"Are you both from Jincheng?"
In the Zhao family residence in Anding County, a woman placed two cups of clear tea on the table, her gaze sweeping over Zhong Li and Lu Wuxie as she asked.
Zhong Li nodded. Her eyes flickered over the cups before her, and she furrowed her delicate brows. She presented the token from her waist to the woman. "My companion and I are here specifically to ask you a few things."
"Ask me?" The woman blinked, her expression one of confusion.
Zhong Li did not beat around the bush. "We wish to inquire about your son, Zhao Min."
As soon as she spoke, the fruit plate the woman was holding clattered to the floor, shattering instantly.
"Who are you... asking about?" the woman asked, her brows knitted.
Zhong Li bit her lip. "Zhao Min."
"He’s been dead for nearly ten years, why are you asking about him?" The woman eyed Zhong Li and Lu Wuxie with suspicion.
Zhong Li didn't reply. Instead, she placed the hairpin she had received from Madam Qian on the table.
The woman picked it up and examined it closely. After a long while, she said, "Are you from the Changsun family?"
Zhong Li nodded. "To be frank, we are investigating a case at the Dali Temple. It involves some of Changsun Tang's past affairs. We wished to ask Madam, and we hope you do not find us troublesome."
The woman remained silent, her head lowered. Her fingertips gently traced the character 'Min' on the hairpin.
Zhong Li did not press her, simply waiting.
After a while, the woman spoke. "Min'er was my child, yes! Ten years ago, my Zhao family was betrothed to the Changsun family. However, after the Changsun family broke the engagement, my Zhao family had no further ties with them."
"Then, if I may be so bold, is it true that ten years ago Zhao Min achieved the rank of Second Scholar?" Zhong Li asked.
The woman nodded. "Yes, ten years ago, Min'er was the Second Scholar."
"Then why did he not take up his post?"
"Take up his post?" The woman offered a mournful smile. "How could he? When my son achieved the rank of Second Scholar, he was overjoyed. He wanted to marry the Changsun family daughter before taking up his post. But who would have known? When he went to the Changsun family, he learned that Changsun Tang had already been married.
By all rights, it was merely a broken engagement. Little did we know, my son was deeply in love with that Changsun Tang. He went to the Anping Marquis’s manor to demand her, but he didn't get the person and was beaten instead. From then on, he fell ill, his health failing.
My husband and I traveled far and wide seeking renowned doctors for his recovery. But Min'er seemed to have lost the will to live. He ate nothing, took no medicine, and within a few days, he passed away. You ask about his post? We certainly wished for him to go. Who would not be pleased to bring honor to the family? But in the end, my Zhao family was not destined for such fortune!"
"Then where is Zhao Min now..."
"He is dead, of course. He lies in the cemetery in the western suburbs. Where else would he be?" The woman pulled at her lips and said coldly.
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li was about to offer words of comfort.
The woman spoke first, "I have told you everything I know. You may leave now."
With that, the woman walked to the door and yanked it open, her intent to dismiss them clear.
Zhong Li swallowed the words she was about to say. She clasped her hands in a salute to the woman and followed Lu Wuxie out of the Zhao residence.
During their exit, she glanced at a painting hanging on the wall. It was a landscape of mountains and water in autumn. It was not the work of a famous artist, but it was painted with vivid realism. The artist’s name was signed with a single character, Qiu, and a poem was inscribed above it.
Min Tian’s joys and sorrows, people apart,
Autumn clouds, warm sun, the northern snow,
Min Yu’s past scatters with the wind,
Autumn’s white fire turns to frost in its burning.
Zhong Li withdrew her gaze and walked away quickly. Only after some distance did she realize Lu Wuxie had not followed.
She turned to see him crouched by the wall of the Zhao residence, seemingly studying something.
"Mo Cang, what is it?" Zhong Li returned and half-crouched beside Lu Wuxie, asking what he was examining.
Lu Wuxie held a handful of soil, rubbing it between his fingers. "This soil is wrong."
"Wrong?" Zhong Li leaned closer. "It's dark crimson. This soil..."
Lu Wuxie looked up at the Zhao residence, then at the surroundings. "Yes. If I’m not mistaken, there was a large fire here before. And look, the Zhao family’s house and the surrounding neighbors are clearly newer. It seems to be the result of renovation."
"This is bad!" Zhong Li exclaimed upon hearing this. She grabbed Lu Wuxie and hurried towards their carriage. "Let's go to the western suburbs cemetery and find the Zhao family’s ancestral grave. If I’m not mistaken, it should be an empty grave."
At the same time, at the Anping Marquis’s manor.
After finishing her evening meal, Madam Lei knelt by the window, gazing at the sunset. She seemed preoccupied, her face etched with a rare seriousness.
"Why is Fourth Concubine so unhappy?" The maidservant Dong Shu entered, holding a fruit platter.
Madam Lei remained silent, merely taking an apple from the plate and popping it into her mouth.
"The First Madam is dead, and the Second Madam met with an accident. Out of the four masters in this manor, three are gone. The Anping Marquis cannot go a day without a mistress. Fourth Concubine, your fortune has arrived." Dong Shu said.
Madam Lei shook her head, her gaze fixed on the darkening sky. "I have no interest in being the mistress of this manor."
"Is Fourth Concubine afraid?" Dong Shu asked again.
Madam Lei bit her lip, remaining silent. She was indeed timid. Since the successive deaths in the manor recently, she had become even more fearful of such inauspicious events befalling her.
"Fourth Concubine has never done anything wrong, so do not worry about unfounded fears," Dong Shu added.
"Dong Shu, you do not know." Madam Lei’s fingertips, holding the apple, trembled as she heard Dong Shu’s words. "If I had truly done nothing wrong, my Ning'er would not be dead."
Hearing her mention the name, Dong Shu’s expression of joy for her mistress gradually faded. "Fourth Concubine misses the young mistress, doesn’t she? That time..."
"That time was not an accident, it was retribution!" Madam Lei interrupted Dong Shu. "If I had not deceived Tang'er..."
"Fourth Concubine was forced!" Dong Shu countered. "It was the Second Madam who held Miss Ning hostage that made you act that way. It cannot be blamed on Fourth Concubine; Fourth Concubine was also forced into it."
"No..." Madam Lei bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. "I have always been timid. I always act hesitantly. So what if the second branch held Ning'er hostage? If I had been braver, she would not have died. And after that, my Ning'er would not have met with misfortune."
"Fourth Concubine?" Dong Shu frowned, looking at Madam Lei. Earlier, she had felt Fourth Concubine was a bit absent-minded, but now she seemed even more so. No matter how much she said, Madam Lei didn’t seem to be listening.
As soon as she finished speaking, the apple in Madam Lei’s hand dropped to the floor. By the time she reacted, Madam Lei had already stood up and walked towards the door.
"Fourth Concubine, where are you going?" Dong Shu asked, a little bewildered. It was so late, with two courtyards draped in white mourning sashes and one abandoned. What was Madam Lei intending to do?
Madam Lei walked on without a word.
Dong Shu quickly grabbed an outer cloak and followed her.
Madam Lei walked out of her own courtyard and headed straight towards the back courtyard.
"Fourth Concubine, please slow down. The sun has set, and the lamps are not yet lit in the courtyard. Be careful not to trip," Dong Shu reminded her from behind.
Madam Lei still didn't speak. When she reached a well in the back courtyard, she murmured, "Dong Shu, look. My Ning'er is beckoning to me there."
Dong Shu was startled by these words and stopped in her tracks. She squinted into the darkness, but there was no sign of Chang Ning.
"Fourth Concubine, perhaps you are mistaken. We... Ah! Fourth Concubine!!" Before Dong Shu could finish speaking, she saw Madam Lei quicken her steps, calling out 'Ning'er, wait for Mama,' before falling directly into the well.