Following this, the second servant, having conveniently dismissed his suspicions about Mu Anxiao, asked, "When will the General arrive?"
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao glanced at the second servant who was using the opportunity to assert his presence and replied, "He should be here soon." As she spoke, she shifted her gaze to the dilapidated wooden door, then turned back to them, asking, "Do you all know this girl?" She looked down at the girl, who was only a little over ten years old, and then at the servants who had brought the girl here.
Subsequently, the third servant stated, "This girl was quite lively, but now she's suddenly dead, so we suspect she was likely murdered."
"Who?" Mu Anxiao casually uttered the word.
The third servant shook his head, "I don't know."
"If you don't know, you claim she was murdered. Isn't that a bit too hasty?" Mu Anxiao said. She walked past them, reached the deceased girl, and crouched down.
The first servant, watching Mu Anxiao's back as she approached the 'dead girl' without any apparent fear, remarked, "You're not afraid."
"What is there to be afraid of? But speaking of which," she said, sighing, "that gust of wind just now was quite unsettling."
"Yes, I felt like I could barely breathe," the second servant replied.
"It's fine over there; I imagine your experience was even more intense," Mu Anxiao said, without turning her head. She placed her hand above the girl's chest.
The first servant, seeing this, curiously asked, "What are you doing?"
As she heard the first servant's question, Mu Anxiao suddenly remembered that she was currently disguised as a man. It would indeed be strange to place her hand on the girl.
Thus, with a flicker of her eyes, she withdrew her hand, stood up, and said, "Nothing much, just checking if she's still alive."
"You, a grown man, touching a woman, that's perhaps too much," the fourth servant suddenly said, his tone grim.
This fourth servant was rather mysterious. From the moment the wind arrived until now, he had stood there quietly, not saying a word.
Now, however, he had spoken up the moment Mu Anxiao made such a move.
This surprised the other servants, who then shifted their gazes to his face.
Seeing them looking at him, the fourth servant asked in confusion, "Why are you looking at me?"
"I didn't expect you to be such a gentleman," the third servant laughed.
The other servants also began to praise the fourth servant.
And so, Mu Anxiao was reduced to a detestable, shadowy figure, standing among them. As she listened to their discussion about her actions and their occasional disdainful glances, a burden gradually grew within her.
In that very moment, she wished she could find a crack in the ground to disappear into.
However, circumstances did not permit it, and she could only inwardly wish for Feng Qishi to return quickly.
Not long after, after enduring their incessant chatter, Mu Anxiao's face became expressionless.
It was at this point that Feng Qishi arrived with his retinue.
Seeing them, they hurriedly called out in unison, "General."
Feng Qishi waved his hand perfunctorily, then followed his servants to the side of the deceased girl and exclaimed, "How can it be her?"
This girl's name was Shu'er. For a period, she had been assigned to Feng Qishi's study, where she was responsible for preparing and serving his tea.
In Feng Qishi's memory, she was a quiet girl who focused on her tasks. Whenever he expressed a desire for a particular tea, she would always manage to find it for him.
Recalling that time, he looked at Shu'er's face and felt an uncontrollable sadness welling up. Clenching his fist, he slowly crouched down. "What happened here?"
"Preliminary judgment: suicide," Mu Anxiao stated directly. While they were scolding her, she had secretly used her abilities to examine Shu'er's injuries.
In the process, she discovered clear cuts on Shu'er's wrists. However, what perplexed her was that if someone had slit their wrists, there should have been significant blood loss. Yet, she found no excess blood on Shu'er. Based solely on this, she couldn't figure it out.
"Suicide," Feng Qishi said, disregarding everything. He roughly took Shu'er's hand, lifted her sleeve, and saw the wounds on her wrist. What confused him, however, was that these wounds were clearly old scars and not enough to be life-threatening. Yet, Mu Anxiao claimed it was 'suicide.'
Therefore, he too was perplexed.
"I believe she was murdered."
Hearing this, Feng Qishi lowered Shu'er's hand, tilted his head to look at the fourth servant, and asked, "What makes you say that?"
"Poisoning," the fourth servant simply uttered the two words.
"Poison," Mu Anxiao repeated, quickly crouching down. Just as she was about to reach out to investigate, she suddenly remembered their earlier assessment of her. With those thoughts in mind, she paused.
Seeing this, the fourth servant remarked, "She wants to touch her again."
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao decisively withdrew her hand, thinking, 'If I say I'm examining the wounds, these mortals probably won't believe me. The more I say, the muddier it will get.' With that, she stood up.
The fourth servant glared fiercely at Mu Anxiao.
The other servants once again shifted their gazes to Mu Anxiao.
Feng Qishi also sensed something amiss and asked, "What's going on?" He stood up.
The third servant replied, "Reporting to the General, this fellow just tried to touch the girl, and we stopped him."
"That fellow's thoughts are incredibly dirty," the fourth servant stated, staring unfriendliness at Mu Anxiao.
"Exactly. She even wanted to take advantage of her. Truly disgusting. General," the third servant said, "If you ask me, people like this shouldn't be kept. They will only harm the young ladies of our manor."
"Exactly, exactly," they began to chime in again.
Listening to their words, Mu Anxiao instantly lost any desire to explain.
Furthermore, her situation was special. If she were to reveal her identity now, it would only lead to more trouble for herself.
Helpless, she could only endure.
Similarly, Feng Qishi found it difficult to admonish these mortals. The more he said, the more room it would give them to fabricate all sorts of baseless stories.
With no other recourse, all he could do now was change the subject. "It must have been tiring for you to bring her here. There's nothing more for you to do here. Disperse."
"General, please listen to our advice."
"Advice..." Feng Qishi uttered the word, and a thought struck him. "Never mind, I'll tell you the truth."
Hearing this, they all fell silent.
Feng Qishi glanced at each of them and said, "She is a practitioner of medicine. Some time ago, I promised to let her take a position in our manor, but she lacked confidence in her own medical skills, so she started as a servant. She also has the ability to examine wounds, so what she was doing just now was examining the girl."
"Examining wounds? General, why didn't you make that clear earlier?" the third servant sighed in relief.
Mu Anxiao knew Feng Qishi had done his best, so she intentionally said, "Where I come from, I always interact with these..." She looked down at the girl. "... So, as soon as I saw her, I wanted to help examine her. But my master always says I'm only half-baked, so I didn't dare to say anything." As she spoke, her face showed only a hint of grievance.
After hearing Mu Anxiao's words, the other servants felt too embarrassed to speak.