Chapter 209 – Qingyang, Characters Engraved On The Tree Root
However, with the death of the mistress, everything here seemed to have been sealed in the dust. Even if someone would clean the house during festivals, it was only a matter of formality.
The man who once said that he was deeply in love with her mother and was even willing to cancel his engagement with another woman for her mother had long forgotten everything about this place. He should have never visited this courtyard!
Otherwise, why would the people in this mansion treat this courtyard so lightly, and they even left the yard in mess for such a long time…
If Wei Yuewu’s mother was still alive, Wei Yuewu would never be sent to her maternal grandmother’s mansion at such a young age. Every time when Wei Yuewu’s maternal grandmother mentioned her mother with tears, Wei Yuewu felt much pain in her heart. Sometimes, she could not even say a word because of the pain.
As a result, Wei Yuewu’s maternal grandmother gradually stopped mentioning her mother in front of her. In the end, even if Wei Yuewu asked about her mother, she only gave a brief answer!
“Miss, come and take a look. There are some characters engraved here.” Huamo’s voice was filled with shock.
Wei Yuewu turned around and saw Huamo pointing to somewhere under the tree and saying in surprise.
Wei Yuewu pulled up the corners of her skirt and walked over. Only then did Wei Yuewu see clearly that the lower part of the tree had been scratched by something sharp. Although many years had passed, the characters were still vaguely discernible because of the deep cut at that time.
There were two lines of characters that read “Yuewu” and “Qingyang”. Apparently, they were the names of two kids, because two little figures were drawn below the characters.
The two figures seemed to be holding hands together and looked very friendly. They should be girls with two pigtails tilted on their heads.
One of the kids was named Yuewu and the other Qingyang!
Although they were not very well drawn, the kids seemed to be intimate friends, while one figure was a little older and the other was a little younger.
It was obvious that the figure named Yuewu was younger, and the girl named Qingyang was older!
Wei Yuewu frowned slightly. There wasn’t any woman called Qingyang in this mansion…
Huamo happened to come here to pick leaves. When she saw Wei Yuewu’s name, she couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise. At this time, she realized that there were not only Wei Yuewu’s figure but also someone else’s figure. She couldn’t help but ask with curiosity. “Miss, did you carve this when you were a child? Which family’s young lady is the other figure?”
“Why did you say that the other figure was the young lady of another family, rather than a maidservant?” Wei Yuewu stared at the pattern. Her eyes froze as she tightly clenched her hands inside the sleeves.
“That goes without saying. The one who can stand shoulder to shoulder with you must be a young lady from another noble family. How could a maidservant stand so close to you? Furthermore, she even left such a picture. Even if you were not sensible at that time, the other people wouldn’t allow you to act so willfully.”
Huamo blurted out her answer, but it also reminded Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu blinked her watery eyes. Therefore, the girl named Qingyang must be a young lady of another mansion that was familiar to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. Otherwise, she wouldn’t come to play with Wei Yuewu. Furthermore, she must have had a good time with Wei Yuewu so that this picture was drawn.
Even if the picture was merely drawn by a kid for fun, one could still see the unusual meaning behind it.
Moreover, this picture was deeply carved that it didn’t seem to be something that an ordinary child could do. Probably, someone else had been ordered to carve this picture with a sharp object.
Qingyang? It seemed that she needed to investigate carefully to find whom this Qingyang was.
Was she the slightly older sister that kept looking at her warmly while spitting out large mouthfuls of blood?
Just like how the Third Princess had been raised in her mother’s courtyard for a period of time, this gentle girl was only a small fragment in Wei Yuewu’s memory. Was she Qingyang?
Otherwise, why had Wei Yuewu never heard of a young lady from any noble family named Qingyang? What had exactly happened in the Imperial Palace back then? Why was she locked up in an empty hall in great panic without a single attendant by her side? Had it really been just a coincidence for Wei Yuewu herself to enter that hall at such a young age?
And what had happened to the girl after that? Was she a wisp of warmth in the depths of her memory?
“Miss, last time when the Third Princess and the Fourth Princess went up the mountain to admire plum blossoms, I didn’t hear about any miss named Qingyang. This name doesn’t sound like the name of an ordinary young lady!” Seeing Wei Yuewu frowning tightly, Huamo couldn’t help but speak from the side.
Huamo and Shufei could read a few simple characters. When they started working in the mansion, Wei Yuewu would teach them how to read when she was free. Although they couldn’t write well, they knew quite a few characters now. Naturally, they could also recognize the characters “Qingyang” at the moment.
What Huamo said reminded Wei Yuewu. Indeed, the name “Qingyang” didn’t seem to be the name of an ordinary young lady. The name of an ordinary young lady of any noble family would obviously show some typical feminine connotation at the first glance. However, the name “Qingyang” sounded much masculine.
Moreover, this name caused Wei Yuewu to speculate about something. A trace of thoughtfulness flashed through her watery eyes. It seemed that this girl named “Qingyang” was also somewhat related to the Imperial Palace!
Wei Yuewu raised her eyes and looked in the direction of the Imperial Palace. She found that she could actually see the Imperial Palace from here. Although the vision was not very clear, she could still vaguely see a small section of the palace wall and a tall building inside the Imperial Palace.
It turned out that this place was actually very close to the Imperial Palace!
It was the first time that Wei Yuewu knew that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang was so close to the Imperial Palace. It took several blocks and streets to get to the palace entrance from the front door of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. No part of the mansion was as close to the Imperial Palace as it seemed here. But here in this courtyard of her mother, the palace wall looked so close and conspicuous.
The tall palace walls and wide glazed tiles shone in the sunlight, forming a picture that represented the majestic power of the royal family.
But now, Wei Yuewu felt that the Imperial Palace was not really out of reach. She felt as if the Imperial Palace was right in front of her, and she could touch it with just a stretch of her hand…
“Miss, can you take a look at this stuff? Do you think it has any other implication?” Shufei’s head poked out of the back window as she said to Wei Yuewu who was standing under the tree.
Wei Yuewu nodded and returned to the room. The room had been cleaned up, and even a small hidden compartment near the flower stand had been searched. In fact, such a hidden compartment was not uncommon in the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. In Wei Yuewu’s own room near the flower stand, there were also hidden compartments where small objects could be placed.
However, the small object that had been found in the hidden compartment caused the corners of Wei Yuewu’s eyes to sharpen a bit. She reached out her hand to hold the small porcelain bottle…
The porcelain bottle wasn’t big. Although the pattern on it was quite exquisite, it wasn’t rare. She removed the cork from the bottle and found that there was a faint medicinal fragrance inside. This was a small porcelain bottle for storing medicine.
“Miss, this stuff is very well hidden inside this pile of threads. If I hadn’t cleaned up this mess, I wouldn’t find there was a small bottle wrapped inside.” Shufei picked up a mess of threads and said to Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu turned her head and looked. It was indeed a large messy ball of threads that were difficult to sort out when wrapped together. When Shufei discovered the bottle wrapped inside, she directly cut the threads and took out the small porcelain bottle.
Was it just a very ordinary porcelain bottle? Wei Yuewu held the bottle and spun it around. She didn’t find anything. After thinking for a while, she flipped through the bottle again. As expected, she found the small character “Ming” at the bottom of the bottle!
It was the logo used by Doctor Ming, the private doctor working exclusively for the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang! A harsh look flashed across Wei Yuewu’s face.
She turned the bottle back and smelled it again. Then, her hands trembled slightly and she subconsciously tightened her grip on the bottle. There was something wrong with the medicine!
There was definitely something wrong with this medicine!
The smell of the medicine was very fragrant. Even after so many years, there was still a strong smell. One could tell that the medicine was very powerful. It was a medicine that could be used as a great tonic. Of course, it was good for people in normal health conditions. But what if it was given to people who were too weak to take tonics? In that case, it would have no difference with poison!
Due to the difficult delivery, her mother’s health conditions had deteriorated, and she suffered chronic illnesses and had to lie in bed. She should take warm medicine instead of this kind of strong tonic.
Wei Yuewu’s watery eyes turned ice-cold. Indeed. The death of her mother was not as simple as it seemed!
Very good. This porcelain bottle was a vital piece of evidence…
As for the mastermind behind the scenes, it was either Concubine Dong or Madam Li. It was most likely that the two of them conspired to kill her mother.
Both of them had their motives to kill her mother: one desired to become Marquise Hua Yang, while the other aimed for the power to manage the entire mansion, or in other words, to ensure her own son could become the next Marquis Hua Yang.
After taking a deep breath, Wei Yuewu suppressed the bloody smell rolling in her chest. She carefully put the bottle into her pocket. She looked at the ball of threads. Perhaps, it was because of this ball of threads that the bottle remained intact after so many years!
Huamo came in and she was bothered by the waving curtain at the entry to the inner room. She caught the waving curtain and turned to ask Wei Yuewu, “Miss, this curtain is so old. Shall we change it for Madam?”
The other curtains in the room had already been put away. No one really knew whether this curtain had been forgotten or intentionally left behind for some other reason. It had actually been there for so many years at such a conspicuous place.
“No need. Leave it there!” Wei Yuewu’s gaze fell on the worn curtain. She shook her head slightly with a cold look in her eyes. Was it really an old curtain? Indeed, it was not bad…
Early in the next morning, Wei Yuewu went to greet the Madam Dowager as usual.
The Madam Dowager woke up very early today and had already finished her breakfast. She was talking happily with Nanny Hong, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed.
When she saw Wei Yuewu coming in, the Madam Dowager smiled and waved to Wei Yuewu. “Yuewu, come here. Go with your Third Elder Sister to greet your father at the East City Gate. There’s only one road over there and it is easy to see your father’s carriage.”
“How is father’s injury?” Wei Yuewu obediently walked over and bowed to the Madam Dowager before asking.
“His injury has almost healed. Fortunately, Concubine Dong is taking care of your father along the way. Otherwise, with your father’s temper, no one really knows how he would deal with his injury!” The Madam Dowager sighed and her face was full of concern as if she was really a good mother worrying about her son.
“Then I must thank Concubine Dong!” Wei Yuewu said softly.
Seeing that Wei Yuewu was very obedient today, the Madam Dowager felt very satisfied. She nodded and looked at Wei Yuewu’s dress. “Don’t dress too plainly. It’s been many years since you’ve seen your father last time. Today, you can dress in a cheerful manner so that your father will be happy when he meets you.”
“Dress in a cheerful manner? But I don’t have such a dress!” Wei Yuewu said in embarrassment. Most of her clothes were of the plain and elegant type.
“It doesn’t matter. Bring it over, Nanny Hong.” The Madam Dowager instructed with a smile.
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