Chapter 254: Chapter 254: It’s Already Too Late

Soon, all the maids of the Duke Dingguo Mansion were summoned to the front courtyard.

The front courtyard was instantly teeming with maids.

Mr. Chen and the government officials with him began to scrutinize the maids’ faces one by one.

Zhi Wan stood beside her cousin and aunt, also studying the maids. She suspected the informant was likely one of Lu Lan’s maids, so her eyes scanned the crowd, trying to see if Lu Lan’s maid was among them.

She saw that all the maids of the second household were there, with the sole exception of Lu Lan’s personal maid, Huan’er.

Her heart sank. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Mr. Chen beat her to it. "Madam Lu, are you certain all the maids of your residence are here?"

Apparently, Mr. Chen and the government officials had already finished their inspection.

And by the looks of it, they had not found the informant among the maids.

Hearing his question, Lady Wei hesitated. She was about to ask Nanny Fang when she heard Zhi Wan speak up, "Aunt, Lu Lan’s personal maid, Huan’er, isn’t here."

"That’s right, Huan’er is missing," Lady Lou chimed in.

Upon hearing this, Lady Wei quickly had Nanny Fang bring the roster.

After checking it, they confirmed that every maid was present except for Huan’er.

Her expression immediately darkened. "So, you’re saying the one who went to the authorities was Huan’er?"

"It must be her!" Lady Lou stated with conviction. "Huan’er must have a guilty conscience, so she’s gone into hiding."

Lu Zhan looked at Zhi Wan. "Cousin, you know what Huan’er looks like. Sketch a portrait of her so Mr. Chen and his men can make an identification."

"Alright." Zhi Wan had been thinking the same thing.

Jiang Shi brought over a table and laid out paper and a brush on it.

Lu Zhan personally ground the ink for Zhi Wan.

Zhi Wan picked up the brush, gave it a moment’s thought, then lowered her head and quickly began to sketch on the paper.

In no time, a portrait of a delicately-featured maid was complete.

Lu Zhan picked up the portrait and handed it to Mr. Chen.

"Mr. Chen, take a good look. Is this the maid who reported the crime?"

Mr. Chen had an excellent memory and recognized her at a glance. "It is indeed this maid. No doubt about it."

The other government officials nodded in agreement. "It’s her. There’s no mistake."

"So, the informant really was Huan’er? And she ran off to the authorities before Aunt Xu was even harmed!" Lady Lou exclaimed angrily.

Lu Jun was utterly shocked. "If Huan’er was really the one who reported it, then Aunt Xu’s death might actually be Fourth Sister’s doing."

"What do you mean, ’might’? It was definitely her! Huan’er is her personal maid—she must have ordered her to do it!" Lady Lou grew increasingly agitated. "She’s completely insane! To kill her own birth mother and even try to frame Zhi Wan... I wouldn’t dare live in the same house with a person like that."

Lu Jun was incredulous. "Fourth Sister... how could she do something like this?"

Lady Lou said coldly, "She always seems so quiet and unassuming. Who would’ve thought she was so malicious? And she had the nerve to claim she’d prove her innocence by dying? It’s obvious now she just has a guilty conscience and wanted to use her death to garner sympathy."

Lady Wei snapped, "What a vicious monster!"

Seeing that they all recognized the girl in the portrait and identified her as Lu Lan’s personal maid, Mr. Chen felt he had a clearer picture, but some things still seemed suspicious.

"But why would the maid report the crime in advance, leaving such a glaring loophole? If Miss Lu Si intended to frame Miss Zhi, surely she wouldn’t have overlooked something so basic."

"She was probably panicking. It’s matricide, after all," Lady Lou said.

"Panic is understandable. We can see that from how neat the crime scene is—Miss Lu must have been panicking to have overlooked a detail like that. But the maid who made the report would have been arranged in advance, so panic wouldn’t have been a factor for her," said Mr. Chen.

"Could it be... that the maid reported it early on purpose?" Zhi Wan speculated. "It’s matricide, after all. The maid would have been terrified, but she couldn’t disobey Lu Lan’s order. Perhaps she wanted to save Aunt Xu, so she reported it early, hoping the Government would send someone in time to save her?"

Lu Zhan nodded. "Cousin, your theory makes sense. But could there be another possibility? What if the maid was afraid she’d be killed to silence her, so she reported the crime early and then fled?"

"Eldest Brother’s analysis makes sense. Otherwise, how do you explain Huan’er’s absence from the residence?" Lu Jun nodded in agreement.

"You all make valid points, but the maid has now vanished. Could she have already been... silenced?" Mr. Chen made a throat-slitting gesture.

"That’s impossible," Jiang Shi spoke up.

Mr. Chen looked at him in surprise. "Why are you so certain?"

Jiang Shi glanced at the Princely Heir and the Miss. After they both nodded, he said, "A short while ago, Lu Lan framed the Miss, so I have been secretly monitoring her every move since then. I know that aside from her personal maid and Aunt Xu, who could offer some help, Lu Lan has no other assistants.

"Moreover, during this time, Lu Lan has remained in the residence and gone nowhere, aside from one trip out with the Old Madam Lu.

"Therefore, I don’t believe it’s possible that the maid, Huan’er, has been killed and silenced."

"Is it possible that when she went out with Old Madam Lu, Lu Lan took the opportunity to hire an assassin, who was waiting to kill the maid and silence her as soon as she made the report?" Mr. Chen asked.

Jiang Shi shook his head. "That’s impossible. The time Lu Lan went out with the Old Madam, they went to a teahouse for a matchmaking meeting with Imperial Censor Li Jian of the Inspectorate. I was personally tailing her then; Lu Lan had no opportunity to contact anyone for help."

At these words, the expressions of everyone present turned rather odd.

Although Imperial Censor Li Jian held a high rank, he was about the same age as Old Madam Lu.

Old Madam Lu had actually taken Lu Lan to a matchmaking meeting with a man that old?

Lady Wei and Zhi Wan already knew about this, so they weren’t surprised. But Lady Lou, Lu Jun, and Mr. Chen were all visibly shocked.

"What a debased creature," Lady Lou sneered after a moment.

Mr. Chen snapped out of his daze and frowned at Jiang Shi. "If you were constantly watching Lu Lan, how could you have been unaware of her murdering Aunt Xu today?"

Speaking of the matter, Jiang Shi was filled with self-reproach. "Because the Miss was moving out of the Lu Residence today, I and a few of my men were helping move her things. We were all preparing to follow the Miss to the Zhi Mansion. On top of that, Lu Lan had been behaving herself lately and was due to marry into the Li family soon, so we let our guard down.

"Who could have known that this single oversight would lead to such a disaster."

"This isn’t your fault. I was the one who thought Lu Lan was no longer a threat, so I told you that you didn’t need to watch her anymore. Ultimately, the carelessness was mine," Zhi Wan said with a frown. ’Now that I think about it, Lu Lan might have known I had people watching her. Her matchmaking meeting with that Imperial Censor must have been a deliberate ploy to make me lower my guard.’

’Judging by this series of schemes Lu Lan has orchestrated, I’ve underestimated her capabilities.’

"Stop blaming yourselves. Neither of you is at fault. Lu Lan is the one to blame," Lu Zhan said in a grave voice.

Mr. Chen nodded. "Indeed. There’s no point assigning blame now. Since the maid hasn’t been silenced, she must be in hiding. Miss Zhi Wan, I’ll have to ask you to draw several more portraits of this maid for me. I’ll have my men use them in the search."

"Alright," Zhi Wan nodded.

She immediately set to work, drawing numerous portraits of Huan’er.

In addition to the Government officials searching for Huan’er, Lady Wei also dispatched servants from the residence to join the search.

Because of this incident, Zhi Wan temporarily postponed her move to the Zhi Mansion, sending only the servants from her courtyard ahead to unpack her luggage.

Lu Zhan, meanwhile, went to the study, wrote a memorial to the throne, and then proceeded directly to the palace for an audience with the Emperor.

Thus, by the time Lu Lan’s condition stabilized and Lu Jingsi decided to go to the palace to impeach Lu Zhan, it was already too late.

Due to the grave nature of the matricide, the Emperor assigned the case to the Ministry of Justice and appointed Ouyang Lei to take full command of the investigation.