Chapter 165 - Beacon in Troubled Times 15 (2/2)

Qi Yian was very polite to Yu Hanjiang. She said, “My marriage with the second prince of the Zhao State is set for the end of the year. Today is the birthday of my father. In order to show sincerity, the Zhou state sent an amba.s.sador to my father. An official from the Ministry of Rites explained to me some of the customs I needed to pay attention to on the day of the wedding. I followed them to the inn that hosted them to study and returned home at the time of Xus.h.i.+ (between 7-9 pm).”

She paused before adding, “Once I returned home, I wrote a letter. Before I finished writing the letter, I heard a scream outside and my third sister came to tell me that something had happened to my older sister.”

Yu Hanjiang glanced at Long Sen. “Did a messenger from the Zhao state come today?”

Long Sen nodded. “Yes, they gave a congratulatory gift to the prince in the afternoon but it wasn’t convenient for them to attend the banquet. The second young lady did follow them and went to the inn dedicated to receiving guests from the Zhao State.”

The second young lady was personally selected by the emperor to marry the Zhao state. The customs of Zhao were different from the Qi state and if she wanted to marry a Zhao person, she needed to pay attention to many details. She said that she didn’t return to the prince’s mansion until around xus.h.i.+ time. If she was the murderer then this time would be too late. Moreover, she and the eldest young lady had no grudges and she was going to marry the second prince of the Zhao state, becoming the principle wife. There was no motive for her to commit the crime.

Yu Hanjiang asked, “Do you usually have contact with the eldest young lady?”

Qi Yian smiled. “My sister often stays in the Buddhist temple to copy scriptures and I also don’t like to go out. I usually practice the guqin at Xiushui Pavilion so I barely see her a few times a month.”

Yu Hanjiang then asked, “What is the relations.h.i.+p between the eldest young lady and her sister, do you know?”

Qi Yian shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t have much contact with my third and fourth sisters. My third sister is good at martial arts and carries a sword every day. She likes to run out of the prince’s mansion to play and she isn’t close to me. My fourth sister always covers her face with a white veil. Every time she sees me, she will only call me ‘Princess’ and is very polite to me.” She paused and said lightly, “ I don’t know the relations.h.i.+p between the three of them, nor am I interested in knowing.”

She was someone who was going to be sent to the Zhao state. In the future, she might not have an opportunity to return home. In addition, she and her sisters were born to different mothers so these sisters were nothing for her.

As the legitimate daughter, she just needed to manager herself. The smartest way was to not get involved in the feuds between the wives of the prince’s mansion. The second young lady didn’t say anything but the third young lady gave Yu Hanjiang a clue.

Qi Yiru said, “When I went to the toilet in the evening, I saw my fourth sister hurriedly pa.s.sing by the rockery and heading in the direction of Hongmei Park. I asked her what was wrong and she kept avoiding my eyes. She said she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go back to take medicine.”

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “Do you have a good relations.h.i.+p with the fourth young lady?”

Qi Yiru nodded. “Yes, my eldest sister hides in the Buddhist temple every day knocking on wooden fish while my second sister sits in Xiushui Pavilion and plays the guqin. I don’t talk to them and usually like to practice martial arts. My fourth sister knows medicine so I’ll go see her and she will help bandage my wounds.”

She added with a laugh. “The killer can’t be my fourth sister! She is usually soft and weak, How can she have the courage to kill someone? I think she might’ve seen the murderer which is why she fled from the rockery!”

Yu Hanjiang called the key suspect, Qi Yiwei over. Her face was still covered with a white veil. She was timid and didn’t dare to look at them.

Yu Hanjiang directly questioned her. “The fourth young lady, did your eldest sister know about the private relations.h.i.+p between you and Young Master Lin?”

Qi Yiwei, “……”

Xiao Lou glanced at Group Leader Yu rather helplessly. This straight ball habit hadn’t changed. The fourth young lady hadn’t expected the other person to ask such a question and she was frightened, her entire body shaking.

There was a layer of sweat on her forehead and her fingers were clenched tightly by her side. She exclaimed “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please don’t defile a woman’s innocence.”

Yu Hanjiang simply handed her the letter from the Ninth Princess. “The fourth young lady, please look at this.”

Qi Yiwei stared with eyes. After seeing the pa.s.sing about ‘I want to fulfill their wish and will become a monk’, her eyes immediately reddened.

She covered her face and cried while speaking intermittently, “Sister… she wanted to help us… I’m sorry for her… wuu… I’m sorry for my sister…”

Seeing that she couldn’t stop crying, Xiao Lou asked her, “Why do you cover your face with a white veil?”

Qi Yiwei was silent for a long time before gently removing the veil.

The right side of her face was very beautiful and refined, with fair and smooth skin. She was definitely a big beauty. However, there was a thumb-shaped birthmark on the left cheek that ruined her appearance. It was like a crystal clear piece of jade had a crack, making people feel regret.

Qi Yiwei trembled as she put the veil back on. “I was born like this and I didn’t want to be talked about, so I covered my face with a white veil. In fact, Young Master Lin and I haven’t been intimate. We have known each other before he was betrothed to my sister…”

Xiao Lou wrote down this key note and said, “You and Young Master Lin have long had a mutual commitment?

Qi Yiwei nodded. “A year ago, on the mountain outside Ji City, Young Master Lin accidentally broke his leg. I was pa.s.sing by and saved me. He saw my face and didn’t mind it. He said he wanted to marry me… he treated me with sincerity and I was very fond of him. We… often used excuses to go outside the city and meet in private.”

“A few months later, the Lin family carried a bridal dowry to talk about a match. I was happy in my heart because I thought he was going to propose to me. As I result, I learned that his marriage was actually to my older sister!”

Having said this, Qi Yiwei’s nails couldn’t help piercing her palm deeply. Her shock and grievance at the time were beyond words.

Yu Hanjiang spoke coldly. “After the marriage contract, you didn’t dare oppose your parents so you continued meeting privately. Today you secretly met in the backyard. Did you happen to encounter the eldest young lady?”

Qi Yiwei’s body trembled slightly and she didn’t reply, apparently confirming Yu Hanjiang’s words. Yu Hanjiang’s sharp eyes swept over the piece of jade hanging from her waist. “That jade, was it given by Young Master Lin?”

Qi Yiwei hadn’t expected him to mention even this matter and she froze, her face instantly becoming extremely pale.

Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. “Say it, how did you and Young Master Lin conspire to kill the eldest young lady?”

Qi Yiwei’s eyes widened and she hurriedly shook his head. “It wasn’t me… I didn’t kill my oldest sister! After seeing her, I hurried away. I really don’t know what happened to her!”

Yu Hanjiang asked, “You fled in a hurry, what about Young Master Lin?”

“Young Master Lin?” Qi Yiwei suddenly froze. She had definitely fled back to Hongmei Park at the time. On the way, she b.u.mped into her third sister and excused herself, saying she was going to take medicine. She didn’t know where Young Master Lin had gone.

Yu Hanjiang asked Long Sen, “Has Young Master Lin been found?”

Long Sen shook his head. “I asked all the guards and there are no traces of Young Master Lin in the courtyard of the prince’s mansion. No guests saw him go out the front door, but at the back door, some of the tiles on the wall are broken. He probably climbed the wall of the back door and slipped out.”

Yu Hanjiang’s voice was cold. “Immediately arrest Lin Shaobo!”

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