Everyone present was not foolish. Seeing this, they all felt that the death of the younger Madam Wu was indeed not simple.
Of course, that she had swallowed gold and died was an unchangeable fact.
But why would she swallow gold when she was fine?
Who had facilitated this matter?
Originally, everyone had not paid much attention to the death of the younger Madam Wu.
But after Bai Yuzhu stirred up trouble, it was hard for them not to pay attention.
Thinking that such a thing had happened, they might as well listen.
After all, they were all women, and life was difficult for them in this era.
With this thought, no one felt that discussing this matter at the banquet would bring bad luck.
What they were thinking now was what Su Xiaoqi had said, to seek justice for the younger Madam Wu.
"Wuwu, my lady, my lady has a son and has status and position. She, she could have lived very well.
She shouldn't have swallowed gold; she wouldn't have.
But, but it was her, this Madam Bai standing in front of everyone... she killed my lady."
"Heavens, it was her who did it."
"Tsk tsk, this person, she did evil herself, and yet dared to push the blame onto Madam Shen."
"Exactly, you couldn't tell."
"What's there not to tell? I think she was abandoned by her husband because of her improper conduct.
Even after being abandoned, she didn't repent. Truly wicked intentions."
...
Su Xiaoqi watched everyone, remaining calm throughout.
However, her heart was not entirely at peace.
These people had initially sided with Bai Yuzhu and accused her.
But now, less than a quarter of an hour had passed, and the tide had turned, attacking Bai Yuzhu.
Even Tao'er had not presented any evidence yet.
They believed whatever she said.
She didn't know whether to say they were too righteous.
Or that they lacked basic principles, liked to follow the crowd, and had no thoughts of their own.
Tao'er's narrative was interrupted by the discussions, and she looked at Su Xiaoqi in a daze.
Were these madams going to let her speak or not?
Just then, someone in the crowd, while enjoying the gossip, maintained a sliver of clarity.
They murmured, "This is just a young maid, how can her words be trusted?"
"Exactly, without any evidence..."
Su Xiaoqi nodded to Tao'er, signaling her to continue.
The madams speaking at the back were right. Tao'er had only stated a conclusion without presenting any evidence.
It was clearly not enough to be convincing.
Su Xiaoqi did not want to be bothered by Bai Yuzhu about this matter in the future, and was determined to finish speaking about it once and for all now.
Tao'er ignored the murmurs of the crowd and continued firmly, "My lady had gone through the incident at Kong Shan and had been feeling a bit unwell.
But she still lived her life tending to her husband and children as usual.
However, ever since she became familiar with Madam Bai, my lady's emotions deteriorated day by day."
"Why?" Madam Da Wu, who was unaware of these matters, quickly asked.
"Replying to Madam, I, I dare not say..." Tao'er was playing coy at a crucial moment.
"Hurry and say it. Are you trying to drive me crazy?
Or do you not want to seek justice for your lady?" Madam Da Wu urged anxiously.
Although she knew that her sister's emotions had been a bit off recently.
She had not taken it to heart.
When her sister came to her to confide, she thought she was making a fuss over nothing.
After all, her sister kept repeating the matter of the monk from Kong Shan.
One must know that in the capital, there were no less than a thousand people involved with the Kong Shan incident.
Everyone had, therefore, tacitly agreed not to mention that matter.
But her sister, upon seeing her, brought it up repeatedly.
It made it impossible for her to forget the past events.
In the end, she had almost not wanted to bother with her sister.
She never expected that her sister would take it so hard and swallow gold.
For these reasons, when Madam Da Wu received the suicide note written by the younger Madam Wu, her heart was filled with immense grief.
Of course, she had not dwelled on the reasons too much.
She merely thought her sister lacked good fortune.
Unexpectedly, hearing Tao'er's account now, there were so many things she didn't know.
She was eager to find out.
She wanted to free herself from the cloud of guilt over her sister's suicide.
"I, I am the person my lady trusted the most and often served by her side.
So I overheard quite a few things.
In the recent past, the most I heard was Madam Bai often telling my lady that their names had been leaked.
That their matter of praying for a child at Huangjue Temple was also known.
That she was divorced, and perhaps my lady would be divorced soon too.
This was not once or twice, but she said it frequently."
Tao'er said tearfully, "My lady didn't think too much about it at first, but she couldn't stand Madam Bai saying it every day.
As she said it more and more, she started to wonder if my lord disliked her, and even thought... wuwu, she said that if her reputation was stained, she wouldn't live anymore.
I also advised my lady that the matter of praying for a child that day was true, but before it could even be fulfilled, the monk was arrested.
Our lady is innocent; she and, she and Madam Bai are different.
Madam Bai is not doing this for the first time...
But my lady insisted on not listening, thinking more and more, and even got stuck in a rut.
She said she wanted to die!
It was her, it was her who killed our lady, wuwuwu..." Tao'er covered her face with a handkerchief and wept loudly.
She was truly heartbroken.
When her lady first died, she was too consumed by grief.
She hadn't thought of saying all this.
It was only after Zhang Yu found her that she remembered to speak of it.
"I didn't, you're spouting nonsense, nonsense. I..." Bai Yuzhu said, her anger turning to embarrassment.
Tao'er had said those very things.
She had even said more egregious things.
But in retrospect, she hadn't really done it on purpose.
She was just so devastated by that incident that she had lost herself.
She just wanted to strike out at the younger Madam Wu to find some balance.
She had told the younger Madam Wu everything others had said about her.
She had shifted her pressure onto her.
She thought if she could endure it, why couldn't she.
Why did she commit suicide?
She hadn't committed suicide, so it definitely wasn't her fault; it was the younger Madam Wu who was incompetent.
Bai Yuzhu successfully convinced herself and even pushed all the blame onto Su Xiaoqi.
If she hadn't exposed the Kong Shan incident, how could the tragedy between her and the younger Madam Wu have happened?
So it was her, it was her, it was all her fault!
Bai Yuzhu thought this in her heart and shouted it out.
Upon hearing this, the crowd was so shocked their chins almost dropped.
To have such a peculiar train of thought.
Everyone expressed their incomprehension.
Madam Da Wu, however, was trembling with rage. She pointed at Bai Yuzhu, her heart full of anger:
"You, just because of yourself, you actually, you directly caused my sister's death, you... deserve to die!"
"I, I, I didn't." Bai Yuzhu finished speaking and then realized everyone was looking at her.
She vaguely realized that she had revealed her feelings towards the younger Madam Wu.
She had no defense, covered her face, let out a loud cry, and fainted onto the ground.
Su Xiaoqi watched from the side and let out a cold snort.
This act of faking a faint was quite useful at this moment.
However, with everything brought out into the open, and what needed to be done having been done, everyone present had likely seen Bai Yuzhu's true colors.
The mystery of the younger Madam Wu's death had also been solved.
She had committed suicide, yet it was not entirely a suicide.