Lihoumen

Chapter 68 Birthday Banquet Incident 2
When Mrs. Li, the wife of the cabinet elder, heard this, her expression changed immediately: "Did it fall somewhere? Have you looked for it carefully?"

"I've looked everywhere, but couldn't find him." The little maid's tone was already tearful.

Wang Zhenzhen came over and asked, "What kind of gold is it? I'll call a few more maids to help us look for it." She smiled and comforted him, "Don't worry, although this yard is big, as long as you look carefully, it will definitely not be lost."

Li gradually recovered from her panic, forced a smile, and explained, "It's just a piece of gold, not worth much money, but my child is weak. Last year, I listened to the advice of an expert and did everything I could to invite a Taoist monk from the south to read my child's fortune. He said that this child has bad luck in his life, so he gave him this golden lock to suppress it. Strangely enough, my child always had all kinds of disasters in the past, and was sick for half of the month. Since he wore the golden lock given by the monk, he has actually recovered in the past year."

As she spoke, Li's expression became anxious again: "So, this golden lock is very important to my son."

After hearing the story, the old lady hurriedly ordered Wang Zhenzhen, "Call more people over quickly and search carefully to find the golden lock."

Wang Zhenzhen took the order and hurried out of the house. In the yard, several maids who were originally taking care of the two young masters were bending down to look for her. When they saw Wang Zhenzhen coming out, the little maids hurried over, lined up in a row, and stood in front of Wang Zhenzhen.

At a glance, two of these four maids were the eldest maids beside the old lady, another was beside Li, and the other was Lingzhi.

"When did you discover that the lock was missing? Who discovered it?" Wang Zhenzhen asked with a serious face.

A maidservant beside the old lady stepped forward and replied, "I discovered it first. When we led the young master out just now, his maid Ding told us to take good care of the lock. We took the two young masters to play in the yard for a short while, and we saw that the lock hanging around their necks was gone."

At this time, the manager came over with a few little girls. Wang Zhenzhen said to the girl who had just answered, "Tell us what the lock piece looks like."

The girl gestured and said, "It's about the size of a thumbnail, with a semicircular lock head and a round lock body. There are words engraved on one side of the lock and a strange pattern printed on the other side."

After the maid finished her description, Wang Zhenzhen instructed everyone, "Have you all heard it? Go and look for it separately. Look carefully. If anyone finds it, there will be a reward."

Everyone took the order and went to look for him separately.

Wang Zhenzhen went back to the house and said to Li, "I've already asked the maid to look for it. The two brothers were playing in the corridor just now and didn't run far. The lock piece will definitely be found."

The old lady sighed and said apologetically, "I came here to celebrate the old lady's birthday, but I have caused trouble. I am really sorry."

Wang Zhenzhen hurriedly said, "Oh! Please don't say that. It's because the maids didn't take good care of it."

After waiting for a long time, the manager finally came in. Wang Zhenzhen asked hurriedly, "Did you find it?"

The manager said with a bitter face: "We checked every nook and cranny, even the rat holes, but we couldn't find the lock piece."

When the old lady heard this, she was so anxious that she almost cried: "How could this happen? Oh! What should I do?"

"Don't worry." Wang Zhenzhen stepped forward to comfort Li: "This thing can't grow legs and run away by itself. We will definitely find it."

Li sighed and said, "If it was anything else, it would be fine, but it happened to be my son's protective lock."

As she spoke, she could not help complaining to the maids around her, "I told you again and again to be careful, but you were so careless." The maids were so scared that they wanted to cry. Seeing this, the old lady became anxious and said to the housekeeper, "Go and call in the maids who were taking care of the two brothers. Since the good things didn't fall into the yard, how could they fly away by themselves?"

This is because it is suspected that these maids stole the lock plate.

After a while, four maids including Lingzhi were brought into the house by the steward. The old lady saw the two maids beside her and said to Wang Zhenzhen: "Xiang'er and Hui'er have been with me for many years. They are both responsible people."

With the old lady's guarantee, Wang Zhenzhen naturally would not make things difficult for the two girls. The two girls thanked her and stood in front of the old lady, one on the left and one on the right.

Wang Zhenzhen asked the maid and Lingzhi in front of Li: "Since the young master left, you two have been following him. Did you really not see the lock piece?"

Seeing that both girls shook their heads, Wang Zhenzhen said sternly, "This is a chance for you. If you took that thing carelessly, just hand it over now and I won't punish you. If I find it later, I will beat you with a stick and kick you out."

When the two girls heard this, they were so scared that they shook their heads again and again: "Madam, please spare us, we really didn't see the lock piece."

Qingqing couldn't bear to see Lingzhi being wronged, so she stepped forward to defend herself, "Lingzhi has been with me for many years. She takes care of everything around me. She has never moved a single word without permission. This lock piece was definitely not taken by her."

When Wang Zhenzhen saw Qingqing speak, she turned her eyes to look at her and said, "If Third Sister-in-law can keep the Ganoderma Lucidum, then that girl will be the one who stole it."

As soon as Wang Zhenzhen said this, the girl immediately knelt down and kept shouting that she was innocent.

"Stop shouting." Wang Zhenzhen scolded the person on the ground. Seeing that she was crying pitifully, she said to Qingqing, "This girl is from my sister-in-law's side. My sister-in-law has always been very strict with her subordinates. I'm afraid this girl doesn't have the courage to do that."

"Then my sister-in-law is suspicious of my girl?" Qingqing asked back.

Wang Zhenzhen didn't know how to respond for a moment, and stammered, "Whether it was Lingzhi who took it or not, we'll know if we search. She's always been by the young master's side, so she's naturally a suspect, so please don't protect her, Third Sister-in-law."

Being searched in public, Lingzhi, although a maid, had her own self-respect. Who could endure such humiliation?

"There was more than just Lingzhi around the young master at that time." Qingqing retorted.

Not knowing how to answer, the stalemate began when Li pushed the door open and entered the room.

When she was welcoming guests at the door, she had already heard that something went wrong in the inner courtyard, so she hurried over. Now seeing her maid kneeling on the ground crying, she had already guessed what had happened.

"Has the lock piece not been found yet?" Li asked.

Wang Zhenzhen told Li the whole story. Li hesitated after hearing what she said. After a moment, she regained her composure. Li looked around at the ladies in the room and said, "Since we can't find her in the yard, then these maids are indeed suspects." As she spoke, she looked at the maid kneeling on the ground and tried to test the old lady, "Si'er is mine. This girl has always been honest and dutiful, but I can't protect her. How about having someone search her in public?"

(End of this chapter)