On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, after the servant girl Xiao Lan accompanied my great-grandmother to worship the moon, she secretly told my great-grandmother that she would be leaving for a while, just like how she was taking leave now. My great-grandmother is a very kind person and has never treated these two servant girls as her subordinates. When Xiao Lan said that she wanted to leave for a while, my great-grandmother immediately agreed. After all, it was a big festival, and the maids and servants were also humans. They should find a place to celebrate.
However, no one expected Xiao Lan to never return. After the banquet ended, my great-grandmother didn't care. She thought that she might have gone too crazy and brought my great-grandfather back to the Fragrant Brothel to sleep.
On the second day, which was the 16th day of the 8th month, Xiao Lan was still nowhere to be seen. My great-grandmother felt that it was strange at this time, so she asked another servant girl, Xiao Xiang, to go and look for her. Xiao Xiang searched the entire residence, but she couldn't find her.
Because Cai Wenye had previously said that Xiao Lan and the other servant girl who had helped my great-great-grandmother's paper figurine substitute were no longer considered to have sold themselves to the Cai family. Not only were they free to enter and leave, but they could also leave at any time.
My great-grandmother felt that Xiao Lan might have left the residence last night. At this time, Xiao Xiang told my great-grandmother that Xiao Lan didn't leave the residence. She saw her before she went to bed and disappeared early in the morning.
The maids of the Cai Residence all lived in the same big house, just like the male servants of the Cai Residence, which was similar to the current dormitory. However, the male servants lived in the front courtyard while the maids lived in the backyard. Xiao Xiang's bed was right next to Xiao Lan's, so Xiao Xiang could sense Xiao Lan's every move.
The clothes were still there, but the person was gone. Moreover, she might have disappeared after these servant girls fell asleep. My great-grandmother found it strange and told Cai Wenye about it. At this time, the missing children case was nearing its end. The secret edict of Emperor Tongzhi had been issued. Although it had not yet arrived in Kaifeng, at this time, the whole country had begun a large-scale secret purge of Taoism.
Perhaps it was because the secret edict had not yet reached Kaifeng, but there were still occasional news of children going missing in Kaifeng. Cai Wenye felt that Xiao Lan might have gone missing like the other children.
Therefore, Cai Wenye asked all the servants to search in the front yard, all the maids to search in the backyard, and his second son to search in the city with the people from the county government. However, after three to four days, they could not even find the shadow of the maid Xiao Lan.
Cai Wenye was a little unhappy at this time. It was fine for ordinary people to lose their children. After all, their protective measures were limited. However, there were more than a hundred people in the Cai residence, more than twenty servants, and five or six martial masters patrolling day and night. Under such circumstances, they could still lose their maidservants. How could their Cai residence be safe? Moreover, his son was working in the county government, and there were missing people in the family. If this were to spread, it would not be good. Moreover, it was a little like he was trying to stir up trouble.
Cai Wenye frowned, and the entire county started to move. The constables and soldiers of the county government began a city-wide search, turning the county upside down. Of course, he still found nothing.
In the end, the Magistrate specially set up a special task force…similar to the current task force. A constable led a few constables to investigate the disappearance of the servant girls in the Cai Residence.
At this point, it had to be said that people with power and influence were really good. No one asked about the loss of their own son, but the Cai residence had actually mobilized so many people for the loss of a servant girl. Of course, I didn't mean to belittle the servant girl. The servant girl is also a human, and she was raised by her mother and father. I'm just talking about the facts. Compared to the feelings of others who lost their biological son and daughter, the servant girl's weight is much lighter. Moreover, Xiao Lan is already an adult. Compared to children, children are the weaker group. Why should the government investigate?
The county government's special task force was motivated to solve the case, but the harvest was very small.
In the blink of an eye, it was the eighth day since Xiao Lan had disappeared.
That night, just after midnight, the martial masters and servants in the courtyard patrolled once. The entire Cai Residence's backyard fell silent. The waning moon in the sky was bright and white, casting a layer of frost on the ground. Coupled with the deep night and cold autumn, the entire courtyard was quiet and cold.
At this moment, my great-grandmother was hugging my great-grandfather in the Fragrant Brothel, sleeping soundly. Suddenly, my great-grandfather jumped up from my great-grandmother's embrace and slowly turned his head. He stared at the window and burst into tears.
My great-great-grandmother felt light. As soon as my great-grandfather sat up, she woke up. Before she could ask my great-grandfather what was wrong, my great-grandfather started crying loudly.
My great-grandfather was very obedient when he was young. He didn't cry often. This was the first time he cried in the middle of the night. Moreover, he cried with all his might. After a few wails, his throat became hoarse.
My great-great-grandmother was scared and quickly hugged him. She patted his back and comforted him, but it was useless. My great-grandfather continued to cry. After a while, my great-grandfather stopped crying. He leaned against my great-grandmother's arms and gasped. It seemed that he was tired from crying, but it was more like he couldn't breathe. However, his eyes were still staring at the window, as if he had seen something terrible and was frightened.
At this moment, the room was dimly lit, but it was relatively bright outside. The gloomy moonlight shone into the room through the window grilles. My great-grandmother then realized that there was something wrong with my great-grandfather's gaze, so she followed his gaze and looked towards the window...
The moment my great-grandmother's gaze touched the window, a blue shadow " suddenly " floated past the window. Before my great-grandmother could be surprised, the blue shadow actually stuck its entire body tightly to the window, as if it was sticking to the window flowers. However, it actually couldn't block the moonlight that shot in from outside. The light in the room didn't decrease because it blocked the window. It just stuck close to the window, strange and cold, as if it was transparent...
My great-great-grandmother finally came back to her senses. She was so frightened that her face changed color and she screamed.
At this moment, the blue shadow on the window spoke. It sounded quite anxious." Miss, Miss, don't shout. I'm…I'm Xiaolan. I'm Xiaolan. Miss, Miss, don't be afraid…"
Hearing the blue shadow outside say that she was Xiao Lan, my great-grandmother felt a little relieved. She stopped screaming and quickly calmed down. After all, Xiao Lan was her personal maid and was like a sister to her. There was nothing to be afraid of. Moreover, my great-grandmother remembered that Xiao Lan was wearing a long blue dress on the 15th of August. Now that she looked at the blue figure stuck to the window, that silhouette and figure really did look like Xiao Lan. It was just that there was a layer of window paper between them, so my great-grandmother could not see Xiao Lan's face clearly.
However, my great-great-grandmother's question soon came again. Xiao Lan had been missing for seven or eight days. She had been searched everywhere in the residence, in and out of the city, but she could not be found. Why would Xiao Lan suddenly appear outside the window in the middle of the night today? This was very difficult to accept.
Before my great-grandmother could say anything, Xiao Lan spoke again," Miss, don't be afraid. I found a man who loves me. I'm leaving with him now. I'm here to say goodbye to you."”
My great-grandmother didn't say anything after hearing Xiao Lan's words. She hugged my great-grandfather tightly with both arms. At this moment, my great-grandfather was lying in my great-grandmother's arms with his eyes closed. He didn't cry or make a fuss, as if he was asleep.
After all, my great-great-grandmother had followed my great-great-grandfather for five to six years. Although she had never seen many things, my great-great-grandfather had more or less told her about ghosts climbing walls, ghosts sticking to windows, ghosts knocking on doors, and so on.
Thinking about what my great-great-grandfather told her, my great-great-grandmother's entire body turned cold. She felt that Xiao Lan was probably no longer human.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]