She has a slender waist and delicate bones, and is able to seduce the ascetic horse.

Chapter 41 Transformation
To Shen Jiaojiao's surprise, Chen Yuanli did not choose to place the person in the Pearl Courtyard, but instead said that he would discuss it with Meng Wan.

This is to put people in Hanliyuan.

She was not worried about Miss Zhou's safety, and even began to look forward to Meng Wan's reaction.

Miss Zhou is not stupid, the two of them are really facing each other, and it’s hard to tell who will suffer the loss.

After talking about business, Chen Yuanli made an excuse to leave.

Shen Jiaojiao did not hold back.

After they left, she sat quietly for a while with her eyes lowered, and then returned to the Pearl Courtyard.

Seeing her coming back, Keying stepped forward to greet her.

"Miss, people are drowning in Yuan Lake!"

The garden lake is the small lake in the Meng Mansion Garden. It is not large in area, but has some depth.

Shen Jiaojiao was startled, "How could it be? I have never heard of anyone drowning in that lake since I was a child."

"Madam has already gone over to take a look." Keying said.

"Has this matter alarmed the adoptive mother?" Shen Jiaojiao frowned and looked towards the direction of the garden lake, "Let's inquire more carefully and find out who drowned."

The adoptive mother always catches the big ones and lets the little ones go. These matters related to the servants are always handled by the housekeeper. Why is it so unusual today...

Keying responded, turned around and retreated.

Shen Jiaojiao walked to the main room and was about to sit down and drink a cup of hot tea when she saw Ke Xin sneaking in.

After entering the door, Kexin stuck her head out, looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, and then closed the door tightly.

"What's wrong?" Shen Jiaojiao asked.

Kexin leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Miss! Something serious has happened! The people who drowned in Yuanhu Lake were one from the young master's courtyard and the other from the second young lady's courtyard. They were both strong young men!"

Her eyes darkened slightly, and she quickly realized that the deaths of the two boys were not simple.

"Is it related to what happened the night before?" she asked again.

Kexin nodded solemnly.

"I learned from the maid in charge of Hanliyuan that the second lady just ordered people to look for the boy, but they couldn't find him for a long time.

"Later, someone still asked whether the person who drowned in the lake was the person that the second lady was looking for, so Hanlianyuan sent someone to see it.

"My servant heard that the drowned boy was what the second lady was looking for. When the second lady heard the news, she seemed to be frightened and made a fuss in the main courtyard."

After hearing Ke Xin's report, Shen Jiaojiao's expression changed, and she subconsciously reached out to hold Ke Xin's arm, "Is that boy the one who came here to lie about the news the night before?"

If it was really him, there would be no way to investigate and there would be no proof!

"No, no, don't worry, miss." Ke Xin held her hand and said in a light and fast voice, "I went out of my way to see what those two boys looked like. They are not that Wang Zhu."

"Have you seen it?" She raised her eyes in surprise and looked at Kexin's round face.

The baby fat on her cheeks has not faded away, and she looks like a little girl.

She didn't dare to think about how Ke Xin suppressed the fear in her heart to look at the faces of the two dead people.

She pulled Ke Xin to the small couch and sat down, with a trace of distress on her face.

"Why are you so stupid? What's so good about a dead person's face? At worst, just wait until the old housekeeper informs you."

Ke Xin shook her head, "Miss, I'm not afraid."

"That can't be like this." She sighed, knowing that Kexin was looking for more clues, so she quickly warned: "Let's leave this matter alone and let's see if they dare to find a widower to do an autopsy."

The boy Meng Wan was looking for died in Yuanhu, and the adoptive mother went out to check...

Something's wrong, something's wrong.

Shen Jiaojiao had a vague feeling that the two young boys who died in Yuanhu were related to the night before, and there might be some work by her step-brother...

The news of a murder in the Meng Mansion quickly spread throughout the house, as if it had wings.

Mrs. Meng strictly prohibited the news from being spread to the outside world. After a brief interrogation, she actually attributed the death of the two boys to drowning due to a slip.

Such hasty behavior caused panic among the people in the mansion, and they even worried that death would befall them.

The entire Meng Mansion was shrouded in gloom.

Shen Jiaojiao's heart sank to the bottom when she heard that her adoptive mother had not sent anyone to ask for a widower.

The two drowned people were related to the night before! The adoptive mother must have known that Meng Wan was planning to harm others, so she didn't dare to invite the widower to visit her.

She was afraid that Wu Zuo would find clues on the body and track down Meng Wan.

Until the afternoon, no news came back from Yuanhu.

She spent the entire noon in a state of restlessness and didn't even use lunch.

Ke Ying and Ke Xin could not persuade them, so they could only order the small kitchen to warm the porridge until the young lady wanted to eat it before serving it to them.

After some time, there was a knock on the door outside.

Keying's voice sounded, "Miss, the young master is here."

Shen Jiaojiao's complicated thoughts were interrupted and she could only respond hastily and let Keying lead her to the main room.

When she came to the main room and saw the slender and straight figure, she realized belatedly that the person coming was her adopted brother.

She actually let her adopted brother in!
No, she hadn't figured out how to face her adopted brother, so why did she let people into the house?

Shen Jiaojiao's scalp went numb, her raised feet froze in place, and she wanted to turn around and escape.

In the past two days, the two of them have met more times than they have this year combined...

"Brother, what do you want from me?" She said as she walked inside.

This is because - she remembered what Yuzhu said to her yesterday. Keeping evading was not an option, and she should speak clearly to her sworn brother.

Meng Hui looked back at her, "Mrs. Jiang sent an invitation to invite you to a banquet in three days."

He said and handed over the gilded invitation.

"Thank you, sworn brother." She stretched out her hands to take it, trying her best to stay calm.

Seeing that she no longer avoided him, Meng Hui's eyes flashed with surprise, and he soon returned to calm.

"You're welcome."

"Hey! Brother-in-law, wait!" Seeing him turning around to leave, Shen Jiaojiao hurriedly called out to him.

Meng Hui stopped and looked sideways, "Is there anything else?"

The voice was so cold that it almost turned into ice.

She smiled and felt even more embarrassed when she recalled what happened in the outer courtyard the previous day.

She seemed to have made her adopted brother angry because she was trying to hide it at that time...

The step-brother was obviously angry with her, but he still came to deliver the invitation to her in person. Was he worried that the step-mother would withhold the invitation and prevent her from going?

Thinking of this, Shen Jiaojiao felt confident, and sighed again that it was a good thing she had talked to Yuzhu, otherwise she would have been avoiding her adopted brother for how many years.
The two of them should have been the closest relatives.

"I want to talk to you," she said softly.

The voice was so soft that it seemed that it would be dispersed by the wind, but it penetrated into Meng Hui's ears accurately.

He said 'hmm', walked to the armchair closest to him, sat down firmly, and then raised his eyes to look at Shen Jiaojiao, "Go ahead."

That posture looked more like the master of the Pearl Courtyard than her.

She stared at the armchair closest to Meng Hui, hesitated for a long time, and then sat on it.

After the two of them sat down, Keying served a pot of tea and a stack of snacks, stepped out of the door and closed the door with great discernment.

"Brother, I, I want to talk to you about the night before..."

As she spoke, Shen Jiaojiao's cheeks started to feel hot and she blushed again.

Meng Hui raised the tea cup and blew the tea while looking down at her.

The look of surprise in his eyes never dissipated for a long time.

It's really strange that after apparently hiding from him for so long, he is now willing to communicate.

"F-brother, I'm very grateful to you...Sister Yuzhu is right. You do have me as a sister in your heart. It's me who can't help you and misunderstood you."

The next words became smoother and smoother. Shen Jiaojiao mustered up her courage and raised her eyes to look at her sworn brother.

The man sitting opposite her had an indifferent expression, but his hand holding the tea cup showed faint veins, as if he was angry.

Shen Jiaojiao's back stiffened slightly, and she didn't understand why she had angered her sworn brother again.

　Happy Lantern Festival to you guys! Thank you for your companionship and love. There is another update and I am working hard on coding it!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)