Blossom

"But I was rarely home, and even when I suddenly returned a few times, I didn’t notice any clues. So I wondered if she had hidden away a large sum of money from the Song family back then.

"Song Yichun ruined her like this, so it’s understandable if she didn’t want to give up the silver meant as compensation. I didn’t press her. But my wife wasn’t happy about it and often made indirect remarks. Once, she provoked my sister so much that she lashed out, saying we were looking down on people and would regret it later. But when my wife confronted her directly, she just sneered coldly.

"When Yi Gui was getting married, my sister didn’t give her a single dowry item. I scolded her, but she just yelled back at me.

"My wife was furious and searched her room with her maids.

"They even ended up fighting over it.

"But apart from the clothes and jewelry she usually wore, they only found a dozen taels of loose silver and three hundred taels in silver notes.

"In the end, she gave Yi Gui a few gilded trinkets as dowry.

"Everything else was bought by me, costing a whole year’s wages.

"To this day, my wife still blames me for always siding with her.

"But I know my own sister.

"She must have had some kind of leverage to act this way."

Li Liang spoke, his gaze darkening as he glanced at Song Mo before lowering his eyes.

"I heard the second young master of the Duke of Yingguo’s household was the same age as Yi Gui. Back then, my sister’s belly was terrifyingly large, so I wondered—did she give birth to twins? Did the Duke of Yingguo’s household keep the son and abandon the daughter? But the second young master is the legitimate heir, and when the Duke’s wife gave birth, she was surrounded by layers of attendants—how could it be possible? Unless the child born to the Duke’s wife died, and the Dowager Duchess arranged for another child to be raised under her name…

"But this thought only crossed my mind occasionally when I couldn’t make sense of things. I never dared to dwell on it… That’s why, when I saw the Young Lord, I blurted out asking if he was the second young master or the heir…"

He seemed deeply regretful.

Song Mo, however, took several deep breaths to suppress the fury rising in his chest. He barely stopped himself from kicking this scoundrel to death.

In the end, this man was still secretly calculating whether his sister’s child had secured a place in the Song family—and he dared to claim he treated Yi Gui well! If Yi Gui weren’t a child of the Song family, would he have cared for her at all?

The thought of Yi Gui’s suffering made his heart ache sharply, and his expression darkened.

Chen Jia, noticing this, tensed.

He quickly helped Li Liang up and said, "Young Lord, would you like to rest with a cup of hot tea? Yi Gui still knows nothing about this. When Li Tiaoniang arrives later, should we let Yi Gui listen as well? That way, she won’t mistake an enemy for family and give Li Tiaoniang an opening."

Song Mo, feeling stifled and short of breath, nodded and called out sharply, "Duan Gongyi!"

"Tell Liu Zhang to inform Du Wei—find out who delivered Li Tiaoniang’s child back then."

He had a vague sense that most of the people present during his mother’s childbirth were likely no longer alive. It might be more reliable to track down who had attended Li Tiaoniang’s delivery instead.

Duan Gongyi acknowledged and left.

Chen Jia accompanied Song Mo out of the tea room.

Just then, they looked up and saw Xia Lian hurrying into the courtyard."Where is Li Tiaoniang?" Song Mo's expression suddenly turned icy, sending a chill down Chen Jia's spine.

Xia Lian urgently reported, "Young Lord, bad news! Li Tiaoniang has hanged herself... An old woman from the neighboring house was picking eggplants using a ladder against the wall when she spotted someone hanging from the beam in Li's east wing. She was so frightened she nearly fell off the ladder and immediately reported it to the authorities. When we arrived, the coroner was already examining the body."

Chen Jia was horrified and quickly asked, "Which head constable from Shuntian Prefecture took the case? What are the neighbors saying? Has Shuntian Prefecture discovered anything?"

Song Mo sneered.

Perhaps it was from spending too much time in the yamen, but he had instinctively assumed the perpetrator would be male. He hadn't expected someone to be watching the Li family and take advantage of this oversight.

This might be for the best.

Any movement would leave traces—what he feared most was complete stillness.

Xia Lian caught his breath and said, "Head Constable Qin from Shuntian Prefecture took the case. The autopsy is still ongoing, and I've sent people to wait for updates. The neighbors believe it's a crime of passion, saying Li Tiaoniang often flirted with men, so someone likely killed her out of jealousy and then hung her from the beam to make it look like suicide by hanging."

Just as he finished speaking, a page rushed in.

After hastily bowing to Song Mo and Xia Lian, he reported, "Shuntian Prefecture has concluded that the young lady from the Li family took her own life."

Xia Lian frowned, about to say something, but Song Mo coldly interjected, "That's easy enough—just find someone to hang her from the beam and watch her die." With that, he headed to the tearoom.

Chen Jia thought he would have done the same and naturally had no objections, following Song Mo to the tearoom.

Song Mo tilted his chin slightly, looking down arrogantly at Li Liang. "Your sister was killed before we could find her. Do you have anything else to tell me?"

"What?!" Li Liang's eyes widened, his voice shrill. "My sister is dead? No, that's impossible! She just ordered two sets of autumn clothes at Brocade Pavilion yesterday..."

Song Mo couldn't even be bothered to glance at him. He called out "Chen Jia" and walked away.

Chen Jia sighed and crouched in front of Li Liang...

※※※※※

Outside, Xia Lian asked Song Mo, "Young Lord, what should we do about this?"

Song Mo smiled. "Don't tell me the Duke of Yingguo is also dead?"

His tone was casual, but Xia Lian felt as if a cold wind had swept past him.

He lowered his head and bowed before taking his leave.

Song Mo went to the side chamber.

Dou Zhao was speaking softly with Yi Gui.

Compared to earlier, Yi Gui seemed much calmer. But at the sight of Song Mo, she nervously stood up and hid behind Dou Zhao.

Song Mo sighed inwardly.

Thankfully, Dou Zhao was here—otherwise, this sister of his would be quite troublesome.

Dou Zhao gave him a reassuring smile.

He must be feeling both sorrowful and helpless about his sister's behavior.

Dou Zhao turned and gently took Yi Gui's hand. "He's your brother. Don't be afraid—you'll have plenty of interactions with him in the future. He may seem aloof, but he's actually very kind. Let's sit and talk."

After a moment's thought, Yi Gui sat down beside Dou Zhao.

Seeing this, Song Mo hesitated before finally breaking the news of Li Tiaoniang's death to Dou Zhao and Yi Gui.The news came so suddenly that even Dou Zhao was momentarily stunned, let alone Yi Gui.

But after the initial shock, Dou Zhao immediately reached out and anxiously grasped Yi Gui’s hand. However, instead of bursting into tears or clamoring to find Li Tiaoniang as Dou Zhao had expected, Yi Gui lowered her head and began to sob quietly.

There was more to this story!

Dou Zhao couldn’t help but glance at Song Mo.

His brows were tightly furrowed into a deep frown, his beautiful lips pressed into a thin line, his expression both fierce and sinister.

Unable to resist, Dou Zhao stepped forward and gently smoothed his brow, as if she could wipe away the darkness in his heart.

Song Mo took her hand and softly reassured her, "It's alright," before quietly recounting what Li Liang had told him.

Dou Zhao’s brows also knitted together.

No wonder Yi Gui was so timid—she must have been beaten into fear by Li Tiaoniang since childhood.

She whispered to Song Mo, "You go out first. Let me talk to Yi Gui."

Song Mo gave her hand a light squeeze before leaving the room.

Dou Zhao took out a handkerchief and wiped Yi Gui’s tears.

Only then did Yi Gui notice that Song Mo was no longer in the room.

She asked Dou Zhao, "Is what he said true?"

Dou Zhao nodded.

Yi Gui silently wept for a while before murmuring, "Am I heartless…? Even though I’m sad she’s gone… I actually feel more… relieved…"

Dou Zhao spoke gently, "Even if a pet cat or dog suddenly died, we’d feel sad. But you feel relieved—that must mean she did something to hurt you. This isn’t your fault."

A flicker of gratitude passed through Yi Gui’s eyes before she lowered her head and sobbed again.

Dou Zhao held her as if comforting a child.

Yi Gui quickly said, "I’m fine… Be careful with the baby in your belly…" Her voice was as soft as a spring breeze, carrying a tone eerily similar to Song Mo’s.

Dou Zhao’s heart melted instantly.

She released Yi Gui and patted her hand lightly. "Do you want to tell me about Li Tiaoniang?"

Yi Gui remained silent.

The room fell into a heavy, oppressive quiet.

Dou Zhao felt she might have been too hasty and was about to change the subject when Yi Gui finally spoke, her head still bowed.

"She never liked me… and never wanted anyone to know I was her daughter. When I was little, every time guests came over, she would shove me into the wardrobe. When I got older, she locked me in the side room—she never let me be seen by others. But then one day, she suddenly said she’d take me to the temple to offer incense and even dressed me in pretty clothes. At the temple, she told me to wait for her in the main hall, but then she disappeared. Someone tried to lure me away with candy, saying they’d take me home. Another person grabbed me, claiming I was their lost niece. If I hadn’t tricked a young monk into helping me, I would’ve been taken away by force that day…

"Later, she made pastries for me.

"She had never cooked for me my entire life. I pretended to drop the plate, and our dog Xiao Huang snatched a piece and ran off. When I chased after him, I saw him collapse, twitching… She said the butcher had sold her bad meat…"

Dou Zhao was so furious she took two gulps of tea.

Thank goodness Li Tiaoniang was dead—otherwise, she would have urged Song Mo to make her pay dearly.“When she wanted to marry me off to Wei Bairui, she kept saying how wonderful he was and how much happiness I’d have if I married him. But when I saw him dressed neatly every day, wearing a spun silk Taoist robe yet casually handing out ten taels of silver to buy her things and curry favor, I knew he was just putting on a show. Still, I felt relieved and married him happily…”

Dou Zhao suddenly recalled her past life, when she had also married Wei Tingyu just as happily.

Only Yi Gui’s fate was even more tragic than hers.

Her eyes instantly grew moist.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” Dou Zhao couldn’t help but pull Yi Gui into an embrace, comforting her softly. “Yantang is your own brother. From now on, if anything happens, he’ll protect you.” She added, “And I’m your sister-in-law. If there’s anything you don’t want to tell him, you can always talk to me. We’ll definitely stand up for you.”

Yi Gui hesitated. “Am I… really a daughter of the Song family?”

“Of course!” Dou Zhao declared firmly. “Don’t you think you look a lot like the Young Lord?”

She shook her head. “The Young Lord is much better-looking than me!” Then she murmured, “Sometimes I secretly cry under the covers, wishing I were someone else’s child—that I’d been kidnapped and she just found me. That one day I’d open my eyes, and my real parents would come looking for me…”