Now that things had come to this, the man in brown dared not hide anything any longer. To save his life, he had no choice but to confess honestly that Aunt Song from the kitchen had asked him to find Liuzhu. He was only responsible for taking the money and doing the job, and he didn't know what it was for.

Li Yu then brought Song Shi to be questioned.

At first, Song denied it, but when the man in brown said he was her nephew, she admitted that she had indeed asked her nephew Yao Zhi to buy the pearl.

Upon hearing her confession, Hongli was enraged. He stepped forward, put three fingers together, and slapped her hard across the face. "What grudge do you have against Yushan? Why did you harm her?"

The slap was extremely powerful; Song was knocked to the ground, half her face numb, but she dared not utter a sound. Enduring the pain, she turned and knelt down, replying in fear:

"No... there's no grudge."

"Why would you drug her when you have no grudge against her? Who ordered you to use such a despicable tactic?"

No matter how Hongli questioned her, Song insisted that no one had instructed her; she simply disliked Su Gege, and that was all.

This reason was invalid. Hongli was convinced that she was hiding something, so he gave Li Yu a wink. Li Yu immediately ordered the guards to take the two of them to a secret room.

Yao Zhi was right there and watched as they covered Song's face with a piece of mulberry paper soaked in water. The damp paper was tightly wrapped around her cheeks, blocking her mouth and nostrils, making it difficult for her to breathe and causing her great pain.

If she didn't confess after posting one notice, then he would keep posting more. Li Yu wanted to use this method to force her to tell the truth, but to his surprise, she was very stubborn. Even after posting three notices, she still refused to confess.

If this continued, she might really lose her life. She was an important witness, and Li Yu couldn't kill her, so he had to order the men to stop. Then he turned around and threatened Yao Zhi, who was standing nearby.

"See this? This is the punishment for 'adding official rank'. If you confess honestly, you will be spared this punishment. If you don't, you will taste the bitterness of suffocation!"

Witnessing this, Yao Zhi trembled with fear, waving his hands repeatedly and saying that he knew nothing. Li Yu then ordered his men to hold him down and torture him. When they pasted the second sheet, he could no longer bear it, but he was unable to speak. He kept kicking his legs, trying to indicate that he had something to say.

Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand. The guard released him, and Yao Zhi, who had been holding his breath for a long time, was able to catch his breath and gasp for air.

Madam Song was old and unafraid of death, while Yao Zhi was still young and didn't want to die so carelessly. To save his own life, he disregarded everything and hurriedly confessed.

"I once heard the old lady say that Xin'er is actually her daughter!"

Xin'er? Isn't that Princess Jin's maid? How could she be involved in this? Li Yu pressed for details and learned that the Song family was too poor to raise so many children, so they sold Xin'er.

Later, after several changes of ownership, Xin'er was bought as a maid and began to serve Jin Minjing. After Jin Minjing became a prince's maid, Xin'er also came to the mansion.

Song was on duty in the kitchen when she suddenly saw Xin'er and realized that she was the daughter she had sold years ago. She was both happy and guilty. She wanted to recognize Xin'er, but Xin'er harbored resentment towards her and refused to acknowledge her as her mother.

Song had spoken of this matter to Yao Zhi's mother, and Yao Zhi happened to overhear it. However, that was all he knew. As for why she wanted to harm Su Gege, he had no idea. In a panic, Yao Zhi cried and pleaded:

"I've confessed everything I know, please spare my life, Eunuch Li!"

After investigating for so long, they finally found a clue, and Li Yu hurriedly reported the matter.

Since this matter is related to Xin'er, Jin Minjing is also implicated. To ensure fairness, Hongli ordered Li Yu to bring all suspects to Tingfeng Pavilion and interrogate them in front of Su Yushan, so that Yushan would know that he would never show favoritism to anyone.

At that time, Xin'er was washing clothes in the laundry courtyard when someone suddenly came looking for her. She was completely bewildered and had no idea what she had done wrong.

When she followed the servant to Tingfeng Pavilion, she discovered that Princess Jin, Madam Song, and others were already there. Xin'er, confused, curtsied and said, "Greetings to Fourth Master."

Hongli, seated at the head of the table, asked in a deep voice, "Let me ask you, what is your relationship with the Song family?"

Xin'er glanced at Song Shi, her heart filled with mixed feelings. After a long silence, she said, "It's nothing, I'm not familiar with her."

These are extraordinary times. Hongli only wants to find out the truth and has no time to watch the mother and daughter argue. "I'm asking you to tell the truth, not to say things out of anger. This matter is of great importance. You'd better tell the truth honestly. If you dare to conceal anything, you will be severely punished!"

Hongli slammed his fist on the table, making Xin'er tremble. She didn't know what had happened, but seeing the tense atmosphere, she dared not be stubborn any longer and lowered her eyes to tell the truth:

“She is my biological mother, but she did not raise me, so I did not acknowledge her.”

When Hongli brought the person over, Su Yushan never expected that the person who had secretly done the trick would be this person!

Her kitchen often uses vegetables, fruits, greens, tofu, and the like. Since it's inconvenient for her to go out to buy groceries every day, she asks Aunt Song to help her pick up some when she goes out to buy groceries.

Aunt Song would come to deliver vegetables every day or two, but she only went into the tea room and never into Su Yushan's bedroom. Therefore, Su Yushan never suspected her. She never expected that this woman would actually be the murderer, and coincidentally, she was also related to Xin'er. This made Su Yushan have no choice but to suspect Xin'er.

"Was it your idea to drug my rouge, Song?"

"Drugned? What kind of drug?" Since being transferred to the laundry department, Xin'er had been extremely busy. She had heard people mention that Su Gege had been drugged, but she didn't know the specifics, which made her increasingly confused.

"How could Song have drugged you? This servant doesn't understand what you mean, Your Highness."

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!