My Evil Wife Is a Nine-Tailed Fox

Jiang Chen wasn't sure why Shen Minyao was asking him about this, but even before he could answer her, Miss Xia already beat him to it. 

"No, we didn't." She shook her head. "Because it was painful for all of us, we decided that it might be best not to and decided to hold her funeral as soon as possible." 

Shen Minyao stood wordlessly in front of Bai Xinran's bedroom, and the scent of despair and helplessness soon reached her. Furthermore, there was a slight hint of pain from betrayal and anger that laced the complex emotional residue that was left by the deceased Bai Xinran. 

"Madam, forgive me for being blunt, but I think you made a grave mistake for not getting your daughter an autopsy," the fox woman said, watching as Bai Xinran's little brother ran inside the bedroom with a loud squeal, dispelling the heavy atmosphere in it. 

It seemed like what Miss Xia said earlier was true. Bai Xinran adored her little brother so much that even in her death, she wouldn't dare to harm him. 

"Miss Shen…" Jiang Chen warned the fox woman. They only came here to confirm Bai Xinran's involvement over the cursed webnovel. It wasn't their place to meddle whether Bai Xinran killed herself or was murdered. 

"Miss Shen, do you mean…?" Miss Xia's face blanched upon realizing what Shen Minyao meant by her words. The mother then stared at the young woman in shock. 

Did this mean that her daughter didn't kill herself? Was there foul play in her death? Someone killed her daughter and tried to hide the crime by setting it up as a suicide? 

"Miss Xia, your daughter… although she was young, she had come to terms with forgiving you and reuniting with you… because she knew that her time was already limited. She loved you and her little brother," Shen Minyao added, "Do you really think your daughter is capable of killing herself when all she wanted was to get better soon and start a new life with you?" 

Shen Minyao flicked the light switch inside the room to give it a good look. Photos of Bai Xinran, along with her mother and her little brother, were neatly framed and placed on top of the shelves. The room was clean and looked like a typical room expected of a young lady. 

"What happened then? If our Ranran didn't kill herself, then who? Who would want to hurt my daughter?" 

This time, Miss Xia broke into tears. The memory of seeing her young daughter hanging from the ceiling still haunted her to this day. 

"Only Bai Xinran and the person responsible for this know the answers to your questions, Miss Xia." Since Shen Minyao had opened a can of worms in front of their client, Jiang Chen had no other choice but to find out the truth this time. 

The issue about the cursed webnovel seemed like just a rumor being spread to slander Bai Xinran's name, and the more pressing issue right now was to find out the truth about her sudden death. 

"Mr. Jiang, I know that we've only agreed for an interview, but please… please can you consider helping us find the truth?" Miss Xia asked Jiang Chen helplessly, "I'm not sure if the police would believe me if I suddenly report to them that our Ranran was murdered. Is there a way for us to know what really happened?" 

"But, Madam, are you sure you are ready to hear the nasty truth? Are you prepared to face the consequences of your decision?" Shen Minyao leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms on her midsection. "If you know the person responsible for your daughter's death, will you be able to seek justice for it?" 

Bai Xinran's mother fell silent, but her tears continued to stream down her face. She had failed as a mother towards her daughter when she decided not to disclose the truth about her marriage with Bai Xinran's father; she even failed her daughter again when she agreed not to autopsy her daughter's body upon death. If she insisted on having it back then, perhaps they would have known from the start that their Ranran didn't commit suicide… but had been brutally murdered instead. 

"I failed her as a mother. Ranran, Mommy is sorry for being an incompetent mother to you," Miss Xia wailed helplessly as she thought of how Bai Xinran felt and the thoughts in her daughter's head during her last moments before she died. 

Li Fei'er looked at Miss Xia with sympathy. She might have known what it felt like to have a mother, but she could see how much Miss Xia regretted not being around when her daughter was murdered by someone. When they came here to conduct an interview and an ocular inspection, they never expected that they would encounter such a depressing aura coming from Bai Xinran's room. 

"Miss Xia, please don't blame yourself." She held the older woman's hands gently. "I don't think that your daughter despises you at all. Just like what Miss Shen said, your daughter agreed to undergo treatment for her leukemia to get better, right? She has done it because of you." 

"Then, what do I do now, Miss Li? My daughter… what happened to her? As her mother, I want to know the truth, even if it pains me," Miss Xia told Li Fei'er. 

"Did the police manage to find out her time of death?" Shen Minyao asked nonchalantly. 

"Since her body didn't undergo an autopsy, they couldn't tell the exact time of her death, but it's most probably around eleven in the evening," Jiang Chen said. 

"Miss Xia, would you allow us to stay here for the night… to see if we would be able to confirm if your daughter is still bound to this place?" Shen Minyao asked. 

"Will you be able to talk to Ranran? Is it possible for me to see and talk to her, too?" Miss Xia asked desperately.