At those words, Zhulan’s eyes darted around, Bowen frowned, Haoyi’s eyes widened, and Liming tilted her head.
“So someone impersonated Zhifei and placed an order with the dealer?” Liming asked.
Kiyotaka nodded. “That’s the gist of it. Someone used Mr. Jing’s name to request a jewel. Since they knew that Mr. Jing’s marriage was rocky, it must have been someone familiar with his private circumstances.”
“But what does that have to do with anything?” Liming asked, annoyed.
Haoyi backed her up. “Yeah, how is this relevant?”
“It is extremely relevant,” Kiyotaka replied. “The crux of the matter is the rare jewel itself.”
“What was it?” Zhulan asked softly.
“The Black Orlov.”
No one seemed to understand the significance of that name. They were all frowning or tilting their heads in confusion. Komatsu sympathized with them because his initial reaction had been the same.
“The Black Orlov once belonged to Russian royalty, but rumor has it that it drove its owners to suicide one after the other,” Kiyotaka explained. “Essentially, it’s a cursed black diamond. The story is famous among jewel enthusiasts.”
Liming snorted. “Isn’t that just superstition?”
“Indeed. But regardless of the truth, what matters is that there are people who believe the rumor. What follows is merely conjecture, but the way I imagine it, Keqing was thrilled about the jewel coming her way, and she impatiently contacted the dealer because she couldn’t wait to find out what it was. Since Takamiya’s son was already heading to the airport with it, the person who picked up the phone was his business partner, who checked the ledger and told her it was the Black Orlov.”
Yilin and Aoi placed their hands over their mouths, their faces pale.
“Keqing couldn’t help but think her husband was trying to give her a cursed jewel even though divorce was already on the horizon. Naturally, she was infuriated. Letting her rage take the reins, she told Mr. Jing, ‘I’ll kill myself.’”
The room fell silent.
“So...” Liming’s sharp gaze wavered. “Keqing didn’t die because she was distraught over Zhilin?”
“I doubt it. Furthermore, I don’t think her threat was genuine either. She likely only said it out of spite.” Kiyotaka looked back at Liming. “By the way, Bowen mentioned that Keqing ranted about Zhilin. I’d like to ask you, Liming: Did you ever witness that firsthand? Did you ever hear her say those words with your own ears?”
Liming furrowed her brow as she rummaged through past memories. “Come to think of it, no, I didn’t.”
“Then why did you think she was complaining about Zhilin?”
“Because...well...Bowen said so.” She clammed up.
“More importantly, who was the one who impersonated Zhifei?” Haoyi asked. “What was their objective? Surely they didn’t really think they could curse someone to death, right?”
Zhulan nodded. “I’m curious too.”
The others gulped in anticipation.
“I came up with a theory based on the information gathered thus far,” said Kiyotaka. “It’s purely speculation, but would you like to hear it?”
Everyone gave their assent.
“Very well. You all detested Keqing for acting like an empress, but divorce was also undesirable because she would obviously demand hefty compensation and child support. So you each tried to steer Mr. Jing and Keqing away from that outcome. For example, Liming tried to prevent the divorce by befriending Keqing. It was for ulterior motives at first, but over time, she genuinely came to adore her. This is shown in her harshness toward Yilin.”
Kiyotaka paused before continuing.
“Zhulan told Mr. Jing to mend his relationship with Keqing by buying her a better jewel than Ailee’s. However, Mr. Jing was not interested. He probably felt uncomfortable giving a rare gemstone to someone he was about to divorce. So Zhulan advised her husband, Bowen, to order a rare jewel on Mr. Jing’s behalf. Bowen called the jewelry dealer Zhulan had researched, pretending to be Mr. Jing. However, he wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea either. He thought, ‘Why must I buy a jewel for that woman?’ and those feelings surfaced in the complaints recorded in the file. Then, the dealer said, ‘I have an extremely rare jewel that fits the bill. It’s the Black Orlov, a cursed diamond that drives its owner to their death.’ He may have also noted that there were no cursed black diamonds other than the Black Orlov, so Keqing wouldn’t know it was being sent out of malice. Thus, Bowen happily agreed and placed the order. That is the sequence of events I came up with.”
Everyone fell silent. Yilin’s eyes widened in shock.
Bowen gave a stiff smile. “What? I’d never do that. Where’s the proof?”
“There is no proof at the moment, but it is a fact that you lied earlier. When I brought up that Mr. Jing had sent Keqing a jewel, you acted shocked as if you’d never heard about it. Yet when I asked if Keqing had received it, you shook your head.”
He’s as observant as ever, Komatsu thought, secretly impressed.
“Did I? Maybe I was just copying everyone else?” Bowen shrugged.
“Perhaps.” Kiyotaka smiled. “But also, you spread the rumor that Keqing was always complaining about Zhilin, no? You even said so in front of me. You were the one who planted the idea in everyone’s heads that Keqing hated Zhilin.”
Bowen laughed awkwardly. “Even if that’s true, so what? Is there a problem with me pretending to be Zhifei to buy Keqing a jewel or telling people that Keqing bad-mouthed Zhilin?”
“Up to this point, it’s spiteful, but not problematic. However, you seem to be capable of manipulating people’s emotions. When Keqing was enraged that her soon-to-be-ex-husband bought her a cursed jewel, was it not you who advised her to tell him that she was going to kill herself? You may have tempted her by saying it’d greatly increase her settlement. After that, perhaps you even got her drunk and suggested taking a boat ride to scare her husband and make him reflect on his actions.”
“Enough with the wild delusions!” Bowen stood up and slammed the table.
A cup fell over, spilling coffee everywhere. A servant rushed to clean up the mess.
“Keqing got mad on her own, drank up a storm, and left the villa,” Bowen insisted. “I had nothing to do with it!”
“Yes, she left by herself,” Liming added.
“My apologies.” Kiyotaka bowed calmly.
Next to Bowen, who was shaking with indignation, Zhulan’s face had gone pale.
“Oh?” Kiyotaka remarked. “Is something wrong, Zhulan?”
The woman flinched.
“Is it possible that Keqing didn’t leave by herself?”
Zhulan lowered her gaze as if to hide from Kiyotaka’s watchful eyes.
“When Yilin encountered you all at the party the other day, it looked like she was surrounded by a banquet of demons. Yet you were the only person who treated her with kindness, Zhulan.”
“I felt bad for her,” she said, not looking up.
“I imagine so. Did you not also feel guilty? You knew Keqing’s death was unrelated to Zhilin’s pregnancy, and above all, you knew that when Keqing left the villa, Bowen was also nowhere to be found.”
“Enough!” Bowen moved forward to grab Kiyotaka by the collar.
“That concludes my report,” Kiyotaka said, picking up Komatsu’s laptop and turning it around for everyone to see.
The screen displayed Mr. Jing and his son, Xuan. Everyone fell silent. Bowen recoiled. Yilin was also speechless—she hadn’t known that her father was on the line.
Mr. Jing heaved a sigh. “Thank you, Kiyotaka. I apologize for my brother-in-law’s rudeness.”
“No, I was rude first.”
“I see you’re the kind of person who will provoke someone to reveal their true nature.”
Kiyotaka shrugged. “Not at all. I don’t do things like this very often.”
Really? Komatsu thought. His eyes met Ensho’s.
Mr. Jing lowered his voice. “As for Bowen... I will have this matter thoroughly investigated.”
“Wait, Zhifei, it’s not true,” Bowen stammered. “Please hear me out...”
“I don’t want to hear anything from you!”
Bowen stepped back and fell to his knees.
Mr. Jing sighed again. “Yilin,” he whispered.
Kiyotaka turned the screen to face her.
“Father...” Yilin squeaked.
“After Keqing died, everyone claimed she killed herself because Zhilin was pregnant. Zhilin told me, ‘I can’t stay with you anymore, so I’m taking our child back to the countryside.’ No matter how I tried to stop her, I couldn’t change her mind. So I insisted on at least keeping the child.”
Yilin nodded in silence.
“Zhilin lost her father at a young age, so her family was impoverished to the point where she was sending money back to her mother. Wanting to do something for them, I hired her mother as your nanny.”
“Huh? Juhua is...my grandmother?”
“That’s right.” Mr. Jing nodded. “But Zhilin told her to never reveal her identity. I’m still supporting Zhilin from behind the scenes, and she’s always shown her love for you through her mother.”
Yilin trembled at the realization.
Her half brother, Xuan, timidly entered the frame, eyes downcast. “I didn’t know any of this... I’m sorry.”
“Xuan...” Yilin placed a hand over her mouth.
“I want to make amends for the pain I caused you over the years. I’ll tell our sisters too. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Yilin shook her head.
“From now on, let it be known that anyone who wrongly looks down on Yilin will not be welcome in this family,” Mr. Jing declared.
His sisters and brothers-in-law cowered in fear. Tears welled in Yilin’s eyes, and she let out a sob.
Next to her, Aoi, also moved to tears, gently stroked Yilin’s back.