When Zheng Baishi arrived at the Meng residence, he was still somewhat puzzled. Upon seeing Yan Chi, he hastily asked, “Your Highness, have you found any clues?”
Yan Chi nodded and explained to Zheng Baishi all the hidden meanings concealed within several paintings.
After listening, Zheng Baishi’s expression changed dramatically. “Your Highness means to say that Meng Jin had improper intentions toward the young mistress of the household?”
Yan Chi nodded. “It’s not impossible. Meng Hui hasn’t confessed yet, so we can’t abandon other leads. Whether this possibility exists or not, we’ll know once we test it.”
Zheng Baishi still found it somewhat unbelievable. Although he had seen many cases of impropriety, the Meng family was considered aristocratic, and Meng Zhou still held an official position in court. Such incidents shouldn’t occur in Meng Zhou’s household!
Yan Chi and Zheng Baishi waited together in the main courtyard of the Meng residence. Soon, Meng Zhou arrived with the Third Madam and the Meng Ziyi couple.
“Greetings to Your Highness—”
The three of them bowed, and Yan Chi scrutinized them. Third Madam appeared withered and frail, her breathing unsteady and complexion somewhat pale. “How long has Third Madam been ill?”
Third Madam glanced at Yan Chi briefly. “Many years now. I’ve never stopped taking medicine.”
Meng Zhou added from the side, “Yes, my third sister-in-law’s health has always been poor.”
Yan Chi nodded and turned to look at Madam Xu. Young in years with delicate features, she appeared nervous about meeting Yan Chi, keeping her head lowered and avoiding direct eye contact.
As a martial artist, Yan Chi could typically determine someone’s skill level just by observing their energy. Among the three, Third Madam and Madam Xu were frail women. Forget martial arts—they barely had any physical strength at all.
However, to be certain, Yan Chi glanced at Bai Feng.
Bai Feng approached the three and said softly, “Please extend your hands, madams.”
Though puzzled, Third Madam and Madam Xu held out their hands. Bai Feng observed that both women’s hands were smooth and delicate, without calluses, and even their finger bones were extremely fine—showing no signs of martial arts training. Bai Feng shook his head at Yan Chi, who then turned his attention to Meng Ziyi.
“What illness does Young Master Meng suffer from?”
Meng Ziyi appeared nervous, much more reserved than Meng Wei’s outgoing nature. Hearing Yan Chi’s question, he became even more tense. “I… I suffer from… heart palpitations…”
Yan Chi had already investigated this matter; he was now asking only to observe Meng Ziyi’s demeanor.
After examining Meng Ziyi, Yan Chi noticed his energy was also very weak, showing no signs of martial arts training. However, to be thorough, Yan Chi continued, “I heard Young Master Meng injured his left arm. Where is the injury?”
Somewhat confused by Yan Chi’s question, Meng Ziyi extended his left arm. “Here… here.”
Despite his stutter, he pointed to his elbow.
Yan Chi raised his chin, signaling Bai Feng forward. Since Meng Ziyi was male, Bai Feng directly grasped his elbow area. He carefully examined the joint and then checked the forearm bones, but his frown deepened. “Young Master Meng’s bones seem to be fine.”
Hearing this, Meng Ziyi instinctively looked at Third Madam. His anxiety appeared genuine, but his stutter prevented him from speaking. Third Madam looked at Yan Chi. “Does Your Highness suspect Ziyi?”
Yan Chi’s expression remained stern. “Madam need not worry. We’re just following procedure to understand the details.”
Third Madam nodded. “Ziyi injured his arm when he was fourteen. At the time, his arm was splinted for a long while before the bone healed. However, since then, Ziyi’s arm has been left with a disability. Though the bone appears intact, he cannot exert any strength with his left hand. He can hold light objects like books, but nothing heavier.”
Looking around the room, Third Madam gestured to a nearby chair. “Ziyi, lift that chair.”
Meng Ziyi obediently approached, first easily lifting it with his right hand, then switching to his left. Though he gripped the chair tightly, he couldn’t lift it even after straining until his face turned red.
Meng Ziyi released the chair and nervously looked at Third Madam.
Third Madam remained calm. “Your Highness, we wouldn’t dare deceive you—”
Yan Chi nodded. “Very well. Third Madam and Young Madam may return now.”
Third Madam frowned, and Madam Xu looked worriedly at Meng Ziyi. Meng Ziyi nodded to them both, and Third Madam curtsied before leading Madam Xu out of the main hall.
With their departure, only Meng Ziyi remained. Yan Chi stared at him for so long that Meng Ziyi began sweating, but no one dared speak. After a while, Yan Chi mercifully spoke, “Alright, you may go now, Young Master Meng—”
Meng Ziyi glanced at Yan Chi, then at Meng Zhou. Seeing Meng Zhou nod, he slowly turned to leave.
Meng Ziyi’s steps were stiff, clearly showing his nervousness. As he walked, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. However, just as he was about to exit, Bai Feng, who had been standing beside Yan Chi, suddenly moved like lightning toward Meng Ziyi, his fist transformed into a palm strike carrying fierce power directly at Meng Ziyi’s shoulder.
The change happened so suddenly that even Meng Zhou and the others couldn’t react. However, just before Bai Feng’s hand would have struck Meng Ziyi’s shoulder, he pulled back his strike and stabilized his stance. Meng Zhou exhaled in relief. Only then did Meng Ziyi sense something amiss and look back, surprised to find Bai Feng behind him. Meng Ziyi nodded to Bai Feng before continuing out…
After Meng Ziyi left, Bai Feng turned and respectfully reported, “Master, he did not react. I watched very carefully—his shoulders and back showed no tension whatsoever.”
A person might be able to act, but the body’s subtle responses would betray them. After all, people can at most control their facial expressions, while every muscle and bone in the body has its instinctive reactions.
Hearing Bai Feng’s words, Yan Chi believed that Meng Ziyi was not a perceptive person. A martial artist would have noticed when Bai Feng moved, and even if not then, he should have reacted when Bai Feng’s fist was about to strike his shoulder.
Yan Chi frowned slightly as Zheng Baishi asked, “Your Highness, can we rule out the third branch of the family based on these results?”
Yan Chi remained silent; these results didn’t quite match his expectations.
Meanwhile, Meng Zhou said, “Ziyi has always been a good child. Because of his stutter, he doesn’t like to make friends with other children. This has made him very introverted. When his brother was alive, things were better, but after his brother passed away, he became increasingly reluctant to leave the third branch’s courtyard. He’s quite pitiful.”
“His left arm injury is also real—the entire Meng household knows about it. It’s been many years, and he writes with his right hand now. Being born in the Meng family, he doesn’t need to do heavy work, so it hasn’t affected him much.”
Listening to this, Yan Chi became increasingly convinced that Meng Ziyi was not the killer.
When the killer murdered Meng Jin, even if others helped with the process, throwing Meng Jin into the lake far away couldn’t have been done by multiple people. Additionally, considering how Meng Wei died—being held up and hung by rope—how could Meng Ziyi, with only one functioning hand, have hung Meng Wei up?
“Haven’t you thought about finding a good doctor to examine his hand properly?”
At Yan Chi’s words, Meng Zhou smiled bitterly. “It’s not that we haven’t tried. We consulted many doctors, but none could help. Later, some doctors said it might be damage to some meridian that couldn’t be seen on the surface.”
Yan Chi frowned slightly. “The other day, when the Ninth Miss from the Loyal and Brave Marquis’s household came to treat the young master, why didn’t you have her examine Young Master Meng as well?”
Meng Zhou sighed. “My sister-in-law has given up. It’s been several years since we last consulted Doctor Guo, so I didn’t think of it at the time.” He quickly added, “When there’s an opportunity in the future, we’ll ask Ninth Miss to examine Ziyi.”
Yan Chi nodded. “As far as I know, stuttering is also an illness that can be treated.”
Meng Zhou repeatedly agreed, and only then did Yan Chi leave the Meng residence with Zheng Baishi. Outside, Zheng Baishi said, “Your Highness, since we couldn’t prove anything, does this mean the content in the paintings was just a coincidence?”
Yan Chi shook his head. “Whether it’s coincidence or not, we’ll know after visiting the painting studio.”
Saying this, he took Zheng Baishi in the carriage, heading straight for Ning Buyi’s painting studio.
They waited in the carriage outside the studio while Bai Feng went in with two guards. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Bai Feng returned to the carriage.
“Master, I’ve learned the details.”
“The artist was indeed Master Ning, the studio owner. Master Ning said that while painting, he did see the Second Master Meng constantly looking downstairs. At the time, he didn’t know what Master Meng was looking at and thought he was posing deliberately, so he captured that moment in the painting. He also mentioned that while he was working on this painting, another artist was painting the young master and his wife, and another was painting portraits of the three madams—”
This inquiry cleared things up.
Zheng Baishi listened with furrowed brows. “But we’ve already tested today.”
Yan Chi shook his head. “Today we only tested whether Meng Ziyi knew martial arts, not what we saw in the painting.”
Zheng Baishi hesitated. “But Meng Jin is already dead. How can we test what’s in the paintings? And even if we could prove it, do we have any way to determine the cause of Meng Jin’s death?”
Yan Chi shook his head. “Right now, we only have the motive of the Meng family’s property dispute. Let’s test it and see if there’s anything else. If not, detaining Meng Hui would be justified.”
In the evening, Qin Wan received a message from Yan Chi.
After reading the contents of the letter, Qin Wan’s brows furrowed deeply.
Fu Ling knew the letter was from Yan Chi and hurriedly asked, “What did His Highness say? Why does Miss look so worried?”
Qin Wan shook her head. “It’s about the Meng family case. Not good news.”
Hearing this, Fu Ling didn’t ask further. Qin Wan then asked, “What can rose seeds be used for?”
Yan Chi’s letter mentioned not only the matter of Meng Ziyi but also the results of investigating Second Madam Meng. The sudden death of Second Madam’s fiancé had raised suspicions about Qin Wan and Yan Chi. However, after investigation, it turned out that Second Madam’s fiancé had died from a plague infection in the summer. This made the possibility of foul play very small. As for the rose seeds, they hadn’t found anyone in the Meng household who liked roses, nor anyone whose illness required rose seeds as medicine.
Fu Ling thought for a moment. “Rose seeds are naturally used for planting flowers.”
“What if no one plants roses?”
Fu Ling tilted her head. “No one plants flowers but there are seeds… could they be for medicine?”
“What if they’re not for medicine either?”
Fu Ling seemed stumped. “This… this servant can’t think of anything else.”
Qin Wan didn’t want to trouble Fu Ling further and sighed without saying more.
Meanwhile, Ban Xia noticed Qin Wan’s teacup was empty and came forward to refill it. However, when she poured, many tea fragments came out. Fu Ling saw this and said, “Did you forget to bring out new tea? Why are you brewing broken tea leaves?”
Ban Xia quickly explained, “There was just a little left in the tea container, and I didn’t want to waste it, so I poured it all into the teapot.”
Fu Ling sighed. “It’s fine, but don’t use tea fragments next time.” She was about to remove Qin Wan’s teacup.
But Qin Wan stopped her hand. “Tea fragments… could it be rose tea? When picking roses, they might have gathered the withered flowers with seeds, and when brewing down to the end, the seeds remained?”
Fu Ling heard this and smiled slightly. “Miss means flower tea? For drinking, naturally, you want fully bloomed, delicate flowers. It’s not like dried flowers for bathing—for bathing, you can pick any flowers.”
Qin Wan’s eyes lit up. “Bathing?”
Fu Ling nodded. “Indeed. When I used to pick peonies for Miss in the Jinzhou garden, I didn’t dare pick too many. Some flowers were half-withered when I picked them. After drying them, there was a layer of seeds at the bottom.”
Qin Wan stood up, her eyes sparkling.
“Yes, how did I not think of that…”
Then looking at Fu Ling, “Fu Ling, you’ve been a great help this time!”
Fu Ling was slightly stunned, then smiled bashfully. “Did I help Miss?”
Qin Wan asked, “What flowers do we use here? Do we have any dried flowers?”
Fu Ling quickly nodded. “Yes, we do.”
Noble ladies had many bathing items—fragranced oils, incense, and when fresh flower petals weren’t available, they used dried flowers. Now in deep winter, dried flowers were used most often. When Fu Ling confirmed they had some, Qin Wan headed to the bathroom with Fu Ling following. In the bathroom, they took out a small brocade box. When opened, it was indeed full of dried flowers.
“Miss, ours are peonies.”
Qin Wan took the box and specifically looked at the bottom. Sure enough, she saw flower seeds and many petal fragments at the bottom. Qin Wan thought for a moment, and determination appeared in her eyes.
When she had performed the autopsy, it was already several days later. If Meng Jin had drowned in a bathtub or bath barrel, he would have inhaled tiny flower petals. But after several days, those tiny petal fragments would have been digested by the drowning fluid and gastric juices, ultimately becoming unidentifiable. Only the flower seeds remained in his digestive system.
Thinking of this, Qin Wan hurried to write another letter to Yan Chi.