Wang Dongxue couldn’t bring herself to refuse Xiaosuisui, so she relented, watching from the side, terrified the bowl would break. It wasn’t that she was worried about the bowl, but rather that she feared if it shattered, Xiaosuisui might hurt herself. After the kitchen was cleaned and tidied, Wang Dongxue could see how skillfully the little girl worked, and her heart ached with pity.
"Alright, go to sleep now! Let your Third Aunt help you wash up!" Wang Dongxue said. Xiaosuisui obediently went.
Wang Dongxue felt quite tired. She couldn’t help wondering if she was ill, but she couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, so she didn’t dwell on it.
Once Xiaosuisui closed her eyes, Zhu Xiuxiu, Huo Xing’Er, and Wang Dongxue quietly withdrew from the room.
Then, they went together to knock on Ji Youzhi’s door.
What they didn’t know was that after they left, the little girl suddenly opened her eyes. She then stealthily made her way to Ji Youzhi’s window and hid beneath it, eavesdropping.
Inside Ji Youzhi’s room, Old Madam Ji, Ji Youbo, and Ji Youyuan were already present.
Zhu Xiuxiu looked noticeably uneasy.
"Seventh Brother, what exactly is that red string? Judging by your expression, that red string doesn’t seem to be anything good!"
Ji Youzhi had long known Zhu Xiuxiu would come, because the red string on Suisui’s hand was there thanks to her.
"Third Sister-in-law, look, what is this?"
Ji Youzhi pulled out a wooden box. Upon opening it, an identical red string was revealed, adorned with similar silver beads!
"What... you have a red string as well?"
Ji Youzhi replied, "This isn’t mine. It belongs to Fu Xian, the grandson of the Ritual Wine Master."
"The Ritual Wine Master? I know him—an old stick-in-the-mud. My father said most scholars in the world are like him, very difficult to deal with!"
Years ago, Zhu Xiuxiu had set her sights on a scholar. However, her father refused to let her marry him, insisting she marry Ji Youcheng, the third son of the Ji Family. He argued that they were both from merchant families and thus a suitable match. Scholar families had many rules, and he feared that with Zhu Xiuxiu’s temperament, she would suffer if she married into one.
"The Ritual Wine Master is indeed an old stick-in-the-mud and very difficult to deal with. This red string belongs to his grandson, Fu Xian, who disappeared two months ago."
"What? Disappeared? How could that be?"
"I was very surprised when I received the news. His Majesty ordered me to investigate this secretly. When I went to the scene, I only found this red string. It’s said that the string didn’t originally belong to him but to Mingxiang, the daughter of a household servant. They reportedly received it during a bustling temple fair from an old man using a bamboo pole as a cane. His explanation was that it was consecrated by a master and gifted only to those with a destined connection—the same story you told, Third Sister-in-law!"
"Seventh Brother, what exactly are you trying to say? You’re not suggesting Fu Xian’s disappearance is connected to this red string, are you?"
At this moment, Ji Youzhi was not like he had been during the day, seemingly unfocused. Instead, he began to delve into his analysis.
Several child disappearances had recently occurred in the Capital City. The victims were all children between three and six years old. Some cases were reported to the authorities, while others were kept quiet. He had retrieved the case files from Shuntian Prefecture. According to the records, more than half of these missing children had disappeared at night while asleep; by dawn, they were gone. Among the victims were daughters of officials, and all of them were girls. Consequently, some families had only reported the disappearances secretly and conducted their investigations covertly. Following the information in the files, he had visited the families and discovered a common factor among these missing children: they had all attended a temple fair. However, their families didn’t know what had happened at the temple fair. The only clue discovered was this red string left behind by Fu Xian!
As Ji Youzhi jotted notes and sketched on a piece of white paper, listing names and relationships and occasionally scratching his head in thought, everyone else refrained from interrupting him.