Tianxiang had no choice but to stand there, gritting her teeth. And Granny Yun, who had just been thinking of crawling out, could only stay and stand there as well.
Tianxiang had no words to express her suffering. She herself had been implicated and received thirty-five strokes of the cane last night!
Aunt Bai angrily rebuked, "That vile woman actually found the Seventh Princess to be her backer! I'm so angry!"
"Auntie, don't be angry. Getting angry is bad for your health. If you get angry, it will affect the baby. Wouldn't that be doing what others want?" Granny Yun, seeing the situation, stepped forward and spoke tactfully to avoid the danger.
Aunt Bai calmed down after hearing this, "Hmph, tell me, what methods do you have to get rid of that little hussy!"
“Aunt, now is not the time!” Granny Yun stepped forward to massage Aunt Bai’s back, and Tianxiang, seeing Granny Yun’s expression, also stepped forward. “Yes, Aunt, the most important thing now is for the Second Miss to wake up.”
"Did Baoqi send any message? How's the American aid going?" Aunt Bai looked coldly at Tianxiang.
Granny Yun continued, "Don't worry, Auntie. Baoqi has secretly invited several doctors to see the Second Miss, and she is much better now."
"But I just heard that as soon as the eldest young lady returned to the manor, she went to the plum garden to visit the second young lady! I wonder what she did there. I'll send someone to check on her later," Tianxiang said, winking.
"Hmm." Aunt Bai nodded. "That slut definitely didn't do anything good! We'll have to find out the truth later, or I won't let you off the hook!"
"Don't worry, Auntie," Tianxiang nodded.
Granny Yun said, "I just heard that the eldest young lady also went to Lan Garden to visit the fourth young lady."
"I don't care about their affairs!" Aunt Bai glared angrily at Granny Yun.
"Furthermore, when the eldest young lady returned to Xinyuan, guess who she met, Aunt Bai?" Granny Yun was still trying to keep her in suspense, but seeing Aunt Bai's murderous gaze, she immediately said, "It was Zhang Xiuniang!"
Aunt Bai's eyes darted around. "This embroiderer... is it that Miss is thinking of winning the Wenge embroidery competition? Dream on!"
"So, this servant has a good plan to prevent the young lady from getting her way!" Granny Yun stepped forward with a sinister smile.
Aunt Bai beckoned with her finger, "Speak quickly!"
——
As night fell, the night sky was deep and dark, with barely any insect chirping, the moonlight pale, and dark clouds covering the sky.
Ji Wushang put down the embroidery in her hands, stretched her body, then stood up, walked around a few times, turned around, looked at the peony she had just finished embroidering, raised it, and looked at the big red peony.
"Miss's needlework has improved a lot!" Zhu'er said as she brought in a bowl of bird's nest soup. "Miss, please rest for a bit and have some bird's nest soup!"
"Leave it there." Ji Wushang looked at the peony embroidery. "It's all thanks to the embroiderer's excellent teaching." Ji Wushang chuckled twice, folded the embroidery neatly, and placed it aside. "I'll go thank her in person tomorrow. What gift do you think would be best to give her?"
"Zhu'er, are you thinking of giving me a hairpin?" Zhu'er asked with a smile.
“No, hairpins are a bit too common. She has plenty of hairpins!” Ji Wushang smiled. “Let’s give her this big red peony design instead!” Ji Wushang glanced back at the embroidery. “Let her see my skills.”
"Yes," Pearl replied with a smile.
☆、127 The embroiderer is dead, and Wu Shang seeks revenge!
Ji Wushang smiled, then drank the bird's nest soup before letting Zhu'er tidy up and put the embroidery away.
Exhausted, Ji Wushang fell asleep quickly after lying down on the bed.
The night passed peacefully, and Ji Wushang felt that he had slept very soundly.
Even when Lian Zhu'er called Ji Wushang to get up in the morning, he couldn't move. However, Ji Wushang was thinking about showing Zhang Xiuniang the embroidery he had made, so he still got up to do his makeup.
"Zhu'er, go and find out if the embroiderer is up yet, whether she's in the embroidery workshop or somewhere else," Ji Wushang said to Zhu'er, who was making the bed, as she asked Xian'er to help her with her hair and makeup.
Zhu'er responded and immediately ran outside, but unexpectedly, she bumped into a maid. Zhu'er immediately stepped back, steadied herself, and then exclaimed, "You, are you blind?!"
The little maid was clearly a third-class maid, no match for the head maid Zhu'er. She immediately knelt down and said, "Sister Zhu'er, it was my fault. Please forgive me. But I really had something important to tell the young lady, so I had no choice but to rush at you!"
"What's wrong?" Zhu'er felt uneasy and immediately asked, stepping forward to help her up.
The young maidservant, seeing Zhu'er help her up, was overjoyed, "The embroiderer is dead!"
"What?" Zhu'er was shocked. Just now, the young lady had asked her to go and see where Zhang Xiuniang was so that she could give her the peony embroidery!
"Go inside and talk!" Zhu'er sensed something was wrong and immediately pulled the little maid into the room. The little maid immediately knelt down at Ji Wushang's feet.
Ji Wushang was still doing her makeup at the dressing table when she saw the little maid kneeling at her feet and asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"
"Young Miss, something terrible has happened! Zhang Xiuniang is dead!" the maidservant exclaimed immediately.
Ji Wushang was surprised and immediately stood up. "What did you say? How did he die? Where is he?"
"Reporting to Miss, Zhang Xiuniang committed suicide by drowning herself in the lake. Her body is currently beside the lotus pond!"
Upon hearing this, Ji Wushang casually tied up her hair, secured it with a white jade hairpin, and ran out. This was utterly absurd! Zhang Xiuniang had been chatting happily with her just yesterday! How could she have jumped into the lake and committed suicide today!
Zhu'er, Xian'er, and the little maid all quickly followed Ji Wushang.
Ji Wushang ran through several corridors and finally saw a large group of people gathered in front of him. At this time, he saw that Aunt Qin and Aunt Bai were also there, while Ji Dingbei should have gone to court and was unaware of this matter.
Ji Wushang immediately rushed forward, pushing through the crowd, "Auntie, what's going on?"
As Aunt Qin saw Ji Wushang approaching, she immediately said, "I don't know what happened, but Zhang Xiuniang actually committed suicide by drowning herself in the lake!"
"No!" Ji Wushang shook her head, and then was about to lift the white cloth covering Zhang Xiuniang, but she was immediately stopped by Tie Feng, "Miss, she is dead, please accept our condolences!"
"No, someone must have murdered her! She and I were having a good chat yesterday, how could she suddenly do something like this?" Ji Wushang said solemnly, "Someone must have killed Zhang Xiuniang! Who discovered Zhang Xiuniang's suicide by drowning?"
“I say, Miss, the person is already dead, it’s obvious it was suicide! People can easily become depressed! How can you explain so much!” Aunt Bai was fanning herself from the side.
Ji Wushang narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Aunt Bai. "Then why didn't Aunt Bai commit suicide?"
"What did you say! Why would I commit suicide! I want to live a good life!" Aunt Bai was immediately unhappy upon hearing Ji Wushang's words.
Ji Wushang rolled his eyes at her, then looked at the crowd and asked coldly, "None of you answered my question! Who saw Zhang Xiuniang drown herself in the lake or saw her body? Step forward now!"
"Yes, it was this servant." Knowing Ji Wushang's sternness, the maidservant dared not hide any longer, and knelt on the ground, saying, "It was this servant who saw it."
"Tell me the details!" Ji Wushang added coldly.
"This morning, when I passed by this lotus pond, I saw a person floating on the surface. I went closer to take a look, and to my surprise, it was a person! I was terrified and rushed over to report it to Brother Tiewei. When they pulled her out, it was Zhang Xiuniang." The maid's face was flustered, clearly showing she had been frightened. Ji Wushang nodded as he listened, then turned to Tiefeng, "Did you send someone to pull her out?"
"Reporting to Miss, it was indeed my men who retrieved Zhang Xiuniang. She had been dead for some time when she was pulled out. Please accept my condolences, Miss." Tie Feng knew that Zhang Xiuniang had been going to Ji Wushang's place these past few days and knew about the friendship between Zhang Xiuniang and Ji Wushang.
"Has the coroner arrived yet?" Ji Wushang felt certain that someone had murdered Zhang Xiuniang, killing her and then throwing her into the lotus pond to create the illusion of drowning! He didn't understand why anyone would kill Zhang Xiuniang. Was it just because she taught him needlework? He had only wanted to avoid bringing shame to the General's Mansion in the Wen Ge embroidery competition; did he really need to invite envy?
"I've already sent someone to call for her," Aunt Qin stepped forward. "Alas, yet another poor soul."
"Zhang Xiuniang hasn't married yet, what a pity!" A maidservant looked on with sorrow and muttered in the crowd.
"Yes, I heard she and the young lady were very close. I never imagined she would end up like this..."
"I don't know, I don't know if it was really suicide..."
"Why commit suicide? Couldn't you stand the young lady...?"
...
Ji Wushang frowned as he listened. Was this really shifting all the blame onto him? Had he mistreated Zhang Xiuniang?
"Who's chattering away over there? Do you have nothing better to do? If you like talking so much, are you going to keep doing this for the next ten days or so?" Aunt Qin saw the displeasure on Ji Wushang's face and immediately scolded the group of maids.
The maids over there dared not say anything more, lowering their heads and not daring to look at Ji Wushang or Aunt Qin.
Ji Wushang glanced coldly at Aunt Bai, who was secretly gloating. Hadn't she broken Ji Wushang's arm this time? Thinking of winning? Dream on! Who didn't know that the eldest young lady's needlework was the worst among all the young ladies? Anyway, Ji Meiyuan was about to wake up; with more practice, she would definitely be able to win!
At this moment, the coroner arrived with his men. Ji Wushang immediately had them brought over. The coroner gently lifted the white cloth with his hand. No one around dared to look. Ji Wushang saw from the corner that Zhang Xiuniang's cheeks were swollen, seemingly from blisters. Her hands were tightly clenched, as if she were holding onto something. Her eyes were bulging, making it impossible to look directly at her.
Ji Wushang felt nauseous and immediately turned away, unable to bear looking. Aunt Qin was also frightened, so she pulled Ji Wushang aside, saying, "Miss, if you're feeling unwell, don't look."
"I'm fine." Ji Wushang turned around and watched the coroner examine her while reading aloud. The young apprentice on the other side was taking notes: "Swelling in both cheeks, caused by soaking. Swelling under the eyelids, stiff limbs, dead for some time, no signs of struggle on the body... Preliminary diagnosis: suicide by drowning." After saying that, the coroner began to pack up and leave.
Ji Wushang stepped forward and said, "Why didn't you check if there was any sand in her stomach? If she had drowned herself in the lake, there should have been sand and silt in her stomach. You didn't check, so how can you be so sure that it wasn't because her body was dumped after death and became swollen from being submerged in water?"
Upon hearing this, the coroner immediately looked at Ji Wushang and said, "Miss, the person is already dead. To start examining the stomach now would be such a waste of time. There weren't even any signs of struggle. How could there be any possibility of homicide?"
"Hmph, yes, there are no signs of struggle. If it were poison, it would have killed you instantly. How could you possibly struggle?" Ji Wushang sneered.
The coroner, listening intently, broke out in a cold sweat. "Young Miss, you can't say things like that..."
"Then why aren't you checking it right away?" Ji Wushang snapped. "Or do I have to teach you?"
"No, no, I wouldn't dare." The coroner had no choice but to squat down and re-examine the body. He forced the guard standing nearby to help pry open Zhang Xiuniang's mouth, then inserted a long object and stirred it inside...
When it was pulled out, there was not a trace of dirt or mud, which clearly showed that Zhang Xiuniang was killed and her body was dumped in the lotus pond!
Those around were shocked. They never expected that someone had really killed Zhang Xiuniang and staged her death as a suicide! The young lady was clever enough to see through the deception!
However, at the same time, everyone felt fear. They never expected Zhang Xiuniang to die. How would they know who would be next?
Ji Wushang walked up to Aunt Bai and sneered, "Does Aunt Bai still believe that Zhang Xiuniang committed suicide?"
"Now that there is evidence to prove that Zhang Xiuniang did not commit suicide but was murdered, we must get to the bottom of this!" Aunt Bai knew that everyone's eyes were on her, so she said some nice words.
Ji Wushang turned around, "Of course, if the murderer is allowed to go unpunished, then even more people will suffer! This manor will never have peace again!"
"Tiefeng, this matter is entrusted to you! Report any leads you may have!" Aunt Qin commanded, displaying the airs of a true lady.
Tie Feng immediately accepted the order.
"When the master returns later, you must report this matter truthfully, without missing a single word!" Aunt Qin said again.
"Yes." Tie Feng nodded again.
As Ji Wushang watched Zhang Xiuniang being carried away from the ground, he felt a pang of sorrow. She was perfectly healthy, yet she was murdered. For a moment, Ji Wushang felt a strong urge to visit Zhang Xiuniang's room; despite spending so many days together, he had never once paid her a visit.
As the body was carried away, the onlookers dispersed to go about their business. Aunt Bai looked at Ji Wushang, then at Aunt Qin, and sneered inwardly, "Even if they know it was murder, so what? They still won't be able to find out! In the end, it will all be swept under the rug! Hmph, you dare to mess with me? You're still too green!"
Ji Wushang's eyes were cold at this moment. He saw the cold smile on Bai Yiniang's lips and felt uneasy. However, it was not hard to guess that Bai Yiniang must have sent someone to kill Zhang Xiuniang!
"Zhu'er, go to the embroidery shop and take a look." Ji Wushang wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and said firmly.
"Yes." Zhu'er stepped forward, noticing Ji Wushang's red eyes, and whispered worriedly, "Miss, are you alright?"
"It's nothing, just some sand in my eye!" Ji Wushang smiled and then walked out.
When they arrived at the embroidery workshop, they had just entered the courtyard when they heard faint sobbing. Ji Wushang sighed inwardly and went inside.
"Young Miss is here!" It must have been a sharp-eyed maid who spotted Ji Wushang and immediately announced it to the embroidery workshop inside. Instantly, all the maids from the embroidery workshop came out to greet her and knelt down.
"Greetings, Miss." The maids immediately bowed.
Ji Wushang lowered his eyes and saw that all the maids had red eyes, obviously having cried, and one or two were secretly wiping away tears with their sleeves.
"Get up, all of you!" Ji Wushang said, and then walked into the room. Inside, there were tables of various sizes, several chairs beside the tables, and dozens of embroidered pieces on the tables.
Ji Wushang stepped forward, picked up the embroidery pieces, and examined them. They were various flowers and birds, with a wide variety of styles and exquisite workmanship.