Margaret had nothing to do.
She found the poison bottle and the Soviet medical kit in the secret room, but the effect of the tranquilizer had not yet passed, and she had not had time to hurt herself or others.
Lei Ao breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to use his dizzy brain to think about how to deal with Melanie.
"This is not a decent thing," Holen took the lead in returning to normal, calmly said, "Resolve it before outside speculation arises."
Lei Ao was still hesitant. He loved Melanie deeply, even though he knew she wanted to kill him, and had even killed Kimberley, he found it difficult to make a decision immediately.
However, he didn't have to struggle for long.
While they were visiting Margaret, Melanie committed suicide.
She said she was going to the bathroom, and the three people left behind, Qiao Zhi, Carl, and Si Yingjie, could not have stopped the lady from solving her physiological problems.
By the time it was discovered, she had no breath left.
The cause of death was poisoning, the same cyanide, over in the blink of an eye.
The fourth attempted murder of Melanie finally succeeded, which can only be described as ironic.
What was originally a wedding has now become a funeral.
Lei Ao was devastated, and the entire funeral was handled by Kang Mu Cheng, Holen and Mary. Si Yingjie was responsible for comforting the unlucky groom and widower.
He told his own story.
Similar experiences can bring people closer together and empathize more effectively with each other's pain. Such understanding is far more effective than caring.
When they left Barna, they were already very familiar with each other and had made plans to go skiing together.
Hmm, not with Jian Jing.
Si Yingjie regretfully conveyed Lei Ao's apologies: "He is very grateful to you, but does not want...Jingjing, you know, this has nothing to do with you, it's just that when he sees you..."
Jian Jing was extremely depressed.
Si Yingjie said again, "Please understand him, he is even going to sell the castle.
This really surprised her: "No more?"
"Although I feel a little reluctant, there have been too many unhappy things, leaving this place is the only way to start over," Si Yingjie said. "What's more, he has made up his mind to send Margaret to a special convalescent home for treatment, and may not come back in the future.”
Jian Jing was silent for a while, murmuring: “Isn't it because of the curse?”
Si Yingjie: “...It's also possible. You said, is there really a curse or not? If not, this is too much of a coincidence, Melanie did die in the end.”
Jian Jing glanced at the system panel and sighed.
She encountered a special task in an ordinary task for the first time, on the day she entered the mirror house and arrived at the secret passage. The elusive system came up with new tricks.
Find the source of the curse? Where to look? Who knows why there is a curse - does it really exist? Lei Ao himself has a scientific explanation, and Melanie's death was brought about by her own hand.
Where is the curse?
Let alone solve it, she is not an earthly master, can she do a religious ceremony to cross over Earl Sal?
Just...can't complete it.
Jian Jing didn't need much contribution recently, so she just let it go.
After the funeral, she and Kang Mu Cheng returned to Peace City. Before leaving, Qiao Zhi bought her a large pizza and told her to eat it on the plane.
The effect was great. The aroma filled the entire cabin, making the fish roe caviar eaten by the neighbor tasteless.
Mary exchanged contact information with her and made an appointment to keep in touch when she had time.
Holen followed her on Twitter.
Carl sneaked away in disgrace - Lei Ao did not investigate his theft, and he disappeared cleanly.
Lei Ao did not say goodbye to her, and Jian Jing understood his avoidance, which was probably the special halo of the detective.
Sometimes save, sometimes cruel.
But the next month after returning home, Jian Jing accidentally received a huge package, international logistics.
At the same time there was a handwritten letter from Lei Ao.
The letter was very long and sincere. He first thanked her and solemnly thanked her for saving his life, and asked her to forgive him for his negligence at the time.
"...My brain was stuffed with too much information, the tremendous shock and indescribable grief overwhelmed me, I avoided your help - which made me very ashamed and even more ashamed to face you...
"I have done many wrong things. If, at the very beginning, I had not stopped you from investigating the poisoning, Kimberly might not have died...I should have had more trust in Peggy, instead of determining from the beginning that it was her fault...Most importantly, if I could have had a good talk with Melanie, she wouldn't have chosen this path...
"I thought I loved her deeply, nothing else mattered, but she didn't get a sense of security. I couldn't understand her actions for money, for her, I could give up my inheritance rights, I didn't care...But perhaps this was why she made this choice after all, I never understood her...I regret it very much, but it's too late now.”
He went on to say that he had already contacted the nursing home to prepare to send Margaret there for treatment, hoping to control her condition, and had also begun to clear out the castle and empty it before putting it up for sale.
"Actually, I don't like Castle Winterfell. It’s too cold in winter, there is little sunshine during the day, although the heating is very sufficient, I am always surrounded by cold, as if trapped in an endless abyss. I spent my childhood there, and most of my memories are dark, like a nightmare I can't wake up from.
"I've always longed to leave there, Peggy must have noticed it, she was very scared, for her the sunless castle was the freest place, she didn't want to leave here, and I didn't have the courage to insist on sending her away either...from the very beginning, I was wrong...but now, it's time to go to the sunny place...”
The letter was very beautifully written, just a little too many adjectives and a little too poetic, checking the dictionary several times in between.
Turning over a page, he finally explained the origin of the huge package.
"Remember you said you really liked Castle Winterfell, I'm sorry I can't invite you to stay there anymore. When I was sorting things out, I found some souvenirs that you might like. I hope they can console you for not being able to come to the castle anymore.
"Jian, thank you, I wish you happiness, health, and that you'll never cry."
It was signed - Your loyal friend: Leonardo Sal Salvi Cloose
Jian Jing was full of curiosity and unwrapped the package.
Half an hour later...she decided to call Kang Mu Cheng: "Mr. Kang!"
"Did you get the package?" Kang Mu Cheng should be in the office with a very quiet background.
"Just opened it, do you know what Lei Ao sent me?"
Kang Mu Cheng: "He didn't tell me."
"I just looked it up online, it's the same model desk that the Luntian family made for Frederick II," Jian Jing gasped, "the one with lots of mechanisms and hidden compartments."
This was a famous antique, made in 1779, currently housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Sal family collection was slightly different in style, not as ornate, but the mechanics were just as sophisticated, with three or four hidden compartments in one drawer, the complexity of features comparable to a decryption game.
Kang Mu Cheng laughed and said, "He probably heard you were a writer so he sent you a writing desk."
"That's not all," Jian Jing glanced at the half-open desk and said slowly, "I just opened a few mechanisms, and he put stuff in every compartment."
How to describe Lei Ao's personality, gentle with a touch of weakness, naivety still lingering with a hint of romance.
He probably felt an empty desk being sent over wouldn't look good, so he put a little gift in every drawer and hidden compartment, perhaps thinking that this way, every time she discovered a hidden layer, she could feel a sense of surprise?
In short, she unpacked quite a few gifts in bits and pieces.
Feather pen, lighter, ink bottle, sewing kit, cuffs, cigarette case...the items ranged from the 16th to the 20th century, all exquisite little objects, inexpensive but very rare.
"Most importantly, there was a ring."
In the small hidden cabinet just above the center of the desk, turning the gear next to it would reveal a hidden compartment. Inside was a ring.
The antique ring Melanie used to poison.
It came with a note:
This is a family heirloom, I don't want to sell it or see it again, after thinking it over, I decided to pass it on to you, I don't know why, I always feel that you won't mind its past. P.S. If I'm wrong, you don't like it, please throw it away, or reset the gem.
Of course Jian Jing didn't mind.
The ring itself was an antique, let alone stained with blood, it had an allure.
However, "Is it appropriate for me to accept this?" she asked.
Kang Mu Cheng said, "Since Lei Ao gave it to you, it's appropriate, take it." He also said, "Don't worry about its monetary value, that's the least important part for him."
"Then what if...this is an important object of the Sa Er family, uh, the old Earl's..." she asked.
"Lei Ao must know," Kang Mu Cheng said strangely, "Aren't these all treasures from his family?"
Jian Jing was speechless for a moment.
She couldn't tell Kang Mu Cheng that this ring was the source of the Sa Er family's curse.
To be honest, you couldn't tell at all.
But the moment she picked up the ring, the side quest decoded.
At the very beginning, the origin of the curse was that the princess had poisoned the Earl. And the prop she used was this ring with a hidden red ruby.
However, the Earl's descendants did not know the inside story, and this ring was passed down from generation to generation as a family heirloom, and was basically also inherited by each new Countess.
The curse has been endless ever since...?
Ridiculous.
But since the system said so, just go with this explanation.
"Then I'll accept it," she said to Kang Mu Cheng, "From now on, Lei Ao can start over."
Kang Mu Cheng sighed, "Hopefully."
After hanging up the phone, Jian Jing picked up the ring, itching to try it on.
But she held back.
"System, is my side quest considered complete?" she asked.
"What needs to happen for it to be considered finished?"
Jian Jing asked again: "What would happen if I put on this ring?"
Jian Jing: "..." It can be like that?
She didn't dare take on the challenge in the end, and locked the ring in the safe.
As for the desk, she immediately moved it to the window in the study, sunlight shining through the white curtains onto the antique desk, the wood grain was extremely beautiful.
It's so suitable for hiding things.
She really liked it, took a photo and sent it to Si Yingjie, asking him to show Lei Ao and convey her thanks.
Si Yingjie completed the task smoothly, and sympathized with her, "I told Lei Ao that he should learn more from Kang Mu Cheng."
Jian Jing: "Uh..." Learn from Kang? No way.
Si Yingjie: "Talk less about emotions, make more money."
Jian Jing consoled them: "Tell Lei Ao that the curse has left them, he can start over."
But Si Yingjie said: "You don't understand this yet. It's easy to get married, but love is difficult. Now that he has lost it this time, he may not encounter it again in the future."
Jian Jing didn't make a sound, feeling that this topic was a bit heavy.
Si Yingjie immediately noticed something was off, and self-deprecatingly laughed: "Oh, why am I telling you this, you're still young, it's better if you don't understand."
After a pause, he asked her again, "Do you think they were in love?"
"They must have loved each other to some degree," Jian Jing said. "Women will more or less love the men who love them."
Si Yingjie sighed, also curious: "Then if a man loved you very much, would you be with him?"
Jian Jing: "Why ask this?"
"Just chatting, Kang would definitely not talk to you about these things, he wouldn't be able to bring it up." After being together for so long, Si Yingjie already saw himself as half an older brother.
Jian Jing thought about it and said, "Not necessarily."
"Why not?"
"Too many men like me," she said. "I can't string multiple guys along, can I?"
Si Yingjie: "..."