Chapter 96 What do you think will happen to the Wang family?
Bi Ying's gaze lingered on Xiao Yunzhan's face for a moment, then quickly swept over Pei Zhiwei, as if weighing something, before finally lowering her head.
Earlier, in the front yard, he had stopped Wang from going crazy and kowtowed, and many loose strands of hair had fallen down his temples, covering most of his face.
Seeing her like this, Pei Zhiwei wasn't worried at all, and just stood there quietly waiting.
She knew that the more pressure she put on the other person at this time, the more resistant they would become. It was better to give them some space and let them give in on their own.
"My lady," Biying slowly raised her head after about half a cup of tea's time, her eyes reddening.
"Just as my wife said, my brother-in-law has only been in Yangzhou for three days."
Aside from helping with the master's funeral, she rarely even left the mansion. How could she have made a deadly enemy of anyone?
"If there's anyone in this city of Yangdu who has the ability and the right to take his life, isn't it you?"
Upon hearing this, Xie Ji immediately exploded, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to rush forward, shouting, "Hey, how can you talk like that, you maid!"
We painstakingly investigated the case, and now we've become the murderers?
Come, come, tell me what you have to say.
"How did we kill Wang Jingzong right under the noses of everyone in the Xu household, and then stuff him into a hidden compartment in Xu Fengyan's coffin?"
Pei Zhiwei reached out and blocked his way.
She turned to look at Biying, not continuing the previous conversation, but instead asked a different question, "Before Wang Jingzong came to the mourning hall last night, were you and Madam Xu the only two people there?"
As she spoke, her gaze fell on Biying's hands.
Ever since she breathed on her hands, Biying had been pressing her left Laogong acupoint with her right thumb, and now, due to excessive force, her hand was even trembling slightly.
As far as she knows, one of the benefits of pressing the Laogong acupoint is to relieve tension.
Biying was taken aback by the sudden question and nodded subconsciously: "Yes... it's just the two of us, master and servant."
The lady said she would keep vigil for the master and not allow anyone else to disturb him.
"Alright then." Pei Zhiwei nodded, her tone remaining calm.
“You should record the events from the moment you saw Wang Jingzong enter the mourning hall until today, when Lord Liu wants to re-examine the coffin.”
Tell me everything that happened in between, the more detailed the better.
Regardless of what he said, what he did, or how your wife reacted.
Just as Bi Ying was about to speak, Pei Zhiwei suddenly interrupted her again: "How about this, you tell them."
She pointed to the two constables behind her, "They will write it down word for word. Be detailed and don't miss any small details."
He turned to the two constables and said, "Listen carefully. You must write down every word that Miss Biying says without missing a single one, and without any mistakes."
The constables quickly clasped their hands in agreement.
Pei Zhiwei didn't look at her again, but turned around and walked to Wang's door, gently knocking on the door with her knuckles.
From inside came Wang's soft, hoarse voice, still hoarse from crying, "Come in."
Pei Zhiwei pushed open the door and entered. A faint scent of sandalwood wafted towards her, mixed with a slight medicinal smell.
Lady Wang was reclining on a chaise longue by the window, covered with a soft, moon-white satin quilt.
With her eyes closed, she held a string of white jade beads in her hand, her fingertips unconsciously sliding across the beads.
He didn't open his eyes even when he heard footsteps; he didn't even twitch his eyelids.
Seeing her like this, Pei Zhiwei and Xiao Yunzhan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly on the wooden stools in the room.
Xie Ji simply turned around and leaned against a pillar next to him, saying in a sarcastic tone, "Madam Xu."
We've been asking outside for so long, you must have heard us clearly from inside. Why didn't you tell us to come in and sit down so you could ask us?
"You've made us stand in the wind for ages in front of your door."
Wang still did not open her eyes. "You want to ask Biying questions. If I make the slightest sound in the room, and it gets out, won't people say that I am colluding with her?"
Although I am a woman, I know that investigating cases requires following proper procedures, so as not to give others grounds for criticism.
“Madam Xu is indeed more thoughtful than us juniors,” Pei Zhiwei continued, following her words.
"If that's the case, were any of the things Biying said in the courtyard just now true?"
Wang: No.
Biying has been with me for over twenty years and has never dared to lie about something like this, especially not in front of the Prince and the officials. She wouldn't dare even if she had ten times the courage.
"In that case, we would like to trouble Madam Xu to tell us the details of what happened last night, from when Lord Wang Jingzong entered the mourning hall until today when Lord Liu wanted to re-examine the coffin."
Pei Zhiwei leaned forward slightly, her gaze fixed on Wang Shi. "The more detailed the better, even if it's something you consider insignificant."
Wang slowly opened her eyes, sighed deeply, and sat up a little straighter. The thin quilt slipped off her shoulders, revealing the plain-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) underneath.
She did look quite haggard after losing her husband: "Yesterday I kept vigil for my husband in the mourning hall. I sat on the prayer mat in front of the offering table, looking at my husband's memorial tablet, and my heart felt heavy."
Around the beginning of the third hour of the lunar calendar, my elder brother arrived, carrying a bowl of calming soup. He said that if I continued to stay up like this, I would ruin my health, and told me to drink the soup and go back to my room to rest.
She paused, her eyes slowly welling up with tears, and her voice lowered: "I didn't pay any attention to him at first, thinking I'd spend more time with the master."
But he said that the Xu family is now extinct.
The master is gone, Xu Ren is gone, and Li'er is still unconscious in prison.
"If I fall again, those members of the Xu family will definitely devour all of the Xu family's assets before Li'er is even released from prison."
At this point, tears finally streamed down her face. "The thought that they could reach into the prison and harm Li'er even before I'm dead is unbearable."
They then falsely accused me of plotting to kill my stepson and seize the family property for myself.
Li'er still hasn't woken up, so I dare not disobey my brother.
After all, Li'er is the Xu family's only hope. If I really collapse, let alone how he'll live after he gets out, what will happen to him while he's in jail?
She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, and continued, choking back sobs, "Later, I had Biying help me back to my room."
After returning to my room, I just sat blankly at the table, staring at the old man's old things, my mind completely blank.
I really can't understand how a perfectly good family could turn into this state.
When the master was alive, the Xu family wasn't exactly harmonious, but they never had so many problems..."
"And then?" Pei Zhiwei asked softly after her emotions had calmed down a bit.
"After you went back to your room, you stayed inside and didn't go out again?"
"Hmm." Madam Wang nodded, her eyelids drooping slightly, as if she hadn't yet recovered from her grief.
"I don't know how long I sat there until Biying came in and told me that Lord Liu was arriving soon and that we should prepare to seal the coffin. Only then did I follow her to the mourning hall."
By then, many clansmen and fierce laborers had already arrived at the mourning hall; it was chaotic. I had no mind to care about anything else; all I wanted was for my father to be laid to rest as soon as possible.
"Have you seen Lord Wang since you returned to your room from the mourning hall?" Pei Zhiwei suddenly asked, her tone more somber than before.
Wang shook her head without hesitation, "No."
I haven't left my room since I went back, and my brother hasn't come looking for me either.
"When Biying came to tell you that she was going to prepare to seal the coffin, didn't you ever wonder why Lord Wang didn't show up?" Pei Zhiwei asked again, her gaze falling on the string of beads in Wang's hand.
Just now, when she mentioned Wang Jingzong, her fingers unconsciously increased the speed at which she twisted the prayer beads, but now she has slowed down.
Wang was stunned for a moment, as if she had just remembered this, and then she showed a helpless self-deprecating smile, "Now that you mention it, I realize it."
I haven't been getting enough rest these past few days, and my mind has been foggy. I just do whatever others tell me to do, without any intention of thinking about anything else.
If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have even realized that I hadn't seen my brother since returning to my room from the mourning hall...
If I had known this would happen, I should have asked Biying where my brother had gone.
Pei Zhiwei didn't respond to her question, but instead asked a seemingly unrelated one: "I heard from the servants that since the funeral, the Xu family has hardly lit any lamps at night."
"Even the lanterns in the yard aren't hung up, is that true?"
Wang lowered her eyes, looking at the string of beads in her hand, her voice so soft it was as if she were talking to herself: "It was my order."
Yangzhou has a custom that says during the funeral, the soul of the deceased will come back to visit the house. If the lights outside are too bright, it will disturb the soul and make it afraid to return.
I thought to myself, the master has treated me well, so perhaps he will come back to see me, and Xu Ren too…
Although he committed the heinous act of patricide, I have taken care of him for over twenty years. Even if I cannot set up a memorial tablet for him, I hope he can come back and visit through the old man's memorial hall.
Therefore, I forbade them to light lamps outside, and only left candles in the mourning hall.
"Hey, you're wrong about that!" Xie Ji couldn't help but interject, straightening up from the pillar and crossing his arms.
"When people in Yangzhou lead a spirit through the streets, they at least light a few lamps along the way to guide the deceased. How can you do something like this, not even providing a path for the deceased to follow?"
Wang raised her eyes and carefully examined Xie Ji for a while, but for some reason, Pei Zhiwei always felt that she was using Xie Ji to look at others.
Before Pei Zhiwei could figure it out, Madam Wang lowered her eyes again and stopped looking at him.
"To be honest, I grew up in Hedong and after I married into Yangdu, I didn't really get involved in any of the family's funerals."
I don't really understand these customs of Yangzhou.
I only wanted to make the master and Xu Ren leave in peace; I didn't think much about anything else...
If I have done anything wrong, please forgive me, Your Highness.
Xie Ji wanted to argue further, but Xiao Yunzhan stopped him with a look.
Xiao Yunzhan had remained silent, simply sitting beside Wang Shi and quietly observing her every move. At this moment, he finally spoke.
"Madam Xu, the Wang family of Hedong has been scheming for so long before finally placing Wang Jingzong in the position of Military Advisor of Xuzhou Granary."
Although he was just a minor official of the seventh rank, Xuzhou was a key location for grain transport, and the military advisor in charge of grain distribution was responsible for managing the grain and fodder. If he worked hard, he would eventually be able to get close to the core of the grain transport system.
Now that Wang Jingzong has died so mysteriously in your residence, what do you think the Wang family will do next?
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