The hair caught on fire!

The sleeve also caught on fire!

Jin Ling almost cried out again, but quickly covered her mouth with both hands and took a deep breath to calm herself: "Mama, is this true?"

"Ahem! Even if I had more courage and more lives, I wouldn’t dare to talk nonsense about this matter." Nanny Hua stomped her foot and pointed at her own tongue, "If I lied, I would be tearing my tongue out."

Jin Ling shrank her neck, glanced at the bright full moon in the sky, but perhaps due to the Mid-Autumn Festival, these words sounded more terrifying than the darkest night.

"Mama, don’t say such things, it’s terribly frightening." Jin Ling gritted her teeth and said.

Nanny Hua saw that Jin Ling was scared, and was about to say young girls are just timid, if you don’t do anything wrong, what’s to fear at midnight, but Jin Ling was favored by the girl, so she couldn’t speak carelessly, lest Jin Ling go to the girl and complain, she would be in trouble.

"Alright, alright, I won’t say anymore." Nanny Hua forced a smile, and added, "But what I said about the Third Miss and Fourth Miss is absolutely true. Tomorrow, who knows how the old lady will react, the girl should say a word to the Fifth Miss to avoid unnecessary trouble."

These words made sense, Jin Ling nodded. Since the matter was clarified, she needed to go back to serve, so she advised, "It’s getting late, Nanny Hua, rest early. Nanny Shui will be working hard watching over until the middle of the night, and there are people arranged to take over. If you feel like chatting, do it quietly so as not to disturb everyone in the courtyard."

Nanny Shui responded repeatedly, and Nanny Hua, knowing she was wrong, gave a sheepish smile and said, "I won’t dare anymore, I won’t dare anymore."

Jin Ling half-closed the window and turned back to the inner room.

Nanny Hua watched Jin Ling’s back, her smile completely fading from her face.

Nanny Shui noticed this and pulled Nanny Hua away a little, about to comfort her in a low voice when Nanny Hua burst into laughter.

"What? Worried I hold a grudge against Jin Ling?" Nanny Hua’s voice was lowered, but her tone remained light, "Don’t worry, old sister, I can handle it. Today, luckily it was Jin Ling, if it had been Jin Rui, who knows how much trouble I’d be in. Enough said, I’m going to rest, really, if I wake up the half-host in the wing, I’ll have to pack my things and leave at dawn."

Having said that, Nanny Hua stretched her muscles as she headed to her quarters.

Nanny Shui pondered Nanny Hua’s words, instinctively glancing at the northernmost room in the West Wing, which was Jin Rui’s room.

Jin Rui, whether in work or conduct, was straightforward and direct. She managed Anhua Courtyard affairs, and was relentless in her scolding when her subordinates failed to perform.

Several young rough maids were terribly afraid of her.

The rough women servants were not as timid as the little maids and would secretly call Jin Rui half a master, a term laced with sarcasm rather than respect. If any big maid in a master’s house got such a title, those with a fiery temperament might not be able to rest until they were dead.

But Nanny Shui thought that there was nothing wrong with Jin Rui being like this. The maids and servants firstly made mistakes, and the big maid wasn’t allowed to scold a few words? 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Even someone as good-natured as Jin Ling wouldn’t indulge her subordinates completely.

A strict approach combined with a lenient one keeps this courtyard peaceful.

Nanny Shui withdrew her thoughts and sat back in the gatehouse, continuing her night watch.

Inside the room, Jin Ling placed the oil lamp on the table and tiptoed to the bed.

Du Yunluo was still awake: "What happened outside?"

Jin Ling crouched down and whispered about the news Nanny Hua had brought back.

"Caught on fire?" Du Yunluo murmured, and after realizing it, she sat up abruptly from the bed, turning to stare into Jin Ling’s eyes, "Caught on fire?"

Jin Ling nodded with a bitter face, "Mrs. Hua heard it from Si Shui, she doesn’t know the specific situation."

Du Yunluo was quite awake, pressed her temples, and said, "Is it almost the third watch? If it’s so late, as long as everyone is alright, they probably won’t report it to Lianfu Garden, but this matter can’t be hidden, tomorrow morning, Grandfather, Grandmother will definitely know."

"Exactly, miss, be careful when you pay respects tomorrow," Jin Ling reminded.

Du Yunluo nodded, pondering for a while, she said, "At dawn, you should report to Qinghui Garden too, let Mother and Elder Sister be aware."

Jin Ling agreed, then helped Du Yunluo to lie down, dropped the curtain, and took the candle holder to settle down.

Du Yunluo was fully awake, couldn’t sleep at all, her mind was full of Jin Ling’s words.

During Mid-Autumn Festival’s lantern release, she had been there once or twice before.

On the river, lotus lanterns floated downstream one after another with the gentle flow, their soft lights illuminated the river and banks. People said, this light would guide the souls lingering in the world to Yin River, serving as guiding lanterns for them.

A sense of sorrow mixed with hope, people cherished the beauty of the river lanterns year after year.

For Du Yunluo, her memory of Mid-Autumn lantern release was just crowds jostling each other.

In previous years, incidents of accidentally falling into the water occurred, not to mention the frail young women, even burly men could slip or be jostled into the water.

But catching fire to clothes and hair, Du Yunluo had never heard of it before.

However, recalling the crowded scene, it was conceivable that a candle from a river lantern might have scorched someone nearby.

This was, of course, conceivable for ordinary citizens.

In the suburbs of the capital, the water surface was broad, and official family and noble families had their own designated lantern release places, commoners rarely crossed those to disturb the dignitaries.

Furthermore, in the capital, there were so many official and noble families that even for them, space was scarce, let alone having other people mixed in.

Du Yunying and Du Yunnuo released lanterns, surrounded by maids and women servants, and a group of lads guarding outside. Even if one argued, even if someone accidentally got burned, it would have been the maids or servants, not the mistress.

Unless, someone else was present beside them at that time.

The ones who could approach surely must have been ladies from other aristocratic families.

Du Yunluo thought for a long time, until her mind became muddled before she closed her eyes.

The next morning, Jin Ling obeyed her instructions and went to Qinghui Garden to deliver the message.

Jin Rui came in to serve, noticing the redness in Du Yunluo’s eyes, she said, "Last night was too noisy, making the girl’s sleep uneasy, later I’ll teach them a lesson."

Combing and washing, luckily, she was young, with good skin, and after using some powder, the dark circles weren’t very visible.

Jin Rui breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "If the old lady and madam notice, they’ll be worried. Miss, it was Jin Ling on duty last night, but she didn’t serve well? Speaking of which, I haven’t seen her since morning, where has she gone to slack off?"

"I sent her to Qinghui Garden," Du Yunluo said, checking herself in the mirror, "Jin Ling had already been scolded last night."

Jin Rui was taken aback, a sharp look flashed in her eyes, she said, "Did she really wake you up? That’s truly detestable!"

"It’s good that I was woken, I got to know in advance, avoiding today’s bad luck." Du Yunluo replied, motioning Jin Rui to bend down, bring her ear closer, saying, "Do you have any acquaintances in Anfeng Courtyard or Shuifu Garden? Go and inquire carefully."

After Du Yunluo explained the matter, Jin Rui couldn’t help but widen her eyes, staring blankly for a while before swallowing and nodding.