When Madam Nian saw that the Fourth Master had said the exact same thing as the Head Madam, she felt extremely annoyed. She said awkwardly, "Why don't you send Peach Blossom again tomorrow to ask?"
The people Fourth Master sent to investigate Yuhen had not yet replied, but unexpectedly, Lady Nian found out before him. As Fourth Master listened to Lady Nian recount how Tao Hua gradually learned about the situation on Yehe's side, his anger repeatedly surged to the point where he could hardly control himself.
Lady Nian eventually left. Fourth Master made an excuse that he had official business to attend to and did not go to her place. When Lady Nian came out of the front courtyard, it was already past 5 PM.
"My lady, should we still go to the concubine's place?" Seeing that Madam Nian looked displeased, Cui Ling had no choice but to ask.
"I'm not going. Master already suspects that slut. Her good days are numbered. You didn't see that he didn't even flinch when I said what I just told him. It's a complete waste of my efforts." Madam Nian never expected that what she thought would gain her Fourth Master's special trust would turn out to be something he already knew about. So why hadn't he taken that slut away?
Meanwhile, Lanqin spent the day comfortably playing with the two children, as everything was being managed by others who would at most report to her. She had already delegated authority to Cui Niang, Nianxue, and Lanqi; the matters that were ultimately reported to her were those requiring her decision, such as the news from the Yehe clan—Taohua had hanged herself.
Lanqin hadn't expected that this name would ring in her ears several times in the past few days, the last time being news of her death. Normally, the life or death of a maid in such a large mansion wouldn't be a big deal; at most, her family would be given some silver to settle the matter. Most people wouldn't dare question the master about how their children died, otherwise they wouldn't even receive the final payment. Sold into servitude, they were essentially selling their lives and fortunes to the master.
Peach Blossom was unfortunate because, as a lowly maid, she was ignorant of her place and meddled in the power struggles between her masters; yet, she was also fortunate because her death caught Lanqin's attention. Lanqin felt she couldn't bear to see any innocent life slip through her fingers, so she ordered Doctor Liang to examine the body.
Peach Blossom's body had already been lowered from the roof beam. Lotus was the first to discover her body, and she was brought before Lanqin for questioning.
"Are you Lotus?" Lanqin sat upright on the warm couch in the main room.
"Yes, this servant is." Lotus was clearly still in shock. She was the first person to "see" Peach Blossom's body. It turned out that Yuhen had instructed Lotus to deliver some food to Peach Blossom, which made her the first witness.
"How did you find out that Taohua hanged herself?" Lanqin felt like a judge, looking at Hehua's terrified face.
"This servant was ordered by my mistress to go in and deliver food to Peach Blossom. As soon as I entered the door, I found her hanging there! It was terrifying." Lotus seemed to recall the first time she saw Lotus, and her expression was extremely frightened.
"You said you were delivering food? Why are you delivering food? Can't she leave that room?" Lanqin asked.
“Peach Blossom was punished by being confined and deprived of food and drink because she ran away without permission,” Lotus said.
"Didn't Peach Blossom just return to the Yehe Clan? How did she run off again? Where did she go?" Lanqin was becoming more and more interested in this maid.
“This servant doesn’t know.” Lotus recalled the time when Peach Blossom bribed her. She hesitated for a moment, then said, “Actually, this is not the first time Peach Blossom has run away. That time, she was also locked in a room by her master. She begged this servant, and this servant let her go.”
Lotus was clearly greatly traumatized; Peach's death filled her with fear of that house.
"You mean Peach Blossom was also confined by your master before?" Lanqin noticed that Lotus seemed a little agitated and gestured for Cui Niang to bring her a cup of hot tea.
"Yes, this servant doesn't know anything, she just begged me to let her out. But I didn't expect that the princess would bring her back." Lotus looked surprised until Cui Niang personally brought her a cup of hot tea.
"Hehua, you can go back now. If you have any further questions, we'll call you back." Lanqin noticed that Hehua kept repeating the same few sentences, so she gestured for Cui Niang to take Hehua away to comfort her.
"Princess, what terrible mistake has Peach Blossom made that Princess Yehe has repeatedly tried to confine her to her room?" Nianxue asked, seeing Lanqin sitting there without saying a word.
“Let Yehe clan come over for questioning,” Lanqin said.
Actually, when the lotus flower was brought over, the Yehe clan and their servants had already arrived, but they were at the door and hadn't come in. Now that Lanqin had summoned them, they quickly entered.
"This concubine greets Consort Yehe!" She was dressed in a light green Manchu dress, and her head ornaments were extremely simple, made of silver or jade.
"This woman knows how to dress herself well!" Lanqin thought to herself. She blended her clothing and accessories perfectly with her temperament, standing tall and graceful like a green bamboo, making people feel very comfortable.
"Princess Yehe, please sit down. Cui Niang, bring tea." This was the first time Lanqin, as the head of the family, had inquired about the princess's affairs, and surprisingly, she didn't feel awkward at all.
"Thank you, Consort Yehe!" Yehe sat only on one side, behaving very politely. Behind her was her personal maid, Yuhen, who was just as cautious as she was.
"Why has Sister Yehe repeatedly confined Peach Blossom to her own room?" Lanqin asked directly.
"Alas, I now regret punishing her with confinement. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so despondent." Yehe suddenly pinched the handkerchief on her chest and held it under her nose, seemingly crying.
"Princess, you can't blame yourself anymore. Peach Blossom was too reckless." Yuhen behind her quickly patted Yehe's back and said, "Consort, ever since Peach Blossom came to serve our Princess, she seemed unwilling to accept it and kept giving our Princess a hard time. The Princess is kind-hearted and has never said anything to anyone. But this Peach Blossom started stealing things, and we don't know how many things she stole. So the Princess kicked her out of the room. The first time she ran away was because of this. Consort, when our mistress saw Princess Nian come to ask for her, she was afraid that Peach Blossom would gossip, so she refused to let her go. Unexpectedly, Peach Blossom stole our Princess's jewelry again. The Princess punished her by confinement, but unexpectedly, she actually tried to commit suicide."
Her words were well-structured and coherent, seemingly explaining the cause and effect, but Lanqin felt as if she had prepared for it all.
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