After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

"Flogging? Isn't that death by beating?"

"Your Excellency asks such a question. As the mistress of the Marquis's mansion, how could I not know the laws of our dynasty?" Her gaze fell on one of the corpses: "I do not know why they are here, but I have only ordered the beating of two people, one of whom is his sister, whose name is Tao."

“Cherry, my sister’s name is Li Cherry.” Li Shen clenched his fist: “You killed her, but you don’t even remember her name.”

"Why should I remember her name?" Old Madam Lu gave him a disdainful look. "I remember now, Li Yingtao, the most ruthless and longest-armed maid in my courtyard."

Li Shen's eyes reddened: "You killed my sister and then you're slandering her!"

“Slander? Ask Liu Lu, the so-called witness beside you, whether what I said is truly slander?” Liu Lu lowered her head and remained silent. Madam Lu continued, “Li Yingtao did serve the Grand Madam, but she was not the only maidservant by the Grand Madam’s side, nor did she go there because no one else was willing to serve the Grand Madam, as you just said.”

Madam Lu took a deep breath: "Everyone knows what happened back then. The old lady was indeed brought into the Marquis's mansion because she was ill. She was kind to the old Marquis and was the only relative from his hometown that he cared about. Before she entered the mansion, there was a maidservant by her side named Hongying. She was sixteen years old, came from a poor family, and was steady in her work."

Madam Lu looked at Li Shen: "At that time, your younger sister, Li Yingtao, was working in the kitchen, responsible for washing vegetables. After the Grand Madam entered the mansion, she needed someone to prepare medicine for her, and the nanny in the kitchen recommended your sister. She made a mistake while preparing the medicine, and mistakenly mixed up the dosage of one of the ingredients, which caused the Grand Madam to become paralyzed in bed. She went to serve the Grand Madam in her courtyard to atone for her sins."

Li Shen didn't believe it and suddenly stood up, wanting to strangle Old Madam Lu to death: "You are not allowed to slander my sister anymore."

Madam Lu snorted coldly: "Slander? I have her dictated confession, the doctor's prescription for the old lady, with the dosage of each ingredient clearly written on it. Not only that, I also have the handkerchief from which the old lady vomited blood, and the dregs of the medicine she brewed incorrectly. Isn't Yuan'er knowledgeable in medicine? I'll trouble the officials of the Commandant's Mansion to make a trip and retrieve the evidence from my room."

Everyone was stunned, not expecting such a twist in the matter.

Commander Ma looked at Lu Zhiyuan, who nodded. Commander Ma understood and, after clarifying the location of the hidden evidence, ordered someone to retrieve it.

"I left these things behind to give the old Marquis an explanation," Madam Lu sighed. "I never imagined they would be needed today."

Li Shen gritted his teeth: "Even if my sister made a mistake while brewing the medicine, causing the Grand Madam to be paralyzed in bed, she went to the Grand Madam to atone for her sins, and the Grand Madam did not hold it against her. So why did you beat her to death?"

Madam Lu stared at him: "You think your sister only did this one wrong thing?"

Li Shen's heart skipped a beat, and for some reason he felt a little guilty.

Old Madam Lu told Li Shen that one of the seven corpses was Hongying's, who had been pushed into the lake and drowned by Li Yingtao. Li Yingtao harmed Hongying out of jealousy, jealous that Hongying received more reward money than her on New Year's Eve.

Li Shen wanted to defend his sister, but suddenly remembered an old incident.

That year, he fell seriously ill and needed extremely expensive century-old ginseng for medicine. He had pooled together his and his sister's monthly wages from the past few years, but they were still three taels short. The pharmacy owner was difficult to deal with; he wouldn't sell them the medicine even if they were short three coins, let alone three taels. It seemed he wouldn't survive that New Year's Eve, when his sister brought back a red envelope, saying it was a gift from the Grand Madam on New Year's Eve.

Three taels of silver were just enough to cover the cost of the medicine needed by the pharmacy owner.

Li Shen pounded his head.

I remember now, I remember everything. That night, my sister's expression was quite strange, and her sleeves and skirt hems were damp, but it didn't snow that New Year's Eve.

"How many taels? How many taels is the reward?"

"One ounce of cherry blossoms and two ounces of oriole, that's exactly three ounces in total." Old Madam Lu said meaningfully, as if she knew that the money had been used by Li Shen to pay for medical treatment.

With just one sentence, Li Shen lost all his strength, his face turned ashen, and he collapsed to the ground.

"When the Grand Madam learned of this, she vomited blood and died. Li Yingtao was unaware that the reason the Grand Madam was kind to Hongying was not only because Hongying had served her for a long time, but also because Hongying was the only relative she could still consider close in this world."

"Isn't her relative the old Marquis?" Commandant Ma scratched the back of his neck.

"The Dowager Lady is the old Marquis's sister-in-law, though there's a distance between them. Hongying, on the other hand, is her sister's granddaughter, her only child. Which is more important, which is closer, which is more distant—is there any need to say?"

Li Shen said in a trembling voice, "You killed Cherry because of this battle?"

Madam Lu smiled: "Of course not. There is no such affection between me and the Grand Madam, nor between me and Hongying. Li Yingtao killing Hongying is just a headache for me. She has something on me that I can use to my advantage."

"Regarding the banquet—"

"She wanted to escape my control by currying favor with the powerful, but unfortunately, she underestimated them. I didn't send her away; she begged me to release her. That powerful person is still around; Commander Ma can send someone to verify that."

"Then what about her being pregnant? She came back, and you ordered her to be beaten to death. Xiao Liu is here, and so are they; they can all testify."

"Because she wanted to kill me!" Old Madam Lu said calmly, "She provoked the noble lady herself, and she begged me to let her leave. She couldn't win the noble lady's heart, and when she was kicked out, she blamed me, thinking that I, as the mistress, had harmed her. To plot against the mistress and order punishment, what crime is there?"

Commander Ma's subordinate returned, carrying a locked box. In front of everyone, Old Madam Lu opened the box and gestured for Commander Ma to take out its contents. Besides what Old Madam Lu had just mentioned, there was also a contract of indenture. The contract belonged to Li Yingtao, and according to it, Li Yingtao was still a slave in the Marquis's household when she was beaten to death.

A servant who murders his master deserves to be punished. If the person who committed the act was not careful enough, it is normal for him to be beaten to death.

Without other concrete evidence, it seems impossible to convict Old Madam Lu.

"Please take a look at this prescription, and these dregs of the medicine, miss."

The dregs of the medicine were broken into pieces, making it difficult to distinguish between real and fake. Even if they were real, they would not be able to prove what happened back then.

Lu Zhiyuan didn't take the prescription. Instead, she opened the dregs of the medicine, smelled them, and named a few herbs. Captain Ma, curious, unfolded the prescription and saw that the herbs were indeed there. Then, Lu Zhiyuan stated the dosages of those herbs; one of the herbs was in a particularly high dose, which didn't match the prescription.

"The prescription says seven qian (a unit of weight)," Commandant Ma said, leaning closer to confirm the dosage.

“In fact, more than seven ounces were added. Such a heavy dose of medicine can indeed paralyze a sick person.” Lu Zhiyuan twirled the dregs of the medicine: “The dregs have been sitting for quite some time, so Grandmother must not be lying.”

Even though Old Madam Lu had a reason to kill Li Yingtao, she was still taken back to the Commandant's Mansion by Commandant Ma overnight. She could escape the death penalty, but she couldn't escape punishment; she would ultimately have to pay the price for her past actions.