CH 9.2

The evening wind blew past, and there was a sudden chill. At this time, screams suddenly sounded one after another from behind.

“AH!”

Someone died unexpectedly at the grand and magnificent Feihong banquet, which immediately alarmed Taiping Gongzhu. Ming Huashang didn’t know whether Taiping Gongzhu and Wei Wang’s backgammon match had ended yet, but she was currently sitting on the platform with a very ugly expression on her face, “What’s going on here?”

With a bit of effort, the identity of the deceased had been ascertained. It was a servant girl named Chi Lan who was serving at Taiping Gongzhu’s manor. Since the Gongzhu planned to hold the Feihong banquet, there was not enough manpower at Feihong Garden, so she was brought over from the Gongzhu manor to help.

The first young miss who witnessed Chi Lan’s death was still unconscious. Ming Huashang was the first person among those present to arrive at the scene. She bowed to Taiping Gongzhu and replied, “Reporting to Your Highness, this subject’s daughter returned to the Nuan pavilion after greeting you, and many of the misses present can confirm this. Afterward, this servant’s daughter was tired from sitting, so I went out to get some fresh air. On the way, I met the servant girl Chi Lan, and she showed me the way. Then I stayed in the garden with Miss Ren to chat, this point, Miss Ren can prove it.”

Ren Yao nodded, indicating that what Ming Huashang said was true. Ming Huashang went on to say, “From the time I bid farewell to Chi Lan and until I found Miss Ren, it was around the time to brew a cup of tea, and the two of us talked for probably the same amount of time. Then, we heard someone screaming behind us. When we arrived, I saw Miss Zhao and the servant girl passed out on the ground, and Chi Lan was hanging on the beam, her eyes weeping blood, and suffocated to death.”

Ming Huazhang then added, “That’s right, I heard screams outside, and it took at least half an incense stick for me to walk over. When I let the corpse down, the limbs were still soft, and the skin temperature had not yet dissipated. I think she had just died not too long ago.”

Taiping Gongzhu pressed her furrowed brows again with a headache. The Gongzhu manor was full of attendants; she didn’t care about the life and death of a servant girl at all, but when this kind of thing happened at the feast she carefully prepared, it was very disconcerting. Now in front of many guests, if Taiping Gongzhu handled it badly, it will directly affect her reputation in the court.

After all, if even the death of a little servant girl couldn’t be dealt with, who else in the court would trust her ability and rely on her? It was a critical moment now, so she must not make a single mistake.

Taiping Gongzhu quickly made up her mind and said, “The Gongzhu manor is vast, and Bengong is unable to attend to other things at the same time so it’s difficult to oversee everything. Maybe she had a grudge against someone, and that person came here to seek revenge by taking advantage of the oversight of the rules at the Feihong banquet. Take that servant girl and properly prepare her burial, choose a date, and give her relatives a hundred guan as compensation. In addition, the patrol of Feihong Garden will be strengthened. Bengong will not allow this kind of thing to happen again.” 

Sitting next to her, Wei Wang slowly twirled the jade thumb ring in his hand. The steward behind him frowned and said, “Your Highness Taiping, I heard that when the body was found, there was a line of blood written on the ground, saying ‘Those who see me, die’, what’s going on?”

Taiping Gongzhu said in a cold voice and a displeased expression, “It’s nothing more than a group of idlers playing tricks. Could it be that there really are strange powers and deities in this world? Even if there were, Bengong’s father was an emperor and mother is the current emperor, eldest and second eldest brothers were crown princes, fourth eldest brother is the current crown prince, and a husband who is a wangye; nobody across the four seas dares not to obey. How could any ghosts dare to approach Bengong?”

There was no other woman in the world more honorable than Taiping Gongzhu. With such a powerful dragon spirit, there was no reason why it couldn’t suppress the ghosts and evil spirits. The steward’s hands were tied and looked embarrassed. Then Wei Wang answered in a timely manner, “He was only worried about the security at the Feihong banquet. After all, there are so many young masters and misses on this mountain. If something bad happens, there’ll be no way to explain it to the Luoyang officials. Taiping, please don’t be angry.”

Taiping Gongzhu pursed her lips, her phoenix eyes sparked with anger, and Fuma Ding Wang tried to mediate and said, “It’s alright now, it was just an accident, and we’ll increase the patrol from now. The criminals will want to flee instead, so how dare they make trouble? Gongzhu has been busy all day and must be tired already, so let’s all disperse.”

With Ding Wang’s words, all the guests could only get up and leave. 

Ming Huazhang was the first to see the corpse, and Xie Jichuan, who was close behind him, realized something was wrong, and immediately asked the guards to seal off the back courtyard, so not many people personally saw Chi Lan’s dead state. 

However, all the guests were pampered and helpless young masters and ladies. Now that they’ve suddenly come so close to a murder case, no one could have fun with peace of mind anymore. Shortly, what happened in the back courtyard spread all around. After each wave of messengers added their own embellishments one after another, the description of the whole situation became more and more bizarre.

Ming Huashang also left following the crowd. Her emotions had settled down, but Ren Yao was still in shock. As long as Ren Yao closed her eyes, she could only see those two bloody black holes.

Ren Yao’s condition was visibly unwell, and Ming Huazhang was worried about letting Ming Huashang live alone, so he said, “Second Miss, you and Miss Ren should sleep in the same room tonight. I will move next door and protect you nearby.”