Aman nodded emphatically, “That’s right. They say her intestines were strewn all over the floor. The maid sent by Marquis Yongchang’s household to fetch her was so frightened she wet herself. But, servant girl thinks this is karmic retribution—”
At this point, Aman suddenly stopped, her almond-shaped eyes widening.
“What is it?” Jiang Si raised an eyebrow.
Aman began to stutter, “M-Miss, you said the other day that evil people will face heaven’s judgment. Could it be—”
“Hmm?”
Aman caught her breath and continued, “Could it be that you had already seen the dark clouds over Diviner Liu’s brow, foretelling her impending doom?”
“Ahem, ahem.” Jiang Si couldn’t help but cough.
A-Qiao hurriedly patted Jiang Si’s back and glared at Aman, “What nonsense are you spouting? Our Miss isn’t one of those fortune-tellers.”
Jiang Si didn’t mind and smiled, “No need for fortune-telling. If you walk by the river often enough, your shoes are bound to get wet. Do enough evil deeds, and even if heaven doesn’t punish you, someone will.”
Aman sat on a small stool, chin in her hands, “I wonder which hero did this good deed?”
“Alright, go do your work. Why are you telling Miss such frightening things?” A-Qiao pulled Aman out.
Not long after, A-Qiao returned with a calling card in hand, “Miss, this is from Miss Xie, the eldest daughter of Marquis Yongchang’s household.”
Xie Qing’ao had visited Jiang Si twice since she fell ill after being slighted at a banquet over a month ago and later broke off her engagement with Duke An’s household. She was one of Jiang Si’s few close friends.
Jiang Si smiled as she held the card.
Xie Qing’ao had a lively personality; she must be coming to exchange gossip.
Jiang Si wrote a reply and handed it to A-Qiao to send out.
Marquis Yongchang’s residence was right next to Earl Dongping’s, and before long, Xie Qing’ao arrived.
Xie Qing’ao, who was about the same age as Jiang Si, had an apple-shaped face with dimples on both cheeks. She smiled before speaking, “A-Si, I’m here.”
Jiang Si, already seated at the tea table, had prepared a pot of clear tea and several plates of snacks.
Xie Qing’ao sat down opposite her without hesitation.
The young lady’s cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyes sparkled. Jiang Si knew this was a sign that her friend had a belly full of words to say.
“Have some tea first to moisten your throat.” Jiang Si pushed a cup of clear tea towards Xie Qing’ao.
Xie Qing’ao took a few sips and then lowered her voice mysteriously, “Something terrifying happened today.”
“Pfft.” Aman, standing to the side, couldn’t help but laugh.
Xie Qing’ao looked at Aman, puzzled.
Aman quickly lowered her head, putting on an obedient expression.
Knowing that Jiang Si’s maid wasn’t very clever, Xie Qing’ao didn’t mind. She leaned forward, pressing her hands on the table, “That Diviner Liu who came to your house to perform exorcisms was killed last night!”
Seeing no reaction from Jiang Si, Xie Qing’ao gave her a push, “Aren’t you surprised? Isn’t it scary? Come on, show some reaction.”
“Surprising, scary!” Jiang Si nodded seriously.
Xie Qing’ao stared at Jiang Si for a while, then deflated, “You’re always like this, even if you’re scared to death, you’d still hold it in.”
When she was younger, she didn’t like Jiang Si, always feeling that she wasn’t on the same level as Jiang Si, who was always beautifully dressed and whose smile was always just right.
One time, she pestered her brother to take her out to play, but after sneaking out, her brother, who was at that awkward age, ditched her.
Standing stupidly on the street corner with a candied haw stick, she was surrounded by some naughty children who pulled at her skirt and pigtails. It was Jiang Si who commanded Aman, who was half a head taller than children their age, to rescue her.
From that time on, she became attached to Jiang Si.
Her A-Si was as beautiful as a flower, cold on the outside but warm-hearted, with more good qualities than she could count on one hand. Much more reliable than her rascal of a brother.
Jiang Si didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
If it were before, she did have too much pride.
Losing her mother at a young age and the fact that her father’s title couldn’t be passed down to the next generation had brought her many strange looks into this circle. Whether it was sympathy and pity, or indifference and contempt, neither was what she wanted.
She could only pretend not to care, to look down on it all, as if only then she wouldn’t be looked down upon.
However, after experiencing those life-and-death situations, she had grown up in an extremely short time and had come to her senses.
“After all, I didn’t see it with my own eyes. To say I’m afraid, well, I can’t say that,” Jiang Si said, picking up a rose-shaped pastry and handing it over.
The pastry, shaped like a rose, looked exquisite. Xie Qing’ao took a bite and sighed, “A-Qiao is a treasure. These pastries are getting more and more delicious.”
After finishing a rose pastry, Xie Qing’ao wiped the corners of her mouth and sighed, “Diviner Liu was so capable that even my mother regarded her as a living immortal. Who would have thought she’d die just like that.”
“Was it your mother who wanted to invite Diviner Liu to your household?” Jiang Si asked.
Xie Qing’ao had no secrets from Jiang Si, so she naturally had nothing to hide, “Yes, my mother didn’t breathe a word about why she wanted to invite Diviner Liu. Today, when she heard about Diviner Liu’s violent death, she sat motionless for a long time and even shed tears. I couldn’t help but come to ask you, was Diviner Liu really that capable?”
“She was able to cure my grandmother’s eye ailment, so I suppose Diviner Liu did have some real skills,” Jiang Si said calmly.
She had promised Diviner Liu fame and fortune, and she hadn’t gone back on her word. It was just that Diviner Liu wasn’t destined to enjoy it.
Considering what Diviner Liu had done to those innocent young ladies and her brother, her death was not to be pitied. Jiang Si couldn’t muster any sympathy.
Moreover, given Diviner Liu’s current fame, if she wanted to do evil, she could do great evil. So, by pushing Diviner Liu to this point, Jiang Si’s sin would be great.
It could be said that from the moment she sent Aman to find Diviner Liu, she had essentially given Diviner Liu a push toward the netherworld.
“Then I’m even more worried,” Xie Qing’ao frowned in distress. “My mother shed tears upon hearing of Diviner Liu’s violent death, which shows she had high hopes for whatever she was going to ask Diviner Liu. What difficult situation could my mother be facing?”
What difficult situation had the Marchioness of Yongchang encountered recently?
Jiang Si thought carefully.
In her previous life, at this time, her marriage had been brought forward, and in the rush, she hadn’t paid much attention to outside affairs. If there was something from the Marquis Yongchang’s household that had spread to the outside world, there was indeed one incident.
For some unknown reason, the Marquis of Yongchang had ended up sleeping in a pigsty at a household on the street. The family only discovered him early in the morning when they heard the pigs squealing in irritation.
Naturally, the incident of the Marquis sleeping with pigs instantly topped Beijing’s annual gossip chart, providing a huge treat for gossip enthusiasts.
Apart from the embarrassment, the direct impact of this incident was that the engagement talks between the Marquis’s heir, Xie Yinlou, and a young lady’s family came to an abrupt end.
After all, with a mentally unstable father, who knew if the son might not also have a fit and go sleep with pigs?
Jiang Si remembered that Xie Yinlou, who could barely be considered her childhood sweetheart, was still unmarried the year she died.
“Generally speaking, if a woman encounters a difficult problem, nine times out of ten it’s related to her husband,” Jiang Si hinted carefully.
After all, it was her good friend’s elder, so she couldn’t directly say that soon your father would be sleeping with pigs, and then your brother’s almost settled engagement would fall through.
Xie Qing’ao suddenly slapped the table, “Could it be that my father is keeping a mistress outside!”