Xiao Du’s heart suddenly sank, and he hurriedly rushed forward to help Xiao Zhixuan up, feigning anger as he said, “What are you doing? Do you still consider me your elder brother or not?”
Xiao Zhixuan grasped those dry, warm large hands, her heart settling slightly, but she still cried as she said, “It was all my fault before. I shouldn’t have listened to Concubine’s words and betrayed you and sister-in-law. But Concubine was acting under someone’s instructions. No matter how wrong she was, she didn’t deserve to die. The one who deserves death is the person manipulating her from behind the scenes!”
Xiao Du furrowed his brow and said, “You’re saying that everything Concubine Cai did was under someone’s instructions? Who was it? Is that person still in the residence?”
Xiao Zhixuan helplessly shook her head and said sorrowfully, “I don’t know who that person is either. Concubine said it was for my own good and never revealed even the slightest detail to me. I only know that Concubine has been taking orders from someone all these years, including having me help her gather all the information in the residence, and the incident framing sister-in-law last time.” She looked down with deep guilt, “Actually, Concubine was just unwilling—unwilling to be oppressed her whole life, and unwilling to lose me like this, so she was tempted into doing wrong…”
Xiao Du’s gaze gradually darkened. This further confirmed his suspicions—Concubine Cai’s death was indeed not as simple as suicide from guilt. There truly was a mastermind behind it all.
But yesterday the coroner had already sent the autopsy results, confirming that Concubine Cai had indeed died from poisoning, and no wounds or bruises could be found on her body inside or out. If someone had forced her to take poison, how could they not leave traces on her body? More importantly, there were many people guarding outside her room at the time, and the windows were sealed from the inside. If there really was another murderer, how did they escape from her room?
“Elder brother?” Xiao Zhixuan’s timid voice interrupted his thoughts. Xiao Du looked up and asked gently, “Why do you say Concubine Cai didn’t commit suicide? Did you discover something?”
Xiao Zhixuan bit her lip and said, “Because on the day Concubine died, she had come to find me.”
Xiao Du suddenly stood up, shocked, “What? You’re saying she came to your room? But she was forbidden from leaving her quarters. I also asked the maids and guards outside her door—they all said she had been staying in her room the whole time.”
Xiao Zhixuan said, “I don’t know how she managed it either. I only remember that day she wore a maid’s outfit and secretly ran to my window to call me. She said she had used some method to escape and was preparing to flee the residence first to lay low. She told me to take good care of myself, and that someday she would find a way to come back and see me.” Remembering the scene of their mother-daughter farewell that day, never imagining it would be their final goodbye, she couldn’t help but cover her face and cry again.
After she had calmed down, Xiao Du continued asking, “So you think that since she came to tell you she was leaving the residence, she definitely couldn’t have committed suicide.”
Xiao Zhixuan excitedly raised her head and said, “That’s right! Concubine would never commit suicide. She always left herself an escape route. She once told me that she had already grasped the secrets of the person behind everything, and if absolutely necessary, she would reveal those secrets. Then that person would definitely be wary and would have to find a way to help her. She planned everything thoroughly—how could she possibly die so unclearly like this?”
After hearing these words, Xiao Du couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. He quickly figured out how Concubine Cai had escaped from her room, but he didn’t understand why, having already escaped, she would go back again, and why she would die inside the room.
That day, when he saw the suicide note pressed under Concubine Cai’s body, he had already felt something was wrong. Although the handwriting was confirmed to be hers, and the content seemed perfectly normal at first glance, upon careful consideration there was a major inconsistency.
In that letter, she had confessed to her crimes and even mentioned the Old Marquis and the Princess, yet she didn’t say a single word about her most beloved and cherished daughter. This was truly suspicious. Now it seemed that perhaps she had deliberately left this flaw, possibly even as a hint, wanting whoever read the letter to pay attention to Xiao Zhixuan and notice the truth hidden behind it all.
He then looked up again and asked, “Xuan’er, think carefully about that day—what exactly did Concubine Cai say when she bid you farewell? Did she give any special instructions? Don’t leave out anything; tell me everything.”
How could Xiao Zhixuan forget the last words her mother said to her? She slowly recounted how Concubine Cai had instructed her to be obedient and well-behaved in the future, even advising her on how to find a good husband. She recalled for a long time, then suddenly remembered something else: “Later, she also mentioned those calligraphy practice sheets of hers, saying they were her life’s work accumulated over many years. After she was gone, I must go retrieve them and keep them well, not giving them to others.”
A flash of inspiration struck Xiao Du’s mind, and his fingers began tapping lightly on the desk: This was it! How could the practice sheets that had been clearly stored in the cabinet have scattered out by themselves? Someone must have deliberately gone through them.
If this was the case, Concubine Cai had very likely hidden all the secrets she knew in those practice sheets. But if this was true, the most crucial ones had probably already been taken by the murderer. How could they possibly uncover the truth now?
After pondering for a long time, he turned to the anxiously waiting Xiao Zhixuan beside him and said, “Alright, I understand everything now. I will investigate this matter thoroughly. You just focus on recovering well for now, and leave everything else to your elder brother. If Concubine Cai truly died unjustly, I will certainly clear her name.”
Xiao Zhixuan was moved to tears, and finally unable to control her emotions, she threw herself into her elder brother’s embrace just like when they were children, her voice thick with guilt: “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, elder brother. I did too many wrong things before. I don’t deserve you and sister-in-law treating me so well.”
Xiao Du gently patted the back of her head just like when they were small, saying softly, “When I was poisoned and unconscious, and when your sister-in-law was wrongly accused, you were willing to go against Concubine Cai to help clear her name. At that moment, I knew you were still that pure-hearted good Xuan’er.” He gently supported her shoulders, saying, “From now on, I want to see that good little sister who would act spoiled with me, who was playful and loved to laugh. Is that possible?”
His gentle tone made Xiao Zhixuan cry until she could barely control herself. In the end, however, she still managed her once-signature brilliant smile and nodded firmly at Xiao Du.
Just as Xiao Du began investigating Concubine Cai’s death, Yuanxi finally received the first letter from the Marquis residence.
That day, with gentle winds and light clouds, she leaned against a ginkgo tree, facing the constantly falling leaves in the air, and slowly unfolded the light yellow paper in her hands.
This was the first time she had seen his handwriting, and indeed it was as bold and unrestrained as he was. Yuanxi read word by word carefully, as if seeing him standing before her, speaking to her intimately.
The letter contained no mushy love words, only telling her about the amusing incidents that had happened in the residence after she left, each matter described as if happening before her eyes. He also mentioned that patch of gardenia trees she loved most, saying that in recent days, almost all the gardenia flowers on the trees had withered. Feeling it was a pity, he had the maids collect all the petals, crush them into a paste, then soak the paper in it and dry it to use for writing letters to her. This way, each time she received a letter, she could smell her favorite fragrance and remember the days they had spent together in that gardenia grove.
Yuanxi brought her nose close to the letter paper and indeed smelled a rich gardenia fragrance. The fresh, elegant scent penetrated her heart and lungs, causing a gentle smile to bloom on her lips.
The end of the letter read: “Xi’er, it has been four days since you left. Unable to see you by day, unable to sleep at night, with countless longings that can only be spoken to that ‘Delicate Yellow’ we planted together. Speaking of Delicate Yellow, there’s actually a strange occurrence. According to the usual flowering cycle, planted in autumn, it should only sprout in spring. Yet yesterday, this husband actually saw a small tender shoot emerging from the soil, newly green and growing, with dewdrops trembling on its tip. Witnessing it firsthand, the surprise and emotion were indescribable. I only wish you could be by my side—only then would this scene be complete. I always feel that under that flower, there should originally be two people standing.”
The last few characters were slightly crooked, as if the letter writer had suddenly become overwhelmed with emotion and could no longer write as steadily as before. Yuanxi closed her eyes and pressed the letter firmly against her chest. Her heart felt as if something had gently pricked it, stabbing with both pain and sourness, almost bringing her to tears.
After a long while, she slowly opened her eyes and reached out to catch a leaf spinning in the air, feeling bewildered in her heart: No matter how beautiful something was, it was still destined to wither. Should she hold tight or cruelly let it go?
She thought for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. Finally sighing, she stood up and returned to her room to carefully put the letter away. Looking back, she saw the parrot outside the window still hopping around constantly. A mischievous impulse suddenly arose, and she couldn’t help walking over to tease it while chanting, “Xiao Du, big dummy. Xiao Du, big dummy.”
The parrot blinked its eyes, tilted its head thoughtfully for a moment, then began cheerfully shouting at the top of its voice, “Want stew, big egg! Want stew, big egg!”
Yuanxi was immediately dumbfounded, yet couldn’t help wanting to laugh. In the end, she could only sigh inwardly, “Really is a stupid bird. No idea where they found it.” But being disrupted like this, her mood improved considerably.
The next day, Yuanxi was anxiously waiting in her room to see if another letter would arrive, when instead she received word from Xia Mingyuan through a messenger, saying that the young lady staying in her room every day might develop depression, and asking Yuanxi to accompany her to Purdue Temple to worship Buddha.
Upon hearing this news, Yuanxi immediately felt somewhat dazed. In the past, before she was married, when father went to temples to worship Buddha, he would occasionally bring along one of the sisters from the household. Those were days everyone looked forward to, as after being cooped up in the inner chambers for so long, everyone hoped to go out and have some recreation.
When she was small, Yuanxi had countless times wondered if there would be a day when father would remember her and take her along too. Later, when she grew up and understood these were only wishful thoughts, she stopped thinking about it. Who would have thought that today, when this wish came true, her heart couldn’t feel the joy and excitement she had once imagined.
What Yuanxi had longed for most since childhood was for father to smile at her, to show even a little care and attention toward her. But even she hadn’t expected that when this day truly arrived, she would no longer care about it.
Though she thought this way, she still instructed Nanny Li and An’he to dress and prepare her, since this was father’s kind intention after all, and she hoped that visiting the Buddhist temple might help her understand her inner turmoil.
So after getting ready, she boarded the carriage with father and traveled toward Purdue Temple. Along the way, Xia Mingyuan asked whether her food and clothing these past days had been comfortable, and Yuanxi answered everything. As her mood relaxed, she told father some amusing stories about the parrot, which reminded Xia Mingyuan of some experiences he’d had while traveling, and they began talking. Thus this journey became the most comfortable time the two had spent together in years.
The carriage stopped outside Purdue Temple. The temple had already received word, and a young novice led them inside. Xia Mingyuan had Yuanxi wait in the meditation room first while he followed the novice to find Master Kongji.
Yuanxi didn’t want to wait idly in the room, so accompanied by the temple bells ringing in the courtyard, she strolled into the main hall. Inside, incense smoke curled upward. She knelt on a prayer cushion, looked up at the imposing Buddha statue before her, and silently thought, “They say Buddha can reach heaven and understand all things. Can you let Yuanxi understand what she should do?”
The sandalwood smoke drifted upward, the divine Buddha remained silent, and only the continuous sound of monks chanting sutras echoed in. When she stood up and turned around, she saw someone entering the hall—familiar blue robes with jade belt, refined and scholarly bearing. That person seemed somewhat surprised to see her, then smiled and greeted her, “Madam Xiao.”
Yuanxi was also startled. She had never expected to see the young tutor again, yet in her heart, no waves stirred at all.