"I was hiding far away, so I couldn't hear clearly. I only heard Madam say that the Marquis had been lying to her, and that she never expected it to be him."
"It was one day they had a huge fight, and then a few days later, Madam suddenly fled the Marquis's mansion with the young lady, but they were quickly caught."
Su Yunmo frowned, trying hard to recall the event, but found nothing.
She was too young then, and her memories weren't deep.
Seeing the little dumpling's unhappy expression, Linlang stepped forward, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to her.
Su Yunmo held the teacup and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Third Concubine: "After that, another ten-plus days passed, and Madam suddenly fell ill."
"She was sick for seven or eight days without getting better, and finally died spitting blood. But in reality, she wasn't sick at all. It was the Marquis who ordered someone to poison her regular tea."
'Crack!' The teacup in Su Yunmo's hand was suddenly crushed.
She gritted her teeth, her eyes bloodshot, "Nonsense!"
How could this be, how could this be possible!
How could Mother have been poisoned by Lin Zequ? No matter what, she couldn't accept such a truth!
Third Concubine was startled by her reaction.
Linlang quickly stepped forward, used her sleeve to wipe away the hot tea from her hand, then blew on it a few times, rubbed it, and softly called out 'Young Mistress' to remind her.
Su Yunmo gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and looked at Third Concubine, "Words are not evidence. Where is the proof?"
"It's been so long since then, where can I find any evidence?" Third Concubine frowned and recalled for a long time, then suddenly remembered something.
"After Madam passed away, there was a wet nurse who took care of the young lady. That wet nurse seemed to have desperately protected something from Madam, and after that, the wet nurse was also silenced."
"That thing's whereabouts are unknown, and even the Marquis couldn't find it."
Su Yunmo's heart trembled, her fingers tightening bit by bit.
She already knew what the wet nurse had protected.
She subconsciously touched her chest, gritting her teeth.
She didn't remember much about her mother's affairs, but she remembered everything about the wet nurse's final moments.
She placed the glazed lock in a fortune bag and gave it to her, repeatedly telling her never to let Lin Zequ see what was inside the fortune bag.
Although she was young and ignorant at the time, because the wet nurse died not long after, she had always followed her last wish and never let that man see the glazed lock.
He didn't even know about the existence of the fortune bag, so naturally, he couldn't find the glazed lock.
"I've said what I needed to say. Can I leave now?" Third Concubine begged in a low voice.
Originally, she had thought of coming to the General's mansion to lie low, but now it seemed this was not a place to stay.
Lin Zequ was ruthless. Knowing that she had stolen some money from the mansion this year, he was furious and wanted to kill her. If he were to find out that she still had a husband and children in her hometown, he would surely tear her to pieces.
In that case, it would be safer for her to leave the capital as soon as possible.
Su Yunmo didn't speak, she just waved her hand.
Linlang then took Third Concubine out and arranged for her.
A moment later, Linlang returned, opened the door to air out the bloody smell in the room, and cleaned up the mess on the ground.
The door was left open, and the cold wind blew in.
Su Yunmo shivered from the cold, and her heart seemed to grow colder bit by bit.
Seeing her pale face, Linlang pursed her lips with heartache and knelt on one knee before her, "Young Mistress, the dead cannot be revived. Please don't be sad anymore."
Lin Zequ dared to do such a thing, he would definitely pay the price, but the young mistress mustn't be too sad and hurt her body because of it.
Ever since she started following the young mistress, she hadn't seen her have a single leisurely day.
She was too overworked.
Su Yunmo shook her head, curled up with her head in her hands, looking exhausted.
She had already fully understood the war in Southern Xinjiang that year. Lin Zequ first took revenge by killing the former king of Southern Xinjiang, who was her maternal grandfather.
Then, he used his authority to marry her mother, who had come for a political marriage.
She had always wondered why her mother had a child with him, knowing he was her father's killer. She had always thought it was because she had no choice for the sake of the people of Southern Xinjiang.
Now it seemed her mother might not have known about this at the time.
After all, her mother was young when she came for the political marriage, and she hadn't been to the battlefield, nor had she met Lin Zequ.
Furthermore, Lin Zequ was not the main general on the battlefield at the time. He only became a Marquis after returning to the capital by relying on the Luo family.
One was a small参将 (canjiang - assistant general) in the army, and the other was a Marquis of a prominent family in the capital. Ordinary people would not confuse these two.
Moreover, since Lin Zequ wanted the glazed lock from her mother, he naturally intended to conceal the events of that year.
Third Concubine said they had argued, which probably meant her mother had discovered that Lin Zequ was her father's killer, and that was why she fled with her young self.
And Lin Zequ, fearing she would make a big fuss, had to cut the weeds and remove the roots before slowly searching for the glazed lock.
"Heh, this is truly laughable." Su Yunmo took out the glazed lock from her embrace, her gaze falling on it with immense irony.
"He probably never expected such a precious item to fall into the hands of his daughter, whom he had never valued."
Linlang couldn't bear to see her sad and said in a deep voice, "What do you want to do, Young Mistress?"
No matter what the young mistress decided to do, even if she decided to kill Lin Zequ right now, she would rush into the Marquis's mansion with a short knife without a second word.
Su Yunmo pondered for a moment, shook her head, and jumped down from the stool, "Come with me to the Imperial Prince's mansion."
Simply killing him wouldn't make up for his sins. She wanted to make him feel that living was worse than death!
Linlang bowed and said 'Yes,' then went to prepare the carriage.
Lü Luo came in from outside the courtyard with food and was stunned when she saw them, "Miss? Are you planning to go out? It's already very late, it's time for dinner."
Su Yunmo frowned and looked at the sky. Unknowingly, it was already dusk.
Linlang suppressed some of her indignation and softly advised, "Young Mistress, it is indeed getting late. There's no rush for revenge. Why not go tomorrow?"
Su Yunmo sighed, thinking that with the end of the year approaching, the Imperial Prince's affairs were indeed numerous, so she nodded in agreement.
Lü Luo brought the food into the house.
By then, the smell of blood in the room had completely dissipated.
Lü Luo didn't notice anything unusual and happily chatted with them.
"When I went out to buy things today, I heard many people on the street saying that General Luo is returning soon, and many people are planning to go to the city gate to welcome him on the day of General Luo's return."
"Speaking of the Luo family, they are truly remarkable. Old Master Luo assisted the late Emperor back then. After the late Emperor passed away, Old Master Luo also resigned and retired, and General Luo took over to assist the new Emperor."
"To be honest, the Emperor's regard for General Luo back then was, in some ways, even higher than that of Duke Yingguo."
"This is actually normal. After all, the Empress is General Luo's younger sister. No matter from which aspect, it seems the Luo family is closer to the Emperor."