The night passed without incident. The next day, Yunyi and Jiang Caiping got up and headed to the dance hall. While passing by a pavilion, they saw a crowd gathered there, pointing and discussing something unknown. Several people looked frightened as they covered their faces and backed away. Jiang Caiping curiously pulled Yunyi over to see what was happening. When they got closer, they discovered that what everyone was looking at was a completely dead small dog, lying on its back on the grass with its limbs twisted in bizarre ways. Its belly had been sliced open, revealing the red intestines inside. Fortunately, it was winter now with no flies or insects, otherwise it would have been crawling with them by now.

Jiang Caiping hadn’t expected to see such a horrifying scene and was so frightened that she stepped back, saying in shock, “Who threw this here?”

The people nearby all shook their heads, saying, “We don’t know either. We came over and saw this dog dead here, with its belly cut open too. We don’t know who could be so cruel.”

Sun Shi timidly asked, “Does anyone know who in the residence keeps such a dog?” Ever since Ding Yulan was driven out of the Governor’s residence by Li Shimin, and she herself had fallen ill, her courage had diminished greatly, and she didn’t even dare speak loudly.

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. After a while, someone remembered something and said, “I remember yesterday the Fifth Young Master brought some people to look for a dog in the back garden. Could it be this one?”

Zhang Chenyue hesitantly said, “That can’t be right. Who would dare harm a dog that the Fifth Young Master brought back? They’d have to have eaten a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall!”

That person suggested tentatively, “Should we… ask the Fifth Young Master to come take a look?”

“What are you all looking at?” A gentle voice sounded behind everyone. Looking back, they saw it was Ji Shi. Zhang Chenyue quickly walked over to support her, saying, “Sister, isn’t your illness not yet recovered? How did you come out?”

Ji Rong smiled slightly and said, “After resting for a night, I felt better. I was thinking that I hadn’t practiced dancing for a long time, so I wanted to go to the music hall to practice. But when I got here, I found all of you gathered.” As she spoke, she peered over to look. Zhang Chenyue wanted to stop her but it was too late!

“Ah!” Ji Rong cried out in alarm, stepping back several paces and saying in shock, “How… how could this be?”

Zhang Chenyue shook her head and said, “Sister, you’re not well. Don’t look at these things. Let me help you go to the music hall first.”

Ji Rong was about to agree when her expression suddenly changed. She pushed Zhang Chenyue away and quickly walked to the dog’s corpse, murmuring, “This coat color… could it be… impossible, it can’t be.”

Zhang Chenyue heard clearly and quickly asked, “Sister, do you recognize this dog?”

Ji Rong didn’t respond to her words, only staring intently at the dog’s corpse. After a long while, she said in a trembling voice, “Chenyue, quickly go to Yuxiu Pavilion and ask the Fifth Young Master to come.”

At these words, everyone was shocked. Even Jiang Caiping couldn’t help but ask, “You mean this is the dog that the Fifth Young Master lost?”

Ji Rong said with a grave expression, “Yesterday when I passed by the back garden, I saw the Fifth Young Master looking for a dog. I went forward and asked about the dog’s appearance. The coat color and size all match this one, so it shouldn’t be wrong.” As she spoke, she urged Zhang Shi, who was still standing in place. The latter came to her senses and quickly rushed to Yuxiu Pavilion.

About the time of one incense stick, a figure came rushing over hurriedly – it was Li Zhiyun, followed by Wan Shi and others.

When he saw clearly the dog’s corpse in the grass, Li Zhiyun was completely stunned. Amu, it really was Amu. He crouched down, trembling as he picked up the cold dog’s body, murmuring the name “Amu” repeatedly, tears continuously falling from his eyes.

Amu was given to him by his master, who saw that he was lonely alone on the mountain and specifically asked someone for this dog as a gift. Amu was very close to him – as soon as he called, it would run over and lick his feet. This time when he returned, he couldn’t bear to leave Amu on the mountain, so he brought it back. Who knew that in just one day, it would already…

He suddenly raised his head, his expression fierce as he said, “Who! Who killed Amu?”

Sun Shi and the others were so frightened they kept waving their hands. At this moment, Wan Shi also arrived. Everyone quickly curtsied in greeting. Li Zhiyun held Amu’s small corpse, saying sadly, “Mother, someone… someone killed Amu.”

Wan Shi stroked Li Zhiyun’s head, saying gently, “Mother saw. Don’t worry, Mother will definitely find the murderer who killed Amu.” As she spoke, she reached out to touch Amu’s frightening corpse. When she touched the right hind leg, her expression changed slightly. She then touched the remaining three legs, and the result was the same as before – all the legs had been brutally broken by someone.

Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, she glimpsed several fine peacock blue silk threads between the claws of Amu’s right front paw. She carefully removed them and examined them closely in the winter light, then swept her gaze over Yunyi and the others, saying coldly, “Who discovered this first?”

The woman beside Yunyi stepped forward timidly, saying, “Reporting to Second Madam, I was the first to discover it.” Before Wan Shi could ask, she quickly waved her hands, saying, “But Amu absolutely wasn’t killed by me. Sister Li was there too at the time. Second Madam can ask her if you don’t believe me.”

The woman she pointed to quickly nodded, saying, “Yes, when we came over, Amu was already dead. It has nothing to do with us. Please, Madam, see clearly.”

Wan Shi ignored their words and only asked, “How did you know this was Zhiyun’s dog?”

Ji Rong stepped forward and said, “Reporting to Madam, yesterday this servant heard the Fifth Young Master mention Amu’s appearance. It was very similar to this dog’s corpse, so I had Chenyue ask the Fifth Young Master to come take a look. This servant always hoped it wasn’t the Fifth Young Master’s dog, but unfortunately…” She shook her head and sighed.

Wan Shi called over Zhaixing, saying, “Go tell Nanny Yang that today’s dance practice is cancelled. Also, go summon Nanny Fang to come here.”

The women could still understand Wan Shi’s first instruction – after all, Li Zhiyun’s dog had been killed, and it was normal not to let them leave before the matter was cleared up. But why summon Nanny Fang? She was in charge of managing the embroidery room and shouldn’t have any connection to Amu’s matter.

Only those few people who were quick-witted and had noticed Wan Shi taking the silk threads from Amu’s claws guessed at Wan Shi’s intention. Yunyi was one of them, but she thought more than those few people. Those few peacock blue silk threads – why did they look so much like…

She quickly glanced at Ji Rong, who had her eyes slightly lowered, showing nothing. But the more Yunyi thought about it, the more uneasy she became. She said quietly, “Caiping, you…”

Before she could finish, Wan Shi had already noticed her and said coldly, “What words can’t you let me hear?”

Yunyi had no choice but to swallow the words on her lips and instead said, “Reporting to Second Madam, I was just seeing that you’ve been standing all this time and worried you might be tired, so I wanted to ask Caiping to go nearby and bring a chair over.”

Wan Shi’s lips curved slightly as she said indifferently, “You’re thoughtful, but there’s no need to trouble yourself. The pavilion over there is fine for resting.” After a pause, she said, “Last time it was you who accompanied Second Young Master to the mountain to paint snow lotus?” After Yunyi nodded, she said indifferently, “To be favored by Second Young Master, it seems your painting skills are quite exceptional. I must have a good look at them sometime.”

“Thanks to Second Young Master’s favor, Meixue is truly flattered. Actually, Meixue’s painting skills are crude and can’t possibly reach the elegant halls, so how could they catch Second Madam’s eye?”