Chapter 406 — A Glaring Look

"But I'm away from home most of the year. When I suddenly came back a few times, I never found a single trace of anything suspicious, so I thought..."

"Song Cen had wrecked her like that, and giving her some silver as compensation — her refusing to hand it over was only natural. I didn't press the matter. But my wife was not pleased, and she was forever making pointed remarks at others' expense. Once she made my sister angry enough, and my sister shouted at her, saying we should not look down on people like dogs, and she would regret it later, and so on. But when my wife put on a stern face and traded insults with her, my sister only gave a cold laugh."

"When it came time for Yigui to marry out, she did not provide the child with a single item of dowry. When I spoke to her about it, she just shouted at me."

"My wife, furious, took her maids and searched her room."

"The two of them even came to blows over it."

"But apart from the clothes and ornaments she normally wore, all that was found was a dozen or so taels of broken silver and a banknote for three hundred taels."

"In the end she took a few gilt pieces and gave them to Yigui as dowry."

"everything else I provided myself. It cost me a whole year's wages."

"Because of this, to this very day my wife still complains that I always take her side."

"She is my own sister. I know her."

"She must have had something to rely on. That is the only way she would act like that."

As Li Liang spoke, he cast a dark, unreadable glance at Song Yan. Then, lowering his eyes, he said, "I heard that the second master of the Ying family's Zhenguo estate was born the same year as Yigui. At the time my sister's belly was frighteningly large, so I thought to myself — could my sister have borne twins, a boy and a girl? Could the Ying family's Zhenguo estate have kept the son and given away the daughter? But the second master of the Ying household is a legitimate son. When the Duchess of Ying gave birth, the attendants around her were layered three deep. There is no way... unless perhaps the child the Duchess bore died young. And the matriarch of the Ying family's Zhenguo estate decided to raise a child under the Duchess's name..."

"But these thoughts only flickered through my mind now and then, when I could make no sense of things. I never dared dwell on them... That is why, when I saw the heir, I blurted out and asked whether it was the second master or the heir..."

He looked thoroughly vexed.

Song Sui drew several deep breaths before he could force down the fury in his heart. He did not kick this beast to death.

After all that talk, the man was still secretly calculating that his sister's child had gained a foothold in the Song family, and he still claimed to be good to Yigui! If Yigui were not a child of the Song family, would he have been so good to her?

Thinking of what had befallen Yigui, he felt a piercing pain in his heart, and his gaze sank of its own accord.

Chen Jia's heart tightened at the sight.

He hurriedly helped Li Liang to his feet and said, "Heir, would you like a cup of hot tea and a moment to catch your breath? Miss Yigui still knows nothing of all this. When that woman Li Yaoniang arrives, shall we let Miss Yigui listen too? That way she will not mistake an enemy for kin and let Li Yaoniang slip through the cracks."

Song Yan was feeling chest tightness and shortness of breath. Hearing this, he nodded and called out loudly for "Duan Bing." Then he said, ".Let's see who delivered Li Yaoniang's child back then."

He had a faint feeling. Most of the people who had been present at his mother's delivery back then were likely gone. It would be more reliable to find out who had delivered Li Yaoniang's child.

Duan Bing answered and left.

Chen Jia accompanied Song Yan out of the tea room.

But looking up, he saw Xia Lian hurrying into the courtyard.

"Where is Li Yaoniang?" Song Yan's expression suddenly turned icy, making Chen Jia's heart lurch.

Xia Lian spoke urgently: "Heir. This is bad! That Li Yaoniang has hanged herself... A woman from the house next door to the Li family had propped a ladder against the wall to pick eggplants and saw a person hanging from the beam of the Li family's eastern wing. She was so frightened she nearly fell off the ladder, and she rushed to report it to the authorities. When we got there, the coroner was examining the body."

Chen Jia was aghast. "Which constable from Shuntian Prefecture took the case? What are the neighbors saying? Has Shuntian Prefecture discovered anything?"

Song Yan sneered.

Perhaps he had spent too long in the yamen, for he had followed the habit of questioning suspects before the men. He had not expected someone to be watching the Li household and to have slipped through the gap.

That was just as well.

Where there is movement, there will be traces. The thing to fear is stagnant water.

Xia Lian caught his breath and said, "It was Constable Qin of Shuntian Prefecture who took the case. He is examining the body now, and the results are not yet out. I have already sent men there to wait for news. The neighbors all think it was a crime of passion. They say Li Yaoniang was always flirting and drawing men, and it must have been someone who killed her in a fit of jealousy, then hung her from the beam to make it look like suicide."

He had scarcely finished speaking when a young servant ran in.

He hurriedly paid his respects to Song Yan and Xia Lian and said, "Word has come from Shuntian Prefecture. They say the young lady of the Li family took her own life."

Xia Lian frowned slightly at this and was about to say something when Song Yan said coldly, "That is easy enough. Find someone to hang her from the beam and watch her breathe her last." With that, he headed toward the tea room.

Chen Jia thought that in his place, he would have done the same, so he had no objection and followed Song Yan to the tea room.

Song Yan lifted his chin slightly and looked at Li Liang with cold arrogance. "Your sister was killed before our people found her. Do you have anything else to say to me?"

"What did you say?!" Li Liang's eyes went wide, his voice sharp. "My sister is dead? No, that is impossible! Just yesterday she ordered two autumn dresses at Jinxiu Pavilion..."

Song Yan could not even be bothered to look at him. He called out "Chen Jia" and turned and walked out.

Chen Jia sighed and crouched down in front of Li Liang...

※※※※※

Outside, Xia Lian asked Song Yan, "Heir, what do you think we should do about this?"

Song Dan said, "The Duke of Ying is not dead too, is he?"

He spoke lightly, but to Xia Lian it felt as though a cold wind had swept past him.

He bowed his head, lowered his eyes, clasped his hands in farewell, and withdrew.

Song Yan went to the side chamber.

Dou Yan was speaking with Yigui in a low voice.

Compared with a moment before, Yigui seemed much calmer. But the sight of Song Yan still made her rise in a nervous fluster and hide behind Dou Zhiwei.

Song Yan sighed to himself.

Thank heaven for Dou Yan. Otherwise this little sister would truly be a trial.

Dou Yan smiled at Song Yan in a reassuring way.

To have a sister like this — his heart must be both grieved and helpless.

Dou Yan turned and took Yigui's hand. "He is your elder brother," she said gently. "Don't be afraid. You will have plenty of dealings with him from now on. He only looks a little cold; he treats people exceedingly well. Let us sit down and talk."

Yigui thought it over, then sat down beside Dou Yan.

Seeing this, Song Yan hesitated a moment before telling Dou Yan and Yigui of Li Yaoniang's death.

The news came so suddenly that, to say nothing of Yigui, even Dou Yan was momentarily at a loss.

But once the daze passed, Dou Yan at once took Yigui's hand in alarm. Yet Yigui did not, as Dou Yan had expected, weep bitterly or clamor to go find Li Yaoniang. Instead she lowered her head and began to sob quietly.

There was something more to this.