He was murdered after his family was wiped out and left with no descendants; his whole family knelt

Chapter 63 The Xiao Family's Invitation

Qiao Qingshu gently tapped the table, repeating that familiar name.

"Fengniu...Fengniu..."

When Aunt Chen first entered the Marquis's mansion, the old lady assigned two maids to serve her, one named Hu Niu and the other Feng Niu.

Several years ago, three days before her brother Qiao Anlan was abducted, Fengniu claimed to be ill and said she had tuberculosis and needed to go home to rest.

This disease is severe and highly contagious. When Bai learned of it, she released Fengniu and sent her home without saying a word. She even gave her ten taels of silver and returned her indenture.

When Qiao Qingshu told Bai Shi all the news she had received, she stood up excitedly.

She held Qiao Qingshu's hand excitedly and asked,

"Shu'er, so Fengniu was also involved in Anlan's abduction back then, right?"

Qiao Qingshu soothed her mother by gesturing for her to sit down.

“Mother, I don’t know the specifics either, but Fengniu is indeed a breakthrough. If we can pull this thread, we might be able to find my brother’s whereabouts.”

Jiu'er frowned and said,

"I remember this Fengniu wasn't from our capital. It seems she was a refugee from another place who was bought into the Qiao family's mansion as a maid. Later, she left the mansion due to illness. A few of us maids even went to see her off. She said she was going back to her hometown, but we don't know if she really went back."

Qiao Qingshu nodded and gestured to Gui Mama behind her. Gui Mama then took out a copy of the records of Feng Niu in the old servants' roster.

Qiao Qingshu handed it to Bai Shi.

“Mother, look, her ancestral home is Suzhou. She has no father or mother and only one older sister. I heard from the maid who was close to her that she had a lover who was in the wine business and was also from Suzhou.”

Bai stared at the thin piece of paper, her body trembling slightly.

"Investigate! Investigate her thoroughly! I must find out where my Lan'er is."

Qiao Qingshu nodded slightly in agreement.

"I'm too busy with matters concerning my mother's household to get away from this, so I'm afraid only my mother can investigate my brother's matter."

Bai's usually dim eyes now shone with hope, and she spoke loudly, which was unusual for her.

"Shu'er, leave this matter to me. You go about your business and don't need to get distracted."

On the way back to the mansion from the bamboo forest.

Madam Gui frowned and asked from inside the carriage,

“Young lady, Madam hasn’t been involved in any affairs for so many years, and she’s never traveled far from home. I’m a little worried about her…”

Qiao Qingshu gently pressed down on Gui's mother's hand and said softly,

“Gui Mama, you have served my mother for many years, and you know that my mother has been living like a walking corpse all these years. Today, when I brought her news, her eyes clearly lit up. Actually, I could have investigated this matter faster, but I deliberately wanted my mother to investigate it herself.”

Gui's mother was taken aback.

After a pause, Qiao Qingshu continued,

"The one who tied the knot must untie it. My mother has been trapped in this matter for years, and we are all powerless to help her. Only when she is willing to come out of it can she truly come out. Now that we have a clue about my brother, my mother seems to have come back to life. I also hope that she can have some goals and something to do. No matter what the outcome is, I hope that she can reach the end and see for herself. I don't know whether my brother is dead or alive, but I know that my mother may understand some things in the process of searching for him."

Madam Gui had not expected this at all, and upon hearing Qiao Qingshu's words, she burst into tears.

She suddenly realized that the young lady had put a lot of thought into doing this!

Gui's mother couldn't help but nod, her eyes filled with approval and admiration as she looked at Qiao Qingshu.

She didn't know when it started, but this once naive little girl had become so thoughtful, mature, and considerate in her actions, which was truly rare.

She was also very happy for Bai Shi. With such a daughter by her side, Bai Shi would be able to get out of the shadows sooner or later.

The next day

With the help of the Bai family, he escorted Qiao Anlan to Suzhou to personally investigate her whereabouts.

Qiao Qingshu also received a family banquet invitation personally written by Xiao Chengyan.

This invitation was first delivered to Old Madam Qiao, who then passed it on to Qiao Qingshu.

Madam Qiao sat on the couch, having just taken her medicine. She coughed lightly twice, her face showing fatigue but not concealing her joy.

She smiled as she held Qiao Qingshu's hand.

"Shu'er, look how considerate and thoughtful Master Xiao is of you. He actually wrote a letter to invite you to this family banquet. He truly treats you like family."

Qiao Jizhou, sitting at the lower end, rubbed his hands together happily and said...

"Yes, yes, maybe Xiao Er will even introduce you to his imperial concubine aunt. Then our Shu'er will truly bring honor to our family. Your father has been an official for so many years and has never even seen an imperial concubine. My Shu'er is so lucky to meet such an important person at such a young age. It's really rare."

Qiao Qingshu held the invitation in her hand, feeling disdainful, but her face remained calm and expressionless.

When Madam Qiao saw that Qiao Qingshu did not respond, she assumed that she was still angry about the handkerchief incident from that day.

His face turned colder, and he spoke in a somewhat serious tone.

"Shu girl, do you know how many people are eyeing this marriage? If you don't pay attention, this immense wealth might be snatched away by someone else, and then you'll have nowhere to cry."

Qiao Jizhou echoed,

"Yes, Shu'er, you've been giving Xiao Er the cold shoulder for quite some time now. You need to know when to stop. If you're so hard to please, any man will get annoyed. If you really anger the Xiao family..."

Qiao Qingshu slowly revealed a smile and said,

"Father, what are you thinking? I'm just thinking about what clothes I should wear that day."

Upon hearing this, both Madam Qiao and Qiao Jizhou felt relieved and their faces lit up with smiles again.

Lanxiang Pavilion

"Wan'er, water..."

Xu Biyun called to her from the couch.

Liu Wan'er quickly took a bowl of water and handed it to Xu Biyun's chapped lips, feeding her to drink it slowly.

Xu Biyun has taken a lot of medicine these days, but her health has not improved.

When Aunt Chen came to upset Xu Biyun last time, Liu Wan'er wasn't there. When she returned, she discovered that Xu Biyun was bleeding profusely.

Xu Biyun was already weak, and she was further angered by Aunt Chen. She had taken a lot of medicine these days, but her condition did not improve at all.

Liu Wan'er frowned anxiously. Now, the savings that she and her mother had accumulated were almost all gone. If they didn't have any income, her mother's medicine would soon run out.

Liu Wan'er originally planned to deal with the three estates and acquire the gold mine after the Imperial Concubine's visit to her family, but now it seems she has no choice but to act ahead of schedule.

She tilted her head slightly, looking at the maids and servants sweeping the courtyard outside, and felt a tightness in her chest.

Seeing that her mother had lost power, all the servants became snobbish and no longer respected her, except for Zhou Mama.

Zhou Mama was Xu Biyun's wet nurse. She followed Xu Biyun into the Liu family in Ganzhou after she married into the family. After the Liu family's property was confiscated, the servants were sold off.

Later, after Xu Biyun settled down in the Qiao family, she found that she didn't have anyone she liked by her side, so she spent some money to buy Zhou Mama, who was already working for someone else, and brought her to the capital.