On the other side, Ji Yunshu had been waiting in her room all along, wanting to hear the news that Jingrong had brought back from the palace.

An entire morning quickly passed by.

Perhaps because she had been thinking too deeply, two young maids brought in food and placed it before her.

They said, “Master Ji, you haven’t eaten anything all morning. You should at least eat a little, or your body won’t be able to endure it.”

“No need!”

At a time like this, how could she possibly have any appetite?

On one hand, there was the matter of the case. On the other hand, there was the matter of Su Ziluo.

She let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong with Master? You’ve been like this all morning. Has something happened?”

She shook her head!

“Is Master in a bad mood?”

She shook her head!

The maid scratched her head and stopped asking. Seeing that Ji Yunshu had no mood to chat with her, she shrugged. But then she asked one more question, “Oh right, Master Ji, when will Young Master Wei return? He’s been gone for several days now.”

At the mention of Wei Yi, Ji Yunshu’s eyes moved slightly, and she replied, “It will be some time yet.”

“Oh! Without Young Master Wei here, this place feels so much more deserted.”

“…”

Getting no response, the maid didn’t disturb her further and turned to leave.

However—

Her foot had just reached the doorway threshold.

“Wait!”

Ji Yunshu suddenly called out.

The maid was startled and didn’t dare to put down the foot she had lifted in mid-air, leaving it suspended and trembling slightly.

With a shocked expression, she asked, “Master… what… what’s wrong?”

Ji Yunshu hurriedly walked over, her gaze fixed on the maid’s foot. A thought suddenly emerged in her mind that left her feeling shocked.

Immediately, she took out the drawing she had made.

She murmured softly, “If it’s a footprint, then… this is a woman’s footprint.”

Eh!

She had frightened herself.

Because the post station was regularly cleaned, with every corner meticulously tidied, and Yuchi Lin didn’t allow anyone to enter his room, this footprint absolutely could not have been left before Yuchi Lin moved in.

And the only people who had entered his room were Su Ziluo and Ji Li, but their feet were obviously not this small!

Which meant—

There was another person who had entered the room.

A woman!

The little maid still didn’t dare put down her foot, and her body was swaying unsteadily.

“Master, may I put my foot down now?”

Just as she finished speaking, Ji Yunshu had already rushed out of the room and headed once again to the post station.

She hurried up to Yuchi Lin’s room!

The corpse still lay on the bed, though it had begun to rot and smell.

She wrinkled her nose and walked over, pulling back the white cloth in one motion.

The foul stench of the corpse became even more pungent. Yuchi Lin’s face showed a rigid state, as if he had suddenly lost weight overnight, revealing protruding cheekbones.

His skin color was also greenish-black!

Quite pitiful!

Without another word, Ji Yunshu lifted the head again and carefully examined the cut.

Because several days had passed, the skin and flesh at the cut had tightened somewhat. It was precisely because of this that she discovered something she had completely failed to notice before.

The answer in her heart had settled.

However—

“How could it be her?”

Her tone was clearly surprised.

At that moment, Su Ziluo’s voice came from behind her.

“When did Master arrive?”

Hearing his voice, she turned around while holding the severed head and saw Su Ziluo appearing at the doorway.

He had just returned from Peach Blossom Spring!

Ji Yunshu looked at him with incredulous eyes, filled with disbelief.

Su Ziluo was a clever person and had already guessed what was going on.

So he rolled his wheelchair into the room. Lie’er behind him didn’t follow inside but obediently closed the door.

Only he and Ji Yunshu remained in the room.

Ji Yunshu brought over the head she was holding and coldly asked Su Ziluo, “Why?”

“Why? What does Master Ji mean by this?”

“You don’t need to equivocate with me. From beginning to end, you knew every detail of the entire incident.”

Su Ziluo remained calm as always. “What does Master wish to say?”

Ji Yunshu directly pointed the head’s cut toward him and said with certainty, “General Yuchi’s head actually sustained injuries twice.”

“Oh?”

“Before it was severed by a sword, his neck had already been injured—by a small curved blade. Because within the time it takes to burn one incense stick after this wound was made, it was cut at the same location by a sword, it was very difficult to detect. But after twelve hours passed, the wounds created by two different weapons would separate into two ridges on the surface due to air oxidation, as the blood coagulated or scabbed over. Simply put, because of the different depths of the wounds, the two wounds separated after contracting.”

Having said this, she pointed to the cut on Yuchi Lin’s severed head in her hands.

Indeed, at the position near the Adam’s apple, the flesh had contracted, and two wound marks had already become visible.

Su Ziluo listened quietly, not intending to interrupt her words, instead showing an interested expression.

Then Ji Yunshu took out the drawing she had made. The bloodstains on her hands were on the white paper surface, with the five-finger print and blood threads connected.

She continued, “This mark—I always thought it belonged to someone from the post station, but I was wrong. Because this footprint belongs to a woman.”

Hearing this, Su Ziluo raised an eyebrow slightly and asked indifferently, “Then who does Master believe it is?”

“Kong Yu!”

Ji Yunshu was absolutely certain!

Hearing these two words, Su Ziluo smiled slightly. “Why?”

“On the day of the banquet, I saw the shoes she wore. At first, I couldn’t figure out what this pattern was, but when I realized this was a woman’s footprint, I remembered, and became even more certain that this was left by Kong Yu. That night, she came here.”

“Has Master forgotten? Didn’t the soldiers at the post station say that night, aside from Ji Li, no one else came?”

“That’s because you, Master Su, had already given instructions beforehand. No one dared to speak.”

“Oh? But why would I do such a thing?”

“Must I spell everything out clearly?” Ji Yunshu became agitated, her eyes brimming with tears.

After setting down the head, she walked several steps closer to Su Ziluo and sniffed.

She said solemnly, “Since you still refuse to tell the truth, then I’ll say it for you. That night, Kong Yu came here from the palace. At the time, Ji Li was already thoroughly drunk. She told General Yuchi that she absolutely didn’t want to marry into Qujiang and hoped he could petition the Emperor to select someone else, so that Jingrong wouldn’t be implicated and she could also escape unscathed. Of course, she must have come with the resolve to die if necessary, but General Yuchi refused. In her urgency, she used the curved blade she had brought to slash his neck. General Yuchi flew into a rage and forced her behind the door. Just then, the handkerchief from her sleeve fell to the ground, and she stepped on it—half her foot on the handkerchief, and half on the dust behind the door.”

After listening, Su Ziluo asked, “Then how did she leave at that time? And where did that handkerchief go?”

“Because of you!”