"I'm doing this for your own good!"
"You're not doing it for my good, you're doing it for your own wealth and status!" Although Xiao Ting was young, she was always shrewd, otherwise, she wouldn't have coaxed Old Madam Xiao to take her everywhere. "If I were to seduce my elder sister's fiancé during the mourning period, even if I succeeded, I wouldn't be able to enter the Wen family. I would also incur my grandmother's displeasure and my sister's hatred. The world would call me shameless and debauched. At that point, forget about surviving; even if my elder sister didn't kill me, His Majesty would! You still dare to say you're doing this for my good!"
Concubine Lin shivered, "It's not as serious as you say..."
"I don't want to talk to you anymore. You used me to poison my elder sister before and almost killed me. That's in the past, and I don't want to argue with you. Now you've gone from bad to worse, even thinking of such a foolish plan!" Xiao Ting really wanted to open Concubine Lin's head to see if it was filled with paste, how could she come up with such a terrible idea!
"What are you afraid of her for? The general is gone now, and she has no backing. She doesn't dare to be as arrogant as before!"
"Calling you stupid is overestimating you; you're simply brainless! Do you think my elder sister's backing is Father? Her backing has never been Father!" Xiao Ting pointed at Concubine Lin's face and cursed furiously, her body trembling uncontrollably. "Don't bring your courtesan tricks to me! Don't use the methods you use against those lowly men to deal with my elder sister. If she gets ruthless, you'll be lucky if you know how you died!"
"Fourth Miss, I am your birth mother!"
"If you weren't my birth mother, I would have had you dragged out and beaten to death long ago!" Xiao Ting was so angry her face turned pale. How could she have such a stupid mother? She used to think Concubine San was stupid, but even though she was stupid, she wouldn't let her own daughter do such a shameful thing. Yet, this concubine of hers was truly shameless and had no bottom line!
"Just pretend you never gave birth to me, and don't come looking for me anymore!" The Fourth Miss stormed out of Concubine Lin's courtyard. Thinking of Concubine Lin's words, she was so angry that she secretly cried in the garden for a while before returning to the mourning hall to keep vigil.
Xiao Man inadvertently glanced at Xiao Ting, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying. Xiao Ting felt a pang of panic, then thought that she hadn't done anything shameful, so why feel guilty? But thinking of Concubine Lin's words, she started crying again. Why was she so unlucky to have such a concubine?
On the night before the burial, the three sisters all kept vigil in the mourning hall and wept several times. Wen Mohan accompanied Xiao Man as she kept vigil. Xiao Man's complexion was haggard, dressed in mourning clothes. Except for a white down flower on her head, there were no other adornments, like the white plum blossom in winter, pure and fragrant, yet touchingly beautiful.
Wen Mohan couldn't help but sigh. They say to be beautiful, three parts are due to filial piety; the ancients did not deceive me.
At the fourth watch, everyone said their goodbyes. Old Madam Xiao cried and fainted again. Xiao Man had her sent back to her room. At Chen Shi, the coffin was carried out. Xiao Man took the lead, dressed in coarse hemp, weeping. Along the way, various families set up roadside sacrifices to bid farewell. As dawn broke, citizens were already waiting on both sides of the long street to see them off.
When the coffin reached outside the city, the sound of crying within the city still echoed in her ears. Xiao Man's heart was filled with grief. Sobbing, she escorted the coffin to the ancestral grave and buried it properly, then returned to the mansion.
As soon as she returned to the mansion, Xiao Man's expression grew colder. She summoned the stewards and instructed them to manage all affairs in the mansion. She then sent for Ling Xuan to discuss matters.
Ling Xuan looked at Xiao Man, whose face was as pale as a paper effigy, and worried about her health. "Perhaps you should rest for a day and we can talk tomorrow." Su Dan Novel Network
"No need. You must have received the coroner's autopsy report. Your Jingzhao Prefecture constables were the first to arrive at the scene. I want the on-site investigation report," Xiao Man said directly.
"I guessed you would, so I brought it." Ling Xuan immediately handed the investigation report to Xiao Man. "We found that the scene of the crime had been meticulously cleaned. Bloodstains were also covered with soil. Our men overturned the soil and found that it had been cleaned at least three times."
"Meaning, at least three groups of people were at the scene of my father's murder."
"Yes."
Xiao Man's eyes deepened. It seemed her father's death was not simple. It was not a single force that killed him, but a joint effort by multiple forces.
"Yingxue, did you find out my father's whereabouts?"
"Miss, the whereabouts of the general on the day of the incident are all here."
Xiao Man took it and examined it carefully, finding no issues. After she left, Xiao Zhen first went to the Shen Du Camp. After leaving the Shen Du Camp, he returned to the general's residence to change his clothes. He sent someone to inform General Xue's mansion that he had a temporary urgent matter and could not officiate Xue Meng's wedding. Then he left the city.
"Are there no problems?"
Ling Xuan took it. "Strange, why did the general return to the residence to change clothes? After reporting for duty at the Shen Du Camp, he could have gone directly to General Xue's mansion. Why did he need to change clothes?"
Xiao Man was stunned for a moment, then remembered that the clothes Xiao Zhen was wearing were not the ones she had seen him in when she left in the morning. It was a different set. She remembered Xiao Zhen had said he would wear those new clothes to officiate Xue Meng's wedding. If he was just going out of the city to handle a small matter, why would he change out of his new clothes?
Just as they were at a loss, Wen Mohan came in with tea.
"Have some tea."
Ling Xuan took the tea and thanked her. Seeing Wen Mohan naturally sit next to Xiao Man and carefully examine the documents, he couldn't help but mutter to himself, what kind of magic potion had Xiao Man given Wen Mohan to make her so devoted?
"These whereabouts are not detailed enough," Wen Mohan said, putting down the document. "My people found out that when General Xiao left the Shen Du Camp and passed through the market, he encountered a child eating a sugar figurine. The child smeared the sugar figurine in his hand onto the general's clothes, which is why the general returned to the residence to change."
"Was that child investigated?"
"Investigated. That child did not do it on purpose," Wen Mohan said while flipping through other documents. "Several children were playing together at the time. Someone pushed that child, causing the sugar figurine to smear on the general's clothes."
"Was there anything unusual about my father at that time?"
"The child said the general told him to be careful and then left in a hurry."
"If my father had received the news at that time, he wouldn't have returned to the residence to change clothes..." Xiao Man thought carefully. "Meaning, my father discovered it while changing clothes."
"Someone secretly gave the general a letter at the market!"
Xiao Man nodded, but she searched the study and couldn't find the letter. She was truly puzzled. "Come here."
"Eldest Miss."
"Where are the clothes my father was wearing when he went out that day?"
"After washing them clean, they were stored in the cabinet. Your servant will get them immediately."
Xiao Man had a nagging feeling that she had overlooked something. "I'll go to my father's room myself."