ebookland Chapter 429 Who did you say died!?
Chapter 429 Who did you say died!?
"What about people?"
They went out to arrest people full of confidence, but why did they come back with bitter faces?
"Young Master, the man is dead."
Lu Qingchen stood there stunned, then picked at his ear in an unseemly manner. "Who did you say died?!"
"Wang Xiangxiang".
No, under their layers of protection, yet another member of the Wang family has died?
"How did he die? Where is his body?" Lu Qingchen grabbed the man's collar and demanded sharply, "How exactly did you protect him?"
“Young Master, we were investigating people who dyed their shoes throughout the manor as you instructed, which is why we overlooked Miss Wang.”
"Take me there immediately."
The two followed the constables and hurried to the backyard. The drizzling rain had already washed away all the footprints on the stone path.
At the entrance, two maids knelt on the ground, their hands covering their faces. Their suppressed sobs mingled with the sound of rain, conveying a sense of desolation.
Upon entering the room, one immediately sees Wang Xiangxiang hanging in mid-air.
Her death was just like Master Wang's; her face was purplish-red, her fists were clenched, and she was standing on a round stool that she couldn't reach.
Qin Miaoxi looked around and noticed a series of footprints on the ground indicating that they had entered the room. She turned to the maid and asked, "How did you discover that Miss Wang was dead?"
"Reporting to you, sir, we saw it as soon as we returned to the courtyard."
"What are you doing there? Why aren't you staying by Miss Wang's side?"
"The young lady said she wanted to drink bird's nest soup, so we went to the kitchen to prepare it for her. When we came back, we found the door wide open and the young lady had hanged herself."
Lu Qingchen immediately seized on the loophole in her words and questioned her sternly, "How do you know she committed suicide and wasn't murdered?"
The two maids shuddered and after a long while, they stammered out a letter, the paper crumpled from being gripped so tightly.
"This is Miss's suicide note. She wrote it and then hanged herself. She deliberately sent us away!"
“We should have seen through Miss’s intentions long ago, otherwise why would she have asked the two of us to go and make bird’s nest soup together? We shouldn’t have gone; we should have stayed with Miss.”
At this moment, Qin Miaoxi and the other woman had already opened the farewell letter. In the letter, it was written that the death of her father had made Miss Wang feel that life was hopeless, and she really did not want to continue to live in such fear. However, she still had one unfulfilled wish: if the day of her death really came, she begged her mother to come back to see her one last time, so that she could fulfill her last wish in this life.
Qin Miaoxi and Lu Qingchen exchanged a glance. "How long did it take you to brew the blood bird's nest?"
"An hour."
Did you find anyone else when you returned?
"No. It was raining heavily at the time. We originally planned to wipe our faces, wring out our clothes, and get ready before delivering the bird's nest to Miss. But as soon as we turned the corner of the corridor, we saw that Miss's door was open. Afraid that the cold would chill her, we didn't care that we were soaked to the bone and went straight into the inner room through the muddy water."
As they were talking, Lu Qingchen lowered the body from the high place, and Qin Miaoxi immediately squatted down and moved to the side to begin examining the body.
Just as he reached out to untie the rope around his neck, his gaze suddenly sharpened—something was wrong!
She instructed her two maids, "Go and see if there are any missing valuables in the house."
He first subtly led the two people away to a distance, and after confirming that there were no onlookers, he approached Lu Qingchen, lowered his voice, and told him the results of the autopsy in detail.
There was a red mark on Wang Xiangxiang's neck where a finger had pressed, and there were bruises around the mark. Her neck was broken. He immediately said, "Miss Wang was first strangled to death, and then hung up."
"Like Master Wang, he was murdered."
"The murderer is male, strong, and capable of snapping necks."
By this time, the maid had finished her inspection. She carefully checked everything and confirmed that all of Miss Wang's usual hairpins, jade pendants, and other ornaments were in their original places and none were missing.
Lu Qingchen suppressed the surging anger in his heart. If he wasn't after money, then he was after his life.
It is certain that the murderer acted intentionally, in a blatant provocation against them.
His gaze swept heavily over the two maids, his voice as cold as ice: "How does Miss Wang treat her servants? Does she have any enemies?"
"Of course not. Our young lady is the kindest and most compassionate to her servants. A while ago, a maid in the courtyard had a relative who fell seriously ill. The family couldn't afford to save her life and was so anxious that they were in tears. It was the young lady who, upon learning of this, immediately gave her ten taels of silver to get medicine, which saved the person from the brink of death."
"Has Miss Wang been behaving strangely lately?"
"Since Master passed away, Miss has never smiled. She spends her days in tears and can't eat. We maids have taken turns trying to comfort her countless times, but she either silently weeps or just shakes her head, completely ignoring us. And Madam keeps avoiding her, refusing to even offer a word of comfort. I think Miss must have been overwhelmed by this double suffering, and in her grief, she took her own life."
"Your young lady even went to see Madam Wang?"
"In reply to your question, sir, that is indeed the case. On the day the master passed away, the young lady hurriedly sent someone to fetch the madam, but the servant she sent was turned away by the madam in front of her. The young lady was both angry and distressed at the time, but she still forced herself to go to the madam's place to fetch the servant, but the madam still cruelly avoided seeing her, which broke the young lady's heart. She said that if the young lady did not return to the Wang family, she would write a letter of divorce for her father and never acknowledge her as her mother again."
"So, Madam Wang hasn't returned at all?"
"Yes." Thinking of this, the maid couldn't help but wipe away a tear of sorrow for her.
After examining the deceased's mouth, Qin Miaoxi asked, "When did Miss Wang eat the osmanthus cake?"
She found crumbs of osmanthus cake in Wang Xiangxiang's mouth.
"It was brought by Steward Shen. He noticed that Miss wasn't eating anything, so he had someone buy her favorite osmanthus cake. Miss only managed to eat two pieces."
A thought suddenly struck Lu Qingchen: "When did Butler Shen send over the osmanthus cake?"
"After lunch, Miss cried until she was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch. That's when Butler Shen arrived. He handed us the osmanthus cake and repeatedly told us to make sure Miss ate a few bites when she woke up, so she wouldn't go hungry."
"Yes, after saying that, he left in a hurry, after all, the master's funeral arrangements were waiting for him to take care of, and could not be delayed in the slightest."
Having asked enough questions, Qin Miaoxi dismissed the two maids and handed Wang Xiangxiang's suicide note to Madam Wang.
"The murderer was the same person, and the knots used in the hanging were the same Chinese knots, which are rarely used by ordinary people."
As she spoke, Qin Miaoxi swiftly unbuckled her belt, causing Lu Qingchen's eyelids to twitch uncontrollably. He hurriedly turned away, his voice trembling, and hastily closed his eyes in refusal.
"Wife, this is not right...it's not appropriate."
[Waaah, if my wife tries to force herself on me, should I agree? Or should I agree?]
The rustling and friction sounds behind him were enough to make anyone blush and their heart race. Lu Qingchen clenched his fists, and the sweat on his palms was almost flowing like a river.
"Look!"
"No... okay!"
Lu Qingchen suddenly opened his eyes, looking like he was ready to risk everything. Since his wife liked this kind of thing, he would gladly accompany her.
"I... what is this!?"