Proofread by Claire.KK
The unexpected action of Gu Yusheng gave a fright to Xie Mengxuan who could not help curling her lips upon hearing his words. "Big Brother Gu, what are you doing?"
Gu Yusheng looked around. "There"s no one here, but you said you had heard the sound from inside. This room is silent, well insulated against sound. We"re unable to hear the exact sound from outside. How could you hear about the sound from inside?"
His words appeared reasonable. Xie Mengxuan frowned. It was her who failed to have a thorough consideration, but it was inconvenient to make Xu Guling exposed. She touched her chin. "Big Brother Gu, it"s good to be prudent, but I"m Xie Mengxuan indeed."
"Mere verbal statement is no guarantee." Gu Yusheng asked in a low voice. "Why did you lead us here?"
Speechless, Xie Mengxuan could do nothing. Granny Rouge hesitated for a while. "To know whether she has lied to us, it works as long as I have a look into the small wood shed. If my family is there, she is our boss, not a lie."
Worried about her family, Granny Rouge looked eager. It seemed that in her tone she had something else more than concern.
Xie Mengxuan nodded. "Go."
Granny Rouge ran away at a fast speed which didn"t correspond to her age.
As soon as she left, Gu Yusheng put down the long sword in her hand and went forward quickly. "She"s suspicious." He said in a low tone.
With her arms crossed, Xie Mengxuan chuckled. "What? Why not continue to point at me with your sword?"
Gu Yusheng could do nothing but give a shrug. "I"m slow in reaction so that I could only come up with this solution."
Xie Mengxuan was not nervous as Uncle Luo didn"t halt him. "Well, tell me, what happened?"
Looking around, Gu Yusheng lowered his voice. "Granny Rouge just led us to pa.s.s by this place for several times. She seemed to be on purpose, but dared not to make it obviously exposed."
"Well…" Xie Mengxuan whispered, and her voice slowly vanished between the lips and teeth.
"Xuan, how did you know that?"
The abrupt question from Gu Yusheng made Xie Mengxuan blink. "Well…The Xie family has sent someone to protect me in secret. He told me."
"I see." Gu Yusheng nodded, but it remained unknown whether he believed it or not.
They stood still. Shortly afterwards, a sound of footsteps came from behind, mingling with the voice of Granny Rouge. "Come on, come on, and give your best thanks to our boss."
According to the hurried footsteps, there seemed to be three or four people. Xie Mengxuan turned to look at them.
Granny Rouge was holding a kid, followed by a young couple, who supported each other, considering themselves lucky enough to have had a narrow escape.
Xie Mengxuan went forward. "It"s good for everyone to be saved. Let"s go first"
Granny Rouge thanked her profusely. "Thank you. Thank you…"
"There;s no need." Xie Mengxuan shook her head. "Your punishment won"t be altered."
"I see." Granny Rouge lowered her head.
"Ah!"
"What!"
Xie Mengxuan took two steps when a scream was uttered behind, but soon the mouth was covered.
"What"s going on?" Xie Mengxuan turned her head. It was from the kid held in the arms of Granny Rouge who was still covering his mouth with her hand.
Granny Rouge put on a smile. "It"s nothing. This kid is just too young."
When her eyes fell on the 6-year-old kid, Xie Mengxuan added. "He"s old enough to walk on his own."
"Yes, yes, yes..." Granny Rouge seemed to be absent-minded, who agreed to put him down. "Don"t scream." She told her in a low voice.
The kid had no idea what was going on. He just nodded and followed them in silence while blinking.
The young couple behind Granny Rouge struggled to wear a smile althought their faces were overcast with sadness.
Xie Mengxuan turned her head occasionally to find the whole family indulged in sadness and sorrow.
She raised her eyebrows and said nothing. When she left the small tea shop, she first went to find Geng Zhishan. As Xu Guling had said before, Geng Zhishan was looking at lanterns in a serious manner.
Noticing her arrival, Geng Zhishan held up high the rabbit lantern with a broad smile. "Look, Meng! What a beautiful lantern!"
The anger of Xie Mengxuan nearly subsided. "Do you know I"m looking for you?"
"I"m sorry. I was attracted by the river lantern. I just set free a lantern for you, with the hope that you would be happy and blessed." With regrets, Geng Zhishan showed a smile.
Looking at the lantern in her hand and listening to his words, she sighed, a little tired. "Well, let" go to find a place for rest."
Holding the rabbit lantern, Xie Mengxuan curved into a smile.
They had no mood to watch Flower Festival so that they directly returned to the rouge shop.
The smell of blood had gone from the rouge shop, and those corpses cleared away. Thanks to her explanation that she had a secret guard from the Xie family, there was no more need to find another excuse for these matters.
As a matter of fact, Xie Mengxuan guessed that it was Xu Guling who arranged others to make it. It was impossible for him to be alone. After all, he was called the young master.
When they returned to the rouge shop, they got themselves cleaned. With the intention to talk with Granny Rouge, she softened her heart when they appeared tired. As a result, she asked them to have a rest first."
They respectively found a room to rest. On the next day, when Xie Mengxuan woke up, she heard the voice from the outside. It must be the staff who came to work in the rouge shop.
Granny Rouge was speaking. "I"m too old. Our boss has allowed me to return to home so that in a short time will I leave here. With rich experience in this rouge shop, if you follow the new manager, you won"t suffer a loss."
"Granny, if you"ve retired, who will take it over?" Someone asked.
After thinking for a moment, Granny Rouge glanced around, and finally set her eyes on the one who just raised the question. Full of joy, the woman was proud with her chin up and chest out. Others showed envy for her as well.
When Granny Rouge was about to speak, Xie Mengxuan opened the door. She wore her long hair in a braid in front of her chest. Her hair was dotted with beads. She slowly walked in, which made others gaze at each other in speechless despair.
Granny Rouge bowed to her. "Welcome, boss."
All present were astonished as Xie Mengxuan had only met the managers of each shop rather than them.
The heart of the spoke woman jumped because her dream to be promoted as the manager of the rouge shop would never come true.
Staring at her for a long while, Xie Mengxuan stood in front of Granny Rouge. Facing the crowd, she glanced around. "After the departure of Granny Rouge tomorrow, I"ll take over the shop."