No matter who was crying, Ruyi wouldn’t cry.

Once she reclaimed the shops, she had mountains of gold and silver in hand. Her eyes were full of smiles: “Jian Deng, look—just the Immortal Meeting Wine House alone brings in enough monthly income for us to buy a new mansion.”

After resting for two days, Jian Deng could barely speak: “But given miss’s current circumstances, establishing a separate residence wouldn’t be safe either.”

Wen Zhenxue had used all her eloquence to portray her as damaged goods ruined by bandits. Having been expelled from the Grand Preceptor’s Manor, if she lived alone, the residence would be pelted with vegetable leaves and rotten eggs. There might even be libertines climbing over walls in the middle of the night.

Just thinking about these things made Jian Deng’s eyes turn red.

The miss was a good young lady—how had she fallen to such circumstances?

She looked up worriedly.

Ruyi was holding two large boxes of silver notes, counting them while smiling: “If we don’t buy a mansion, that’s fine too. We can just open a room at the Immortal Meeting Wine House to live in—it would be livelier that way.”

Jian Deng: “…”

She held back the tears that were about to spill and said with mixed emotions: “Miss.”

“The wine house has already completed the handover. I need to go hire some new managers.” Ruyi stood up. “Your injuries need a few more days to heal. I’ll come get you when you’re better.”

Jian Deng nodded and with difficulty handed her the gauze hat from the table.

Though there was no autumn rain, the wind was growing cold. Pedestrians on the street had already donned their cloaks.

Ruyi went up to the third floor of the Immortal Meeting Wine House at the appointed time, but found the private room door open with no one inside.

“Making the proprietor wait.” She muttered and went in to look around.

The outdoor terrace connected two rooms. The other room had its doors and windows tightly shut, seemingly empty.

Ruyi shrugged and sat down to pour herself some tea.

Thap, thap, thap.

Something was slapping against the floor, carrying a fishy smell.

She tilted her head slightly, feeling something wasn’t quite right.

Just then, a shop assistant knocked on the door of the adjacent room: “Guest, the wine you ordered has arrived.”

No one responded.

The assistant was puzzled: “Look and see if there’s anyone in this room—why won’t they open the door?”

Several people began knocking on the door together, creating a cacophony. Then with a loud “bang,” someone broke the door down.

“Someone come! There’s a dead person!”

After a brief silence, a piercing scream shattered the peaceful sky over Lin’an City.

With a murder case at the Immortal Meeting Wine House in the busy market district, the soldiers naturally arrived very quickly. Purple-capped guards uniformly surrounded the four-story building inside and out. A path was cleared at the entrance, and a figure in Crimson Cloud-Patterned Brocade swept across the threshold, heading straight for the third floor.

“Lord Shen?” Manager Xu was already panicked, and seeing who had arrived, he was nearly frightened to the point of rolling his eyes back. “How, how is it that you’ve come personally? The person involved in this case…”

“Don’t be nervous.” Shen Qiyuan lifted his front robe and stepped up the stairs. “I just happened to be passing by.”

The third-floor private room was already guarded by purple-capped soldiers. As soon as he went up, he heard Zhou Tingchuan muttering: “The door was latched, and all the windows were locked too. How did the killer escape?”

Seeing him arrive, Zhou Tingchuan hurried over: “My lord, look at this—such a sealed room, yet the person was murdered.”

Shen Qiyuan examined the corpse, then surveyed the room. His finger traced over the broken door latch, then he walked to the tightly closed terrace doors.

Eight folding doors, also latched from the inside.

He reached out to remove the tightly inserted wooden pin.

The doors folded open to one side with a clattering sound. The warm autumn sun streamed in from the spacious terrace, and a gentle breeze met him face-on, carrying a rich wine fragrance.

Someone on the terrace laughed softly.

Not expecting anyone to be outside, Shen Qiyuan placed his hand on the sword sheath at his waist.

But looking up, he saw a young lady leaning against the railing. Her rose-colored dress with intertwining magnolia patterns swayed gently in the wind. She held a wine cup, tilting her head toward him with long, narrow eyes and lips curved upward: “I knew I’d see my lord again.”

Shen Qiyuan was momentarily stunned.

The gentle breeze set colored ribbons flying, bronze bells under the terrace eaves chimed in response, and the young lady in her prime leaned against the railing, a touch of white jade at her fingertips, her charming eyes filled with reproach, her hair ornaments swaying.

After a moment, he lowered his eyes and said with displeasure: “It’s you again.”

Ruyi whistled: “Not having seen you for two days, my lord’s magnificence has grown even greater.”

With guards still following behind, Shen Qiyuan had no interest in wasting words with her and only asked according to protocol: “What is your name, and why are you here?”

She walked over, cooperating reasonably well as she answered: “This little woman is surnamed Liu, given name Ruyi. I arranged to meet someone here, but the person didn’t come. Instead, I encountered a murder case.”

After speaking, she covered her heart with both hands and said timidly: “How frightening.”

Shen Qiyuan: “…”

Someone who wasn’t afraid of twelve corpses was afraid of this one?

He pointed toward the room: “Do you know this deceased person?”

Ruyi snorted lightly: “If I didn’t know him, I wouldn’t be waiting here. My lord, please understand—this person had a conflict with me just two days ago, and today he’s dead in my wine house. If this isn’t investigated clearly, I’ll be the scapegoat.”

“Tell me in detail.”

“The deceased was the manager of the herbal medicine shop on Worship God Street. Two days ago, when I was taking over the shop from him, he spoke rudely to me with a vicious attitude. It was only when several stewards took the property and land deeds and forcibly threw him out that the matter ended.”

“The next time I saw him was here. I had just arrived next door when the assistant knocked open his door and discovered he was already dead.”

Shen Qiyuan looked at her with profound eyes: “You didn’t see him today?”

“No.” Ruyi said with amusement, “My lord surely doesn’t suspect me? I’m just a young lady—how could I kill someone?”

Zhou Tingchuan, who was taking notes, and the guards covering the corpse all fell silent.

Other young ladies would indeed find it difficult to kill someone, but this one wasn’t necessarily incapable.

“The Ministry of Justice solves cases based on evidence. We won’t wrongly accuse anyone, nor will we let anyone escape justice.” He glanced at her indifferently and swept into the room.

Ruyi rolled her eyes and simply followed him in.

Other officials investigating cases would instruct coroners and constables to do the work, but Shen Qiyuan, despite having a more noble status than anyone, lifted his robes, knelt on one knee, and personally examined the deceased’s condition.

The coroner beside him muttered quietly: “My lord, this humble one has already examined him. The deceased’s time of death should be within two hours.”

“Are you certain?” He pressed his lips together.

“This humble one has been examining corpses for over ten years—how could I be wrong? If he hadn’t died within two hours, there would already be maggots on the body.”

Ruyi also glanced over: “But today’s weather is quite cold. Corpse decomposition would naturally be slower.”

“Even if slower, the deceased only came to this wine house an hour ago. Could he have died before arriving?” The coroner was dismissive.

Ruyi pondered for a moment, then suddenly said: “That’s quite possible.”

“What nonsense are you talking? The assistant just said this person only came an hour ago…”

Ignoring his words, Ruyi began searching the floor.

She remembered that sound—something slapping against the floor one strike at a time, similar to—

Lifting the hanging curtain under the round table, Ruyi cheerfully snapped her fingers: “Here it is.”

A small fish lay under the table, already dried out and motionless.

Light flickered in Shen Qiyuan’s dark pupils as he used a handkerchief to wrap up the fish: “Indeed.”