Chapter 17 - The Duplicitous Beauty
"Angered?"
Li Nan Ke said he didn't understand.
Xiang Er lowered her eyes and, after a long silence, explained,
"This morning, Madam and Miss had an argument. I was far away and didn't dare eavesdrop on what they were arguing about.”
“Later, Miss slammed the door and left, her face very unsightly. I went to check on Madam, and she was very angry and even smashed a flower pot.
After that, Madam said she wasn't feeling well and wanted some quiet time, so she asked me to leave. It's clear that Madam was upset by Miss."
By the end of her explanation, the young maid puffed out her cheeks, clearly holding a grudge against Lin Jiao Yue and feeling helpless for her Madam.
It was evident that she was very fond of Madam.
Li Nan Ke pressed further.
"So you don't know why they were arguing, right?"
Xiang Er nodded vigorously, but then, as if remembering something, she pursed her lips and added.
"Actually, this wasn't the first time Madam and Miss had an argument. On the night when Miss was injured by the Demonic Creature, they had a dispute in the room.”
“Although I don't know why they were arguing, when Madam left Miss' room, I seemed to hear Miss say something harsh like 'It's either him (her)* or me.'"
[TL/N: In Chinese, the pronouns for "He/him" and "She/her" have the same pronunciation but different characters. Both "他" (tā) and "她" (tā) are pronounced the same way, but they have distinct written forms. "他" (tā) is the third person pronoun for "he" or "him", while "她" (tā) is the third person pronoun for "she" or "her". ]
‘It's either him (her) or me?’
Li Nan Ke leaned against the doorpost, lost in thought.
Was it 'him'?
Or 'her'?
After pondering for a long time, a flash of inspiration struck him.
Li Nan Ke's pupils suddenly constricted. He stared at Xiang Er's fair face and asked,
"Was their argument after the incident where He Qing Yu climbed over the wall?"
"Yes, that's right."
Xiang Er confirmed after a moment of recollection.
Li Nan Ke seemed to have grasped a key point. He subconsciously touched his chest and then extended his hand towards Leng Xinnan.
"Do you have a pen and paper? Could you lend them to me?"
"Here."
Leng Xinnan handed him the special charcoal pen and paper she carried with her.
Li Nan Ke quickly wrote two lines, pondered for a moment, then added a few more words before tearing off the page and returning the borrowed pen and paper.
"You can keep it."
Leng Xinnan didn't take it.
Li Nan Ke was taken aback, but he didn't stand on ceremony and put it away. He then asked Xiang Er, "On the night of the fourth of eighth, did Madam leave the residence?"
"No."
Xiang Er shook her head firmly.
"I remember that night clearly. Although Madam and Miss had an argument, when it was time to sleep, Madam still went to Miss' room and stayed with her all night.”
“Actually, Madam dotes on Miss very much and rarely scolds her. I remember when there was a fire in the courtyard when Miss was little, and Miss was trapped in the storeroom because she was playing. Madam risked her life to save her.”
“It can be said that for Miss, Madam would even give up her life."
"But sometimes Miss just likes to make Madam angry. However, there's no helping it. Master is busy and has no time to discipline her. Plus, she often plays with people like Wan Ying Ying, so it's inevitable that she's become spoiled..."
The young maid chattered non-stop like beans spilling from a bag. Although talkative, she also seemed to have a straightforward nature.
However, it was still inappropriate to complain about her own Miss behind her back.
Of course, it was mainly because Li Nan Ke was simply too handsome, easily disarming girls and making them lower their guard. Otherwise, Xiang Er wouldn't be so eager to offer clues.
"She never left Miss' room?" Li Nan Ke asked with a serious tone.
"Probably not."
This time, Xiang Er wasn't so sure.
After all, as a maid, she couldn't keep an eye on Miss' room all night.
"Miss Xiang Er, I have another question. Between Miss Lin, Miss Wan Ying Ying, and Miss Wen Jin Er, who was closest to whom?"
Realizing that he could extract a lot of information from this naive little maid, Li Nan Ke continued to use his charm, a captivating smile curving his lips.
Xiang Er blushed and answered honestly without much thought.
"Miss and Miss Wen Jin Er were actually the closest. Because Miss Wen Jin Er is Scholar Wen's younger sister and quite talented, Miss often asked her for advice on academics, and they often practiced calligraphy together in the study.”
“However, Miss Wan Ying Ying didn't really look up to Miss Wen Jin Er.”
“Although Miss Wen Jin Er's brother is a scholar, their family is quite ordinary. Wan Ying Ying was born into wealth and has distant relatives who are high-ranking officials. She looks down on the poor.”
“If it weren't for Miss' sake, she probably wouldn't bother with her. And she often played pranks on Miss Wen Jin Er, even last time..."
At this point, Xiang Er clenched her fists and said angrily,
"The Old Qin incident last time was all Wan Ying Ying's fault!"
"Tell me more," Li Nan Ke said, intrigued.
Xiang Er didn't hide her disgust for Wan Ying Ying.
"That day, the three of them were practicing calligraphy in the study. Miss Wan Ying Ying was bored and accidentally spilled ink on Miss Jin Er.”
“Seeing this, Miss asked Miss Jin Er to go to her room to change.”
“And at that moment, Miss Wan suddenly had a mischievous idea. She tricked Old Qin, saying there was a rat in Miss' room and asked him to go in and catch it.”
“Old Qin didn't suspect anything and entered the room, and then..."
Xiang Er was indignant, her chest heaving.
"Miss Jin Er cried so hard after being seen, and Old Qin's leg was broken... It's all that Wan Ying Ying's fault!"
Hearing this, Li Nan Ke had a clear understanding of this 'Wan Ying Ying.'
Spoiled, willful, malicious...
Malicious to the core!
But he was still puzzled and asked,
"Why would your Miss associate with someone like Wan Ying Ying? And Miss Wen Jin Er, being often bullied, shouldn't she stay away from her?"
"Because she's the only one who would be friends with Miss," Xiang Er said helplessly.
"In a place like Dongqi County, there are only a few wealthy families. Miss didn't have many friends growing up. Many of her peers who were with her were either overly respectful or had ulterior motives.”
"Only Wan Ying Ying could play with her, after all, she didn't want anything from Miss, and they didn't have many reservations with each other.”
“Besides, Miss Wan Ying Ying's family has relatives who are high-ranking officials, so Master also tacitly approved of Miss's association with her."
This was the key point!
A hint of mockery flashed across Li Nan Ke's face.
From the perspective of family interests, Landlord Lin indeed hoped to see his daughter become good friends with Miss Wan.
"As for Miss Jin Er..."
Xiang Er sighed.
"Maybe it's because she was ostracized by her family. Except for her brother, the other members of the Wen family didn't treat her very well. She also has a rather introverted and insecure personality.”
“Actually, Miss Jin Er is a bit vain and strives to fit into Miss's circle and make friends with upper-class people. Although she didn't say it, it's obvious to anyone who pays attention. This is also why Miss Wan always looked down on her."
Li Nan Ke understood.
Millionaires had their own circles, and billionaires had theirs.
If someone tried to force their way into a circle they didn't belong to, they would end up being ridiculed and discriminated against like a clown.
The information extracted from Xiang Er made Li Nan Ke realize that this group of three friends had various underlying problems and wasn't as harmonious as it seemed on the surface.
Lin Jiao Yue had an arrogant personality.
Wan Ying Ying was spoiled and willful.
Wen Jin Er was insecure.
Coupled with the 'He Qing Yu' situation stirring things up between them, their so-called sisterhood was simply a farce.
"After Wen Jin Er's death, did anyone from the Wen family come over?"
Li Nan Ke continued to gather information.
Xiang Er hesitated, unsure whether she should tell him.
But faced with the man's irresistibly handsome face, she spilled everything.
"Yes, Miss Jin Er's brother, Scholar Wen, came."
Before Li Nan Ke could ask further, Xiang Er recounted the incident in detail:
"It was on the fifth of eighth. Scholar Wen came to see Miss. Miss said she had something to discuss with Scholar Wen about Miss Jin Er in private and asked us servants to leave.”
“Later, for some reason, we heard Scholar Wen yelling, and Miss crying for help.”
“We rushed into the room and saw Scholar Wen strangling Miss, shouting things like 'Why didn't you protect her?' and 'You and Wan Ying Ying should die!' Miss was just crying and apologizing.”
Then Master came and had people pull Scholar Wen away. As he was leaving, Scholar Wen was still yelling that he would kill Wan Ying Ying and Miss."
Leng Xinnan's beautiful face turned as cold as ice as she listened.
"This Landlord Lin is truly an idiot! To conceal such an important matter! Iron Ox, you go—"
She just shouted when she realized that Iron Ox had already left. Stamping her foot in frustration, she said to Li Nan Ke,
"Let's go to the Wen family!"
"Alright."
Li Nan Ke nodded.
The new clue pointed to Scholar Wen.
Although they had initially determined that it was the Demonic Creature Old Qin who had chased and attacked Lin Jiao Yue and the others on Cuihong Mountain, the case of Wan Ying Ying and Lin Jiao Yue being given 'Red Rain' still needed further investigation.
After all, there was no need for Old Qin to administer 'Red Rain' if he wanted to kill those two girls.
Now, this Scholar Wen became the prime suspect!
However, just as Li Nan Ke stepped out of the room, he suddenly stopped, as if noticing something. He took two steps back and looked at the threshold.
There was a thin hemp rope in the gap of the threshold.
Because its color was similar to the dilapidated threshold and the ground, it was easily overlooked.
"Is there a problem?"
Leng Xinnan picked up the hemp rope, sniffed it, and frowned slightly.
"It smells faintly of alcohol. It should be a rope used to seal a wine jar."
"Wine jar?"
Hearing this, Li Nan Ke searched the room again.
But after rummaging through everything, he couldn't find any wine jar or the cloth used to seal it.
Li Nan Ke put away the hemp rope and sighed softly, seemingly lamenting something.
"This is why there's no such thing as a perfect crime scene."
"What do you mean?"
Leng Xinnan realized that the man had discovered something.
But to her annoyance, he deliberately kept her in suspense.
"I can't figure it out yet. Lord Leng, you go to the Wen family first. I want to go back to the Lin residence."
"Suit yourself!"
The woman was displeased and clearly irritated.
Without waiting for him to explain, she turned and walked out, her soft hair brushing against the man's handsome face and nose, causing a slight sting and leaving a faint fragrance.
Li Nan Ke was helpless.
Seeing Xiang Er's strange expression, he coughed and explained, "It's her time of the month, so she's a bit irritable. She's usually very gentle."
Xiang Er nodded in understanding.
The two walked out of the alley, but Leng Xinnan, who had just left, suddenly returned.
"What's wrong?"
Li Nan Ke looked at the woman who had come back, puzzled.
The woman bit her lip lightly, her beautiful face, with its mix of coldness and heroism, slightly raised. She said with feigned indifference.
"It would be troublesome if the Demonic Creature returned to the Lin residence. Let's go together."
"Oh, alright then."
Li Nan Ke had no objections.
Xiang Er, with her straightforward personality, poked her head out and said bluntly.
"Lord Leng, are you afraid that Brother Li will be in danger?"