Chapter Eighty-Eight: Murder in a Locked Room

To die is like a lamp going out, yet the old matriarch’s passing had been swallowed by darkness without a sound. No one had imagined that a conspiracy was already spreading in secret.

The next day, as Xia Jiushuang was studying the Medical, Poison, and Gu Compendium, Steward Meng came to report, "Your Grace, the maidservant Xiu from the old matriarch of the Chancellor’s estate has come to request an audience. She says she has urgent matters to discuss."

Xia Jiushuang closed the compendium, her expression tightening. The old matriarch of the Xia family? Xia Jiushuang knew that something had happened in the Xia residence, and they would certainly want her, the Princess of the Splendid Prince’s Mansion, to lend a hand. She had guessed that the person seeking her out would be Lin Baixue, but she had not expected it to be the old matriarch herself.

Xia Jiushuang handed the compendium to Luoluo beside her. "Let her in."

Maidservant Xiu walked up to Xia Jiushuang and bowed respectfully. "Your Grace."

The once haughty and overbearing maidservant Xiu, who had always been so imperious beside the old matriarch, seemed like a completely different person now that she had come to the Splendid Prince’s Mansion. Such deference was truly difficult for Xia Jiushuang to get used to.

"Maidservant Xiu never visits without a reason. What wind has blown you here?"

"I have come to show Your Grace something." As she spoke, maidservant Xiu took a hairpin from her sleeve and placed it before Xia Jiushuang.

The moment Xia Jiushuang saw the butterfly-shaped gold hairpin, she froze. In her memory flashed the image of a gentle woman wearing that very ornament in her hair. Xia Jiushuang snatched up the hairpin and said, "This belongs to my mother. Why is it in your hands?"

Maidservant Xiu smiled. "How could the madam’s belongings be in the hands of someone like me? The old matriarch asked me to bring it to you."

"The old matriarch?" Xia Jiushuang frowned in confusion.

Maidservant Xiu said, "The old matriarch has a chest in her possession, and inside are all the madam’s belongings. She asked me to inform Your Grace and hopes that you will return to the residence to take them from the Orchid Pavilion."

Xia Jiushuang glanced at maidservant Xiu, sensing something odd. "If Grandmother truly intended to return my things, she could have simply brought them with her when you came to the Splendid Prince’s Mansion. Why go to the trouble of using a butterfly hairpin to lure me back to the Xia residence?"

Maidservant Xiu said to Xia Jiushuang, "Your Grace, the old matriarch means no other harm. She wants you to return to the Xia residence, and by saying she has a chest of things left by your late mother, the main hope is that Your Grace will grant her some face."

Xia Jiushuang gave a faint smile, finding it strange. "And then? If I do grant Grandmother that face and return home, what does she want me to do?"

Maidservant Xiu continued, "After returning to the Xia residence, we can chat and catch up on family matters. The old matriarch hopes to mend the relationship between the two of you, and also hopes that Your Grace will lend the Xia family more support."

Xia Jiushuang was wary. "So if I return home, that counts as supporting the Xia family?"

"The old matriarch’s meaning is that, given how things have turned out with Marquis Guan Yuan and Jinfantang, the Xia residence has already been keeping a low profile. But if Your Grace can come and go from the Xia residence more often, letting people see that the Xia family still has the Splendid Prince’s Mansion backing it, perhaps those rumors and slanders can be suppressed."

Xia Jiushuang understood: the old matriarch was lowering her head by offering this gesture. With Marquis Guan Yuan and Jinfantang both in trouble, she was afraid of being dragged into the fire, which was why she had sent Xia Jiushuang back to the residence for a talk.

The old matriarch wanted to use this method to draw closer to Xia Jiushuang, but for Xia Jiushuang, the most important thing was that she had items left behind by Jiang Ruansheng before her death.

Xia Jiushuang looked at the butterfly hairpin on the desk. It was indeed one of Jiang Ruan’s former ornaments. The fact that these things remained in the old matriarch’s hands made Xia Jiushuang deeply displeased. Whatever the case, she had to take back Jiang Ruan’s belongings.

Only, why did this return to the residence feel so wrong? She could not quite untangle the reason.

Xia Jiushuang cast a sidelong glance at maidservant Xiu. When maidservant Xiu met her eyes, her body gave a shiver and she dropped to her knees before Xia Jiushuang. "Your Grace, I... I used to rely on being favored beside the old matriarch and offended Your Grace many times. Now that the Chancellor’s estate is far from what it once was, I beg Your Grace to be generous and forgive my former foolishness."

Seeing the ingratiating look on maidservant Xiu’s face, Xia Jiushuang did relax a little. "Since Grandmother is making such a sincere request, then I will return to the Xia residence with you, maidservant Xiu."

"Thank you, Your Grace." Maidservant Xiu said happily.

Xia Jiushuang and maidservant Xiu returned to the Chancellor’s estate by carriage, with Luoluo following at Xia Jiushuang’s side, while Xia Jiushuang arranged for Youhua to keep watch at the estate.

Although Xia Jiushuang had agreed to go with maidservant Xiu to the Xia residence, she still felt that the old matriarch’s meeting with her had another purpose.

After alighting from the carriage, Xia Jiushuang looked at the bleak state of the Chancellor’s estate and felt that it was entirely different now. There was none of its former arrogance and ostentation, and far fewer people moved about the grounds.

Xia Jiushuang said, "Why does it seem as though there are so many fewer people in the Orchid Pavilion?"

Maidservant Xiu replied, "These are troubled times. The old matriarch dismissed some of the maids to prevent too many mouths from talking."

Xia Jiushuang followed maidservant Xiu to the Orchid Pavilion. Maidservant Xiu knocked on the door, and a voice came from inside: "Come in."

Maidservant Xiu pushed the door open and said, "The old matriarch is waiting in her room for Your Grace. Please come in."

The open doorway gave off an ominous feeling. Xia Jiushuang stood at the threshold for a moment of hesitation, while maidservant Xiu remained standing quietly to one side, showing nothing unusual.

The room had no windows open. Though it was broad daylight, the inside felt dim and gray. The air was thick with the scent of sandalwood. Xia Jiushuang knew the old matriarch liked to burn incense and recite the Buddha’s name, but this fragrance had clearly been lingering through the night. Why then did the room carry such a harsh, choking smell?

After Xia Jiushuang and Luoluo entered the room, maidservant Xiu closed the door, as if to keep their conversation private.

Xia Jiushuang called out, "Grandmother? Grandmother!"

She called several times, but there was no response. Then she noticed a figure sitting on the bed in the inner chamber. Xia Jiushuang went inside and saw the old matriarch.

"Grandmother, I came back specially today because I heard that you have my mother’s relics. May I ask if Grandmother can give them to me?" Xia Jiushuang said.

But after she finished, the old matriarch remained leaning against the bed with her eyes closed and did not move at all, as though she had not heard a word.

Xia Jiushuang frowned. "Grandmother?"

Had the old matriarch fallen asleep? Why was there no reaction?

"Grandmother?" Xia Jiushuang called a few more times, but there was still no movement.

She walked to the bedside, thinking the old matriarch must be sleeping, and reached out to touch her shoulder. But the moment Xia Jiushuang did so, the old matriarch’s body went limp and toppled over with a thud, collapsing in an odd posture face-first onto the bed.

Xia Jiushuang was horrified. "Grandmother? Grandmother, what is wrong with you?"

She grabbed the old matriarch’s hand, but the instant she touched it, something felt terribly wrong. Xia Jiushuang lowered her head and looked at the hand: the palm was icy to the bone, cold in a way no living person should be.

Luoluo looked on in confusion. "Your Grace, what is it? Did something happen?"

With a tense expression, Xia Jiushuang reached out a hand and felt beneath the old matriarch’s nose. Her fingers lingered only for a few breaths before Xia Jiushuang abruptly stumbled back several steps, staring in shock at the old matriarch lying motionless on the bed.

"Grandmother is dead?!"