Chapter 144
Chapter 144: Quibbling
Wang Yu brushed the dust from his knees and, instead of answering the Eldest Master, looked at Xia Meng Yan and said: “After all this talk, Cousin Miss should answer my question too. I believe I did everything perfectly. No matter whether I admit guilt, either the physician or the Second Madam would take the blame. How did you discover the truth?”
Chun Yue brought a chair into the courtyard and helped the master sit.
Xia Meng Yan smiled faintly, her eyes settling on Wang Yu’s wrist, and said: “The bracelet on your wrist belongs to a woman. In your home there is only your mother and your sister, and for years you have not even had a woman in your bed. The style is new, so I guessed it was your sister’s. The pattern is worn, which means you often rub it. Your mother is close to the end, so I became sure your sister’s matter had more behind it. You planned to avenge your sister and then go down to join them.”
Wang Yu paused, then gave a self-mocking smile and set his hand on the table as he said: “I didn’t expect it came down to the bracelet.”
He turned to the Eldest Master and said: “Master, you asked for evidence. Since Cousin Miss could find it, she must have proof. Do you dare lay it out in front of everyone?”
The Eldest Master pressed his lips together and looked to Xia Meng Yan. Concubine Su was gentle and modest and had a good name in the manor. If the evidence came out, how would she live here afterward?
Xia Meng Yan lowered her head to drink her tea. The matter was already clear, but she did not want to be the one to deliver the final blow: [I don’t want to be the villain.]
She might not want to, but someone else did.
Madam Jia stepped forward and said: “Master, why are you hesitating? Concubine Su committed a serious wrong and nearly killed me. Even if you ache for Yu’er, you cannot indulge her like this.”
Second Madam had come to watch the show, but when she saw her elder brother hesitate, her anger rose. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Over the years, Concubine Su had used Elder Brother’s favor to cheat many things out of others. If she vomited those things back up, splitting them with Madam Jia would still be better than getting nothing.
Second Madam took the chance and said: “Elder Sister-in-law is right. Concubine Su made my son live in fear for years. Today we must make it clear and return my son’s good name.”
Seeing Second Madam support her, Madam Jia grew even bolder. She looked straight at Xia Meng Yan and said: “Meng Yan, this involves the main branch, so it must be handled fairly, or your uncle will lose the people’s trust. Today, even if it were me, we would still need to investigate and give everyone an answer.”
Xia Meng Yan silently lit a candle for Madam Jia in her heart: [With this temper, even without Concubine Su, there would be someone else. In a matter like this, husband and wife should stand as one, but look at her, all ready to hammer an ‘adulterer and adulteress.’]
The Eldest Master was the head of the family; in front of everyone, he could not show bias. He said: “Yan’er, they are not wrong. Bring out the evidence. If it truly was Concubine Su’s doing, I will punish her severely.”
Xia Meng Yan noticed that Wang Yu seemed to breathe out in relief when he heard that. [So he delayed because he knew that even if he complained to his uncle, with Uncle’s favor for Concubine Su, it would end with silver, not justice. If the end was already set, then it is clear: I was a piece in Wang Yu’s plan too.]
She raised her hand. Song Mo entered leading a man.
The newcomer bowed to the crowd and said: “I am a coroner from the yamen, entrusted by the Lin family to open the coffin and examine the body.”
At the words “open the coffin,” everyone was shocked.
Wang Yu stared at Xia Meng Yan and said: “You dug up my sister’s grave?”
Xia Meng Yan did not answer and instead asked: “Do you not wish to avenge your sister? So many years have passed. We can find witnesses, but physical proof is hard. Without opening the coffin, how could we get the physical evidence?”
Wang Yu bit his lip. He knew she was right, but hearing that his sister’s grave had been opened was hard to accept. The dead should rest in peace. The living should respect the dead. Such rules stand at all times, especially between siblings as close as they had been.
Xia Meng Yan turned to the coroner.
The coroner understood and said: “After examination, there are two wounds on the body: the ankle and the forehead. According to the Lin family’s account, the victim fell from the rockery and twisted her ankle, which was not fatal. Someone then struck her head with a sharp object, and she bled to death.”
Second Madam, thrilled by the result, almost wanted to beat gongs as she said: “So someone killed Wang Xiao and framed my son?”
The coroner nodded and said: “I have learned how the case unfolded. After the incident, the young master left in fear. Later, someone smashed the victim’s head. Just then, Second Madam arrived with people to check and thought the young master was the killer, which allowed the real murderer to escape.”
He then presented an earring and said: “This was in Wang Xiao’s hand, likely dropped when the killer fled in a hurry.”
Chun Yue took the evidence and handed it to the master.
Studying the earring, Xia Meng Yan passed it to Madam Jia and said: “Aunt, you have managed the rear court for many years. You must know who would be rewarded with pearls of this quality.”
Madam Jia glanced once, then looked at the Eldest Master with open displeasure as she said: “Husband, three years ago you brought back a box of South Sea pearls. I made a necklace, and you gave the rest to Concubine Su.”
A box of pearls, with a necklace made, would leave only a few, at most enough for two pairs of drops.
Everyone understood at once. This pearl earring belonged to Concubine Su.
The Eldest Master took the earring and checked again and again, then said with a heavy heart: “Someone, go invite Concubine Su here.”
Madam Jia and Second Madam exchanged a look and smiled with satisfaction.
Concubine Su soon arrived with her maids. Seeing so many people present, she clutched her handkerchief in fear and said: “This concubine greets the master.”
The Eldest Master wasted no words and had the pearl earring handed to her as he said: “See whether this drop is yours.”
Concubine Su took it, surprise on her face, and looked at the Eldest Master as she said: “It is mine, but it was stolen many years ago. How is it in Master’s hand?”
Madam Jia let out a laugh of anger and said: “Wretch, you still want to quibble? Your earring was at the scene. You think one ‘it was stolen’ can end it? Stop pretending. Tell the whole story now. Do you want to ruin the main branch?”
Concubine Su shook her head in panic. Tears slid down as she said: “What crime scene? I did not. I stay in my courtyard every day and did not step out the door. Madam, you cannot wrong me at will.”
Madam Jia could not stand her weeping. The sight only stoked her fire. She pointed at Concubine Su and said: “Cry, cry, cry. You think tears fix everything? This is a murder case. Put away your tricks and make the whole matter clear, from start to finish.”
Second Madam walked to Madam Jia’s side, took her arm, and looked down at the kneeling Concubine Su with a sneer as she said: “No wonder Elder Sister-in-law dislikes Concubine Su. I see it now. The evidence is clear, yet she keeps quibbling. Does she think whoever cries is right? Don’t bring the filthy thoughts from your rooms out here to shame yourself before others.”
“You…” Concubine Su bit her lip, tears falling like a flood, as if she had suffered a great wrong, and said: “I know Madam and Second Madam do not like me, but you cannot humiliate me like this.”
She turned to the Eldest Master and said: “Master, the matter is not yet clear, yet you let them slander me. How will the two young misses in my rooms live in the manor after this?”
Xia Meng Yan raised a brow: [No wonder Madam Jia has lost to Concubine Su for years. She knows how to use people’s interests to bind their hearts. Though only a concubine, she has three children. If word spreads that the Lin family joined hands to shame her, her three children’s marriages will suffer. In noble houses, daughters are often stepping stones for the clan. To raise them for years and then see them wasted, who would allow it?]
A calm voice cut through the tension as Xia Meng Yan said: “Who said it isn’t clear?”