Yuhen slowly groped her way to pick up the blanket from the floor, her heart pounding wildly. Yehe Shi, seeing Yuhen's trembling appearance, whispered, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and do it!"
Yuhen felt as if a pair of hands were pressing on her neck. She slowly moved the blanket, and when it was almost touching Taohua's face, it stopped.
Yehe looked at Yuhen, unable to bring herself to do it, and glared at her, saying, "What are you waiting for? If you don't do it now, it will be even harder to do it when she wakes up."
Yuhen bit her lip, her hands trembling like leaves. With a determined look, she lunged at Taohua's face. Taohua was jolted awake from her dream by the sudden suffocating sensation. She tried to struggle, but her hands and feet were bound by ropes, and she couldn't move at all.
All that could be heard was an "ah" that escaped from Peach Blossom's mouth, followed by muffled whimpers.
Yehe pressed down on Taohua's feet, preventing her from kicking, so Taohua could only twist her upper body incessantly. Perhaps it was her violent struggle that triggered Yuhen's inner rage; she frantically pressed the blanket down on Taohua's head, desperately holding it up. Taohua probably never knew until her death that she had lost her life there.
When Yehe saw that Taohua's legs had finally stopped kicking, she released her grip and whispered, "She's dead!"
The room was extremely dark, and Yuhen's ashen face looked terrifying. She had just taken a life, and the lingering violence in her body had not yet dissipated.
"Princess, go check if there's a beam in this house that could indicate suicide. We need to make it look like she committed suicide so we won't arouse suspicion," Yuhen said calmly.
Startled by Yuhen's voice, Yehe Shi obediently got up to look at the roof of the house. She looked around and finally found a place to hang herself.
Yuhen then began rummaging through Tao Hua's cabinet, finding some strips of cloth that looked like bed sheets. Naturally, she also unearthed Tao Hua's valuables; besides silver and some gold and silver jewelry, a seven-colored tourmaline bracelet stood out. Since most of the other jewelry consisted of earrings or rings, it was clear they were gifts from her master.
"Princess, is this bracelet yours?" Yuhen's heart stirred, and she turned to ask Yehe.
Yehe Shi hurried over and saw the bracelet in Yuhen's hand. She said disdainfully, "How could she possibly have such a fine tourmaline bracelet? But it's not mine either. Was it a gift from the Fujin?"
Yuhen said, "I'm afraid not. The Fujin wouldn't bestow such gifts indiscriminately. Why don't you leave one of your things with her, Gege? Then we can say that Taohua stole something and, unable to bear the master's punishment, committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
Upon hearing this, Yehe immediately pulled a gardenia hairpin from her hair and placed it in the bag of valuables. The two then worked together to hang the peach blossom from the roof beam, making it appear as if they had hanged themselves. By the time they went out, it was already dark, probably around dusk.
Yuhen quickly locked the room again as usual, and the two of them left without anyone noticing. When they pretended to be returning from outside, they had just reached the door of the main room when they saw Yulu inside, with Hexiang and Qiuyue standing on either side.
"Princess, you're finally back! I almost went looking for you," Yu Lu said. "These two maids dared to come into the room to serve you without your permission."
Yehe glanced at Yulu and said, "It was I who asked them to come in and serve me. Yulu, I'm hungry, have you brought some for dinner?"
Seeing this, Yu Lu suppressed her surprise and said, "This servant has already sent Hehua to fetch the meal. Please come in, Gege. This servant will go and get it right away."
Yehe nodded, then said to Hexiang and Qiuyue, "You two did very well today. Go back and rest now. I will give you instructions when necessary."
He Xiang and Qiu Yu exchanged a glance, then bowed and took their leave.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince had just returned from the palace when he was intercepted by Madam Nian, who was guarding the front gate.
"This humble servant greets Your Highness!" Lady Nian, dressed in a rose-red qipao with blue trim that perfectly complemented her elegance, raised her moon-white brocade handkerchief and bowed.
"What are you doing here?" Fourth Master couldn't help but blurt out.
Lady Nian pouted unhappily and said, "It seems that Master doesn't welcome me!"
Fourth Master was taken aback, then smiled and said, "No, it's cold. Why are you standing here? Why don't you go inside? Those servants are really bad at serving you. What if you get cold?"
Upon hearing this, Lady Nian turned around and said happily, "For your sake, it's nothing for me to stand here for a while."
Fourth Master took Nian's hand and said reproachfully, "You said you were fine, but your hands are cold. Come on, let's go inside." With that, he led Nian into the courtyard.
After they sat down in the main room of the Fourth Master, Su Peisheng instructed someone to quickly serve the two masters warm tea. Only then did the Fourth Master say, "Did you come to see me about something?"
After taking a sip of warm tea, Lady Nian solemnly said, "I have something very important to report to you, Your Highness. Please don't be too surprised after hearing it."
Fourth Master gestured for Madam Nian to continue, and then Madam Nian vividly recounted how Peach Blossom discovered that Yuhen had been drugged, how she found out, and how she sent Peach Blossom back to continue the investigation.
After hearing this, Fourth Master wasn't too excited. He simply asked, "Is that thing still with you?"
Seeing that the Fourth Prince looked very calm, Nian Shilan thought he didn't believe her, and said anxiously, "Everything I said is true. Does Your Highness not believe that Princess Yehe would do such a despicable thing?"
The Fourth Master shook his head before saying, "No, I believe you. But everything requires evidence, because in this inner courtyard, anyone can say what they want, and I only look at the evidence. You said Peach Blossom saw it, and that it was Peach Blossom who brought it to you. Where is she?"
Seeing that the Fourth Prince had finally gotten to the point, Lady Nian quickly said, "I'll have her go back and keep an eye on things. Why don't you summon Lady Yehe and Peach Blossom over now, Your Highness?"
The Fourth Prince glanced at Madam Nian a few times and pondered, "I already have my suspicions. Even if you don't say anything, I'm investigating her maids."
Lady Nian was embarrassed this time. She thought that after telling the Fourth Prince such an important matter, he would surely understand her good intentions, but it seemed that he already knew.
“My lord, every day Peach Blossom is in danger over there, why don’t you bestow her upon me as your servant?” said Madam Nian.
"You should go to the concubine about this matter. After all, she's in charge of all the expenses and staff for your princesses. I can't overstep my bounds," the Fourth Prince said.
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