Because the seventh day had not yet passed, several funeral banners were hung in Aunt Cai's room. The sad white strips of cloth were swaying continuously in the cold wind that poured in through the door. From a distance, they looked like talismans to summon souls, and the sound of the wind was telling of her unwillingness and injustice.

According to Xiao Du's instructions, no one was allowed to enter this room after Aunt Cai's death, so except for the calligraphy on the ground that was collected by Xiao Du, the fallen flower stand, the mess on the ground, and even the crime scene where Aunt Cai crawled over, all remained the same as it was on that day.

Yuan Xi followed Xiao Du into the house. As soon as she entered the room, she felt a chill on her neck, causing her to shiver. Xiao Du noticed her discomfort and turned to ask, "What's wrong? Are you cold?"

Yuan Xi shook her head, her eyes fell on the charcoal stove beside the bed. She gathered her clothes and slowly walked over. She found that there was still some unburned charcoal inside. She turned around and asked Xiao Du, "When you came in that day, was the stove lit?"

Xiao Du thought for a while and shook his head, saying, "The fire had gone out at that time, but it was obvious that it had just been burned because there was still some smell in the room and the stove was hot."

Yuan Xi turned around and said, "I just think this is unusual. Aunt Cai died just after the mid-autumn. I remember that the weather was still a bit hot during those days, so there was no need to burn a charcoal stove to keep warm. And she was already preparing to leave the house at that time. Why would she think of going to the storehouse to get charcoal to burn before she died?"

Xiao Du frowned and said, "It's indeed a bit strange. What do you think is the reason?"

Yuan Xi slowly walked to the window, stared at the yellow pear wood flower stand that was against the window frame for a long time, squatted down to examine it carefully, and then stood up and pointed at the bottom of the flower stand, saying: "If I'm not mistaken, there should be a pool of water here."

Xiao Du recalled the incident carefully and nodded, "There was indeed a pool of water. At the time, I just thought it was water spilling from a flowerpot, so I didn't take it seriously. Why do you think there is a problem here?"

Yuan Xi pointed at the foot of the flower stand and said, "There are obvious signs of water here. If it was from above, the whole flower stand should be covered with water marks. Why is it only here?" Without waiting for Xiao Du to answer, she continued in one breath, "Don't you think it's strange that the flower stand fell so well and hit the window, making us believe that the murderer couldn't have entered or exited from here?"

Xiao Du understood a little and said, "You mean, someone did this deliberately."

Yuan Xi nodded, with some excitement on her face, and said, "That's right. In fact, this method is not too complicated, and anyone can do it. The murderer only needs to climb in through the window, kill Aunt Cai, and then put a piece of ice under the foot of the flower stand, and then light the charcoal stove in the house. When the fire is burning, the ice will slowly melt, and the flower stand will fall down without support. As long as it is placed at the right angle, it will just hit the window, so everyone will think that the window has been blocked and it is impossible to get in and out." Xiao Du's eyes lit up. , thinking that this speculation was very reasonable, he went over the whole thing from the beginning and said: "So, that day, the murderer first climbed in through the window, and then used some unknown method to force Aunt Cai to take poison and asked her to write a suicide note. Then this person found the handle that Aunt Cai hid in the copybook and took it away. Then he used the method you just mentioned to escape through the window. When the ice melted, the window would be blocked. Therefore, no one would think that there had been outsiders in the room, and they would only think that Aunt Cai hanged herself.

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "But she certainly didn't expect that Aunt Cai would actually leave a message in her suicide note to point out the murderer to us."

At this point, Xiao Du showed a look of doubt on his face, and said: "But I checked, and Aunt Yu did stay in my mother's room that day. Maybe this matter really has nothing to do with her."

Yuan Xi understood that he was reluctant to drag the people around the princess into this. After hesitating for a while, she finally said, "But Nanny Yu can also buy other people in Tong Mansion to do this."

Xiao Du's eyes darkened, and he said slowly, "Who do you think did this for her?" Yuan Xi looked at his face, and suddenly felt a little sorry. She walked to the window and looked at Xiao Se who was all over the yard. She sighed softly and then said, "Last month, before the time to distribute charcoal to each room, I went to the warehouse to ask. Before that day, only one person in the yard went to the warehouse to get charcoal. The maid who went to get the charcoal said that her master was afraid of the cold and would light the charcoal stove in advance every year. And you also told the warehouse that no matter what this person wanted, they could not ask and just give it to her."

She paused suddenly and didn't continue talking, but Xiao Du's face had changed. Yuan Xi turned around and looked at him deeply, and then said, "After Aunt Cai died, anyone who appeared around her yard that day would definitely be suspected, especially those who shouldn't be there. But if only one person did this, it wouldn't attract attention, because...she was already crazy."

Xiao Du's body shook violently. He held down his shaking hands and suddenly laughed, "You want to tell me that Yunniang did all this. What reason did she have to do this?"

Seeing him like this, Yuan Xi knew that he was sad, so she walked over and hugged him tightly, saying, "I don't want to believe that it was her, but do you still remember the incident in Tianzhuang? I suspect that Yunniang is not crazy at all, and this whole plan is indeed the most likely to be accomplished by her."

Although Xiao Du was unwilling to believe it, he had to admit that Yuan Xi's speculation was reasonable and well-founded. It was not until this moment that he realized that compared with the people around the princess, it was Yunniang's crime that made him more heartbroken and uneasy.

Yuan Xi raised her head and whispered, "What are you going to do now? If you don't want to, you can just let it go. After all, everyone thinks Aunt Cai just committed suicide... I can talk to Xuan'er..."

Xiao Du closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his face was determined, "Don't worry, since I promised Xuan'er and you, no matter who the real culprit is, I will definitely not let her go easily."

Some birds outside the window were startled and flew over the treetops with flapping wings. When they returned to their nests again, Yunniang was sitting under a dead tree in the yard, with her head down, concentrating on mending a coat.

The breeze blew up the white hair on her temples, making the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes more distinct. At this time, the little maid in her room came out with a bowl of medicine and was about to go forward to feed her, but someone had already walked up to her quickly, took the bowl from her hand, and slowly walked to Yunniang and squatted down.

When Yunniang looked up and saw this man, a strange light suddenly appeared in her eyes, and she said, "Young Master, come and have a look. Yunniang has fixed this coat for you!"

Xiao Du looked at the old indigo jacket in her hand in surprise, and suddenly felt a little sad. His father made the jacket for him when he was a teenager, and he liked it very much, and wore it almost every day. But a few days later, it got scratched. He was afraid that his father would punish him, so he begged Yunniang, who was an excellent embroiderer, to help him fix it. Yunniang agreed, but she delayed it because she had other things to do in the mansion, and he gradually forgot about the jacket.

He hid the bitterness in his heart, put the medicine in his hand into Yunniang's mouth, and said softly: "Yunniang, Du'er has grown up. This coat can no longer be worn."

Yunniang seemed to not understand what he said. She opened her mouth and swallowed the medicine, then turned back to carefully mend the jacket in her hand. Xiao Du did not speak again until he had finished feeding her the medicine, then handed it to the little maid and told her to go back to her room and not come out.

Xiao Du brushed the corner of his robe and stood up. Seeing that they were the only two people left in the courtyard, he finally spoke: "Yun Niang, do you still remember that you always taught me when I was little that I must never make mistakes in life. If I do something wrong by accident, even if no one knows about it, I can't get rid of my conscience. And your conscience will torture you every day until the day you can atone for your sins."

Yunniang's hands paused while sewing, but soon returned to normal, as if she could not hear anything and just continued with her work.

Xiao Du bent down and grabbed her hand, his body trembling a little, and said, "Yunniang, can you tell me the truth? Are you crazy or not?"

Yunniang's dull pupils rolled around, but she still did not answer. She just gently pulled her hand out, unfolded the coat and looked at it as if nothing had happened. Then, she hummed a children's song as if she was very satisfied.

Xiao Du recognized the nursery rhyme as the one Yunniang often hummed to coax him to sleep when he was a child. Many memories flooded back at once, causing a sharp pain in his heart.

He held Yunniang's hand again and said softly, "If you still want me to remember the old Yunniang, tell me now whether you were the one who did that to Aunt Cai, and whether you have been pretending to be crazy all these years." He closed his eyes in pain, and his tone turned cold and hard, saying, "If you insist on not telling me, I will have to find someone to take you out for interrogation. Don't blame Du'er for being ruthless then."

Yunniang stopped singing. She suddenly stood up, and compared the coat in her hand to Xiao Du's body. She smiled bitterly and said, "You have grown up. You no longer need Yunniang to mend your coat for you."

Then she finally put down her needlework and coat, and reached out to tidy up her wind-blown hair. Her eyes, which had been cloudy for a long time, gradually became clear. She stared at Xiao Du word by word and said, "Yes, I did everything. No matter how the Marquis wants to deal with me, Yunniang will never complain."