At this moment, he truly couldn’t wait to drag Gong Shilin out.

And beat him up.

Just as he was about to lose control of the impulse in his heart, a young servant came running over urgently through the heavy snow.

He ran up to Li Cheng, gasping for breath.

“Young… Young Master.”

Very hurried.

Li Cheng straightened up, looking at him with confused tension. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“It’s… it’s…”

“Did something happen to Left Prime Minister Gong?”

“No, someone from the City Bureau came, saying… the portrait is complete, and they want you to go over immediately, Young Master.”

The portrait is complete.

Li Cheng’s eyes immediately brightened.

His hand slapped forcefully against the red pillar.

He had waited several days.

And been anxious for several days.

“Finally it’s done!”

His voice was very loud.

The young servant asked, “Young Master, should we go right away?”

“Let’s go.”

He suddenly shouted loudly.

And walked forward.

But—

Suddenly he stopped.

Frowning.

A thought struck him.

His eyes rolled.

“Wait.”

The servant was confused. “Young Master, what’s wrong? Are we going or not?”

Li Cheng turned his head to glance into the room.

An evil idea popped into his mind.

Stroking his chin, he said, “Go, of course we’re going, but… we need to bring something.”

What he meant by “something” was…

Disregarding Li Wenshu’s earlier instructions, he charged straight in.

When he saw Gong Shilin sitting by the bed, he became even angrier.

He grabbed Gong Shilin and pulled him up.

He said to Li Wenshu, “Elder Sister, I’m borrowing this person.”

Hm?

“Ah Cheng?” Li Wenshu didn’t have time to call out to him.

Gong Shilin didn’t react in time either.

He was already being dragged out by that force.

All the way toward the main gate.

“Li Cheng, where are you taking me?”

“Stop talking nonsense. You’ll know when we get there.”

“Let go of me first.”

Gong Shilin shook him off.

His wrist had been twisted red.

Li Cheng clicked his tongue in displeasure. “Hurry up and come with me!”

Gong Shilin was confused. “Where exactly are we going?”

“The City Bureau.”

“What for?”

“To investigate a case.”

What?

Gong Shilin was completely baffled. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

He turned to leave.

Li Cheng grabbed him back.

With an arrogant air, he said, “I want you to come investigate a case with me. Do I need to say it again?”

“I don’t know how to investigate cases. City Bureau matters have nothing to do with me.”

“Who says they have nothing to do with you?”

Hm?

Li Cheng then instructed the young servant from before, “Go, go to the main hall right now and tell Left Prime Minister Gong that I, Lord Li, am borrowing Gong Shilin to help me investigate this stone case at the city gate tower.”

“Yes!”

The servant ran off.

Gong Shilin was speechless.

Li Cheng grinned at him. “Now it concerns you, doesn’t it?”

“You…”

“Stop talking nonsense. Hurry up and come with me.” Li Cheng grabbed him and headed toward the gate.

And so…

Gong Shilin was inexplicably dragged by him to the City Bureau.

At this time at the City Bureau.

Ji Yunshu had personally delivered the painting.

The portrait was already displayed before everyone.

The woman in the painting was refined and unworldly, clean and pure. Especially those eyes, which held the characteristic innocent purity of a fifteen-year-old girl.

All the senior and junior officials who saw the portrait were stunned.

The old coroner was also dumbfounded.

Setting aside whether the woman in the portrait was beautiful, just consider the painting technique.

Every brushstroke, even the colors.

All extremely refined.

Someone without decades of skill could never paint this.

“This painting is truly excellent. Look at these brushstrokes, and look at these colors. It’s truly wonderful.”

“Indeed!”

“I’ve never seen someone with such excellent painting skills.”

“Clearly this came from a master’s hand.”

…

Everyone began gathering around the painting and discussing it.

All questioning whether this painting really came from that young master who looked so young.

But—

Everyone had completely missed the main point.

Ji Yunshu stood there silently, while Jingrong sat to the side.

He never liked to interfere with Ji Yunshu’s investigations.

So from the moment he entered, he sat there in a silent, cold state, with a cup of tea by his hand.

And a plate of fruit.

He drank tea while waiting.

An old official suddenly turned to ask Ji Yunshu, “Master Ji, this painting… was it really painted by you?”

Expressing doubt.

“It did indeed come from my hand.”

“Though we don’t understand painting, we can still see that without decades of skill, one couldn’t paint this.”

“Sir, there’s no need to question whether I painted this. You only need to know that the woman in this painting is that deceased person.”

Uh!

Bringing the topic back to the point.

Everyone looked at each other.

Some were shocked, some doubtful.

Some even found it laughable.

They had thought the portrait would be just an outline, but who knew this so-called portrait of the deceased would be painted so lifelike, with even the eyelashes clearly visible.

From a skull, one could paint like this?

Even someone with the greatest abilities probably couldn’t do it.

Ji Yunshu saw the doubt flash across their faces. She walked to the painting placed on the center table and said, “I know you officials don’t believe me, and even think I might have taken someone else’s painting to play tricks. After all, being able to render the deceased’s likeness so clearly—many people wouldn’t believe it. But I never deceive people, nor do I play tricks. The woman in this portrait is indeed the deceased. As long as you search according to the person’s appearance in this portrait, you can discover the deceased’s identity.”

Uproar!

“What you’re saying is true?”

“Whether it’s true or false, you’ll know once you search for the person.”

“What if we can’t find them?”

“Then it can only mean that during her lifetime, this person didn’t interact with many people. One could even say… everyone who knew her is dead.”

“Absurd!” The old coroner suddenly spoke.

Ji Yunshu wasn’t annoyed. She only said, “Old sir, I take responsibility for every word I say. As long as it’s a portrait of a deceased person that I’ve painted, not one has been wrong.”

Absolutely certain.

The old coroner choked up. “Fine, if you can truly find the deceased’s identity, I’ll admire you.”

Someone who enjoyed watching the excitement chimed in, “Old Coroner, you promised Lord Li that if Master Ji could really identify the deceased through bone reading and portrait painting, you would kowtow to her three times in front of us all.”

Pfft—

Ji Yunshu didn’t know they had made such a wager.

Jingrong sat to the side. When he heard these words, his gaze glanced at the old coroner’s knees.

He thought, at such an advanced age, kneeling down to kowtow—would his knees be alright?

He became somewhat worried.

His expression grew heavy.

Ji Yunshu clasped her hands toward the old coroner and said, “Old sir, there’s no need for that. I cannot accept your kowtowing courtesy.”

The meaning of these words clearly told everyone that she had already won.

The old coroner’s face turned from blue to white.

Very ugly. He snorted.