Chapter 229

Chapter 229

By the time Xie Run and Tinghe arrived at the rear courtyard, a corpse had already been pulled from the well, covered with a white cloth, her features unclear.

As they approached, the housekeeper asked, "This body here might bring bad luck to the masters. Should we move it into a room?"

Xie Run: "No need. Leave it here."

She looked around but couldn't spot anything unusual, then asked, "Before the body was discovered, who entered her room?"

The housekeeper lowered her voice: "It was Mama Zhang, the one in charge of sewing."

"This girl was assigned to Mama Zhang. Today was her first day, and when she hadn't shown up by noon, Mama Zhang came looking for her. She searched inside and out but found no trace of her. Just then, a servant went to draw water for laundry and saw a shadow in the well..."

"Only Mama Zhang entered her room?"

The housekeeper fell silent for a moment. Tinghe sensed something amiss and immediately snapped, "Consort Xie is right here! How dare you keep things from us?!"

"This is a matter of life and death! If anything goes wrong, you'll lose your heads over this!"

The housekeeper quickly spoke up: "Because Mama Zhang said the girl was missing, a few people went into the room to help search."

Xie Run's heart sank—any evidence in that room was probably already gone.

Tinghe fumed: "The room's so small, where could anyone hide?!"

"It's you old women who couldn't mind your own business and went in to gawk, didn't you?! And I bet some of you with sticky fingers saw the chance and couldn't help yourselves!"

Having managed things alongside the Princess for years, Tinghe knew exactly how the back courtyard servants were.

"You dare touch the things of someone who died for no reason? Aren't you afraid of bad luck?!"

The housekeeper kept her head down, taking the scolding, not daring to say a word.

Xie Run sighed softly: "Everyone who entered her room must be searched, and the room itself too—inside and out, no exceptions!"

Just then, Jin Yuan, a guard from the front courtyard, came up with his men. "Your subordinate pays his respects to Consort Xie."

Xie Run: "I'll trouble Guard Jin to have your men surround the rear courtyard. The dead girl is a palace maid that Noble Consort Rou gifted yesterday. This whole thing is highly suspicious."

"The Prince is out of the palace, and the Princess is unwell. This whole matter will have to rely entirely on Guard Jin!"

Prince Jing's most trusted guard was still Jing Wu; Jin Yuan was second-in-command and had never gotten much responsibility.

Now with a chance to earn merit handed right to him, he didn't dare slack off. Barely able to hide his excitement, he clasped his fists: "Your subordinate won't fail this mission!"

With that, he took his men to investigate.

Xie Run didn't leave right away but followed along to look around the room.

The housekeeper explained beside her: "There are quite a few servants in the rear quarters, and there were no empty rooms. I temporarily put her in this storage room, planning to free up a proper room in a couple of days. Who'd have thought..."

Prince Jing had few women in his household, so there weren't many maids and servants either, typically two or four sharing a room.

This palace maid had just been assigned to the residence and was staying by herself.

If someone had plotted against her, it made it that much easier to act in secret.

Xie Run had no experience solving cases. She looked around but found no clues, and just then the house doctor arrived.

Xie Run: "I'll trouble Doctor Luo to take a look at her first."

Doctor Luo had been summoned in a hurry and assumed some maid in the back courtyard was sick.

But when Xie Run explained and he looked ahead to see the corpse covered in white cloth on the ground, his face went pale. "Consort Xie, this... a physician treats the living, not the dead. What do you want me to examine?"

Xie Run nodded. "Old Doctor, this maid is from the palace, gifted by Noble Consort Rou just yesterday, and today she's dead."

"As a woman of the inner quarters, I can't easily hire a coroner from outside. For now, I have to ask you, Doctor Luo, to take a look."

Xie Run had heard that some physicians were quite skilled and could glean a lot of information from the dead.

She said softly, "I've heard that some methods of harm leave fewer traces the later they're found."

Doctor Luo heard this, stiffened, and immediately understood. He cupped his hands toward Xie Run: "I'll try at once."

Jin Yuan was examining the scene and questioning the servants.

Doctor Luo used various methods—first checking the face and tongue, then taking the pulse, examining inch by inch.

Xie Run thought it would take a while, but before long, a look of shock appeared on his face.

He glanced at Xie Run, and she knew Doctor Luo must have found something.

Doctor Luo cupped his hands and bowed to Xie Run. "Reporting to Consort Xie, this person seems to have been pregnant for about a month."

"What?!"

Xie Run's eyes widened, her shock beyond words.

Noble Consort Rou had gifted her son a woman who was pregnant?!

Could Prince Jing have had a secret affair with this woman in the palace, which made Noble Consort Rou suddenly gift her to him?

No!

Xie Run still had some faith in Prince Jing's integrity.

No matter how lustful he was, he wouldn't touch someone from his own mother's palace.

Especially since when he'd led this maid to Qingsong Courtyard that day, he'd shown her no affection at all—just cold indifference.

The child in this maid's belly most likely wasn't Prince Jing's!

This was a critical moment in the fight for succession; Prince Jing wouldn't do something so stupid.

Then whose could it be?

It couldn't be the Emperor's... or maybe another prince's, or a palace guard's?

Xie Run's expression turned serious. "Keep examining! Check for any wounds, needle marks, or traces of poison or drugs in the blood..."

Xie Run listed everything she could think of, hoping to find some clue.

Jin Yuan's questioning didn't turn up anything useful.

The maid was new, had no acquaintances, and had fallen into the well quietly and alone—no one knew much about her.

Doctor Luo examined her according to Xie Run's instructions, one by one, until he got to the blood test. His expression changed slightly.

"What's wrong?" Xie Run approached and asked.

Doctor Luo replied, "Consort Xie, this girl's blood shows traces of a knockout drug, a hunting blend from the northwest, and it's incredibly potent!"

Just then, Jin Yuan, who was also nearby, immediately said, "Looks like this wasn't suicide. Someone drugged her and tossed her into the well."

Xie Run said, "If she was drugged, then the cup and utensils she used might have residual traces of the drug..."

Jin Yuan had his people search, and soon found traces of the drug in the maid's water cup.

Someone had put a knockout drug in her cup, knocked her out, and dumped her in the well to make it look like she drowned.

That also explains why no one heard anything when she went into the well.

Normally, a murder like this would be reported to the authorities.

But the incident occurred in Prince Jing's mansion, and with Prince Jing not currently at the residence, there was no easy way to handle it on the spot.

Xie Run had no choice but to keep it under wraps, told Jin Yuan to keep digging, and sent someone to the main courtyard to ask the princess what to do.

Upon receiving the news, the princess was also startled, and her first reaction was, "Whose kid is she carrying?!"

Clearly, the princess and Xie Run were on the same page.

They feared the child in the maid's belly might be the result of an affair with Prince Jing.

But upon asking this question, the princess quickly realized that Prince Jing would not do such a thing.

After all, if that were true, it would cause a massive scandal.

The princess immediately said, "Send word to the prince at once, and also send someone to the palace to inquire about this person's background with the consort."

Given Consort Rou's temper, the princess felt a headache coming on and added, "Be sure to explain carefully to the consort, and make sure she understands the severity of this matter!"

"Yes!"