Three days passed quickly. Ming Shu and Tao Yiqian worked separately—Tao Yiqian tirelessly investigated what Ming Shu had asked, while Ming Shu pieced together the connections. On the third day, Ming Shu went to the magistrate’s office.
She simply reported that someone from the Yin family had harmed her and demanded an explanation. The Yin family was a prominent official household in the capital, and when the clerk heard it involved the Yin family, he immediately sent someone to notify them. The news traveled fast. When the Yin family’s steward arrived, several constables were sitting beside Ming Shu, trying to persuade her that less trouble was better than more, suggesting she just accepted some silver compensation from the Yin family. Ming Shu didn’t argue, she just smiled.
Given the Yin family’s status, if they wanted to use their power to bully others, a hundred Ming Shus wouldn’t be enough to compensate. But the brilliance lay in the Da’an Dynasty’s scholarly governance—beneath the imperial city were countless censors and inspectors. If Ming Shu made a fuss, though the matter could be suppressed, it might catch the eye of a censor who could make it into a major issue. Elder Lord Yin Fanzheng valued his reputation above all. Since retiring from the previous emperor’s service, he had maintained the image of an incorruptible official, and with a favored imperial consort from his family, when encountering such matters, his first approach was always to seek reconciliation and private settlement.
After all, losing money was trivial compared to losing face.
As Lu Chang had predicted when they heard Ming Shu only wanted to see Yin Licheng, the Yin family not only immediately agreed but even sent a carriage to fetch her.
When Ming Shu arrived at the Yin residence in their carriage, Tao Yiqian’s servant was already waiting at the gate to report to her.
Everything that needed preparation was ready, matching Ming Shu’s plan without much deviation.
The only unexpected element was Lu Chang’s presence.
Facing the Yin family members, Ming Shu had initially felt somewhat uncertain, but with Lu Chang beside her, though he remained silent and made no comment on her and Tao Yiqian’s various plans, seeming to let them fight their own battle, she still felt reassured.
Lu Chang didn’t reveal his identity as the Jiangning Provincial Examination champion, only saying he was Ming Shu’s brother as he entered the mansion with her.
Yin Licheng agreed to see Ming Shu alone. Lu Chang wasn’t permitted to enter his study, so he waited in the adjacent flower hall. A pot of two-colored azaleas bloomed brightly there, and Lu Chang sat in a circular chair beside the flowers, pulling out a book from his chest to read silently, appearing completely unconcerned about Ming Shu.
The maid who brought tea, seeing the handsome man with lowered eyes beneath the flowers, served with shy bashfulness.
Lu Chang merely said “thank you” without even raising his eyelids.
Half a book later, the study door finally opened. Ming Shu emerged and only then did Lu Chang put away his book and stand, questioning her with his eyes.
Ming Shu flashed a toothy smile: “It worked!”
He didn’t know what Ming Shu had said to Yin Licheng in the study, but Lu Chang had never doubted Ming Shu’s ability to convince him.
In early spring of the second month, the cold still lingered. It had just rained, and the sky wasn’t bright. The servants sweeping in the Yin family garden occasionally rubbed their hands to warm their frozen fingers. While cleaning, they chatted idly, discussing the masters’ affairs—a favorite pastime of servants.
The atmosphere in Huaixiu Pavilion has been very oppressive these past few days due to Yin Shu Jun’s situation. The lady of the house was under house arrest, and Yin Licheng hadn’t set foot there for days, staying in his study instead, causing much gossip among the servants.
A drizzle still fell from the sky when Yin Liangjun hurriedly entered Huaixiu Pavilion’s garden with a maid holding an umbrella. The maid closed the umbrella under the corridor while Yin Liangjun greeted the surrounding servants and asked about Madam Li’s condition.
“The First Madam hasn’t come out, still worried sick about the First Young Lady. Fortunately, Third Young Lady comes daily to keep her company and console her,” someone replied.
Yin Liangjun smiled: “When a Mother is distressed, a daughter must certainly share her worries. Well, I’ll go in and pay my respects to Mother first.”
The person praised: “Third Young Lady is truly filial…” They continued with more compliments, but as they walked away, Yin Liangjun didn’t hear. However, the praise was always the same, and she knew what they meant.
When she reached Huaixiu Pavilion, a maid was just lifting the thick curtain, and Tao Yiqian emerged from inside. Madam Li personally saw him out, pressing her palms together: “Amitabha Buddha, thank heaven and earth. If she can truly help my daughter, I must heavily reward Lady Lu.”
Yin Liangjun stepped aside.
“Aunt, please don’t worry. It’s cold outside, please go rest inside. No need to see me out,” Tao Yiqian smiled and took his leave.
As the thick curtain fell and he turned, he met Yin Liangjun.
“Third Sister, why are you here?”
“I came to pay my respects to Aunt,” Yin Liangjun smiled sweetly, dimples appearing on her cheeks. “Where are you going, Fifth Brother?”
“Liangjun is such a filial girl.” Tao Yiqian praised her, then said, “I came to discuss something with Aunt, it’s settled now. You should go in.”
Yin Liangjun nodded but didn’t leave, instead asking: “I just heard Fifth Brother mention Lady Lu. She was injured at our home—how is she now?”
“She sprained her ankle, nothing serious,” Tao Yiqian replied.
“That’s good. It’s a pity she left without me having a chance to say goodbye,” Yin Liangjun said with some regret.
“Don’t worry, there will be chances to meet.”
“Will she come to our mansion again?” Yin Liangjun asked curiously with wide eyes.
Tao Yiqian looked at her hesitantly for a moment, then pulled her to a corner of the corridor. After looking around carefully, he whispered: “Liangjun, let me tell you secretly, but don’t tell anyone else. Lady Lu is in our mansion today. She went to see Uncle, saying someone deliberately pushed her down the mountain that day.”
“Ah!” Yin Liangjun covered her mouth in surprise. “Who would be so cruel? Is it…” She stopped herself mid-sentence.
But Tao Yiqian understood. He shook his head: “We don’t know, but catching that person should reveal the true culprit.”
“Catch… does she know who pushed her?” Yin Liangjun also lowered her voice to ask.
“She doesn’t know, but she said when she was pushed, she grabbed backward and seemed to catch something from that person. If we search on Miaosheng Heights, we should find it, and then we can identify the person through their personal belongings,” Tao Yiqian explained, then added to Yin Liangjun, “Right now, Lady Lu is secretly heading to Miaosheng Heights. Don’t tell anyone about this, we’re afraid of alerting the snake in the grass.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep it secret,” Yin Liangjun said with a solemn face.
“Alright, go keep Aunt company now. I have urgent matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave,” Tao Yiqian patted her shoulder and left after getting this response.
Yin Liangjun watched him leave, then turned back toward the room.
“Young Lady, why haven’t you gone in yet?” The little maid who came with her was surprised to see her walking slowly from the corner.
Yin Liangjun looked up at her and said: “I won’t go in. I just remembered I forgot something in my room. Let’s go back first.”
With that, she hurriedly left Huaixiu Pavilion.
Miaosheng Heights was an artificial mountain, built on a raised and compacted foundation, surrounded by Taihu rocks and decorated with flowers, trees, and vines. The rocks were oddly shaped with natural-looking holes, creating a unique and secluded atmosphere. A pavilion called Xiangxiang stood at the summit, surrounded by plants, giving the impression of layered peaks when viewed from afar. The small pavilion was half-hidden among the vegetation, somewhat resembling an immortal’s retreat.
However, because of the oddly shaped rocks and the plants that had grown particularly lush over several years, the lighting on the mountain was unclear whenever the weather was poor. Today happened to be rainy and overcast, and though it was far from sunset, it was already quite dark up there.
Spring vegetation was thriving, weeds had grown outside the pavilion, and with all the rocks, finding small items would not be easy.
Ming Shu hadn’t come alone; she brought a Yin family maid to search with her. After both had searched the grass for a long while without finding anything, the maid grew impatient: “Lady Lu, are you sure you remember correctly? We’ve been searching for half an hour, the whole mountain!”
Ming Shu smiled apologetically: “Thank you for accompanying me on this errand, Sister. My memory isn’t very good. If you’re tired, you can rest in Xiangxiang Pavilion while I keep looking.”
The maid gave her a sidelong glance, not bothering with politeness: “Then you keep searching, I’ll go rest inside. Call if you need anything.”
With that, the maid turned and left for the pavilion.
Ming Shu was left alone on the mountain. She stood in place, breathing on her frozen hands to warm them, looked up at the sky, sighed softly, and limped toward the mountain’s edge.
That day, she had been standing near the edge when someone pushed her hard from behind, causing her to roll off. If something had fallen, it would be nearby, but after searching everywhere except a few dangerous spots, they had found nothing.
It seemed she needed to look further out.
She gritted her teeth and carefully moved outward. As she approached the edge, her eyes suddenly brightened.
“Found it,” she muttered to herself, bending down to pick something from the weeds.
The object hung vertically from her fingers, making two clear jade-like sounds. Though muddy, it was a woman’s ankle chain.
A cool breeze blew through the grove, making people shiver. The strange rocks and caves on the mountain seemed to hide people as if countless eyes were watching ominously.
Ming Shu pulled her clothes tighter and gripped the ankle chain, about to call the maid in the pavilion. But before she could speak, a hand suddenly extended from the rock cave behind her and pushed her hard forward. She stumbled several steps and fell to the ground, her hand loosening, and the ankle chain fell again.
The hand from the darkness quickly reached out and dragged the ankle chain into the cave.
When Ming Shu turned her head, she only saw the gloomy cave.
The owner of the hand from the cave retrieved the ankle chain, ran a few steps, and hid in the shadows, then suddenly felt uneasy and held up the ankle chain to examine it carefully in the dim light filtering through the mountain crevices.
The ankle chain was indeed hers, however…
She remembered that on the day she went up to Miaosheng Heights, she hadn’t been wearing this ankle chain at all.
Not good, she’d fallen into a trap!
“Come out, Third Young Lady Yin.”
Ming Shu’s smiling voice came from outside the cave.
She stood in the tree shadows, her dress stained with mud, looking somewhat disheveled, but her eyes were as clear as the sky after rain.
She didn’t have to wait long before someone slowly emerged from the cave.
Yin Liangjun’s pure and sweet face gradually appeared from the cave’s shadows.
“You tricked me?” Her expression remained normal, showing little fear as she held up the ankle chain and threw it in front of Ming Shu.
From the moment Tao Yiqian secretly told her that Lu Ming Shu was going to Miaosheng Heights, it had all been a trap. There was no evidence grabbed from the culprit—everything was just a scheme to catch her. She wouldn’t have fallen for it normally and had been hiding in the shadows to observe.
She had already disposed of the clothes and shoes worn that day on Miaosheng Heights, but personal accessories… she had overlooked those. Going to Miaosheng Heights had been a spontaneous decision, and she couldn’t remember exactly what accessories she had been wearing. Ming Shu’s trap was set so quickly, that she didn’t have time to return to her room to check. After dismissing her maid, she hurried to Miaosheng Heights, taking a hidden path up the mountain, just wanting to see what Lu Ming Shu could find.
That ankle chain had made her lose her composure.
She recognized it as hers at a glance, and her mind went blank with a boom, not thinking about where the ankle chain had come from, only wanting to grab it back. Only after getting it in her hands did she remember that though the ankle chain was hers, she hadn’t worn it for quite some time.
“Fifth Brother helped you get this?” Yin Liangjun asked while moving closer to Ming Shu.
Ming Shu didn’t answer. Indeed, she had gone to great lengths to convince Tao Yiqian to secretly obtain Yin Liangjun’s ankle chain.
Thinking of Tao Yiqian’s expression when he gave it to her made Ming Shu want to laugh.
She did laugh, though to Yin Liangjun it looked like mockery.
Yin Liangjun looked around—no one was there.
“You think this strategy is clever?” Yin Liangjun said.
“Not particularly clever, but good enough to deal with you,” Ming Shu smiled slightly, bending to pick up the ankle chain.
“You think this is enough to catch me?” Yin Liangjun watched her pick up the ankle chain. “I lost this ankle chain several days ago, and after thinking about it, realized it might have fallen at Miaosheng Heights, so I came to look for it today.”
“That’s far-fetched,” Ming Shu said.
“So what if it is? However far-fetched, it’s still an explanation. If I say this, you still can’t catch me,” Yin Liangjun said without changing expression.
“That’s fine, you can think of ten thousand excuses, but I only need one sentence,” Ming Shu stroked the ankle chain, smiling. “Third Young Lady Yin, we have no grudge between us, everyone knows I couldn’t possibly harm you, and I’m the victim in this whole affair. If I say you’re the culprit, then you must be the culprit. If they don’t believe me, I can make things up, and fabricate stories. Trust me, I can describe the situation so vividly that everyone will empathize!”
“You… you didn’t see anything, yet you would fabricate facts?” Cracks appeared in Yin Liangjun’s calm facade.
“I don’t need to have seen it personally. The victim’s words are more convincing, aren’t they? My standing up is evidence in itself… What does it matter if it’s false? As long as I’m willing, I can make it come true!” Ming Shu was still smiling, but her words sent chills down one’s spine.
“You…” Yin Liangjun gritted her teeth, suddenly unable to think of any way to counter her.
“Me what? You shouldn’t be so surprised. This is just paying back in kind. Are you afraid? But for all these years, your sister has lived in exactly this kind of environment.” Ming Shu reached out her hand. “Come, let’s go see your father and mother. They’re all waiting for you.”
Yin Liangjun looked at her with gritted teeth, then after a moment also smiled, slowly approaching Ming Shu: “Go with you to see Father? Mother? Fine… I’ll go with you… go to hell!”
With a low shout, she suddenly lunged at Ming Shu.
Ming Shu stood at the mountain’s edge, backed against the cliff. If she fell this time, she wouldn’t be as lucky as before to grab onto rocks and save her life.
In that moment of crisis, Ming Shu stood still, but a figure flashed beside her, swift as lightning, rushing to her side and striking without mercy.
“Ah—”
The terrified scream came not from Ming Shu, but from Yin Liangjun.
“Are you alright?” Lu Chang’s voice rang out.
He had been hiding nearby all along—this was why he had insisted on accompanying Ming Shu to the Yin residence today.
“Brother, you were too harsh. Where’s your gentlemanly consideration?” Ming Shu clicked her tongue, looking at Yin Liangjun who had been kicked away by Lu Chang.
Yin Liangjun had taken a kick and crashed into the rocks, her face pale with pain and tears streaming down.
After all, she was a delicate young lady, this was too…
Lu Chang countered: “Should one show consideration to beasts?”
“…” Ming Shu had no response.
Many people had gathered in the outer hall of Huaixiu Pavilion. Yin Licheng, Madam Li, and the Yin family’s son Yin Haoyu were all there, anxiously looking outward from the hall. Young and impatient, Yin Haoyu stood up after a while and walked into the courtyard to ask Tao Yiqian: “Fifth Brother, you called us here saying you caught the real culprit who harmed Lady Lu that day—where are they?”
Tao Yiqian stood in the courtyard looking out, not turning his head as he replied: “Soon, soon, they’re coming!”
Before he finished speaking, figures appeared at the door.
He happily slapped his thigh: “Look, speak of the devil!”
In the distance, Ming Shu, Lu Chang, and several maids and servants were slowly approaching, surrounding someone. Yin Licheng and Madam Li both stood up, looking toward the approaching group.
Yin Haoyu’s gaze also swept over the group for a while, but he saw no bound prisoner. All were familiar faces, none looking like a culprit. He anxiously asked: “Where’s the culprit?”
As the group entered the courtyard, Ming Shu, Lu Chang, and the servants stepped aside, revealing the person they had been surrounding, who slowly knelt on the ground.
“Liangjun?”
“Third Sister?”
Yin Licheng and Madam Li walked out from the hall, and Yin Haoyu rushed to Yin Liangjun’s side. Like everyone else in the courtyard, they stared at Yin Liangjun in shock.
Yin Liangjun kept her head down, silent, her clothes covered in mud, her hair disheveled.
Yin Haoyu crouched beside her, saying: “What’s going on? Third Sister, did they bully you?”
When Yin Liangjun remained silent, he raised his head toward Ming Shu and the others: “What exactly did you do to my sister?”
Ming Shu ignored him, only bowing to Yin Licheng: “Lord Yin, Madam, I have found the person you asked me to find.”
“Was it… Liangjun who pushed you down the mountain? What exactly happened? Why…” Yin Licheng came out from the hall, looking at his kneeling youngest daughter with utter disbelief.
“It’s a long story. My great efforts today weren’t purely to find who pushed me down the mountain, but rather…” Ming Shu glanced at Tao Yiqian, who nodded at her, before continuing, “to fulfill the task Madam entrusted to me—to be a companion to your eldest daughter and investigate why her temperament has changed so drastically these past two years.”
“So my daughter’s change in temperament is related to her?” Even Madam Li walked out of the hall, staring at Yin Liangjun. After the initial disbelief, anger flashed in her usually kind eyes.
Ming Shu nodded then shook her head: “Related, but not entirely because of her.”
At this point, Yin Liangjun raised her head, laughing sarcastically: “Of course not entirely because of me. If this blame must be placed on me alone, I’m the mastermind, but everyone in this household, high and low, they’re all accomplices who added fuel to the fire.”
“What are you saying?” Yin Haoyu looked at Yin Liangjun, both incredulous and confused.
“Let me explain to her,” Ming Shu said, turning to Tao Yiqian. “Fifth Brother, please bring those people in, and bring Shu Jun over too, if that’s alright, Lord Yin?” Yin Shu Jun was still confined in the Buddhist hall, and no one could release her without Yin Licheng’s permission.
Yin Licheng nodded.
Tao Yiqian left to make arrangements. Before long, though Yin Shu Jun hadn’t arrived, the people Tao Yiqian had found filed into Huaixiu Pavilion.
All were familiar faces, and one of them made Yin Haoyu’s pupils contract.
“Yu Ying?!”