The backdrop can also be propped up.

Chapter 351. Escaping the Huang Mansion 17

351. Escaping the Huang Mansion 17

Looking at the dishes and chopsticks on the table that hadn't been cleared away yet, Xu Qinying felt a little embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Huang, we're still having breakfast."

"It's alright, it's just that I came at the wrong time." Huang Muyan said she didn't mind, while Lu Renkui, being very perceptive, removed the bowls and chopsticks from the stone table and put them in the small kitchen in the guest room.

Xu Qinying breathed a sigh of relief, and then began to ask Huang Muyan more specific questions.

"Miss Huang, what is the relationship between your father and the housekeeper?" Xu Qinying asked first, addressing her primary suspect.

“My father’s relationship with the housekeeper… wasn’t very good,” Huang Muyan said, shaking her head. “To my shame, my father has always had a bad temper, and those who serve him have more or less some complaints about him.”

Well, it's true that Master Huang doesn't have a good reputation in the household, Xu Qinying thought to herself, and then asked another question: "Miss Huang, how much do you know about the steward?"

“This steward…I remember he’s been working in the manor for five or six years now.” Huang Muyan recalled, “The original steward was sent away by my father because of his health. I remember the current steward came when I first started primary school. He was recommended by someone.”

"So what is this housekeeper like usually?" Xu Qinying asked again.

"This housekeeper is actually alright, but he gets very scared when someone gets injured." Huang Muyan recalled the few times she had seen this housekeeper. Every time the housekeeper looked flustered, it was when someone was injured.

"Okay, I understand." Xu Qinying nodded and then asked Huang Muyan, "Miss Huang, are you familiar with the layout of the study?"

"I rarely go to the study, mainly because my father doesn't really want me to go in there." Huang Muyan frowned as she recalled the last time she went to the study, and could only remember that there was nothing special in the study.

"Okay." Xu Qinying nodded thoughtfully—if she couldn't get anything out of the housekeeper, she would ask suspect number two and suspect number three.

"What are Miss Huang's feelings towards the Fourth and Eighth Wives?"

"Fourth Madam? It seems that Fourth Madam really likes my father... I think?" When the Fourth Madam was mentioned, Huang Muyan's face showed obvious hesitation. "I don't know much about these concubines. I only know that Fourth Madam has always liked to visit my father."

"The Eighth Madam seems to hate her father very much. It is said that the Eighth Madam had a lover at the time, but her father took a liking to her, beat the lover to death, and forcibly married the Eighth Madam."

“Eighth Madam definitely doesn’t like my father. I’ve only seen her a few times since she entered the family. Sometimes when my mother went to see her, the maids around Eighth Madam would turn her away, saying that Eighth Madam was sick and couldn’t be exposed to the wind.”

"Huh? Miss Huang doesn't know much about the Fourth Madam?" Zhou Hefang asked curiously.

"I only joined the Fourth Madam's household after I started school. After that, I didn't go home much, so I don't know much about her. I only occasionally heard my mother complain that she was after money." Huang Muyan frowned. Everyone in the mansion knew that the Fourth Madam loved money. Even though she didn't go home often, she could tell from the Fourth Madam's gold jewelry every time she returned.

“Oh, okay.” Xu Qinying began by asking about the last suspect she and Zhou Hefang had discussed, “What was the relationship between the mill manager and your father?”

"The mill manager? He's my father's cousin, my uncle." Huang Muyan thought for a moment and replied, "My uncle isn't a good person either. He once killed someone while fighting over a man and went to jail. My father spent money to get him out of jail."

"Because my father was worried that my cousin would cause trouble outside again, he casually appointed my cousin as a mill manager and let him stay in the mansion."

"Besides watching the workers in the mill, does your uncle do anything else?" Zhou Hefang asked.

"Yes, I think I heard my mother and older brother complaining before that my uncle asked them for money, either to buy opium or to go to brothels." Huang Muyan was already a little embarrassed as she said this.

Lu Renkui played with the flowers and plants in the yard, listening intently to Huang Muyan and Xu Qinying's conversation—although she had already read the original plot, she still wanted to hear it again.