Liu Yi took the hairpin again. It was a plain silver hairpin with two rubies on the head, which was the finishing touch.
He stared at it for a while, then looked up at Shen Tangning with a puzzled expression: "Is there anything special about it?"
Shen Tangning didn't expect a man to be very observant, and holding the ruby, she said, "Didn't you notice, sir? This is a red bean."
"Red bean?" Liu Yifu gently stroked it with his fingertips. It felt smooth to the touch. It was indeed not because its shape and color resembled a gemstone that he had mistaken it for a gemstone.
His brows furrowed deeply, and his voice carried a hint of hesitation: "The red beans I've seen don't seem to look like this?"
Shen Tangning curled up her lips, not particularly surprised: "The red beans that you usually see are edible ones. These red beans are also called love beans, which contain a lot of poison and are not edible."
Liu Yifu slowly twirled the red bean. So this was the red bean from the book: "Red beans convey longing; does your daughter have someone she loves?"
Jinxiu's pupils contracted, a hint of panic flashing across her face: "This servant...this servant knew nothing about it!"
Shen Tangning looked at her, her expression reassuring: "Don't be nervous, we won't make things difficult for you. It's just that the cause of your daughter's death is a mystery. Don't you want us to find out the truth so that she can rest in peace as soon as possible?"
After a moment's consideration, Jinxiu bit her lip and said, "According to my guess, Miss Pingting probably has someone she loves."
Pingting was not harsh on the servants; on the contrary, she treated them very well. However, she was aloof and would not talk to them about trivial matters.
So Jinxiu was unaware that Pingting had someone she liked, but as she served her day and night, she inevitably noticed some clues.
"That was on the night of the Lantern Festival. Miss Pingting seemed to be in a very good mood. She started dressing up early. I guess she was going to see someone."
She was naturally beautiful, and after some makeup, she became even more radiant and charming.
Jinxiu remembers that night very clearly, because Pingting waited from 7 PM to 1 AM, but the person she was waiting for never came.
"She just sat there blankly in front of the mirror, her expression neither sad nor happy, but I just had a feeling that she must have been very disappointed at that moment."
Liu Yi pondered for a moment: "You've served her for so long, haven't you ever seen that person?"
Jinxiu shook her head.
He couldn't help but guess that this person couldn't show his face freely, either because he was of humble origin and had difficulty seeing Pingting, or because he was of extraordinary birth and it was inconvenient for him to appear in such a place of pleasure.
From Pingting's perspective, he preferred the second option.
"What's this?" Liu Yifu noticed that the dressing case, which should have contained jewelry, was filled with medicinal herbs in different compartments. He picked up a piece, sniffed it, and a look of suspicion flashed in his eyes. "Your young lady is not in good health, why do you always keep medicinal herbs on hand?"
Just as Jinxiu was about to speak, Shen Tangning narrowed her eyes slightly and smelled each of the medicinal herbs one by one:
“Angelica dahurica, cloves, mugwort, agarwood…” She frowned slightly. “These aren’t medicinal herbs, but rather spices used for making incense. Your daughter knows how to make incense?”
Her clear gaze fell on Jinxiu, who for some reason seemed a little nervous: "The young lady... likes to study cosmetics and fragrances in her spare time."
Liu Yifu's gaze darkened: "Why didn't you say so just now?"
Jinxiu opened her mouth, her eyes blank: "Miss makes incense for her own use, this servant doesn't think there's anything special about it..."
"Alright." Liu Yifu raised his hand to interrupt her and began searching on the dressing table on his own.
Shen Tangning unconsciously recalled Chi Yan's words:
He said that when he woke up, there was a rich orchid fragrance around him.
Her gaze swept around the table, finally settling on the cosmetics and powders, which she examined one by one.
Found it!
Shen Tangning caught sight of a sachet, picked it up, and brought it close to her nose to smell it.
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