Hearing this, Gu Yunzheng's expression grew even more solemn.
"Even if His Highness the Prince requests it, the yamen will surely cooperate fully to get to the bottom of this case. However, Rou Shi has been dead for four years, and the physical evidence has long since vanished without a trace. It may not be easy to investigate. Moreover, this matter involves the Marquis of Ding'an and his wife. We may encounter obstruction from the Marquis's Mansion."
Ji Lingchuan said, "It doesn't matter. As long as we can find out the truth, it doesn't matter how much time it takes. If anyone in the Marquis's Mansion dares to obstruct Lord Gu's investigation, just tell me. I'll clear the obstacles for Lord Gu."
"In that case, I can rest assured," Gu Yunzheng said, bowing his hands.
The two of them talked back and forth, hardly leaving any room for others to interrupt. After speaking with Ji Lingchuan, Gu Yunzheng turned to look at Song Yihuan and said,
"Back then, Rou Shi died of difficult childbirth in the Marquis's Mansion. Miss Song Si was an eyewitness. I'd like to know more details about that year. Please tell me everything you know, Miss Song Si."
Song Yihuan stood up and returned the courtesy. "Thank you, Lord Gu."
Without changing to another venue, Gu Yunzheng immediately began the interrogation in the main hall of the Marquis's Mansion.
"Miss Song Si, please answer the following questions for me. What was Rou Shi's situation in the Marquis's Mansion? Did she have any feuds with others? Was she ever harassed before her difficult childbirth? Who was in charge of her daily food and clothing?"
Each of Gu Yunzheng's questions was sharp and straightforward. It was obvious that Song Yihuan's answers would determine whether this case was an accident or a premeditated murder.
Song Yihuan looked up at Gu Yunzheng and replied word by word, "My mother used to be a maid beside my grandmother. Because of her beauty, she was taken fancy to by the Marquis. She was forced by the Marquis when the old lady was seriously ill."
"At that time, the Marquise was already pregnant with my elder sister. When she learned of this, she flew into a rage. The Marquis insisted that it was my mother who had deliberately seduced him. No matter how my mother defended herself, it was of no use. The Marquise even wanted to drown my mother in the pond."
"Later, when my grandmother woke up, she only allowed my mother to serve by her side. Coupled with the fact that my mother was pregnant, she proposed to keep my mother as a concubine in the Marquis's Mansion. The Marquise had no choice but to agree. Since then, my mother's situation in the Marquis's Mansion had been difficult. When she was pregnant with me, she often had her meals withheld, and the fabric she was given was the coarsest and lowest-grade cloth."
"But my mother never complained. She lived carefully and cautiously in the Marquis's Mansion. After I was born, when they learned that I was a girl, my mother's situation did not improve. Even I was excluded and bullied."
"Until I was ten years old, my elder sister saw me being bullied by the servants. She took me to her side, gave me new clothes, and asked me to eat and go with her from then on. Only then did the situation of my mother and me improve."
Hearing her statement, Song Nanxin's face had been very ugly. Only at this point did it ease a little.
Song Yihuan then continued, "Lord Gu, you see, my mother had a lowly background. In the Marquis's Mansion, she was in a position where everyone could bully and laugh at her. How could she have taken the initiative to have a feud with others?"
Gu Yunzheng's face was tense. He asked his subordinate to write down every word Song Yihuan said on paper.
"When I was thirteen years old, my mother was pregnant again. Because of my mother's difficult situation, we were very cautious about this pregnancy. The food she ate on a daily basis was very strictly controlled. Therefore, my mother's pregnancy was very stable. The only variable was when my mother was eight months pregnant."
"Eight months? What happened when she was eight months pregnant?" Gu Yunzheng asked, following Song Yihuan's words.
"When my mother was eight months pregnant, the water channels in the city were being renovated. The water channel in the Marquis's Mansion had to be abandoned, and a new one had to be dug. For convenience, the servants in the Marquis's Mansion collected the dirty clothes from each courtyard and took them to the river to wash. After drying, they would be sent back to each courtyard. Our Qinghe Courtyard was no exception."
"Since then, after my mother put on the clothes that had been washed uniformly, she had become thinner and thinner day by day, but the child in her womb was growing bigger and bigger. But at that time, I was still young and didn't know what was going on. Every time I invited a doctor to check my mother's pulse, the doctor also said that my mother was in good health."
Ji Lingchuan looked up at Song Yihuan. She hadn't mentioned this to him. She had only told him that Rou Shi had been poisoned by "Beiman Tuo" and suspected that Rou Shi had been murdered.
Gu Yunzheng was also stunned for a moment after hearing this.
"The water channel?" They had worked together on the case of the dwarf murderer. How could Gu Yunzheng not know that there was also an old water channel in the Marquis's Mansion?
It was just that none of them had thought that Rou Shi's death was also related to the renovation of the water channel.
When Song Nanxin heard Song Yihuan mention the renovation of the old water channel and the centralized handling of dirty clothes in the mansion, her face changed again. She quietly tightened the sleeve of her robe, and her heart was pounding violently.
"Are the servants who were in charge of collecting the clothes from the Marquis's Mansion for washing still around when the water channel was renovated that year?" Gu Yunzheng asked.
A hint of sarcasm flashed in Song Yihuan's eyes. "Coincidentally, not long after my mother died of difficult childbirth, a maid in the washing courtyard accidentally fell into the river and drowned while doing the laundry."
At that time, they had only thought that the maid had accidentally slipped and fallen. They hadn't taken this matter seriously at all. Otherwise, how could she have investigated for so long without finding any clues?
Gu Yunzheng also knew that with the death of the maid, the clues were cut off there. It would be extremely difficult to prove that something had been done to Rou Shi's clothes.
"However," Song Yihuan suddenly said, "although the maid is dead, I couldn't bear to part with my mother so suddenly. I've always kept the close-fitting clothes my mother wore that year."
Song Nanxin tightened her fingers and said, "Yihuan, don't deceive Lord Gu. I clearly remember that Rou Yiniang's clothes were burned at that time."
Song Yihuan looked at Song Nanxin, her eyes slightly cold. "A part of them was indeed burned. I kept the rest as a memento. Sister, is there anything wrong with what I did?"
Keeping the relics of one's biological mother as a token of remembrance was an act of filial piety. No one would blame Song Yihuan for this.
What Song Yihuan didn't tell Song Nanxin was that those clothes were not actually in her hands. They were in Qi Lei's house, carefully placed in the box he had made for her mother.
Thanks to Uncle Qi's deep affection for her mother, she was able to keep such crucial evidence.
Gu Yunzheng bowed his hands and said, "Since the young lady still has the physical evidence, please hand over those clothes to me after this. I'll surely find a coroner to carefully investigate the mystery on those clothes."
Song Nanxin tried hard to steady her breathing so as not to reveal any clues. However, all her expressions and reactions had already been captured by Ji Lingchuan.
Looking at her like this, who would dare to say that Rou Shi's death had nothing to do with her?
The yamen runner wrote down the important physical evidence on paper. Gu Yunzheng asked another crucial question. "I still have a doubt. Please clarify it for me, young lady."
"Miss Song Si, since you found out that Rou Shi was having a difficult childbirth that year, did you invite a doctor for her and try to save her?"