Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After Cook Wang was taken away, we had the steward invite Concubine He over.

When Concubine He came gliding in with graceful, delicate steps, I found myself staring.

She was a rare beauty.

Only sixteen, she was slender and willowy, elegant and charming.

It was said the Marquis of Ningyuan had brought her back from Jiangnan while he was there on business. She had been a refined entertainer who sold her art, not her body.

After seeing us, Concubine He said softly, “On the day of the birthday banquet, I drank a little wine, and my chest burned so badly that I felt unwell. So I told my maids to continue watching the opera while I went to the garden alone to get some air.”

She spoke in a soft Wu dialect, her voice sweet and tender.

If I were a man, I was afraid the sound of her voice alone would have melted my bones.

Fortunately, I was a woman.

I asked solemnly, “The servants said you left the banquet at about the third quarter of the shen hour-around three forty-five in the afternoon-and returned about half an hour later. During that time, did you go to Concubine Xu’s courtyard?”

Concubine He lifted her eyes and looked straight at me. “No.”

I tried to find even the slightest hint of guilt in her eyes.

But her pupils were clear, without the least impurity. She was plainly certain.

Yuan Nanshan asked, “Is there any witness who can prove what you said?”

Concubine He lowered her lovely head slightly and said, “I only strolled around the garden. I did not run into anyone.”

So there was no evidence?

I sounded her out. “I heard you became pregnant half a year ago, but because of Concubine Xu, you miscarried. Is that true?”

A trace of resentment appeared in Concubine He’s eyes. She took a deep breath and said, “That day, I did not see who pushed me, but my maid did. His Lordship did not believe her, so there was nothing I could do.”

“Do you not hate her?”

Yuan Nanshan stared into her eyes and asked slowly.

Concubine He lowered her gaze and said in a low voice, “And what if I do? No one will seek justice for me.”

“If Your Excellency believes I would kill someone for that, then it has not come to that.”

“I believe that good and evil both receive their due in the end. Has Concubine Xu’s retribution not already arrived?”

There seemed to be something hidden in her words.

But no matter how we questioned her, we could not get anything more out of her.

One after another, they all had motives, but no witnesses.

A case could not be decided on one-sided statements alone.

Yuan Nanshan and I were somewhat at a loss. We could only let her go back.

In any case, Concubine He could not leave the marquis’s mansion, so there would not be any problems for the time being.

The only ones left were County Lady Qixia and Lady Song.