Chapter 390: The Skeleton In The Lake Water

“Servant…servant…” The maidservant was blocked, unable to speak for a moment. She pointed to that place, trembled twice, and those past rumors involuntarily surfaced in her mind. That place was the Duke’s Mansion’s ominous place. Some were injured, some were frightened sick, and some were said to have disappeared without a trace, not seeing the person alive nor the body after death.

Normally, no one dared to come here, saying that the master who lived in this place before died without knowing how, so the souls were not scattered, always floating here, specifically looking for substitutes!

“What are you dawdling about? Hurry up and lead the way, I will go and tell the Duchess later.” That Aunt, who had a high seniority, said with displeasure.

Everyone also spoke out, and being urged by so many people, the two maidservants had to walk forward, but their faces were almost transparently pale, their feet were unsteady, the more they feared, the more they thought, and the more they thought, of course, the more afraid they became.

They dawdled to the front of the wall, and seeing no one, everyone followed the wall forward.

“Ah!” Suddenly, a scream was heard, right in the ears.

The two maidservants were originally nervous, and hearing this sound, before everyone could react, they immediately softened to the ground, screaming in terror: “Ah, there’s a ghost, there’s a ghost!”

The several ladies standing beside the two maidservants were startled by this sudden sharp scream, and their faces all turned pale. They looked around and saw nothing, then calmed down. An old woman came over from beside a lady and pulled up a maidservant who had collapsed on the ground.

“Nonsense, there are no ghosts in broad daylight!” The old woman scolded.

“Ghost, it’s really a ghost, there’s a ghost here.” The maidservant was already disoriented at this time, pointing at the wall and trembling.

It was just a wall, and everyone didn’t think there was anything inside. The bold ones also came over to knock on it, but they didn’t find anything abnormal.

“You are deceiving the public with your words. You dare to talk nonsense. I will let the Duchess handle you both later.” A lady who was startled said indignantly.

“Yes, there really is a ghost, Cloud Shadow Courtyard has a ghost, it will drag people into the water, people are dead.” The maidservant shook her hands anxiously and pointed at the wall, because of fear, her expression was scattered, and she was incoherent.

What she actually wanted to say was that Cloud Shadow Courtyard was haunted, and there were even people who had disappeared. That Young Lady was said to have died in the water.

“Yan’er!” As soon as this was said, that Madam who couldn’t find her son was very anxious. Regardless of the situation, she threw herself on the wall and cried loudly. Someone else advised, and someone else came over to pull. The scene immediately became chaotic.

It was still that Aunt who was calm enough to let the old woman continue to ask the maidservant: “Where is Cloud Shadow Courtyard? There is clearly only a wall here, where did Cloud Shadow Courtyard come from?”

The maidservant was already frightened and lost her soul at this time, saying whatever she was asked. Then she was dragged by the old woman to go around the wall, turn to the back door of Cloud Shadow Courtyard, and entered this desolate courtyard that had been desolate for more than half a year. As soon as they entered the door, everyone only felt that they were immediately stunned by the dilapidated and desolate state of the entire courtyard.

Is this still the Duke’s Mansion’s courtyard? The weeds here looked like they had grown to a person’s knees. Anyone could tell that not only no one lived here, but also no one helped to tidy it up. Thinking about the wall outside just now, it was clearly deliberately concealing this courtyard. Could it be that this courtyard was not meant to be seen by others?

Everyone hesitated for a moment at the doorway. No matter what the matter was, it was, after all, the Duke’s Mansion’s private matter. Although some of them had a higher seniority than Ning Zuan, Ning Zuan was, after all, the Clan Head of the Ning Clan. Moreover, Ning Zuan was not just the Clan Head of the Ning Clan, but also the Duke, which was something that no one could compare to.

The air suddenly became eerily quiet, everyone looked at each other, and for a moment they didn’t know whether to go in or not.

“Yan’er, it’s Yan’er’s.” The Madam who had lost her child suddenly saw a brightly colored shoe by the Lotus Pond not far away. She shook off the maidservant who was supporting her, rushed over anxiously, and everyone saw that she had already gone, so they couldn’t care about the others, and hurried in after her.

The shoe was right by the Lotus Pond. The lotus leaves were everywhere in the lake. Looking at it like this, you couldn’t really see anything. That Madam rushed over and embraced the shoe and cried, while crying, she also plunged her body into the river. The others around her were very anxious and desperately held her back and tried to persuade her.

“Quick, please ask the Duke to come over, and have someone go down and take a look.” That Aunt from the Ning Clan hastily sent someone out to call for help. In this situation now, if they didn’t go down and take a look, how could people be at ease.

The two maidservants who led the way were now completely useless, shrinking behind people, trembling into a ball, and still muttering to themselves: “Miss Ziying, she died in the Lotus Pond back then. It must be Miss Ziying coming to take a soul, it must be.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of the several ladies around turned pale. They only felt that there were gusts of cold wind here, and looking at this courtyard, it was clearly not a good place. They’d better not really be haunted.

Hearing that something had happened here, Ning Zuan brought some male servants and rushed over. That Sir, who heard that his child had had an accident, happened to be an official from the Ministry of Justice. He brought some people with him, and some other good friends, and also hurried after Ning Zuan to Cloud Shadow Courtyard.

As soon as he saw his Madam crying and fainting by the Lotus Pond, without waiting for Ning Zuan to instruct, he immediately ordered the people around him to go down into the water to see if there was a child.

As these people “thud” and “thud” went into the water, the hearts of many people were raised. If that child really fell into the river, it would really be fatal. Looking at how desolate this courtyard was, it hadn’t been tidied up for many years. Although the Lotus Pond wasn’t generally deep for ordinary people, if there hadn’t been any silt for a while, it wouldn’t be shallow either. How tall was a child? How could they still have a life?

Madam Ling also received the news at this time and, staggering, brought people over here as well.

When she brought people over, the lotus leaves above the Lotus Pond had all been cleaned up, and many people had all gone into the water, with only that Madam’s intermittent crying outside.

“What’s going on? Why did you come here?” Madam Ling looked around, saw the two maidservants who had collapsed on the ground, and immediately, with a gloomy face, told the old woman to bring them over.

“First Madam, Miss Ziying’s Lotus Pond, she must be unwilling, in…in there, she must be pulling people in there.” The maidservant also saw clearly at this time that the person in front of her was Madam Ling, and said anxiously.

“Slap the mouth!” Hearing the mention of Ning Ziying, Madam Ling’s face turned solemn and she was furious.

An old woman came over and gave the maidservant, who was speaking, two hard slaps. The maidservant’s mouth immediately bled, and covering her mouth, she couldn’t speak.

After asking only one question, the maidservant was slapped until the corner of her mouth was bleeding. The other several ladies subconsciously distanced themselves from Madam Ling. This gloomy Duchess really couldn’t make people feel any good impression.

“Skeleton, there are skeletons below.” Suddenly, a guard took out a section of skeleton from the Lotus Pond and screamed, stepping on the water.

“There are dead people below, and there are two dead people.” Someone else jumped up and said.

Dead people below, and still two people. Everyone was stunned and turned to Ning Zuan.

Unexpectedly, two skeletons were discovered in the Lotus Pond, and from the looks of it, this kind of thing could be big or small, but no matter what, since it was discovered, it would inevitably be investigated. Moreover, that Sir was still an official from the Ministry of Justice, and this matter always had to be investigated.

“Come here, drain the water!” Ning Zuan’s face showed no joy or anger, and he said in a deep voice to the servants on the side.

Immediately, everyone came out of the water, and everyone who could help came to help. The several Sirs who came from outside, all brought a certain amount of personnel, and everyone worked together. It was still quite fast, and before long, the lake surface was visible. The one from the Ministry of Justice had already sent someone to the Ministry of Justice to call for the undertaker.

“Yan’er.” That Madam who had cried and fallen by the Lotus Pond, was supported by a maidservant at this time, standing to the side, and suddenly looked at the doorway and called out with surprise.

A three- or four-year-old boy was standing at the doorway, not knowing when, curiously opening his head to look inside. Hearing the familiar voice, he hurriedly reached out his hands and rushed over: “Mother!”

“Yan’er, Yan’er!” That Madam pushed away the maidservant’s hand, rushed over, embraced the child, and cried her heart out. Anyone who discovered this would definitely not be able to calm down. They originally thought that something had happened to the child, but they didn’t expect that the child was still there. How could they not be overjoyed and burst into tears, unable to help themselves.

That Sir from the Ministry of Justice also couldn’t help but run over, pick up his son, and his eyes were red.

“Where did Yan’er go?” The Madam took the child from the child’s father’s hands and asked, crying.

“Mother, don’t cry, Yan’er is fine. Yan’er was looking for beautiful butterflies, there were some here, and then they flew away. Yan’er was looking for butterflies for Mother.” This child named Yan’er seemed to be sensible, reached out and wiped his mother’s tears, and explained in a milky voice.

Everyone was enlightened. This child must have seen the beautiful butterflies and chased after them. Looking at the child’s feet, indeed, a shoe had fallen off. They couldn’t help but secretly be glad that fortunately, the butterflies didn’t run into the water, and later ran out of Cloud Shadow Courtyard. If they had really run into the water, this child might have really had an accident.

“Mother, don’t cry, Yan’er will not do this again next time, and must tell Mother, you know.” The child was found, and the mother also breathed a sigh of relief. She had to warn her child at this time.

After the pond water was drained, everyone came ashore and discovered that the place where the skeletons were located was actually not too far away. Removing the thin layer of silt on top, they could clearly see two skeletons. The undertaker had already gone down to examine them.

“Sir, the deceased was a young woman, not exceeding eighteen years old. She seemed to have been beaten before her death. There were two fingers broken at the fingers, and there were also cracks in the leg bones. She should have been severely beaten before her death. And this stone, it was used to pull the deceased down. She should have been sunk into the Lotus Pond and drowned.”

“This one is about the same age as the previous one. This stone also pulled her down. She was drowned in the Lotus Pond.”

The undertaker was referring to the two stones tied behind the skeletons, tied with cloth strips on their bodies, and falling not too far from each other in the muddy soil of the Lotus Pond. The two cloth strips tied to them were almost rotten, which showed that they had been in the water for a period of time. In this kind of situation, everyone knew that the two people who died in the Lotus Pond should have been murdered.

Otherwise, how to explain these stones behind, these cloth strips that pulled the corpses? Moreover, there were also the marks of being beaten, which clearly meant that someone had been abused first, and then killed.

Madam Ling’s face was pale without a trace of blood color. Only the maidservants standing on both sides supporting her could feel her barely perceptible trembling. Suddenly, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes, and she bit her lip hard. The intense stinging pain made her immediately sober. Impossible, the cloth strips that tied the stones, she had secretly ordered someone to take them away afterwards, how could they still be there!