Chapter 47: Three Deaths

The case of the bodyguard’s poisoning was solved on the second day, and the identity of the murderer was shocking – it turned out to be a concubine from the Pingyao Marquis’s household. This concubine had been the Marquis’s wife’s maid, whom she had personally given to the Marquis.

It was said that this bodyguard had some distant relation to the concubine. Her original intention was to have the bodyguard destroy Yu Sangning’s reputation, but things went wrong, and in her panic, she ran into the elderly madam who was alone by the pool.

The reason Yu Sangning was able to appear at the right time was that she had been kidnapped by this bodyguard.

“The Pingyao Marquis’s wife is truly vicious,” said Ziyu, who had learned the details of the matter and was sharing them with Shen Xihe to cheer her up.

In truth, Shen Xihe didn’t enjoy hearing about such inner household schemes, but she didn’t stop them. She hoped that Ziyu and the others would better understand just what kind of place these noble households of the capital were – places that harbored filth and corruption. The more they heard, the more worldly they would become.

“What evidence did the Court of Justice find?” asked Hongyu.

“They found gold that the concubine had given him – this concubine liked to mark her money with secret symbols,” Ziyu explained. “She was interrogated overnight and confessed. Then early this morning, she took poison and died in her cell.”

Shen Xihe sat nearby, finishing the final stitches on her previous handkerchief, completing the image of an immortal’s sash.

“That Miss Yu from the other day, how old is she?” Shen Xihe suddenly asked.

“She’s the same age as the Princess, already of marriageable age,” Ziyu answered.

Shen Xihe was born in winter and wouldn’t come of age until the end of the year.

“She looked so young,” she had thought Yu Sangning was only twelve or thirteen that day. “But her thoughts are meticulous and her methods ruthless.”

“Princess…” Biyu’s eyelid twitched, “You mean…”

“For a legitimate daughter of marriageable age, even if her stepmother despised her, dealing with marriage matters wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. Why would she need a concubine to act?”

Shen Xihe put away her thread and spread out the handkerchief to examine it closely. “After this incident, the Pingyao Marquis’s wife can’t escape the crime of using a concubine to harm her stepdaughter. She saved the elderly madam, transforming from a lonely girl into someone beloved by the old madam, while also planting a thorn in the Marquis’s heart.”

“Princess, you’re saying… this was all a scheme orchestrated by Miss Yu herself!” Ziyu couldn’t help but swallow nervously.

“The bodyguard was poisoned with Guanyin lotus, and Miss Yu carried the scent of Guanyin lotus,” Shen Xihe nodded slightly.

Shen Xihe had possessed a keen sense of smell since childhood, a fact known to all her maids.

Ziyu’s scalp tingled: “To think the entire capital is sympathizing with this Miss Yu.”

“That’s also one of her objectives,” Shen Xihe smiled faintly. “No matter how many people might secretly mock the Marquis’s wife, young ladies wouldn’t easily accept an outsider of illegitimate birth. After this incident, some will surely sympathize with her, and it will no longer be difficult for her to socialize with the capital’s young ladies in the future.”

By becoming acquainted with ladies of status, she could meet young gentlemen, allowing her to plan for her future.

“Princess… Ziyu is scared…” Ziyu looked terrified. The people of the capital were all so frightening – she missed the Northwest!

“What are you afraid of?” Biyu poked her forehead again. “You have the Princess protecting you.”

Shen Xihe also spoke gently to Ziyu: “What’s so frightening about them? The most frightening person is sitting right in front of you.”

She had thought Ziyu would be more scared, but surprisingly, Ziyu’s reaction was different: “That’s right, that’s right! Princess is the most clever, seeing through her little tricks at a glance!”

In Ziyu’s eyes, everything Shen Xihe did was clever, while others were just cruel.

This made Shen Xihe laugh helplessly. After laughing for a moment, she asked Biyu: “Still no news from Yu Xiaodie?”

Just as Biyu was about to shake her head, hurried footsteps approached, and Mo Yuan personally delivered a scroll to Shen Xihe.

Shen Xihe opened it to find a route map, and asked Mo Yuan: “When does she plan to act?”

“Tonight.” Yu Xiaodie had secretly copied the route map and was restless, eager to leave the Kang Prince’s mansion immediately.

“Very well.” Shen Xihe handed the scroll to Biyu. “Go fetch the box from my dressing table.”

Biyu took the scroll into Shen Xihe’s chambers and retrieved a long, narrow box. Shen Xihe gestured for it to be given to Mo Yuan.

“Inside is an incense that can confuse people’s minds. Give it to Yu Xiaodie, and all of you fully cooperate with her.”

“Yes.” Mo Yuan withdrew with the incense.

That night, Shen Xihe retired early as usual, but the Kang Prince’s mansion was far from peaceful.

Because today, the Second Prince, Prince Zhao, had presented evidence in the rouge case, and Emperor Youning had flown into a rage. All officials of third rank and above, along with royal princes and nobles, were urgently summoned to the palace, leaving the inner household members in a state of anxiety.

Madam Xiao, who had been thrown out of the Shen mansion, had been cursed as a harbinger of disaster every day lately. These rats were proof, and tonight she had finally found evidence that Yu Xiaodie was responsible. The Kang Prince’s wife, accompanying the old Princess Consort, refused to believe Yu Xiaodie was responsible and rebuked Madam Xiao.

So Madam Xiao took her maid to confront Yu Xiaodie herself. They had barely exchanged a few words when Yu Xiaodie’s maid and Madam Xiao’s maid began fighting in the courtyard, with their attendants rushing out to join the fray.

Yu Xiaodie held Madam Xiao back and whispered in her ear: “That’s right, I had people call you a harbinger of disaster. Aren’t you one? Look how much face you’ve made the prince’s mansion lose. A noble princess willingly debasing herself, trying to drug someone only to be caught red-handed.

Because you became a concubine, all the young ladies of the prince’s mansion suffered, having to marry beneath their station. Aren’t you a harbinger of disaster? Thrown out of the mansion, yet you still have the face to live, still dare to run back to your family…”

Yu Xiaodie had lit the incense Shen Xihe had given her in the room. Madam Xiao was already angry, and upon smelling this scent, she became even more enraged. Yu Xiaodie kept holding her back while continuing to humiliate her. Madam Xiao lost control of her emotions, pulled out a gold hairpin from her head, and stabbed down at Yu Xiaodie.

At this moment, Madam Xiao had completely lost her reason. Yu Xiaodie grabbed the gold hairpin from her hand and pushed her away. When she regained some clarity after hitting her head, she turned to see Yu Xiaodie with the gold hairpin in her chest.

She trembled in terror as Yu Xiaodie gripped the hairpin and fell, using her other hand to pull it out, blood splattering onto Madam Xiao’s face.

The huge commotion startled the servants outside, who rushed in en masse, all witnessing this scene.

Yu Xiaodie’s maid immediately screamed at the top of her lungs: “Murder!”

As it happened, a doctor who had just finished examining the Kang Prince’s eldest son heard the commotion and ran over with the steward who was escorting him. He immediately checked Yu Xiaodie’s pulse and declared her dead.

The prince’s mansion immediately fell into chaos. The Princess Consort, saying they needed the Prince’s decision, had Yu Xiaodie’s body detained.

Soon after, the room where Yu Xiaodie’s body was kept mysteriously caught fire. By the time they extinguished it, Yu Xiaodie had been burned to charred remains.

Upon investigation, there were clear signs of oil on the charred corpse – this was deliberate arson to destroy the body.

When Shen Xihe woke early the next morning and heard about this, she handed Moyu a medicine bottle: “Put this medicine in the food that the Kang Prince’s mansion sends to the prison.”

Last night, the incident had alarmed the patrolling imperial guards, and Madam Xiao had been taken away immediately.

“Princess, wouldn’t it be better to let her suffer worse than death in prison?” Biyu asked in a low voice.

Shen Xihe spread her arms, allowing Hongyu to dress her: “Biyu, remember this – as long as someone is alive, variables exist. Only death brings true closure.”

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