"Were you doing embroidery all afternoon on the seventh day? Didn't you hear anything?" Gu Xin asked.
"I wasn't always there. I need to move around after staring at the embroidery for so long, otherwise my health will suffer and my eyesight will deteriorate. When I rest, I just walk around in the yard. I really didn't hear anything," Mrs. Song said.
"Princess, please have some tea." At this moment, Song Yi brought over the tea and also served Mrs. Song a cup of hot water.
After they had both drunk their drinks, Song Yi said, "Princess, I know you asked about the seventh day of the month. The seventh day is the time when the Xie family girl died. But I have a question. Did the Xie family girl die at the bottom of the well? Or did she die outside and be thrown into the well? If she died directly at the bottom of the well, then there might have been some commotion next door on the seventh day. But if she died outside and was thrown into the well, then no one can say for sure which day she was thrown into the well. We can't just focus on the seventh day."
"Young Master Song, do you know Miss Xie?" Gu Xin suddenly asked.
"Huh? I don't know him." Song Yi was taken aback, then said.
"Then how did you know it was a girl from the Xie family? I don't think anyone told you the deceased's surname was Xie just now?" Gu Xin asked, looking at Song Yi's face.
Mrs. Song also glanced at Song Yi.
“Oh, Your Highness, I don’t know Miss Xie, but I do know Master Xie.” Song Yi scratched his head and said somewhat naively, “Young Master Xie was my classmate, and Master Xie was often invited to the academy. Young Master Xie went to the Royal Academy last year, so I haven’t seen Master Xie much since.”
"Oh, is that so! I thought you knew Miss Xie but were pretending not to!" Gu Xin smiled.
"To be honest, Your Highness, my son is a real quiet type, very shy. He can't even tell the difference between girls in the same alley, let alone know girls outside. When the Zhu family was arranging a marriage between the Xie family, he saw Zhu Niangzi when she was still a young girl and ran back to me saying, 'Xiao Ru has changed so much!' Wasn't he completely mistaking her for someone else? Cough cough cough cough..." Mrs. Song was about to laugh after saying this, but then she coughed again and quickly picked up her cup to drink some water.
"Oh, I see! Mrs. Song, Mr. Song, in the days between the seventh day of the lunar new year and yesterday when the Liang family confirmed that they would rent the courtyard next door, has there been any movement from next door?" Gu Xin asked again.
The mother and son looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison.
Seeing this, Gu Xin stopped asking questions and only told them to tell the officials whatever they remembered.
After giving her instructions, she got up to leave, but then she noticed the flowers on the table and asked with a smile, "Mrs. Song is not in good health. These flowers look like they were picked only three or four days ago. They must have been picked by Young Master Song! There don't seem to be any wildflowers like these in the capital."
Song Yi said, "I don't know if they have any in the capital, but we have some in our academy. I saw some pretty ones a couple of days ago and remembered that Mother liked them, so I picked some."
Gu Xin nodded, then glanced subtly at the embroidery basket beside the bed before taking her leave.
Song Yi saw Gu Xin out. Mrs. Song looked at the flowers on the table, then at the embroidery basket by the bedside, and her expression changed slightly.
She started coughing again.
After hearing this in the courtyard, Gu Xin told Song Yi not to see her off anymore, since it was only a few steps away: "Young Master Song, remember to get the medicine tomorrow morning, then brew it for Mrs. Song to drink, and bring the doctor with you as well. After you finish the medicine, be sure to ask the doctor to come and examine Mrs. Song. Mrs. Song's illness is not a minor one; the medicine needs to be adjusted and changed frequently, so please don't be careless."
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