Lu'er was the first to react. She pulled the curtains shut forcefully, anger simmering in her heart. "Why do we keep running into Shi Qingmei? She's like a lingering ghost."
Shi Ning'an's eyes sparkled. She hadn't settled the score from last time yet. Shi Qingmei, this time, I'll surely put an end to your schemes.
Lu'er whispered the latest news from the capital to Shi Ning'an. "After the Empress Dowager's order, every family has been going all out to arrange weddings. I don't know what's up with the Wei and Shi families, but even their engagement has been quite a grand affair."
Shi Ning'an knew exactly why. When the Third Prince and his men took action against Rong Sui, the Crown Prince's faction must have noticed. It was only a matter of time before they struck back. However, it was obvious that the Third Prince's power was insufficient. If any unfavorable news about Wei Hongmiao were to surface at this moment, it would be a disaster.
They were trying to confuse the public. On one hand, they spread the story that Wei Hongmiao was in love with Shi Qingmei and that Shi Ning'an was the home - wrecker. On the other hand, they made a big show of the engagement between the Wei and Shi families, hoping to quell the previous rumors against the Wei family and even improve Shi Yongtang's reputation.
In the current political landscape of the capital, everyone was talking about how deeply in love Wei Hongmiao and Shi Qingmei were, and how many hardships they had endured. When Wei Hongmiao held a high - ranking position, he chose to marry Shi Qingmei, a woman with a tarnished reputation and an unequal social status, instead of any of the noble ladies. What a deep affection that must be!
As for the past relationship between Wei Hongmiao and Shi Ning'an, it was just an insignificant episode. At worst, Wei Hongmiao was just a lost lamb who had finally seen the light.
Lu'er kept muttering. "This Shi Qingmei can still make a comeback after all that. Isn't Wei Hongmiao bothered by her past?"
Shi Ning'an's expression was calm. "Bothered? Why would he be? They're truly in love and deserve to be together for the rest of their lives."
Lu'er was indignant. "If it were before, I would have been happy to see them together. But now... Wei Hongmiao has become the General of Weifeng, and Shi Qingmei will soon be the general's wife. I can't stand it."
Shi Ning'an flicked Lu'er on the forehead. "Can't stand it? Well, that's perfect. I'll make sure that Wei Hongmiao has to swallow the bitter pill he's chosen."
The next day, Shi Aoxue's body was discovered and fished out from the moat in the western part of the city.
It was only March, but the weather was extremely hot. In the past few days, villagers from the suburbs could always smell a putrid odor when passing through the city gates.
Early this morning, the sewage in the city had blocked the artificially - dug moat.
So, the workers in charge brought their tools to clean it up. To their surprise, they found a female corpse.
The current Magistrate of the Capital was newly appointed. He was a decisive man who was always eager to make a name for himself. However, the public security in the capital was quite good. Apart from the incident in the Royal Villa that he had no jurisdiction over, there had been no major events these days.
Discovering a female corpse in the moat was no small matter. The magistrate immediately led his men to investigate.
After the investigation, they found out that the female corpse was none other than Shi Aoxue, the illegitimate daughter of the Shi family who had been recognized at the beginning of the year.
Before the Shi family arrived, the coroner examined the body on the spot and found that Shi Aoxue's death was no ordinary matter. She had died from a deadly poison, with blood oozing from her seven orifices.
When Shi Yongtang rushed over in a hurry and claimed that his daughter had been missing for a long time, the magistrate didn't believe him at all.
When Shi Aoxue disappeared, Shi Yongtang had already reported it to the authorities. However, since Shi Aoxue had only recently returned to the family, both the yamen and the Supreme Court thought that she might have run away on her own because she couldn't bear the rules of the Shi family.
After all, everyone knew what the Shi family was like these days. Not to mention their ordinary living conditions, it was rumored that the old lady of the Shi family often beat and scolded her children, servants, and even quarreled with the neighbors.
Such things couldn't be hidden. Most of the people living around the Shi family were ordinary folks. But there happened to be a newly - appointed clerk from the Ministry of Revenue living in the next alley. His wife was a gossipy woman, and naturally, she spread the news among the official ladies.
Moreover, the yamen had searched for Shi Aoxue for many days but couldn't find her. When they questioned everyone in the Shi family, they all shook their heads.
Shi Aoxue's biological mother had already passed away. Before she returned to the Shi family, she only had a nanny and a maid to serve her. Her life in the Shi family was even worse than before. It was not impossible for her to run away from home.
Now, the fact that her body was found in the moat was truly strange.
It was a case with no leads. Since they couldn't find the murderer, they had no choice but to leave it as an unsolved mystery.
Just one day later, someone who claimed to be able to recognize people said that they had seen both Wei Xia and Miss Shi Aoxue near the Royal Villa that day.
This statement was quite thought - provoking. It was already surprising enough that Wei Xia had been near the Royal Villa that day. However, the news from the Wei family later claimed that Wei Xia had gone to the nearby shops to buy things for her elder brother's wedding, which seemed reasonable.
But for an unmarried girl whose mother was still alive, it wasn't really her responsibility to buy and arrange things for her elder brother's wedding. What if she had used this as an excuse to meet someone else?
Wei Xia had no relation with Shi Aoxue. Why would they meet? Maybe it wasn't Wei Xia who wanted to meet Shi Aoxue. The Emperor's sudden summons of Wei Hongmiao that day was unexpected. And Wei Hongmiao's duty these days happened to be in the capital guards near the Royal Villa. It seemed more likely that Wei Xia had gone to meet someone on behalf of her elder brother, which could explain why both girls were there.
Originally, it was just a small matter, but some gossiping women brought it up. They said that Shi Aoxue and Shi Ning'an were sisters, and they looked quite similar. The past story of Wei Hongmiao's unrequited love for Shi Ning'an had already been dug out. This time, everything seemed to fall into place.
Some people said that as a respected General of Weifeng, why would Wei Hongmiao want to marry the adopted daughter of the Shi family with a bad reputation? Maybe the one he originally wanted to marry wasn't Shi Qingmei, but Shi Aoxue.
After all, Shi Qingmei's reputation was already ruined, and the person involved was her own adoptive father, Shi Yongtang.
Then, why did the person to be engaged change to Shi Qingmei?
A few women sat together, winking at each other. They almost said explicitly that Shi Aoxue had been murdered out of jealousy.
Then, a quick - tongued woman mentioned Shi Qingmei's biological mother, Xu Youqing. She said that the Xu family was once a family famous for their medicinal herbs, but they had declined because of making and using poisons. Xu Youqing knew how to use poison. She had even tried to frame the Princess Zhonghui with it. Who could say that just because Shi Qingmei was Xu Youqing's biological daughter, she didn't know how to use poison?
Some people didn't know about the framing of the Princess Zhonghui. So, some kind - hearted people explained it to them. They not only told them how vicious Xu Youqing was when she framed Shi Ning'an, but also the story of Rong Shuyu's difficult childbirth and death.
That poisonous woman Xu Youqing was so cruel. She had caused the Rong family to lose their daughter, and now she wanted to repeat the same trick.
Shi Qingmei was just following in her mother's footsteps. She had once been jealous of the Princess Zhonghui, but the princess was smart and had the protection of the Rong family, so she remained safe. But poor Shi Aoxue had no one to rely on, so she became a victim.
Some people were almost swearing that Shi Aoxue's death was terrifying, but she had not been violated. She was clearly a virgin, which showed that the person who had brutally killed her was not motivated by lust.
The Wei family was no better. When the girl they were going to marry died, they didn't seem to care at all. In order to save their own reputation, they were even willing to marry the cruel Shi Qingmei.
As a result, both the Wei and Shi families were in a mess. Wei Xia had denied seeing Shi Aoxue several times in public, but no one believed her. And Wei Hongmiao had to almost swear to his friends that his love for Shi Qingmei was true.
Rumors were just rumors. Without evidence, they couldn't be used as a basis for sentencing. Shi Aoxue's case was still an unsolved mystery, but everyone's looks at Shi Qingmei had changed.
After the incident, Shi Qingmei didn't dare to step out of her house again. She sat in her room, holding the only remaining gold hairpin tightly in her hand. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
How could this happen? Why?
It had been five days since the incident, and Wei Lang hadn't sent her a single letter. He had sworn in public that they were in love. But only she knew that Wei Lang was angry with her for being careless and failing to succeed time and time again.
She hated so much. She hated with all her heart. Shi Ning'an, it must be you. Shi Aoxue deserved to die, but you deserve to die even more. I didn't expect that you would hide Shi Aoxue's body for so long.
Actually, Shi Qingmei had made preparations. As soon as Shi Aoxue's body was found, she was going to find a way to link Shi Aoxue to Rong Sui.
But for several days, there was no news about Shi Aoxue. After the Emperor fell seriously ill, Shi Qingmei thought that even if Shi Aoxue's body was found, with the hot weather, the traces on her body, whether it was the trace of Rong Sui's violation or the trace of his attack, would probably be unrecognizable. After ten days, it would surely be useless.
Since Shi Aoxue was no longer useful, Shi Qingmei thought that Shi Ning'an had disposed of the body and didn't pay much attention.
Unexpectedly, after such a long time, Shi Aoxue's body had become a knife, a knife stabbing at her.
It was true that she had poisoned Shi Aoxue, but she had carefully measured the dose to make Shi Aoxue die suddenly at a certain time. At that time, she only needed to prove that Rong Sui had raped and then killed her. If they didn't investigate carefully, they would never find out that it was poisoning. She had never used a deadly poison that could be easily detected!
Shi Qingmei's tears flowed continuously. It was all in vain. It was all over. Her reputation was ruined, and Wei Lang had lost his heart for her. What was the point of living?
Shi Qingmei closed her eyes and stabbed the gold hairpin forcefully at her neck.
A hand grabbed the hairpin and flung it aside.
Shi Qingmei opened her eyes and a look of hope flashed in them. "Wei Lang."
Wei Hongmiao's eyes were dark and unfathomable. Was he worried about her? Wei Lang still cared about her!
The next moment, Wei Hongmiao grabbed Shi Qingmei's hair tightly and slammed her head against the headboard.
Shi Qingmei cried out in pain and quickly raised her hands to protect her head.
But Wei Hongmiao didn't let her go. He slammed her head several times. Blood flowed down her head, and Shi Qingmei let out a scream of pain.
"You want to die! Shi Qingmei, if you dare to die, I'll grind your bones to dust, and your younger brother will wish he was dead!"
Shi Qingmei was shaking all over. Was this her Wei Lang? No, no, no. Her Wei Lang couldn't be like this. Her Wei Lang was the gentle and elegant Wei Hongmiao, one of the Four Gentlemen of the capital.
The man in front of her with a ferocious face and such brutal behavior couldn't be her Wei Lang.
Wei Lang, where are you? Come and save me quickly.
Wei Hongmiao's eyes were bloodshot. Maybe after seeing Shi Qingmei's blood, the beast in him was completely unleashed. He punched Shi Qingmei hard, hitting her back, arms, stomach, and chest. He hit every part of her body that couldn't be seen by outsiders.
She wanted to die? Dream on. He would beat her until she didn't dare to die!