"Thank you, Princess Consort." The coroner nodded and then squatted down to examine the body. Ji Wushang slightly tilted her head and looked at the body on the ground, as well as at the coroner's movements.
Having already died once, he was no longer afraid of life or death, nor of separation. Therefore, Ji Wushang did not feel much aversion to seeing such a corpse.
Aunt Zhao also came forward, staring intently, a cryptic smile appearing on her lips, which quickly vanished, leaving no room for interpretation. However, Ji Wushang took all of this into account.
It was all planned! I won't let her have her way! Her goal this time is to make me lose my standing among the servants so that she can elevate her own, right? I'll make sure her status plummets and she loses all her authority among the servants!
Seeing that it was almost done, Ji Wushang asked, "Old sir, how is the situation?"
"Your Highness, the person did indeed die by hanging," the coroner concluded after examining the body.
Ji Wushang nodded, "Has the old gentleman discovered anything else?"
"She must have leaned forward and then hanged herself. Judging from the chair that was kicked away, the deceased did not struggle much beforehand."
"Of course there was no struggle. People's hearts are dead, how can they struggle!" Aunt Zhao sneered.
Ji Wushang glanced at her and continued to ask the coroner, "Can the old gentleman roughly deduce when she died?"
"It was probably around the beginning of the You hour (5 PM Beijing time)."
Ji Wushang checked the time. It was around 8 PM Beijing time, which meant he had been dead for less than three hours. This meant that Huanfei had been punished around 1 PM to 3 PM Beijing time, which was several hours in between, during which time he could do many things.
Ji Wushang nodded, but didn't ask any more questions, as if he was thinking about something.
Just then, Zhao Yiniang's other head maid, Yan Shou, rushed forward, "Huanfei, Huanfei, why can't you think straight! The Princess Consort hit you, so what? It's not a big deal. Just bear with it and it will pass. Why can't you think straight!" With tears and snot streaming down her face, everyone present felt that Yan Shou and Huanfei had a deep sisterly bond!
Ji Wushang's lips curled up slightly. He didn't look at them or try to stop Yan Shou from crying. He simply opened the blood-written letter he had just received.
As soon as Aunt Zhao saw Ji Wushang open the blood-written letter, she stepped forward and asked loudly, "What does it say?"
Is she afraid others won't know that Huanfei wrote a letter in blood? Should I read it to her myself? Or should I just fulfill her wish? Ji Wushang's face darkened, her delicate brows furrowing tightly. "This, how could this be! How could she write such words?"
"What are you saying? As the saying goes, a dying man's words are good. I suppose Huanfei has some resentment in her heart, so she wrote these words to express her grief. This blood letter, hehe, why doesn't the Crown Princess read it aloud so that everyone can see it? If the Crown Princess is too tired, then let me, her concubine, read it for her!" Once she seized on a point, Aunt Zhao would not let it go!
Ji Wushang gave her a cold look, his gaze as if he wanted to slowly torture her to death!
Aunt Zhao felt a chill run down her spine. Just as she was about to confirm her gaze again, Ji Wushang said rather helplessly, "Aunt, it's best not to read out the blood oath written by the dead! Otherwise, it's disrespectful to the deceased!"
What respect! She's just a maid! With a single command, I can send dozens more maids into the manor! It's an honor for Huanfei to die this time! I promised her a settlement allowance, and she's still expecting respect!
Aunt Zhao feigned sorrow, saying, "Although that's true, since it was written in blood, there must have been something she wanted to tell everyone. Is the Crown Princess perhaps trying to hide something? Is that why she doesn't want anyone to know what's written in the blood letter?"
She's probably afraid of losing face in front of everyone, right? I want her to lose face in front of all these servants so that no one will work for her anymore!
"What do you mean by that, Aunt? Do I need to hide something from you?" Ji Wushang said angrily. "Aunt keeps saying she wants to see Huanfei's blood letter. Humph, if you want to see it, here you go!" Ji Wushang handed her the blood letter with a hint of anger. Aunt Zhao was overjoyed and immediately opened it. After glancing at the blood letter, she found that it was full of criticisms of Ji Wushang.
Aunt Zhao was overjoyed. Looking at Ji Wushang, who seemed furious, Aunt Zhao was even happier. "Then I'll read it!"
"Hmph!" Ji Wushang snorted lightly.
Aunt Zhao, beaming with smugness, completely missed the cunning glint in Ji Wushang's eyes. Instead, she loudly proclaimed, "...I was truly forced to hang myself. I couldn't bear the Princess Consort's punishment; she wanted me dead! Waaah, my poor elderly parents and younger brother, who will take care of them!...If any of you find my body, please take it back to my hometown..."
Ji Wushang frowned slightly as she listened. It was truly remarkable that the person who actually wrote it could utter such words! Could a lowly maidservant possibly write such fluent sentences? As far as she knew, she had investigated everyone in the Marquis's mansion; they were all from impoverished families and had received very little education! In the Great Xia Zhou Dynasty, only daughters of wealthy families had the opportunity to receive more education and thus could write such neat characters!
I just looked at the blood-written letter myself. Judging from the dryness of the blood, it must have been prepared in advance! At least it wasn't written on the spot before hanging! Three hours shouldn't have made the blood-written letter completely dry, especially since it was written in blood, which should be even less likely to dry!
If you start counting from the time after the punishment, the blood letter might have dried up!
"Princess Consort, what do you think? Sigh, this maid is really something, how could she write such a blood letter!" Aunt Zhao looked at Ji Wushang with a provocative gaze, feeling very excited. She was finally going to make her worthless!
Hearing Aunt Zhao speak like this and read out Huanfei's blood letter, the servants around them began to talk about Ji Wushang in private, saying that Ji Wushang had forced this maid to her death!
Ji Wushang looked at Aunt Zhao with amusement. Aunt Zhao, seeing her reaction, was taken aback. Shouldn't she be angry? Her anger just now was quite good! She loved seeing that expression on her face, seeing her fury, seeing her scream! Seeing her act like a shrew in front of everyone! Had she miscalculated Ji Wushang's reaction? No! Just a moment ago she seemed very angry! She was definitely thinking of a solution! She was just feigning calm! She absolutely had a chance to bring her down!
At this moment, Ji Wushang smiled slightly. It was as if Aunt Zhao's fierce fist had hit soft air, making Aunt Zhao very unhappy. However, the "clever" Aunt Zhao thought that Ji Wushang was using a trick.
Ji Wushang said, "Aunt, since you want an answer, then I will give you one!" As he spoke, Ji Wushang immediately stepped forward, "Huanfei committed suicide, or you could say it was murder!"
What's going on! How is this possible! Upon hearing Ji Wushang's words, everyone around him immediately began whispering among themselves, trying to decipher what he had said.
"What do you mean?" Only now did Aunt Zhao realize something was amiss. How could her perfectly planned scheme have gone wrong? Was she planning a last-ditch effort? "Don't say a word without saying something! Hmph, if the Princess Consort is lying, it would be better to just have Huanfei buried! Men, take Huanfei away and bury her in the countryside as written in the blood oath! Give her one hundred taels as a funeral allowance!" Aunt Zhao's words had everyone's hearts drawn to her!
How kind Aunt Zhao is! She stopped such a thing from happening for the Crown Princess! Although it was the Crown Princess who forced Huanfei to her death, she was still the Crown Princess, and no one could say anything! But Aunt Zhao gave Huanfei a proper burial and even gave her one hundred taels of silver as a funeral allowance, fulfilling her wish. How kind Aunt Zhao is!
Ji Wushang sneered, "Auntie is such a kind person. She has really broadened my horizons. I will definitely learn more from Auntie in the future!"
"So that means you agree? Men, hurry up and do it! It's getting late, everyone disperse!" The best course of action is to finish this as soon as possible and let Ji Wushang solidify his position as the one who drove the servant to his death!
Ji Wushang laughed and said, "Why the rush? Since I just said that Huanfei committed suicide, or you could say it was murder, there is evidence! Aunt, are you afraid I'll say something if you have the body taken away so quickly?"
Upon hearing this, everyone around stopped immediately. The Crown Princess hadn't said she was leaving! To leave now would be disrespectful to her... The situation was still unclear, so they should wait and see how things went.
"What else is there to say? Fine, say what you want to say, lest others say that I, Zhao Rui, am unreasonable! Huanfei said that my head maid committed suicide, was murdered, or was forced to die, so of course we must investigate and find out the truth!"
Ji Wushang sneered. Her words had a hidden meaning, but he was determined to disappoint her!
"The reason I say it was suicide is because, as the coroner just said, she did indeed hang herself," Ji Wushang said calmly.
"Isn't that obvious? We already said we'd let the coroner go!" Aunt Zhao muttered under her breath. "That's what the coroner said, why does the Princess Consort have to repeat it?"
“However, Huanfei was forced to hang herself by someone! Moreover, the blood letter was not written by her!” Ji Wushang’s cold gaze swept over Aunt Zhao.
Aunt Zhao was taken aback. Had she seen something? "What? You think she didn't write it? And what about being forced? Yes, someone forced you. Could it be you, the Crown Princess?!"
Ji Wushang's lips twitched. Was he still trying to frame him? Ji Wushang looked into the crowd and vaguely saw that Ah San was also standing among them. Ji Wushang knew that the time had come.
"Aunt Zhao, don't you dare pin the blame on others so easily! Humph!" Ji Wushang sneered, stretching out his hand, "Aunt, where's the blood-written letter?"
"What are you doing here? Thinking of destroying it?" Aunt Zhao's face was full of anger, as if she were scolding Ji Wushang.
Ji Wushang's lips twitched slightly. "If I don't bring it over, are you going to accuse me of driving a servant to his death?" The people around him didn't dare to breathe. The two mistresses of the inner courtyard of the Marquis's mansion were going to have another fight. It was best not to get caught in the crossfire!
Hearing this, Aunt Zhao had no choice but to hand over the blood-written letter to Ji Wushang. If she didn't, it would be tantamount to admitting that she wanted to solidify Ji Wushang's idea of forcing the servant to death! Then everyone would know her intentions, and she might even turn around and accuse Ji Wushang!
Ji Wushang snorted coldly, took the blood-written letter, opened it, and held it up for everyone to see. "This blood-written letter is very neat, and the handwriting is beautiful. I ask you all, could a maid write such characters?" As he spoke, he stepped forward and walked up to Yan Shou. "Yan Shou, how about you copy it?"
"Ah, Princess Consort, this servant wouldn't dare! This servant wouldn't dare!" Yan Shou was so frightened by Ji Wushang's imposing manner that she retreated. Ji Wushang snorted coldly, turned around, and walked up to Aunt Zhao. "Aunt, what do you think?"
"What! Huanfei can read? That's perfectly normal. It's perfectly normal for her to write characters like this!" Aunt Zhao retorted through gritted teeth.
Ji Wushang laughed. If Aunt Zhao had found someone who had just learned to write to copy it, she might have been able to fool them. But now, there was no way!
“But as far as I know, Huanfei comes from a poor family, and has been a servant and slave for generations. Where would she get the extra money to buy books and read books?” Ji Wushang looked at Aunt Zhao with a mocking gaze. “In that case, Aunt, do you think Huanfei has any opportunity to read and write?”
"Who says she doesn't! Once she's in the manor, she still has plenty of free time. She definitely has time to practice calligraphy! Huanfei is quick-witted and learns everything quickly! She can definitely write such neat characters!" Who does she think she is, trying to compare herself to me!
Ji Wushang wasn't in a hurry to argue with her. Instead, he stood next to Yan Shou and asked, "Yan Shou, let me ask you, where were you when Huan Fei died?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, this servant is serving you in the Zhuangshu Garden!" Yan Shou said nervously. She felt that this Princess Consort was like a demon from hell, making her very afraid!
"Then let me ask you again, what do you do after you come back on weekdays, and what does Huanfei do after she returns to her room every day?" Ji Wushang asked again, his tone quite calm. "I've investigated this entire courtyard. Aunt Zhao's Zhuangshu Garden is the busiest. When you come back, it's usually around dusk. After a quick dinner, you immediately go about your business. Sometimes you even have to stay up all night until Hai Shi (11 PM Beijing time)! Tell me, besides rushing to bed, what time do you have to read, write, or do anything else?"
Hearing Ji Wushang's words, a chill ran through Yan Shou's heart. Ji Wushang was right. The servants and maids in Zhuangshu Garden were the most overworked servants in the Marquis's mansion. When they returned, everyone in the surrounding courtyards was already asleep! But because they served Aunt Zhao, they naturally dared not be angry or speak out. Sometimes, they would only scold the maids to vent their anger, relying on Aunt Zhao's head maid.
What she was saying made all the servants in the entire Zhuangshu Garden feel that Aunt Zhao was not a good person.
"Silence means consent?" Ji Wushang said, "Auntie..."
"What do you mean I dare not say! I, Zhao Rui, have never mistreated a single servant! Humph, I often see some servants reading and writing! And I haven't reprimanded them!"
How utterly ridiculous! To talk like that, as if she were some kind of saint!
Ji Wushang stepped forward. "You can be my witnesses!" Ji Wushang's gaze swept over the people around him, but they all lowered their heads. It seemed he needed to teach them a lesson.
Ji Wushang's beautiful eyes looked at Aunt Zhao. "Aunt, you've heard this clearly!" Before she could react, Ji Wushang immediately addressed the crowd, "Alright, let's not discuss whether Huanfei would actually write such words. Just look at this blood letter. These words weren't written before Huanfei died. Someone wrote them beforehand, brought them here, forced Huanfei to put her fingerprint on them, and then placed them in her arms after she hanged herself."
The old man just said that Huanfei died around the beginning of the You hour (5 PM Beijing time), and it's currently around the middle of the Xu hour (8 PM Beijing time). Huanfei has only been dead for less than three hours. She bit her finger to write, or she cut herself to let the blood flow and put it in a plate to write with a pen. Hehe.” Ji Wushang smiled, then asked the coroner standing to the side, “Old man, did Huanfei have any other wounds on her body?”
"Your Highness, there are no wounds on the body!" the old man replied truthfully.
"That means she bit her own finger to write it, but look, there isn't a single wound on either of her hands! How could she have written a letter in blood?"
“Isn’t this it?” Aunt Zhao suddenly noticed a wound on Huanfei’s wrist. Ji Wushang looked over and said, “Aunt, that wound is a scratch, not a cut.”
Upon hearing this, everyone sighed in dismay, for Aunt Zhao was quick to jump to conclusions!
“However, if someone had written it down immediately after Huanfei was punished, and then when Huanfei was forced to die, by now, after about half a day, the bloodstains would have dried,” Ji Wushang said. “Well, Aunt, do you have any other questions?”
Aunt Zhao's face was fierce, and she felt hatred in her heart when she looked at Ji Wushang. She stepped forward, grabbed one of the fat corpse's hands, and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Look, isn't this the wound?"
Ji Wushang and the coroner were all surprised. There were no wounds when they were examined just now. Could there be wounds now?
Ji Wushang stepped forward and saw that there was a scar on the middle finger of the plump woman's right hand... However, it was not obvious before. This wound was... done by Aunt Zhao just now!
Ji Wushang took a breath. He hadn't expected her to have such powerful martial arts skills! He would have to be even more careful in the Marquis's mansion from now on!
We need to get back to practicing!
But this time, I will absolutely not let her have her way!
“Okay, even if she wrote it herself, what’s the explanation for the bloodstains drying?” Ji Wushang asked.
"I think it's probably because Huanfei was punished by the Crown Prince's wife and then she had thoughts of suicide, so she wrote a letter in blood beforehand and did it so soon!" Aunt Zhao sneered. Why didn't she give her a good beating? Trying to fight her? She's still too green!
Just then, someone outside called out, "Princess Consort!"
"Hmm?" Ji Wushang smiled slightly, pushed through the crowd, and saw Ah San. Ah San immediately knelt down in front of Ji Wushang, "Reporting to the Princess Consort, Huanfei's family has arrived!"
"Alright, please come in!" Ji Wushang said, immediately turning to look at Aunt Zhao. Aunt Zhao was astonished. This damned bitch had actually arranged for Huanfei's family to be brought here so quickly beforehand.
No, someone must have helped her! Who was it?
It's Prince Nan! Damn it! I'll make sure they both suffer a fate worse than death!
"Princess Consort, it's not proper for you to let people of unknown origin into the manor," Aunt Zhao said, her face full of displeasure. "If something else happens to the manor, can you take responsibility?"
“Aunt, if this matter is not resolved, then people outside might say that our Marquis’s Mansion does not respect the dead!” The Great Xia Zhou Dynasty values etiquette and respects the dead. Aunt Zhao was speechless after hearing this.
At this moment, an elderly couple, around fifty years old with gray hair, came up with a little boy of about five or six years old, brought by an Indian man. Seeing this, the elderly couple were somewhat shocked and looked at each other in bewilderment.
Because they had to work all day, the elderly couple didn't rest early. Unexpectedly, when it was finally time for dinner, some guards outside wanted to summon them. The two were timid; they had no chance to refuse.
We arrived at this grand courtyard.
The elderly couple looked at the large yard and were at a loss.
Ji Wushang stepped forward and asked, "May I ask, Madam and Sir, are you Huanfei's parents?"
"Yes." The old man had seen a lot about human relationships and, seeing Ji Wushang's amiable demeanor, felt much less timid.
"I'm so sorry, Huanfei, you're dead." Ji Wushang stepped aside and pointed to the corpse on the ground.
The two were completely stunned upon hearing this. They never expected that the two elders would come to inform them that Huanfei was dead!
"Huan'er!" The old lady and the old gentleman immediately rushed over, and the little boy, hearing the words "dead" and seeing his parents crying, immediately rushed over and cried too.
Ji Wushang's face showed little expression. Huanfei's death was nothing more than a plan by Aunt Zhao! As someone else's pawn, it's not surprising that she ended up like this!