Jiang Xue's mother was happy to see the three Jiang siblings get into trouble.
Jian Jing originally wanted to chat with Jiang Xue alone, but Jiang Madam did not allow her daughter to speak to her alone for a very legitimate reason: "My daughter is not an adult yet, not even the police can do that."
"It's fine, I don't have any tricky questions," Jian Jing said to Jiang Xue, "You said at the time when you entered the room, the Chairman seemed to be in very bad shape."
Jiang Xue nodded, but added: "I was so scared at the time that I didn't look closely enough to be sure."
Jian Jing smiled slightly, chewing over every word: "So you thought he wasn't good, but didn't necessarily mean he really wasn't good, right?"
Jiang Xue: "Uh, yes."
"Nurse Yu was in the next room," her tone suddenly became stern, "Why didn't you go find her?"
After all, Jiang Xue was just a child. Caught off guard by the question, she panicked for a moment before replying: "I didn't think of that, I really blanked out at the time."
"You didn't go find your mother either?"
Jiang Xue looked at her mother.
Sure enough, Jiang Madam spoke up: “She came to find me. I told her not to make a fuss about it. Given our family's situation, if people found out Xue had been there, she would get into trouble."
Jian Jing nodded and asked, "What about you then? Did you go confirm it?"
"No," Jiang Madam said calmly. "I thought she saw wrong. The monitoring device didn't go off, and she's just a child. Seeing no breathing doesn't mean he really wasn't breathing. People about to die often look like that, sometimes they don't move at all and you wrongly assume they're dead."
Jiang Xue quickly nodded: "I also feel like I saw wrong."
"I see," Jian Jing said impassively. "Alright, let's leave this topic for now. I'd like to ask about some other things."
Jiang Madam said, "What things?"
"I heard you were the Chairman's assistant, so you should be quite familiar with the people around him," Jian Jing said. "What kind of person is Lawyer Cai?"
Jiang Madam: “He is very serious and loyal. He had always been the most trusted person to the Chairman."
"Is it possible that he hinted where the will was hidden?"
Jiang Madam thought for quite a while before replying: “I don’t think so. He wouldn’t take that risk."
"What about Secretary Fan? He had worked for the Jiang family for a long time too, right?"
"Almost fifteen years now," Jiang Madam said. "If I say Lawyer Cai was the most trusted person to the Chairman, then Secretary Fan was definitely the closest. He knew many things I didn't know about."
"What kind of person is he?"
Jiang Madam described: “Slippery and cautious. He never offended anyone and everyone was polite to him too."
"Are you familiar with Doctor Tao?"
"He is quite renowned in oncology. He was in charge of treating the Chairman's stomach cancer last time. The Chairman trusted him a lot too."
"What about Nurse Yu?"
"She was introduced by a friend. She used to be the head nurse at a public hospital, very professional."
"What about Nursing Jiang?"
"I'm not too clear, I think she is some professional caregiver."
Jiang Xue cut in: “I don't like her."
Jian Jing asked: "Why?"
"Dad was particularly nice to her," Jiang Xue glanced at her mother and mumbled, "I even saw Dad holding her hand once."
Jian Jing laughed: “What do you think, Madam Jiang?"
Jiang Madam spoke flatly: “Perhaps I don't care. He must have arranged things well already."
"Did the Chairman have other mistresses?"
"Of course," Jiang Madam was surprised instead, chuckling as she said, "You don't have to worry about them. The Chairman arranged things from the very start. When it comes to women..."
She stopped speaking, her thoughts wandering far away, half mocking and half self-deprecating: "He's heartless."
"You're his wife, surely it's a bit different for you?" Jian Jing probed.
Jiang Madam said: "No difference. If I were an ex-wife who helped build his career from the ground up, maybe there would be a bit more affection. But what am I?”
She said in an almost cold manner: "He won't let me starve or freeze, Jiang Guangze still has that bit of conscience. But he won't give me his life's dedication - that's only for those with his own blood. Why is Jiang Lian in trouble now after over a decade with the group? When it comes down to it, he was guarding against outsiders - those not of his surname are outsiders."
Jian Jing stared intently at her face but saw no sign of lying at all.
Jiang Madam's mockery and resentment came genuinely from the heart. She truly believed there would not be much involving her in the will.
"Any thoughts about the fingerprints on the safe?" Jian Jing asked.
Jiang Xue exclaimed loudly: “It's a frame-up!"
"Did you know there was a safe there?"
The mother and daughter both shook their heads.
Jian Jing ended the conversation.
"Jingjing," Jiang Baiyan called from the courtyard. “Come take afternoon tea."
The vacation villa of the Jiang family was very large with a big courtyard facing the lake and peach blossom woods. On leisurely days, basking in the sun, petting cats, enjoying the scenery was pure bliss.
Unfortunately, the Chairman did not get to live more than a few days in this finely crafted retirement abode.
She went downstairs and took a seat, looking up at the English afternoon tea set before her: "Got it done?"
"Of course," Jiang Baiyan poured the steaming red tea into the snow-white bone china cup. The gorgeous red liquid looked like blood as it swirled inside the cup. “The driver's daughter happened to be my fan. I took several pictures with him and he told me everything."
Jian Jing picked up a palm-sized little sandwich and asked while eating: “Tell me."
Jiang Baiyan told her everything this way and that, but still did not understand: "Why are you investigating this?"
"Muddying the waters to fish."
Like fashionable villas nowadays, the basement of this villa contained not only swimming pools, spas and cinemas, but also two maid’s rooms.
The old maid lived in one, while the other belonged to Nursing Jiang.
Jian Jing knocked on Nursing Jiang's door, discreetly observing the environment.
It’s a bit small.
Although the maid’s rooms were independent with attached bathrooms, the low ceilings were depressing without sunlight. The beds were narrow twin-sized beds that seemed extremely cramped.
Nursing Jiang instinctively blocked Jian Jing's view: "What's the matter?"
"Can we chat?" Jian Jing smiled amiably. “The weather is nice outside, let's go for a walk."
Nursing Jiang's slender eyelashes fluttered. She agreed.
With the gentle spring breeze and singing skylarks, taking a walk under the blue sky and white clouds instantly lifted one’s mood.
Seeing Nursing Jiang's content expression, Jian Jing finally brought up: “You told me you saw Jiang Xue entered the Chairman's room that day, but he couldn't have died already at that time."
Nursing Jiang said softly: "I know, but..."
She stopped talking.
Jian Jing encouraged her: "If there’s anything you’re thinking, feel free to share with me. This isn't a formal investigation, just casual chat."
The warm wind blew past, peach blossoms danced. There was no gravity of interrogation in such ambience and atmosphere at all.
Nursing Jiang seemed to lower her guard and said: “I keep thinking about the broken medicine vial. I know all the medications the Chairman used. It was morphine... Overdose by injection can lead to death, and there is a process."
"Do you think Jiang Xue did it?" Jian Jing said. “But she's just a middle school student. She probably doesn't know about this.”
Nursing Jiang thought about it and nodded: “You’re right. It’s unlikely. Then what do you think, could it be Miss Jiang Lian?"
Jian Jing asked impassively: "Did you see her enter the room too?"
"No no." Nursing Jiang bit her lip hesitantly: “I didn't see if she had gone in or not. But that night... I told you before that I went to the kitchen on the first floor to get something... "
She instinctively lowered her voice: “I saw Jiang Lian... Miss Jiang Lian crying while talking on the phone in the yard. Saying something like 'Dad treats me so well yet I got bewitched against my own father'."
Jian Jing was shocked: “Really?”
"I absolutely didn't mishear." Nursing Jiang asserted firmly, but added: “However, I’ve heard Miss Jiang Lian argue with the Chairman more than once or twice. She could just be saying that because she felt bad."
Jian Jing sighed deeply with seemingly genuine emotion, though it was meaningless and purely for the sake of encouragement.
With such lead-in, Nursing Jiang’s desire to confide grew even stronger: “The Chairman told me more than once that the original Jiang Lian was not like this. As eldest daughter, she had been sensible since young. Who would’ve thought she’d become more contrary as she grew up, opposing her own birth father over an outsider."
Jian Jing probed vaguely: "Did the Chairman often talk to you about family matters?"
"Don't get me wrong," Jiang Nursing said very sensitively, "Cancer patients are suffering tremendous pain, but their children can't accompany them all the time, and there can also be estrangement between them due to money issues, so it's easier for them to say some things to us."
"I see," Jian Jing's tone suddenly eased, as if she had gotten some answer, "I understand now."
Jiang Nursing smiled and looked up at the distance: "It's really beautiful here."
"Yes, it makes one want to stay here forever, right?"
Jiang Nursing nodded.
A flower petal fell onto her pretty hair.
*
The third meeting started right on time at 6 pm.
Li Lawyer, who had disappeared for a whole day, brought new evidence and said: "Ms. Yun, someone claimed that you entered the Chairman's room around 1 am."
Compared to the sudden attack yesterday, Jiang Madam was exceptionally calm today: "Did that person actually see me walk into the room?"
Li Lawyer pushed up his glasses: "Yes."
"I didn't go in. That person is slandering me. In fact, I was on the balcony for some fresh air around 1 am, and I saw someone walk into my husband's room." Jiang Madam's lips curved up mockingly, "I think that's the person who framed me."
Li Lawyer was stunned for a moment and asked: "Could you see clearly who that was?"
"No, but I know at that time, apart from that person who also came out, I should be the only one not in the room." Jiang Madam asked back, "That makes sense, right?"
Jiang Xue added: "Who testified against my mom? Tell us."
Jiang Lian pursed her lips: "Me."
She was also calm: "But I didn't go into Dad's room. At 1 am I was video conferencing with a client, and I was away for less than 2 minutes total. Oh yes, I have recordings of my video calls, do you want to see?"
"Then how did you see it?"
"I went downstairs to get some coffee, it was exactly 2 minutes up and down. " Jiang Lian explained smoothly, "Not enough time to get into Dad's room, right?"
Li Lawyer estimated the time and nodded: "Indeed."
Jiang Madam asked back: "Then who's the person I saw?"
"Maybe that person didn't exist at all," Jiang Qi said.
Jiang Madam said: "Jiang Lian has an alibi. What about you, Jiang Ou?"
Jiang Ou said impatiently: "I was with my brother at that time. He can testify for me."
"Mr. Lawyer, is this kind of testimony valid?" Jiang Madam asked.
Li Lawyer said: "It depends on the specifics."
Jiang Madam sneered and turned to look at Jian Jing: "Miss Jian, anything else to add?"
"Yes," Jian Jing said. "I already know the whole truth now."
Everyone showed astonishment unconsciously. Even Jiang BaiYan adjusted his sitting posture subconsciously, changing from a leisure look enjoying pictures to a veteran cadre sitting upright: "That fast?"
Jian Jing lamented: "That's life."
Always full of surprises.
"I hope you're not exaggerating," Jiang Qi was still calm, but his tense back gave away his inner anxiety.
Yes, he seemed to have a hunch that the answer was about to be revealed.
"Whether I'm exaggerating, you'll know after listening. Now, I want to invite the first witness." Jian Jing said, "Please call Nurse Yu over. Let's go through this case from the beginning."
