Chapter 1019 Inside Story
Sun Xiangxiang thought Lin Yuesha was speaking up for her, but the more she listened, the more something seemed amiss. She angrily retorted, "Lin Yuesha, stop talking nonsense! What does this have to do with my maid!"
Although she was deceived, Sun Xiangxiang had to swallow her anger and bear it.
She tried her best to protect the oriole and the magpie, but unexpectedly the two harbored resentment towards each other and fought amongst themselves.
“Miss, the murderer is undoubtedly Magpie. She knew about my plan all along. She was determined to kill the old monk in order to get more money.”
Huang Ying kept undermining Sun Xiangxiang, making her roll her eyes in anger. She swayed and it took her a long time to regain her balance.
“Young Madam, we have tested the snake venom. If the Venerable Monk Fu Hui had only ingested the venom, the symptoms wouldn’t have appeared so quickly.”
After another round of autopsies, the coroner gave his conclusion.
The Venerable Master Fu Hui had a wound on the tip of his tongue. When he bit the gold bracelet, the snake venom touched the wound, causing him to die instantly.
Snake venom doesn't take effect quickly if the skin is intact.
"Haha, what goes around comes around, karma will get you."
Sun Xiangxiang sneered, "Whose fault is this? They brought this on themselves, and they deserve to suffer the consequences."
To feign divine retribution, the old monk bit his tongue and spat out blood, but little did he know that this act would lead him to his doom.
Money is important, but you have to be alive to enjoy it.
Abbot Yuanzhen stood to one side, feeling extremely embarrassed.
He had a long-standing relationship with his junior brother, and he couldn't bear to see his junior brother die unjustly; he also wanted to seek justice.
"My lord, who is the murderer?"
Lin Yuesha was unsure, so she leaned closer to Qi Heng and asked.
Magpie.
Qi Heng had already noticed that among Sun Xiangxiang and her two servants, only Xique was the calmest. This was not the reaction a naive maid should have when a murder occurred.
Moreover, from the very beginning, the magpie was pointing the way in betraying the oriole.
"The magpie betrayed the oriole, making everyone think that the oriole and the old monk had a dispute over the spoils, which led to the oriole accidentally killing the monk in a fit of rage."
Qi Heng grasped one of the main threads, and Lin Yuesha suddenly understood. However, she didn't understand what grudge the magpie and the old monk had against each other.
"No, the magpie was supposed to kill Sun Xiangxiang, but by chance, it killed the old monk instead."
Snake venom, if left on a bracelet for an extended period, can cause harm to the body. If Sun Xiangxiang's wrist is broken and the venom enters through the wound, she will suffer the same fate as the old monk.
If it were only on the skin, it wouldn't be a big problem. However, this toxin slowly seeped in, and after three to five years, Sun Xiangxiang's condition became terminal.
Magpies are decisive and efficient in their actions, like people with long-term plans.
"Let's test the magpie for poison."
Qi Heng signaled to the officials not to waste time and to speed up the process so that he could take Lin Yuesha down the mountain.
"A poison test won't help either. Huang Ying is right. My young lady's jewelry is all kept by this servant."
Magpie forced herself to remain calm. She had just used a new poison this morning. The mountain path to Yutan Temple was steep, and she planned to injure Sun Xiangxiang and then kill her.
Who knew that Sun Xiangxiang was lucky enough to survive, but instead caused the old monk's death.
“That’s easy. Go to the Sun residence to investigate. Carefully examine Magpie’s room, and you’ll surely find some clues.”
The officials were quite convinced of Qi Heng's abilities and sent people down the mountain to investigate.
"No need."
Magpie knew perfectly well that if she followed this clue, the officials would surely find a lead: a packet of snake venom under her pillow.
Some things, when the evidence is conclusive, are impossible to deny.
"Magpie, you..."
Huang Ying was speechless. She and Xi Que had often scolded Sun Xiangxiang, but they would never have intended to kill her.
Although Sun Xiangxiang is willful, she is sometimes quite nice to them.
Huang Ying felt guilty towards her mistress for swindling some money to redeem herself.
"That's right, I poisoned her, just to kill Sun Xiangxiang."
The old monk Fu Hui swindled Sun Xiangxiang out of her money, but paid for it with his life, which can be considered as protecting Sun Xiangxiang from disaster.
"Why, Magpie? In what way have I wronged you?"
In front of so many people, the maid wanted to kill her. Sun Xiangxiang felt as if ice water had been poured over her head in the dead of winter, and her whole body was chilled to the bone.
She crouched on the ground and cried silently.
“Sun Xiangxiang, you’re just a village girl, what are you pretending to be, a lady from a noble family? Huang Ying and I served you, and you beat, scolded, and insulted us. Have you forgotten all that?”
Yes, it is the servant's duty to be lowly, and the magpie endured it.
However, Sun Xiangxiang should never have interfered with her marriage, shattering her hopes from then on.
She and Sun Xiangxiang were once sisters from the same village, but their circumstances were vastly different.
Magpie and Sun Xiangxiang were about the same age, and their families often visited each other. Because the two families were on good terms, they even arranged a marriage between their children.
“That’s right, Sun Baiwan and I were engaged.”
After the magpie finished speaking, even the oriole was stunned, as she knew nothing about it.
"Later, my parents passed away early, and I lived with my uncle's family. When someone in the village came to recruit soldiers, Sun Baiwan volunteered to enlist."
At that time, Magpie was twelve years old.
The day before Sun Baiwan left, the two of them braved the wind and snow, sat at the entrance of the village, looked into the distance, and leaned on each other all night.
He said that when he returned, Sun Baiwan promised to make something of himself and marry Xique.
Then he left, and was gone for two or three years without a trace.
“When I reached marriageable age, my uncle wanted to marry me off, and I begged him to do it.”
Thinking of her resolute self back then, Magpie's eyes welled up with tears.
She refused to marry because she had promised Sun Baiwan that she would be his wife.
Later, Sun Baiwan returned to his hometown to visit relatives. By then, he had become a centurion.
The Sun family flaunted their wealth, finding a personal maid for Sun Xiangxiang. Xique, a freeloader who refused to marry, was sent to the Sun family.
Magpie's uncle thought the Sun family would remember the marriage between the two families, but to his surprise, Sun Xiangxiang took the initiative to let Magpie, her future sister-in-law, be her maid.
From then on, Magpie was a maid, but she didn't care.
Because she only had eyes for Sun Baiwan, Xique worked diligently at the Sun family's home, to the point that the Sun family took it for granted and treated her like a servant.
She waited for Sun Baiwan to return during the long days.
After waiting for several years, finally, some time ago, the Prince of Zhenbei died, the North was reshuffled, and Sun Baiwan was given an important position.
He came to find the magpie, expressing his intention to fulfill his promise from years ago and marry her.
Sun Xiangxiang overheard their conversation and was outraged. She cursed the magpie, calling it a shameless and servile lackey.
“Sun Xiangxiang said that I was her maid, how could I marry her elder brother? It was inappropriate in terms of both emotion and reason.”
Sun Xiangxiang moved out to her family, but the Sun family strongly opposed the marriage between Xique and Sun Baiwan.
The magpie waited for so many years, only to be disappointed, all because of a single sentence from Sun Xiangxiang.
For many years, she treated Sun Xiangxiang like a younger sister, but the other party treated her like a servant.
"I have nothing left, so why should Sun Xiangxiang live?"
The magpie regretted that it hadn't been thorough enough; it was just one last step away from being perfect.
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