Suspicion

An Changfu and Liu Meixiang had met with disaster three days earlier. News had quickly reached Anyuan County.

The entire An Family had erupted in wails of grief. Everyone had been stunned by the news. The next day was New Year's, a joyous occasion for the whole family to reunite, yet tragic news had arrived at such a time, forcibly turning a celebration into a funeral.

An Ziran had met with disaster on the afternoon the news arrived.

At the time, everyone had been immersed in shock, and no one noticed An Ziran had gone missing. By the time they discovered he was gone, two hours had already passed.

It was said that the An Family had found him in the backyard. He had been lying in the snow, dressed in only a very thin garment. If not for his thick flesh and abundant fat, given the weather at the time, lying in the snow for two hours would have turned him into an icicle. Still, the original owner had indeed died.

As for why An Ziran had been lying in the snow—

Everyone said that, devastated by his parents' deaths, he had briefly lost the will to live. No one had investigated further.

But how could things be such a coincidence? The original owner had truly died.

From the maidservants, An Ziran learned that because An Changfu had spoiled the original owner since childhood, he had grown into an idle, gluttonous, uneducated young master. He had committed no shortage of vile acts, such as bullying others. With that sort of temperament, he did not seem like someone who would kill himself. Therefore, An Ziran suspected there was more to this matter. Someone had most likely wanted to kill him, and their purpose was obvious: nine times out of ten, they were after the An Family's property.

An Ziran sat in a reclining chair. At present, he did not know the An Family well enough to sort out who was most suspicious. Besides, without evidence, even if he knew who had done it, there was nothing he could do. For now, there were two things he needed to accomplish.

The first was to lose weight. He had to!

The second was to take complete control of the An Family, then slowly uncover the murderer who wanted to harm him. Only then could he take precautions in advance. Since that person wanted the An Family's property, they would certainly look for another opportunity to strike.

His mind kept turning, and as he thought, An Ziran fell asleep.

He had only taken over this body three days ago. Although he had regained his life, this body's constitution was truly too poor. Coupled with the chill he had suffered, his spirits had remained low.

However, the reason the original owner's body had been ruined surprised him, because it had nothing to do with a life of debauchery.

The original An Ziran had been strictly watched by An Changfu in that regard, so he had had few opportunities to interact with women. Whether respectable young ladies or women from brothels, he had rarely touched any of them. This pleased An Ziran greatly. He was not someone who liked to fool around, and naturally did not wish to inherit an unclean body.

When he woke again, it was already noon.

Chunlan, the maidservant who had brought him hot water that morning, immediately brought the meal to his room with another maidservant, Qiulan, after discovering he was awake.

The two were both Liu Meixiang's personal maidservants. There were also Xialan and Donglan. Since Liu Meixiang's death, the four had been assigned by the steward to serve him. Maidservants were more attentive, making them well suited to care for him while he recovered from his serious illness.

An Ziran did not have much of an appetite. He also wanted to lose weight, so he did not eat much. After having only one bowl of rice, he had Chunlan and Qiulan take the entire table of dishes away.

Chunlan looked as if she wanted to say something, but before she could speak, Qiulan pulled her out. They were merely servants, and especially at such a sensitive time, the less they said, the better. The more they spoke, the more likely they were to make a mistake and incur the young master's displeasure.

The room fell silent at once.

An Ziran paced around the room three or four times before Chunlan and Qiulan returned. He turned and said coolly, "Bring me my cloak. I'm going to the study."

The study he meant was An Changfu's study. Many account books were kept there, and it was a short distance from his room.

Qiulan immediately fetched a snow-white cloak from inside. It was made of fox fur and exceedingly expensive. It was said to have cost over a thousand taels when it was bought. Because An Ziran's constitution tended toward coldness, An Changfu had purchased it specifically for him. He was the only one in the An Family who had one; no one else, not even his own younger sister, received such treatment.

The three left the room. The corridor, which had only been cleaned that morning, was once again covered by a thin layer of snow. Everything was blanketed in white, like a world clad in silver. Though cold, it possessed a distinct beauty.

Just as An Ziran was nearing the study, a middle-aged man approached from the opposite direction. The man's steps were somewhat hurried. He was Su Zhou, the An Family's steward. He was older than An Changfu and had served the An Family for over twenty years. It was said that An Changfu trusted him greatly and that he was utterly loyal to the An Family. Anything they did not know could be asked of him.

When Steward Su saw An Ziran in the corridor, a flicker of astonishment seemed to pass through his eyes. He swiftly concealed his expression and hurried over. "Young Master, the Eldest Master has arrived. He is at the mourning hall now. Do you... want to go have a look?"

An Ziran's gaze shifted to the steward's face.

"Then let's go have a look."