Since the seventh day hadn’t passed yet, Aunt Cai’s room was draped with several mourning banners, pale white cloth strips swaying and fluttering with the cold wind blowing in from the door, resembling ghostly charms. The banners seemed to speak of resentment and injustice.
Following Xiao Du’s instructions, nobody was allowed to enter the room after Aunt Cai’s death. So, apart from the removed pieces of paper scattered on the ground, the fallen flower rack, the mess on the floor, and even the traces of Aunt Cai’s movements remained unchanged.
Yuanxi followed behind Xiao Du as they entered the room. Upon stepping in, she felt a chill run down her neck, causing her to shiver involuntarily. Sensing her discomfort, Xiao Du turned and asked, “What’s wrong? Feeling cold?”
Yuanxi shook her head, her eyes falling on the charcoal stove beside the bed. She gathered her clothes around her and walked over slowly, noticing some unburned charcoal inside. She then turned to Xiao Du and asked, “Was this stove lit when you came in that day?”
After recalling for a moment, Xiao Du shook his head and said, “The fire was already out. But it was recently burned because there was still a lingering smell in the room, and the stove was still warm.”
Yuanxi turned her head and said, “I find this matter quite unusual. Aunt Cai passed away just after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I remember the weather those days was still quite warm, so there was no need to light a charcoal stove for warmth. Moreover, she was already preparing to leave the mansion. Why would she think of fetching charcoal from the storeroom before her death?”
Frowning, Xiao Du said, “Indeed, it’s strange. What do you think could be the reason?”
Yuanxi slowly walked to the window and stared at the flower rack made of yellow pearwood that happened to be blocking the window sill. She squatted down to examine it closely before standing up and pointing at the base of the flower rack. “If I’m not mistaken, there should have been water here at that time.”
After carefully recollecting, Xiao Du nodded. “Yes, there was indeed water. At the time, I thought it was just spilled from a flowerpot, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. Why do you think there’s a problem here?”
Yuanxi pointed at the foot of the flower rack. “There are obvious traces of water immersion here. If it had been splashed from above, the entire flower rack would have water stains, not just here.” Without waiting for Xiao Du’s response, she continued, “And don’t you find it strange that the flower rack fell in such a precise manner, perfectly blocking the window, making us believe that the culprit couldn’t have entered or exited from here?”
Realizing her point, Xiao Du said, “You mean, all of this was orchestrated deliberately.”
Yuanxi nodded, her face showing some excitement. “Exactly. It’s not a very complicated method, and anyone could have done it. The culprit simply entered from outside the window, killed Aunt Cai using some method, forced her to write the farewell letter, and then took away the evidence hidden in the papers. After that, using the method you mentioned, they escaped through the window. When the ice block melted, the window would be blocked. So, no one would think that someone had been in the room, and they would just assume that Aunt Cai had committed suicide.”
Xiao Du’s eyes lit up, finding her conjecture very reasonable. He reviewed the entire incident in his mind and said, “In that case, on that day, the culprit entered from outside the window, then somehow made Aunt Cai ingest the poison before her death, and made her write the farewell letter. Then this person left through the window, leaving no trace behind. So, it wouldn’t occur to anyone that there had been an outsider in the room, and they would only think that Aunt Cai had hung herself.”
Yuanxi nodded. “But she never expected that Aunt Cai would leave a message in the farewell letter, pointing out the culprit to us.”
At this point, Xiao Du’s face showed some doubt. “But I’ve checked, and Nanny Yumei was indeed in the princess’s room that day, without any connection to Aunt Cai’s death.”
Understanding his reluctance to involve anyone close to the princess, Yuanxi hesitated for a moment before speaking, “But Nanny Yumei could have bribed someone else in the mansion to do it.”
Xiao Du’s expression dimmed, and he said slowly, “Then who do you think did this for her?”
Yuanxi looked deeply into his eyes and suddenly felt a pang of pity. She walked to the window and looked out at the desolate courtyard, sighing softly before continuing, “Before the allocation of charcoal to each courtyard last month, I went to the storeroom to inquire. Before that day, only one person’s courtyard had gone to collect charcoal. The maid who went to collect the charcoal said her mistress always felt cold and ordered charcoal early every year. And you also told the storeroom not to question whatever she wanted, just give it to her.”
She paused for a moment, not continuing, but Xiao Du’s face had already changed. Yuanxi turned back to look at him deeply and said, “The person who appeared around Aunt Cai’s courtyard that day would certainly be suspected, especially someone who shouldn’t have been there. Only one person doing this wouldn’t attract attention because… she was already considered insane.”
Xiao Du’s body shook suddenly, and he held his trembling hands, suddenly laughing, “Are you telling me that Yunniang did all this? What reason would she have to do so?”
Seeing his troubled expression, Yuanxi walked over and hugged him tightly, saying, “I also don’t want to believe it’s her, but do you remember what happened at the Tian Estate? I suspect that Yunniang was never actually insane, and this entire plan is something only she could have pulled off.”
Though reluctant to believe it, Xiao Du had to admit, after Yuanxi’s reasoning, that it made sense. He realized, only at this moment, that compared to the people around the princess, it was Yunniang’s involvement that troubled him the most.
Yuanxi lifted her head and said softly, “What are you going to do now? If you’re not willing, we can just let this matter pass, after all, everyone thinks Aunt Cai committed suicide… I can go and talk to Xuan’er about it…”
Xiao Du closed his eyes briefly, and when he reopened them, a resolute expression adorned his face. “Rest assured, since I’ve promised Xuan’er and you, regardless of whoever the true culprit behind this is, I will not easily let her off the hook.”
Outside the window, startled birds fluttered their wings as they were disturbed, crossing over the tree peaks. As they returned to their nests, Yunniang sat quietly beneath a withered tree in the courtyard, her head bowed as she concentrated on mending a coat.
The gentle breeze lifted strands of her white hair at the temples, accentuating the wrinkles around her eyes. At that moment, the young maid from her room brought out a bowl of medicine, preparing to feed it to her. However, someone had already hurried over to her side, taking the bowl from the maid’s hands and slowly approaching Yunniang, squatting down beside her.
Yunniang lifted her head to see this person, her eyes suddenly shining with an unusual light. “Young Master, come and see, Yunniang has finished mending this coat for you!”
Xiao Du looked at the slightly worn indigo coat in her hands, feeling a pang of emotion in his nose. That coat was specially made for him by his father when he was a teenager, and he cherished it, wearing it almost every day. However, it had accidentally been torn a few days ago, and fearing his father’s reprimand, he had pleaded with the skilled embroiderer Yunniang to mend it for him. She had promised to do so, but other matters in the mansion had delayed her, and he had gradually forgotten about the coat.
He suppressed the bitterness rising in his heart and gently fed Yunniang the medicine, saying softly, “Yunniang, I’ve grown up now, and this coat no longer fits me.”
Yunniang seemed not to understand his words, swallowing the medicine obediently before turning back to her task of earnestly mending the coat in her hands. Xiao Du remained silent until he had finished feeding her the medicine, then he handed the empty bowl to the maid and instructed her to return to the room and not come out.
Straightening his robe, Xiao Du stood up and looked around, seeing that only the two of them remained in the courtyard. Finally, he spoke, “Yunniang, do you remember when you used to teach me when I was young? You said in life, one must never stray from the right path. Even if no one else knows, your conscience will torment you until the day you can atone.”
Yunniang’s sewing hand hesitated for a moment, but quickly resumed its work as if nothing had happened.
Xiao Du then bent down, grasped Yunniang’s hand, his body trembling slightly, and said, “Yunniang, can you tell me the truth? Have you gone mad?”
Yunniang’s vacant gaze shifted slightly, but she still did not respond, gently pulling her hand away and casually inspecting the coat as if nothing had happened. Then, she hummed a nursery rhyme with apparent satisfaction.
Recognizing the tune as the one Yunniang used to sing to him when he was a child, memories flooded back, causing a dull ache in Xiao Du’s heart.
He tightened his grip on Yunniang’s hand, his voice soft, “If you still want me to remember the Yunniang of the past, tell me now, did you do what happened to Aunt Cai? Have you been pretending to be mad all these years?” His tone turned cold and firm, “If you insist on staying silent, I will have to have someone take you away for interrogation. Don’t blame me for being heartless when that time comes.”
Yunniang’s singing stopped abruptly. She stood up suddenly, holding the coat up against Xiao Du, a bitter smile on her lips. “You have indeed grown up. Yunniang no longer needs to mend your coat.”
Finally, she let go of the needle and thread and the coat, reaching up to tidy her wind-blown hair. Her eyes, which had been clouded for so long, gradually cleared, staring at Xiao Du intently as she spoke each word, “Yes, I did everything. However His Highness chooses to deal with me, Yunniang will not have any complaints.”