Jiang Ning followed Ma Steward through the mansion for about half an hour before reaching the study.
The study was located in the southwest corner of the Prime Minister's Mansion, very quiet, with winter plum trees planted outside.
A young man who looked like a guard was standing under the eaves outside the study. Seeing Ma Steward hurrying over, he stopped him and asked, "The master is busy. Ma Uncle, do you have something urgent?"
The young man noticed the blood on Ma Steward's clothes and forehead, frowning with a flash of surprise in his eyes, but didn't ask further.
"Jin Yao, I have extremely important matters to report to the master. Please go and announce me."
Jiang Ning could tell that Ma Steward was being quite polite to this Jin Yao, suggesting he must be a trusted aide of Nangong Ya. It seemed Ma Steward was only responsible for managing the affairs of the entire Prime Minister's Mansion, like one was a "personal secretary" and the other a "logistics department head."
Jin Yao nodded and said, "Alright, wait a moment." Then he pushed open the door and went in.
After a while, the door opened, and Jin Yao made a gesture of invitation to Ma Steward.
Ma Steward cupped his hands in respect and walked into the room.
Jiang Ning followed inside, smelling the faint scent of incense at the doorway. The room was heated with charcoal, warm and cozy.
Entering the room, Jiang Ning finally saw the legendary "Prime Minister Nangong," who was also the father of this body.
Nangong Ya, sitting behind the desk, wore a dark gray casual outfit and looked to be in his fifties. His features were stern and resolute, with an intimidating aura from years in a high position.
Jiang Ning examined this father carefully, then realized that she looked quite like him, having inherited almost all of his facial features, except for the face shape.
Sigh, he really was her biological father.
Jiang Ning felt complicated. In her previous life, she had been an abandoned baby, first sent to an orphanage, then taken away by an organization around age five. She never knew who her parents were.
Sometimes she wondered why the people who gave birth to her abandoned her, as she was a healthy baby without any defects or illnesses. After much speculation, Jiang Ning guessed that perhaps her biological parents in her previous life couldn't afford to raise her.
Unexpectedly, in this new life, she had both a father and mother, giving her a chance to fill the blank parental figures in her heart. Although she had no expectations for familial affection, Nangong Ya and Lan Xu at least satisfied her curiosity.
Nangong Ya was holding a letter, reading it. When Ma Steward entered, he shifted his gaze from the paper, looking up towards him. To his surprise, he saw a large, frightening bloodstain. The wound underneath the clothes must have been severe. Even his forehead was broken, covered in blood, looking somewhat terrifying in the dim candlelight.
"Old Ma, where did you get injured like this?"
Nangong Ya asked with concern. Earlier, when Jin Yao came in saying he had important matters to report, it must have been related to these injuries.
Ma Steward walked to the desk and knelt down with a thud: "Master, I deserve death! The Third Young Lady didn't elope with someone, she was sold as a maid!"
"What did you say?"
Nangong Ya stood up abruptly. These words were like a bolt from the blue, and he doubted his own hearing.
Ma Steward bowed his head to the ground: "Last year on Madam's birthday, the Prince of Rui came to offer birthday wishes. After drinking, he harassed the Third Young Lady, and was caught by the Second Young Lady. The Second Young Lady thought the Third Young Lady was intentionally seducing him and harbored resentment. After you left for your inspection tour in Jiangnan, she tied up the Third Young Lady and took her to a house in the suburbs of the Capital City, and then..."
Ma Steward paused here, unsure if revealing those torturous methods would cause Nangong Ya to become so enraged that he'd order Jin Yao to kill him on the spot.
"Then what?" Nangong Ya asked coldly, trying hard to maintain his composure, though his trembling voice betrayed him.
Jiang Ning saw Nangong Ya's hand gripping the edge of the desk, his knuckles white from the force, and his chest heaving. Seeing his furious gaze, she felt relieved.
He truly didn't know.
No need for patricide, that's one piece of good news.
However, that Prince of Rui truly deserved death!
Jiang Ning sat in front of the bamboo house, chin in hand, listening as Ma Steward stuttered on: "The Second Young Lady, she... she..."
"Speak!" Nangong Ya shouted impatiently.
"The Second Young Lady broke the Third Young Lady's arms and legs, burned her face with a hot iron, and even tried to force her to drink a potion to make her mute... Finally, she had me find a human trafficker, and we sold her as a maid who had committed a grave error, to somewhere outside the Capital City..."
Nangong Ya's face turned terrifyingly dark. Ma Steward waited in fear for his punishment. After a while, he heard Nangong Ya call out to the door: "Jin Yao, come in!"
The person outside responded and entered the room, standing respectfully with hands at his sides, waiting for orders.
"Go and call Dongmei here, without alarming anyone else," Nangong Ya instructed gravely.
Jin Yao responded with a "Yes" and turned to leave.
Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow, somewhat impressed by this father.
Even with anger surging in his heart, he could maintain rationality, not believing Ma Steward's one-sided account, but quickly calming down and thinking to confront someone else. Verifying the truth before making decisions was something few people could do.
No wonder he could become Prime Minister, Jiang Ning thought.
This was good; she also wanted to see this "Dongmei," to recognize her face and avoid having to search for her blindly later.
After a while, Jiang Ning heard two sets of footsteps outside, followed by a male voice saying, "Go in." Then the door opened, and a young woman who looked like a maid entered.
Dongmei first saw Ma Steward kneeling on the ground and was startled, not understanding the situation. When she walked to the desk, she lowered her head and called out "Master" to Nangong Ya.
Nangong Ya narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing this young maid. His gaze was so sharp that it was hard to meet directly, and Dongmei unconsciously lowered her head, her heart beginning to pound.
"Which year did you enter the mansion?" Nangong Ya asked, trying to soften his tone.
"In response to the master, it was the summer of the 11th Year of Chongming."
"Oh, so it's been over two years."
Nangong Ya nodded. He seemed to remember that Nangong Ling's maid had left the mansion to get married at that time, so they found a new young maid for her.
"Have you been serving the Third Young Lady since you entered the mansion?" Nangong Ya asked again.
"In response to the master, yes."
Nangong Ya slowly exhaled, his voice deepening: "You said before that during my inspection tour to Jiangnan, the Third Young Lady met a young gentleman traveling from afar, fell in love, and eventually eloped with him. Now, tell me the details carefully."
Jiang Ning clearly saw Dongmei's body stiffen.
"Ma-Master, this servant... this servant doesn't know much..." Dongmei's voice became much softer.
"You may not know much, but you must know something, right? You were her personal maid. Even if, as you say, the Third Young Lady sent you away every time she met with that person, you should at least know roughly when and how they met, right?" Nangong Ya stared intently at Dongmei, his eyes dark and unreadable.
"In response to the master, they... they met a few days after you left for Jiangnan."
"Where did they meet?"
"At Xianyi Pavilion. This servant accompanied the Third Young Lady to buy hair ornaments when they met. The Third Young Lady fell in love at first sight and was immediately flirting with him. After returning, she often snuck out late at night to meet him privately and told me not to tell anyone else..."
As Dongmei spoke, Jiang Ning was close enough to observe her expression clearly.
Dongmei was lying!
The right hemisphere of the human brain is mainly responsible for imagination and creativity, so when people fabricate lies, their eyes tend to look up and to the right; when recalling true memories, eyes tend to look up and to the left.
People without training are unaware of this, and just now, Dongmei kept looking up and to the right.
Moreover, the frequency of blinking can also be an indicator of whether someone is lying. If a person needs to process a large amount of information in their brain, such as weaving a lie, their blinking speed and frequency generally increase.
In just a few short sentences, Jiang Ning counted that Dongmei blinked eleven times!