Sitting in the chair with a deeply sullen expression was the flashy-faced crybaby—Uryou's daughter, who was supposed to be dead.
She showed some trace of fear, but more than that, her bearing conveyed a sense of bewilderment at what she had done.
Since her funeral had already been held, they had moved her to Jinshi's residence to keep her hidden from anyone who might find her. Maomao watched quietly from a corner of the room.
Surrounding her were men wearing expressions of utter discomfort—Uryou and his son. Jinshi, looking exasperated, and Mashin, his temples twitching, watched them.
"So we can safely conclude that a cover-up was indeed carried out?"
The reason Jinshi's words carried a questioning tone was because he remembered Uryou's daughter's face clearly. Uryou had three children, and his daughters were only this ill-tempered woman and Risu. So who, then, was the supposedly dead daughter?
As for that part, corpses were easy enough to come by. If one went to the slums, women of the right age could be found lying about. He would rather not believe they had gone so far as to manufacture one.
They had crushed and burned the corpse to obscure its identity, and that was surely why they had staged such a conspicuous hanging.
"An accomplice?"
Uryou had identified the charred remains as his daughter. That was what it came down to.
But the one who raised an objection was his son, who stood beside him. Maomao couldn't quite remember his name—Uryou-something.
"What on earth are you talking about? When the hanging was discovered, we were right there with all of you, watching. How could we have possibly pulled off such a cover-up?"
In other words, he was saying it would have been impossible to take the hanging corpse down from the tower and burn it beyond recognition. Speaking before the imperial brother, his manner might have come across as somewhat insolent, but that was likely because he was feeling quite cornered.
Indeed, without explaining that part, the conversation could not move forward. A more high-handed person would have simply thrown their authority around, but Jinshi was unfortunately not the type to do that.
Of course, Maomao had already explained all of this to Jinshi.
Jinshi produced the box containing the spirit money. Then he placed beside it another item he had sent a messenger to the pleasure district to retrieve. It was the fine-quality paper that had arrived from Yabu's hometown.
"They were using remarkably fine paper for the spirit money, but this should be obtainable as well."
It was soft, thin paper. A single sheet was about three shaku square—quite large.
"Using this, fashion it into clothing and make a simple doll."
Then you hang it from the tower. It serves as a stand-in for the corpse.
"Even granting that, how do you explain it vanishing? Besides, what if someone had seen you setting it up? That spot is highly visible, you know."
"That's where this comes in."
Jinshi tore the paper into thin strips and twisted them into string. When pulled, it was surprisingly strong and would not break. But if a single drop of water was applied, it would snap apart easily with a soft pop.
When they had the tower examined once more, they found scraps of paper stuck to the upper pillar. And there were water stains on the pillar as well.
"Make a paper doll and hang it from two strings. Thin one of the strings, or make it easier to soak in water, and rig it so that one breaks first—that'll buy you some time. As for how to get it wet with water, you could just use ice."
Once the ice melted into water, the paper string would snap. The plan was for the doll to fall from the tower the moment the second string broke.
Hearing this, Uryū's son let out a heavy breath.
"Then where is this doll that supposedly fell? If someone found it, we might still have an understanding, but—"
"No one has found the doll. It had already been disposed of."
The servants had said the spot where the doll fell looked as though it were floating. And when they searched that spot, they found nothing.
When Maomao asked for more details about the location, it turned out to be right beside the pond.
"According to the servants, the koi were thrashing about wildly."
The gluttonous koi would come swarming at the slightest leaf that touched the water's surface, mistaking it for food.
What would happen if a paper doll fell right into the middle of them?
Pecked at by a massive swarm of koi, the doll would dissolve into the water.
And then a charred corpse would be discovered at a completely different location.
"There were numerous guest carriages around the estate. There would have been no way to sneak the daughter outside. So she gathered the mourning women for the funeral."
Just as Maomao had worn a veil so her face couldn't be seen, the daughter had dressed in white and donned a veil as well. That was why one of the mourners had been conspicuously terrible at crying.
And Maomao had set a trap to confirm whether that person was truly Uryū's daughter.
During the procession, she had stepped on the hem of that awful crying woman and the hem of one other woman, sending them both tumbling. Then, approaching the one who had been the worst crier, she had held up her wooden tag and said:
"Did you drop this? If you lose it, you won't be allowed to leave the estate."
If it wasn't hers, it should have belonged to the other woman who had fallen. Yet that woman said nothing and simply took Maomao's wooden tag.
Uryū's daughter remained with her head bowed, her lips still pursed in a pout.
Uryū and his son both seemed to have nothing further to say, and they stood in silence. Just when Maomao thought they would leave it at that, Uryū stepped forward.
"This is entirely my responsibility."
He said this and slowly bowed his head.
Seeing this, his son stepped forward.
"Father did nothing. I was the one who did it. The mistaken corpse—that was just because I panicked!"
"No, it was me!"
(Not that it matters.)
The parent and child shielding each other might be touching, but the real problem—the daughter—kept darting flirtatious glances toward Jinshi. As if such womanly wiles could ever bring him down.
Amid all this, there was one person trembling violently.
"..."
Silently, she stepped forward.
By the time Jinshi reached out to stop her, it was already too late.
A dull, heavy thud rang out. Something collapsed to the ground.
It happened twice.
Basen had his fist raised. On the floor, the Uu mother and daughter lay with their faces twisted in pain. Twisted literally—no, it would be more accurate to say Basen had twisted them.
Blood spattered across the floor, and several of their back teeth lay scattered about.
"Showing your family affection is all well and good. But Risu is not part of that equation."
Basen spoke with heavy sarcasm.
"Basen!"
Jinshi grabbed Basen by the collar and yanked him down. For an instant, Basen's face contorted in anguish, but he managed to force it back to its usual composure.
"I am deeply sorry."
Basen apologized.
The Uu daughter, who had been maintaining an innocent expression until moments ago, was now deathly pale and trembling.
It seemed Basen had at least enough restraint not to lay a hand on a woman.
"My apologies. Let us continue this conversation after treatment has been administered."
With that, Jinshi summoned another attendant.
(She really went and did it.)
Maomao tilted her head slightly at the thought.
It didn't matter which of the Uu family had done it. Either way, they had simply been trying to save their daughter—their sister.
But their methods were far too extreme.
One could argue they had overreacted out of fear based on what happened to the Shi clan. But the reverse interpretation was also possible. In the Empress Regnant's era, perhaps—but the current Emperor did not seem the type to keep severing ties with his retainers.
(Could there be some plan behind this?)
"Hm." Maomao scratched her head from her spot in the corner of the room.
Looking at the floor, the broken tooth was still lying there.
(Wouldn't have been wise to hit someone here.)
She decided not to think too much about why Maosen had gotten angry. Postponed, postponed.
The frightened girl was still trembling on her chair.
Maomao thought that a girl like this could never survive on her own if thrown outside.
If that was the case, then someone must have been protecting her on the outside.
She was just thinking she needed to find out about that, too, when—
The guards were outside the room. The only people inside were the hiding Maomao and Uryou's daughter.
The girl probably thought she was alone here.
"Why... even though I did everything the fairy told me to..."
"!"
Maomao couldn't help but spring to her feet.
The startled girl saw Maomao in the corner of the room.
"When you say fairy—
Bai Niangniang—
is that who you mean?"
Before she knew it, she had closed in on the girl.