Chapter 510 - 509: Heartache

Chapter 510: Chapter 509: Heartache

Jin Ling did not answer; she just quietly looked at Aunt Li.

The room was so silent that a pin drop could be heard. Aunt Li hesitantly sat for a while, her eyes welling up with tears. She glanced at the son sleeping next to Jin Ling and then focused on Jin Ling’s belly.

"Yun Qi’s wife, you’re a mother too, so you must understand my feelings," Aunt Li said, wiping her eyes with her hand. "I raised my daughter until she was so grown-up, sent her to the manor to work, watched her get married. I wanted her to have a good life, not... not to jump into a well..."

Jin Ling’s heart tightened involuntarily.

Of course, she could understand a mother’s feelings.

Mrs. Duan worked tirelessly for her and her brother for years, straining her eyes; and Jin Ling herself had been married and had a child. Watching her adorable son, she understood the heart of a loving mother even more.

Jin Ling pondered for a moment, then said, "Aunt, when **** came back, she ran into Zizhu at the alley entrance.

She told me she had dreamed about Mr. Si, just mentioned dreaming, and indeed did not mention going to serve Mr. Si.

She didn’t look well at the time, and I don’t know how much of my words she actually took in.

Aunt, no one knows a daughter better than her mother. What happened to Zizhu all these years, you should have seen it clearer than our neighbors."

Aunt Li’s body trembled slightly, and she covered her face and cried: "I know she had things on her mind; I asked her countless times, but she wouldn’t say a word.

Yun Qi’s wife, did Big Sister offend someone when she worked in the manor?

Did our Big Sister learn things she shouldn’t have, leading to..."

Hearing this, Jin Ling’s face sank involuntarily. She turned her head and said, "Aunt, who are you suspecting with these words?

Zizhu was not at her in-law’s; she jumped into the well in the middle of the night. If she didn’t jump by herself, do you mean someone from the manor went to her room, tied her up, and threw her down the well?

If there really were such a person, then are all the people in Zizhu’s in-law’s house dead?

It’s Fourth Madam’s dowry shop; even Old Madam doesn’t manage the madams’ dowry shops. Who would dare to cause trouble in the steward’s house of Fourth Madam’s shop?

Aunt, are you thinking it was Fourth Madam who ordered it?"

"No, how could I suspect Fourth Madam," Aunt Li waved her hand repeatedly, face pale with anxiety, "Fourth Madam is now all alone, usually in the inner courtyard, she doesn’t even know who our Big Sister is, how could she..."

Jin Ling sighed, leaned back, and gently supported her bulging belly, saying, "Then Aunt, do you suspect me, then? Do you think it’s me who forced Zizhu to die, after I spoke with her that day?"

Aunt Li’s face alternated between red and white, and just as she was about to explain, Jin Ling interrupted her again.

"Aunt suspecting me is suspecting Madam." Jin Ling paused, a flicker of a sharp light in her eyes, "Aunt, have you really forgotten why Zizhu left the manor in the first place?"

Aunt Li pressed her lips together and lowered her gaze.

"Aunt clearly remembers," Jin Ling glanced at her wrist adorned with a golden bracelet and gently shook it, "It was because of the golden bracelet. The bracelet caught eyes, and Lu Family spread nonsense in the alley, saying the bracelet was given by Mr. Si to Zizhu."

Aunt Li’s shoulders shook violently, tears streamed down: "Yes, it’s because of that bracelet.

That year after Qingming, Big Sister suddenly came to me and said, if the rumors continue, and they truly reach the ears of the masters, Second Madam, with her temperament, will skin her, regardless of the truth.

Her bracelet was definitely not from Mr. Si, and she would never have the courage nor wish to climb into Mr. Si’s bed.

But rumors can be overwhelming; if they continue, let alone explaining to the manor, I can’t explain to Big Sister’s in-laws, so I let her leave the manor and marry.

Yun Qi’s wife, was it truly because of that golden bracelet?

What exactly is the matter with that bracelet?

It has been three years, and my Big Sister died because of that bracelet..."

Jin Ling couldn’t bear tears the most; seeing Aunt Li crying so sorrowfully, her heart ached dully.

But the origin of the bracelet, Jin Ling absolutely could not reveal. The matters of Mu Yuanjing and Mu Lianyu were tightly sealed by those who knew, and if anyone dared to leak a word, Madam Wu would not forgive lightly.

As for the incident where Zizhu caused Cangzhu’s death for the bracelet...

That was Zizhu’s true burden, a blemish she would never want anyone to know about.

Even her mother or husband, Zizhu did not want them to know that she had killed someone.

"Aunt, you also said, the matter of the bracelet has past over three years, and if the manor really wanted Zizhu dead, she wouldn’t have survived until this year. It was her heart weighed down too heavily, unable to cross the hurdle in her mind."

Jin Ling’s words pierced Aunt Li’s heart with pain; she huddled and sat for a while, then tremblingly asked, "Was the bracelet illegitimate in its origin? If Mr. Si didn’t give it, then was it given by another master in the manor, or was it stolen by her?"

Jin Ling remained noncommittal.

Aunt Li shakily stood up, uttered a word of thanks, and staggered out.

Jin Ling slumped on the bed, letting out a sigh.

Mrs. Duan came in from outside, saying, "How come Big Sister Li just went back like that? She looked like she had been crying. By the way, I was just taking care of your brother, and from the window, I seemed to see her Second Sister."

"Second Sister was here?" Jin Ling was taken aback.

"Looked like her figure, but I couldn’t see clearly."

Aunt Li returned to the Li Family, drew water, and washed her face.

Turning around, she saw Second Sister standing outside the door, surprising her: "Why so silent."

"I heard it," Second Sister Li said, "Big Sister died because of the bracelet? Just because I took out the bracelet to compete with Ying’er, Big Sister died?

If I hadn’t tried to outshine Ying’er, if I hadn’t taken Big Sister’s bracelet, then would Big Sister..."

The intense pain filled Aunt Li’s heart, the bond between the two sisters with years’ age difference was profound; hearing such news suddenly, no wonder Second Sister was upset.

She stepped forward to embrace Second Sister: "Don’t overthink, it’s not your fault."

"Then whose fault is it?" Second Sister Li wept, "Mother, how did that bracelet come to be? Big Sister and Mr. Si..."

"This cannot be spoken!" Aunt Li said sternly, "Your Big Sister was properly married to her in-laws. Big Sister is gone; we can’t control gossip outside, but we can’t speak about Big Sister that way."

Second Sister Li sobbed, lost her footing and fell to the ground along with the unprepared Aunt Li: "Then what is it really? Big Sister served in the front courtyard, how could she sneak a bracelet? Must be a master from the back courtyard who gave it, right? Who was it?

Mother, we can’t let Big Sister die in vain; I want to go to the manor, I want to work there, and I want to find out."

Hearing these words, Aunt Li’s mind went blank, and by the time she came to her senses, she already had slapped Second Sister hard on the shoulder: "What nonsense are you spouting! Even if you find out, what then? Can you confront the masters? I already lost one daughter; how could I send you in as well."