtyard changed.

***

"They seemed to be looking for something. After you left, Nanny Zhao led people to turn that place upside down. They searched inside and out, even in the courtyard."

As for what they were looking for?

Naturally, it was the box that great aunt had given to Wushuang last night. Wushuang had not opened the box until now. When she found it and opened it, she saw a stack of thick silver notes, dozens of house deeds and land deeds, and a small booklet.

The silver notes were all in large denominations, most of them worth more than a thousand taels. Wushuang glanced at them and estimated that there were about sixty to seventy thousand taels.

And what was written in the booklet was nothing else but the locations of several other places where the great aunt hid her wealth. It listed the details of the hidden wealth, the locations where it was hidden, and how to find her mother's servants, where to find them, and how to find them...

Looking at this thoughtful little booklet, thinking about all the painstaking efforts her great aunt had made for her over the years, Wushuang couldn't help but burst into tears again.

In both her lives, she had never experienced true kinship. The only person who had ever given her kinship, her great aunt, had only met her once in a hurry before she passed away.

"Miss," Xiaohong said with worry, "Meifang is still out there inquiring about news, and Nanny Zhao has already sent word of the great aunt's passing to the mansion. I reckon people from the mansion will be here soon. What will you do?"

Wushuang wiped away her tears. "Since Grandmother was unwilling to hand these things over to them, I will hide them well. Rest assured, I will not let them find out. Let them search. I'd like to see how Nanny Zhao will explain this to the Old Madam this time."

Before her death, the great aunt also framed Nanny Zhao.

Because she was the last person who saw the great aunt last night, at least on the surface, and the old woman who waited on the great aunt was also sent away by her.

But she never expected that the great aunt would die last night. If the Old Madam Mei found out about all this, what would she think?

***

What Wushuang could think of, how could Nanny Zhao not think of it?

So at this moment, she really panicked. The more she panicked, the more irritable her temper became. The two people who came with her last night were also terrified.

One of these two people was a short and stout old woman, known as Granny Chen. The other was a thin and short middle-aged man, called Qian Si. They were both people trusted by the Old Madam, which was why they were allowed to follow Nanny Zhao on this trip.

Rather than saying they were following her, it would be better to say that they were also the Old Madam's spies, and they supervised each other, so the Old Madam was not afraid that someone would embezzle things.

But she never expected that the great aunt would die, and the things had not yet been obtained when she died.

How could she explain this to the Old Madam?

“This matter can’t be concealed any longer,” Nanny Zhao paced back and forth like ants on a hot pan, “We should notify the mansion first. The three of us are grasshoppers on the same rope. If I can’t escape, neither can you. We should think about how to explain this to the Old Madam.”

Granny Chen and Qian Si exchanged a glance, knowing that Nanny Zhao's words were intended to implicate them both. However, they had also considered the situation. Last night, Nanny Zhao had deliberately left them outside to keep watch so that she could claim all the credit for herself. Now, it seemed that this had become a lifeline for the two of them.

As for Nanny Zhao, if she could find what the Old Madam wanted, she might still have a way out. But if she couldn't find it——

The two couldn't help but shiver.

The two were confidants of the Old Madam, so they had always been clear about the Old Madam's character.

How could Nanny Zhao not have thought of this? She had experienced many things in her life. Seeing the perfunctory expressions on Granny Chen and Qian Si's faces, she knew that these two people probably didn't take her words to heart.

Come to think of it, if she were in their shoes, she would also try to protect herself and avoid trouble. She would definitely try to push away anything that could cause her trouble and try to hide from it.

But the more she thought about it, the more flustered and resentful she became. She hated that Granny Chen and Qian Si would probably join forces to shift the blame onto her. However, she couldn't care less about that now. She had to save herself.

So she stopped caring about her reputation and ordered her servants to search everywhere again. This time, they even dug up the soil in the courtyard, determined to find it even if they had to dig three feet deep.

As luck would have it, it started to rain at that moment, and the rain was quite heavy. In a short while, it turned into large raindrops that pounded heavily on people's bodies.

The servants who were digging in the yard couldn't help but complain, but they didn't dare to talk back. At that moment, Wushuang ordered someone to come over.

How was the funeral of the great aunt going to be handled? Had she been dressed in her burial clothes?

After all, even a child of a few years old knows that after a person dies, they should be dressed in their burial clothes as soon as possible. Once the body stiffens, it will be difficult to put on clothes.

It was like putting out one fire only to have another flare up!

Nanny Zhao was at her wit's end. In less than half an hour, her mouth had developed several blisters, but she had no choice but to start making arrangements for the great aunt's funeral. Even if she just went through the motions, she had to at least make it look like she was doing something, or else she wouldn't be able to answer to Third Miss.

The small courtyard was in chaos, with people coming and going, leaving muddy footprints all over the ground.

Granny Chen and Qian Si stood far away under the eaves, watching from a distance. They showed no intention of helping, leaving Zhao Mama to fight alone like a trapped beast.

At this moment, Wushuang came with several maids in the rain, saying that she and the great aunt were related by blood after all. She had not fulfilled her filial duties in the past, and this dressing of the deceased should be done by a close relative, so she would do it.

Nanny Zhao was puzzled by her attitude, but she was so upset at the moment that she did not have the time to care about it, so she simply let her go and deal with it.