Ch.185 Mystery (1)
Mu Mingtang still hadn’t gotten over the shock of hearing that a person was dead, she couldn’t catch what Xie Xuanchen said: “Results?"
Xie Xuanchen motioned at the aromatic ball in his hand and asked, “Who did you talk to about the aromatic ball?"
Mu Mingtang shook her head: "No one, except you." She paused after saying this, her brow furrowed: "However, when I found it in the afternoon, a maid saw me."
Xie Xuanchen nodded, he obviously foresaw all this: "They must have got to know about this, that’s why they were in such a rush to kill off the person. The spices in it don't need to be inspected, there is surely something wrong with it."
"Who’s behind this?"
"Let’s see for ourselves."
Xie Xuanchen tapped on some spot with his fingers, and the middle of the copper ball suddenly sprung open. Xie Xuanchen said: "We can’t keep this aromatic ball any longer. Look for a box and store the spices in it."
Mu Mingtang did not fully understand him, but she immediately stood up and looked for a box. Even if Mu Mingtang had never gone through such a situation, but she knew that she couldn’t use a box that stood out too much. However, all her jewelry boxes were rather exquisite looking. Mu Mingtang really couldn't find any that were subtle looking. She simply took the risk, picked up her earring box, and took a piece of lipstick rouge paper.
Xie Xuanchen was puzzled when he saw what Mu Mingtang had brought over: "What are you going to do with the red rouge paper?"
"I can’t beat you guys on wits, but I’m better at hiding things." Mu Mingtang swiftly opened the interlayer of the earring box and slowly scraped down the spices in the aromatic ball. Xie Xuanchen got a vague idea on what Mu Mingtang was about to do. He was not good at this kind of meticulous work, so he could only whisper at the side to remind her: "Don't pour too much, leave some in the aromatic ball."
"I know." Mu Mingtang nodded, and a thin layer of ash formed on the bright red paper. Mu Mingtang folded the paper into a thin paper bag and placed it in the small earring box, before closing the interlayer. She then restored the earrings to their original state. If no one pointed this out, no one could tell that something was hidden underneath.
As Mu Mingtang was hiding the ashes, Xie Xuanchen had already restored the aromatic ball to its original state. At this time, the maid, who told them about the news, approached, and judging from her voice, she was about to enter. Mu Mingtang lowered her voice and asked in a rush, "What do we do with the aromatic ball?"
"Just stuff it in one of the drawers" Xie Xuanchen suddenly remembered that Mu Mingtang actually took it out of the cabinet and said, "Just put it back in the same cabinet."
Put it back in the same cabinet? Mu Mingtang frowned and said quickly: "Although I was careful so that no one would see me when I hid the aromatic ball this afternoon, a person that has the intention might still find it. What if someone replaces the aromatic ball when we’re not here?"
"Just let them." Xie Xuanchen said, "The spices are the only main point. We only need to get a sample, and leave the rest for them to destroy."
"Okay." Mu Mingtang hurriedly responded, and quickly stood up to put away the earring box and the sachet. As soon as she restored these two items to their original state, the maid who came to bring the news, ran in breathlessly: "Princess Consort, something’s terribly wrong."
She ran in and found that Xie Xuanchen was also awake. The maid immediately fell to her knees and kneeled, as she kowtowed: "Prince, Princess Consort."
"You may rise." Xie Xuanchen's expression had returned to his indifferent yet calm signature look, and he said lightly, "What's wrong outside?"
Facing Xie Xuanchen, the maid was obviously nervous. She yelled all the way here, but now she couldn’t even say a complete sentence: “To answer your question, Bihe accidentally fell into the water. When the servants who guarded the garden had noticed, she had already drowned to death."
Mu Mingtang and Xie Xuanchen exchanged gazes, and Mu Mingtang asked, "Where did they find her? Why did she fall into the water?"
"In the garden’s lake, she was discovered by a servant who was cleaning away the aquatic plants. As for the reason behind why she fell into the water.…..I have no clue"
It was the month of November now, the grass and trees by the lake looked bleak, and the servant chose this day to clean away the aquatic plants? Mu Mingtang didn't ask any further, she looked at Xie Xuanchen questioningly: "My lord?"
"I'll head to the garden for a look." Xie Xuanchen got up as he said, it was probably because he stood up way too abruptly, his body shook as he got up, which caused a series of coughs.
Mu Mingtang hurriedly stepped forward to support him, and ordered the maid to get him some water. Xie Xuanchen’s cough finally stopped, after such exhaustion, his face and lips were all pale.