The next day, dawn had only just begun to break.
Inside Tingyu Pavilion, some ten li from the Xiao Family estate.
As the breeze stirred, the wind chimes hanging beneath the eaves swayed gently, ringing out with crisp tinkling sounds.
Compared with rainy days, the courtyard was not nearly so noisy at this moment.
But Chen Yunfan clearly no longer had to suffer the torment of those silken-string melodies.
Ever since the Cui Family group had arrived, they had taken up residence in the rear courtyard of Tingyu Pavilion.
He could only move into the central courtyard with Chunying and the others.
Though Chen Yunfan was somewhat helpless about it, he kept the lessons of propriety firmly in mind and did his part as a host.
Otherwise, once his mother Cui Yu learned of it, she might think he was bullying Cui Qingwu.
Even so, he still could not sleep in.
At this moment, seeing the eastern sky turn pale as a fish's belly, Chunying hesitated briefly before entering the side room and giving the sleeping Chen Yunfan a push.
"Young Master, Young Master, wake up."
"Huh?"
Chen Yunfan opened his eyes blearily. Seeing that it was Chunying, he rolled over and went back to sleep, muttering:
"This young master ran all over the place yesterday collecting the summer grain tax. My legs were nearly run off."
"Have mercy on me and let me get a proper night's sleep."
"Young Master, something happened."
Hearing the gravity in Chunying's tone, Chen Yunfan reluctantly crawled up.
He scratched at his loose, disheveled hair, yawned, and asked, "Go on, what happened?"
"Ning Yu just reported that last night, he saw Miss Cui being carried back by a maidservant. She looked as though she had been injured."
Before Chen Yunfan had even finished yawning,