Chapter 8: The Thief Who Surrendered

"Is there anything else the Marquis would like?" Liumama turned around.

"You've been living near the kitchen all this time. Do you know anything about the water leak in the kitchen last night?" Moyuhou said with a headache. "Wan'er just took over the household and encountered such a thing. We still haven't caught the culprit. Now she's threatening to stop eating until we find out who did it."

Liumama smiled. "It's a good thing that the madam wants to manage the household well. I was sleeping soundly last night and only heard the water leak. I didn't notice anything unusual, so I can't help the madam."

Ning Yuxuan sighed and looked into the room, waving his hand. "You can go. Also, ask the maids and servants if they know anything."

"Okay."

Wen Wan changed her clothes and was about to go to the kitchen, where a table full of delicious dishes remained untouched. Ning Yuxuan stopped her, frowning. "Are you really not going to eat?"

"I'm not eating!" Wen Wan pouted. "I have to find out who the thief is. Otherwise, on my first day as the Marquis's wife, I'll embarrass you."

Ning Yuxuan chuckled and embraced her, reaching out to tap her nose. "It's not serious enough to make you skip meals over such a small matter."

Wen Wan huffed. "It is serious. The kitchen is an important place, and a thief managed to get in and cause a water leak. The Sīguò Pavilion is nearby. If we hadn't noticed in time, what would have happened to the people inside?"

Moyuhou paused and pursed his lips. "Wan'er, Sāngyú Nèi lives in the Sīguò Pavilion. You don't need to worry about her."

A woman like Sāngyú Nèi, if it weren't for the Nèi family still around, he would have disposed of her long ago.

"How can I not worry?" Wen Wan glared at him. "If she dies, can the palace spare you? Can the Nèi family spare you? After all, she was once your legitimate wife."

Ning Yuxuan raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You're quite sour."

Wen Wan scowled, gave him a playful slap, and then walked out.

Doctor Li looked like a weak scholar. He had only recently entered the Marquis's residence and was so intimidated by Jì Màn that it was Jì Màn who had to comfort him for a long time and earnestly ask for his help before he agreed to put some jewelry and clothes in the medicine box and sell them for her.

Originally, the jewelry and clothes belonged to Sāngyú Nèi, and it wouldn't have been a problem if she wanted to sell them. But now, Jì Màn and Mùxu couldn't go out, so they had to use someone else's help.

Jì Màn calculated that, according to the local prices, the jewelry and clothes could be sold for two hundred taels of silver. She would keep fifty taels for herself, use fifty taels to improve the lives of the servants, and the remaining one hundred taels would be very useful to her.

Since she was living in ancient times, it wouldn't be right not to use her modern identity to her advantage. Besides embroidery, which was a guaranteed source of income, Jì Màn also wanted to do something else.

After Doctor Li left, Jì Màn continued with her embroidery, thinking that when the silver came back, she would also have to redecorate this room, at least to keep the mice away.

"Mistress."

Just as she was thinking, Mùxu hurriedly came in, looking a bit flustered. "The madam is here."

Huh? The madam? Jì Màn raised an eyebrow. It was too early for the secondary female lead to make an appearance. Why did the female lead come knocking on her door?

She stood up and put the embroidery frame aside, quickly going to the door to bow. "I greet the madam."

Wen Wan was wearing a water-blue flowing fairy dress and a light yellow jacket. She had a sheep-fat jade hairpin on her head, looking like a fairy. Jì Màn looked at her and then at herself, feeling a bit desolate.

"Please rise. I just came to ask about the water leak in the kitchen." Wen Wan smiled and helped her up. "You live closest to the kitchen, and I wanted to ask if you were startled by it."

Is there a reward for saying I was startled? Jì Màn pondered for a moment, then looked at the maidservant beside Wen Wan and whispered, "I have something to say about the water leak. I'd like to tell the madam in private, if she's willing."

"Oh?" Wen Wan curiously asked, "Do you know something about it?"

"Mistress," the maidservant, Tánxiāng, tugged at Wen Wan's sleeve and whispered, "The Marquis said not to get too close to her."

Wen Wan glanced at Tánxiāng and shook her head. "It's broad daylight. What are you afraid of? Go wait outside the courtyard for me. I'll ask her a few questions and come out."

"But..." Tánxiāng frowned, looking at Jì Màn with caution in her eyes.

"Go outside," Wen Wan waved her hand.

Tánxiāng and the two little maids, along with Mùxu, all left together. Wen Wan turned back, about to ask Jì Màn what she wanted to say, when she saw the person in front of her suddenly kneel down with a loud thud. The loud sound startled Wen Wan, and she paled, quickly looking at the person's knees.

"Madam..." Jì Màn shed tears, looking up at Wen Wan with a sorrowful expression. "I stole the chicken from the kitchen. I want to confess, but I'm afraid of tarnishing the Marquis's reputation, so I can only tell the madam in private."

Sāngyú Nèi stole the chicken? Wen Wan was shocked and instinctively asked, "Why?"

As a concubine of the Marquis's residence, how could she stoop to stealing? Jì Màn wiped her tears and said softly, "I was too hungry, so I did this. Please forgive me, madam."

"How could you be hungry?" Wen Wan widened her eyes. "Didn't the kitchen send you food?"

There it is, the question she was waiting for!