Chapter 174 - 172: This Is a Deadlock (First Update)

Chapter 174: Chapter 172: This Is a Deadlock (First Update)

Xu Jing smiled faintly and said, "Thank you, Young Madam Zhao, for your concern. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing."

She only brought up these suspicions to Young Madam Jiang because she was absolutely confident, but she couldn’t determine to what extent the conspiracy against Young Madam Jiang had reached.

Jing Dan quickly led them to a spacious and well-lit corridor and said, "This is where the Fourth Young Lady painted the picture. Follow this corridor forward and turn right to reach the Old Madam’s residence. The Old Madam devoted herself to a vegetarian lifestyle and moved to Xiangming Residence long ago. Xiangming Residence is the most secluded courtyard in the Marquis Huaiyin’s residence. When the Fourth Young Lady was little, she lived there with the Old Madam. It was only in recent years that she became independent. When Little Snowball was around, the Fourth Young Lady loved to play with it along this corridor, and the Young Madam would occasionally tease Little Snowball."

As Jing Dan spoke, her eyes couldn’t help but turn a bit somber.

Back then, even though the relationship between their Young Madam and the Fourth Young Lady wasn’t very close, they got along quite harmoniously.

Xu Jing looked around the environment. She saw that beside the corridor was a courtyard filled with flowers and plants. Next to it was an artificial hill and pond. Since it was autumn, the leaves on the trees had started to turn yellow, but it wasn’t time for them to fall yet. Looking at it this way, the branches and leaves were still dense, the tree crowns connecting and blocking out the sky.

After observing for a while, Xu Jing asked, "You said that after Young Madam Jiang witnessed the tragic death of Little Snowball years ago, she was afraid to walk this path for a long time. Which path did she take to the Old Madam’s courtyard at that time?"

Usually, daughters-in-law from ordinary families have to pay respects to their elders daily. Even if Young Madam Jiang was a Jiang, she couldn’t avoid this duty.

Jing Dan pointed to an opening leading to the courtyard not far away, saying, "The Young Madam would go out from that opening, follow the stone pathway in the courtyard to the Old Madam’s courtyard. If she didn’t take this path, she would have to go around to the back gate of Xiangming Residence, which is practically half of the Marquis Huaiyin’s residence.

But the stone path in the courtyard is not as smooth as the corridor’s path. When it’s windy or rainy, and the servants can’t sweep the ground in time, not only are there fallen flowers and leaves everywhere, but it’s also very slippery and inconvenient to walk on. So generally speaking, everyone would avoid that path and go to the Old Madam’s courtyard via the corridor."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jing’s mind suddenly lit up with a flash of realization.

If the Fourth Young Lady painted that picture with a certain intention, what could it be? If it was purely to disgust Young Madam Jiang, why didn’t she paint it earlier or later, but instead waited until now?

If her purpose wasn’t merely to disgust Young Madam Jiang, then there’s only one possibility—she wanted Young Madam Jiang to remember witnessing the tragic death of Little Snowball back then!

Back then, after Young Madam Jiang witnessed Little Snowball’s tragic death, she had a knot in her heart and didn’t want to walk this corridor. If this time, Young Madam Jiang also avoided this corridor for the same reason, she would have to take the stone pathway through the courtyard to the Old Madam’s place, just like before!

What is on that stone path?

Xu Jing suddenly walked forward silently and quickly into the courtyard. Zhao Shaohua and Jing Dan froze for a moment before hurriedly following her, utterly puzzled. "Doctor Xu, what are you doing in the courtyard?"

But Xu Jing didn’t answer their questions. She walked onto the courtyard’s stone path and found that the plants on both sides weren’t just a few. Various ancient trees and flowers were growing on either side, even a bit chaotically, with some tree branches growing out yet left untrimmed.

Xu Jing frowned, "Doesn’t the Marquis Huaiyin’s residence have gardeners responsible for the courtyard garden?"

Jing Dan was taken aback and said, "Of course, there are. If I remember correctly, the residence has six gardeners, each responsible for a specific area. The gardener responsible for this area is the son of Madam’s wet nurse. He takes advantage of his relationship with Madam and often shirks off. Although Madam knows about this, due to her feelings for her wet nurse, and because this gardener, despite his laziness, is good at putting up a front, she turns a blind eye."

Because there was a time when their Young Madam would often walk this path, Jing Dan was well aware of this gardener’s affairs.

Xu Jing reached out and touched a branch that had grown onto the stone path, "Even if someone is lazy, they shouldn’t leave branches growing onto the stone path like this untrimmed."

This place is right in front of the Old Madam’s courtyard; if this gardener’s work was this sloppy, the Old Madam would surely have complaints.

Jing Dan was momentarily dazed; this was indeed somewhat strange.

She shook her head and said, "His work shouldn’t be this sloppy; there must be some reason. Allow me to inquire..."

At that moment, a maid was passing by on the corridor. Jing Dan’s eyes lit up and she quickly waved her over, "Qiao’er, Qiao’er, just in time, let me ask you, has anything happened with Liu Da, who is responsible for this area? The branches have grown onto the path untrimmed, and earlier, when I brought our Young Madam’s guests through here, the guest’s clothes got caught."

The maid named Qiao’er stopped, glanced at Xu Jing and Zhao Shaohua, and then said with a slight snub, "Liu Da has taken leave these past two days, said he ate something bad. Initially said he’d be back to work today, but this morning he sent someone to say he’s still terribly sick, probably will take a couple more days."

Madam wanted to find someone to temporarily take over his duties, but you know what Liu Da is like usually; the other gardeners didn’t really want to take on his work."

Though there were things she couldn’t say directly in front of Xu Jing and the others, this didn’t stop them from understanding the implications of her words.

Liu Da was habitually lazy and only did surface-level work; for all the tasks that required a closer eye, who knows how much he had neglected. Naturally, no other gardener wanted to get involved in this mess.

And Lady Huaiyin was surely aware of Liu Da’s situation; she couldn’t exactly force other gardeners to take over Liu Da’s work.

This led to the area being neglected in Liu Da’s absence these past two days.

Xu Jing suddenly asked, "Do you know why Liu Da ate something bad?"

Qiao’er was momentarily stunned. Although she found it odd for a guest to ask this, she considered they were Jiang’s guests and thus curtseyed, "I’m not sure. If Madam is curious, you can ask a servant who knows Liu Da well."

Xu Jing remained silent, her mind racing with thoughts.

Something’s not right. Although these things seem coincidental, she felt there was a thread connecting them all.

Young Madam Jiang’s cold, the stolen hairpins and barrette, the strange sweet scent on the step-shaking ornament, the painting of Little Snowball, the gardener’s unexpected leave...

In Xu Jing’s mind, something clicked suddenly, and she quietly stepped into the grass beside the stone path, carefully parting the shrubs to examine closely.

Jing Dan and Zhao Shaohua were startled by her actions, and Zhao Shaohua hurriedly asked, "Doctor Xu, what’s wrong? Did you find something unusual?"

As Xu Jing scrutinized the area, she replied, "I thought of something and want to verify it..."

If it’s not here, it might be on the other side.

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, focusing on a spot covered by layers of branches and leaves, her heart pounding faster.

Found it!

This is indeed a malicious... murder plot against Young Madam Jiang!