The wife of Marquis Yongchang had been killed by the Marquis.
When Jiang Si heard this news, she was drinking honey water. The cup in her hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. The honey water splashed onto her skirt, staining a large patch of the bright lotus pattern dark.
Jiang Si’s reaction startled A Man, who quickly tried to comfort her: “Don’t be afraid, Miss, don’t be afraid…”
What has been happening lately? Another death!
Jiang Si’s face turned as white as snow. Ignoring her wet skirt, she leaned against the screen and asked in a trembling voice: “What exactly happened?”
This couldn’t be possible. In her previous life, the Marchioness of Yongchang had lived well, at least until Jiang Si’s death.
Jiang Si’s hands tightly wrung her handkerchief, feeling as if her mind was a tangled mess of rope.
“They say that when the head maid went in to serve the Marquis and Marchioness this morning, she pushed open the door to find the Marquis covered in blood, holding a candlestick. The Marchioness had a bloody hole in her chest and had already breathed her last…”
“Was it the Marquis who killed the Marchioness?” Jiang Si instinctively disbelieved.
Setting aside the fact that in her previous life, the Marchioness was alive at this time, even without considering that, the Marquis and Marchioness had always been deeply in love.
The Yongchang Marquis’s household was simple, with only Xie Yin Lou and Xie Qing Yao as the younger generation, both born to the Marchioness.
She had been close friends with Xie Qing Yao since childhood and had heard countless times from Xie Qing Yao about how she envied her parents’ love. It was said that although the Marquis had two concubines, they were merely for show.
It was precisely because of the harmony between her parents that Xie Qing Yao had grown up with such a lively and cheerful personality.
Now, to say that the Marquis had killed the Marchioness was simply bizarre.
No, she had to go see Qing Yao—
Jiang Si collected herself and stepped towards the door.
“Miss, where are you going?” A Man asked.
“To the Yongchang Marquis’s mansion.”
A Qiao hurriedly caught up: “Miss, even if you’re going, you should change your clothes first.”
Jiang Si looked down, only then realizing that her skirt was soiled.
The fine green silk skirt, stained with honey water, looked as disheveled as her current state of mind.
Since her rebirth, Jiang Si has relied on her unyielding spirit to solve one problem after another. Her foreknowledge had made her adept at handling situations, and because of this, she was inherently calm and collected. In her mind, even if many things couldn’t be resolved perfectly, at least they wouldn’t be worse than in her previous life.
But now, something wrong had happened, catching her completely off guard.
“Right, I need to change.” Jiang Si let A Qiao fetch a new skirt for her to change into. She raised her hand to tidy her hair and hurriedly walked out.
The Dongping Marquis’s mansion and the Yongchang Marquis’s mansion were neighbors. Now that such a big incident had occurred at the Yongchang mansion, the Dongping mansion couldn’t remain indifferent, both emotionally and rationally.
Jiang An Cheng and others had already rushed over.
At this moment, the main gate of the Yongchang mansion was surrounded by onlookers. Jiang Si, accompanied by A Man, headed straight for the side gate.
“Uncle Wang, I heard something happened in the mansion. I want to see your eldest miss,” Jiang Si said.
The gatekeeper, who had watched Jiang Si grow up, sighed and opened the door: “Go in. The eldest miss is crying now…”
Jiang Si thanked the gatekeeper and hurried in. Along the way, countless servants were rushing back and forth. From afar, she could hear a chorus of cries, interspersed with a man’s desperate roars.
“Jiang Da, let me go, or our friendship is over!”
Then came a familiar voice: “I’d rather our friendship be over than let you go and do something stupid!”
A Man blinked: “It’s the master.”
Jiang Si quickened her pace. After pushing through, she finally saw the scene.
Jiang An Cheng had pinned the Marquis of Yongchang to a chair and shouted: “Bring some rope!”
The many servants stood trembling, unresponsive. Xie Yin Lou silently handed over a rope.
“Help me hold down your father!” Jiang An Cheng was satisfied with Xie Yin Lou’s action and immediately gave orders.
The two worked together to tie up the Marquis of Yongchang securely.
Jiang An Cheng rubbed his left hand.
He had injured his hand when saving the Duke of An Guo before, and this hand had no strength at all. It was inconvenient at critical moments.
“You little beast, let me go!” Unable to break free from his old neighbor Jiang An Cheng, the Marquis of Yongchang roared at Xie Yin Lou.
Xie Yin Lou stood with lowered eyes, looking as if he was ready to take any beating or scolding.
Jiang Si’s sharp eyes noticed that the usually cold and proud young man now had reddened eyes, obviously holding back the pain of losing his mother.
Xie Qing Yao had cried until her voice was hoarse: “Father, please don’t scold brother anymore. If something happens to you too, what will become of us—”
The Marquis of Yongchang couldn’t hear his daughter’s pleas at all and kept slamming against the back of the chair.
“Take the eldest miss inside,” Xie Yin Lou ordered the maids in a deep voice.
At this moment, Jiang Si stepped forward and called out: “Qing Yao.”
Xie Qing Yao saw Jiang Si through her tears and reached out to hold her tightly, sobbing.
Jiang Si gently patted Xie Qing Yao’s back and nodded slightly to Xie Yin Lou: “I’ll accompany Qing Yao inside first.”
Xie Yin Lou nodded and said softly: “Thank you for your trouble.”
Jiang Si supported Xie Qing Yao into the room and took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
Xie Qing Yao buried her face in Jiang Si’s embrace, crying heartbrokenly: “Si, I’ve lost my mother, I’ve lost my mother—”
Jiang Si opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words of comfort. A tear rolled down her cheek.
She had lost her mother before she could remember, so she had never experienced the pain of losing a mother. But in her previous life, she had tasted all sorts of misfortunes, including the pain of losing a brother and a sister. How could she not understand her friend’s current feelings?
What alarmed Jiang Si more was how different this situation was from her previous life. If she couldn’t figure out exactly why the Marchioness of Yongchang had died, she feared she would have sleepless nights.
Outside, it was still chaotic. Although Jiang Si was anxious, she knew this wasn’t the time to ask questions. She let Xie Qing Yao cry until she was exhausted before saying: “Qing Yao, can you tell me what exactly happened? How could Uncle—”
Xie Qing Yao covered her head and cried out: “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it—”
Jiang Si quickly comforted her: “Yes, I don’t believe Uncle would harm Aunt either. Uncle and Aunt were so loving, there must be some misunderstanding.”
But Xie Qing Yao suddenly put her hands down and cried woodenly: “No, my mother… was stabbed to death by my father with a candlestick. I just can’t believe such a thing could happen. Ah-Si, I must be dreaming, right?”
Xie Qing Yao suddenly came to her senses and gripped Jiang Si’s wrist tightly: “Tell me, I’m dreaming, right? When this nightmare ends, my mother will still be fine…”
Jiang Si hugged Xie Qing Yao and said softly: “Qing Yao, wake up. Aunt is gone.”
“Ah—” Xie Qing Yao cried out with all her might as if only this way could she release the pain that was about to overflow in her heart.
“Uncle and Aunt were so loving, why are you so sure it was Uncle who killed Aunt? There must be some misunderstanding—”
“No.” Xie Qing Yao had cried until her tears ran dry. She laughed bitterly, “I didn’t have the heart to tell you, but my father suffers from sleepwalking. He killed my mother while he was unconscious…”