In truth, Chang Shi was quite skilled at playing the victim. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ensnared Wen Rugui for so many years, even causing him to slander the Lin family in order to clear the principal wife position for her.

When facing the gatekeeper, her shrewish ferocity had drawn out the spectators. Now facing Lin Hao, she switched to piteous pleading.

Lin Hao waited until she had cried enough, then said calmly, “Wen Qing came to find me today, took the silver, and left. Quite a few people witnessed this. If you don’t believe me, feel free to ask around.”

Chang Shi completely ignored this statement and whimpered tearfully, “Second Miss, you’ve married into the Prince’s residence and become the Heir’s Consort. Why must you make things difficult for Qing’er? Even if you don’t wish to acknowledge her, she shares the same blood as you—she’s your sister…”

Lin Hao’s face turned cold. “If you insist on saying this, then go report it to the authorities.”

“You, aren’t you thinking of the Prince’s residence at all—” Chang Shi’s eyes fixed on Qi Shuo.

Qi Shuo reached out to draw Lin Hao close and said indifferently, “The Prince’s residence’s reputation need not trouble outsiders.”

The night wind carried a touch of restlessness. Lin Hao lost all desire to wrangle with this person and reminded her, “Speaking of which, you really should report this to the authorities.”

Chang Shi’s brows furrowed, detecting something amiss.

Lin Hao took a step forward. The swaying lamplight fell upon her jade-like face, making her voice inexplicably chilling. “Yesterday a headless female corpse was discovered at Tianyuan Temple. The murderer still hasn’t been found.”

Chang Shi’s eyes suddenly widened, her face turning white as paper. “You, what do you mean by saying this?”

Lin Hao’s expression grew serious. “We cannot rule out the possibility that the murderer is striking again.”

“Impossible!” Chang Shi’s bloodless lips trembled. She stared at Lin Hao, hatred bursting forth in her eyes. “How can you curse Qing’er like this?”

Lin Hao shook her head. “In my impression, you’re not a stupid person either. At a time like this, to still delay over your petty schemes—you may truly lose your daughter.”

“The headless female corpse matter is real?” Chang Shi’s heart sank completely.

“You could find out about such things with a simple inquiry.” Lin Hao’s tone was cold.

If not for wanting to find the headless corpse murderer, she wouldn’t waste a single word on this woman.

Sympathize with Wen Qing’s circumstances? No—this family alone she could not sympathize with.

In her previous life, Chang Shi had seized the magpie’s nest. Wen Qing had genuinely enjoyed the benefits of being a young lady from a prestigious family. That she didn’t actively deal with this family of four was already magnanimous.

Hearing Lin Hao speak thus, Chang Shi completely panicked. “Has Qing’er truly fallen into the hands of a murderous maniac?”

Lin Hao’s expression softened slightly. “Wen Qing disappeared after leaving here. How about this—the Prince’s residence will dispatch some people to help you search. You’d best report this to the authorities soon.”

These words, falling upon the ears of the spectators, made them privately think the Heir’s Consort kind-hearted. Even Chang Shi momentarily didn’t know how to react, finally managing a grudging word of thanks.

Qi Shuo quickly arranged for over ten household servants to accompany Chang Shi in searching everywhere.

The courtyard was brilliantly lit. Lin Hao bathed again and changed into snow-white undergarments before sitting on the bed.

Qi Shuo had also washed up and sat down beside her.

“A’Shuo, what do you think are the chances that Wen Qing’s disappearance is related to the headless corpse murderer?”

Though Lin Hao had spoken with certainty to Chang Shi, in reality, for a young and beautiful woman like Wen Qing, disappearance had too many possible explanations.

“Hard to say. Tomorrow I plan to personally interrogate the women who frequently associated with Yan’er. If we can find the person who went to Tianyuan Temple with her, we should have a breakthrough.”

Though they had learned of another woman’s existence from the young novice’s mouth at Tianyuan Temple today, the people Magistrate Liu had sent out to make inquiries had gained nothing.

“I’ll go with you.” Thinking of Wen Qing’s unknown whereabouts, Lin Hao’s mood grew somewhat heavy. “If the murderer truly has struck at Wen Qing, the situation is rather ominous. A’Shuo, look—the first headless female corpse was discovered a year ago, but Yan’er’s incident and Wen Qing’s disappearance are so close together…”

Qi Shuo looked at her, his lips curving slightly. “Ah Hao, why would you connect Wen Qing’s disappearance to the headless corpse murderer?”

Lin Hao was startled by the question.

“Both headless female corpses were discovered at Tianyuan Temple. The temple has constant foot traffic—there’s virtually no possibility of bringing a corpse into the temple. In other words, they should have been killed within the temple. By normal logic, after getting the silver, Wen Qing would hurry home rather than go to Tianyuan Temple.”

Lin Hao also came to this realization and thought for a moment. “Your analysis makes sense. I may have been… following my instinct.”

Instinct—it sounded completely unconvincing, but this was what she had subconsciously thought.

“Let’s sleep first. Tomorrow we’ll investigate together.”

The next morning, Magistrate Liu looked at the young couple appearing before him, his eye twitching.

A “chance encounter” at the crime scene was one thing, but coming to the yamen together was going a bit far, wasn’t it?

“Magistrate Liu, has anyone come to report to the authorities today?” Qi Shuo asked.

Magistrate Liu said casually, “People generally don’t come to report cases this early.”

Common people’s trivial matters that escalated to official reports went to the county yamens under Shuntian Prefecture’s jurisdiction. Only murder cases and major cases would be reported to Shuntian Prefecture.

Magistrate Liu’s words had barely fallen when he heard a subordinate report that a woman had just come to report her daughter’s disappearance.

Magistrate Liu was now extraordinarily sensitive to young women’s disappearances. He quickly said to Qi Shuo, “Heir and Heir’s Consort, please wait. This official will return shortly.”

“Magistrate Liu, we may know the identity of the person reporting.” As Qi Shuo spoke, he naturally stood up.

Lin Hao silently followed.

Magistrate Liu was taken aback. “What does the Heir mean by this?”

Surely precognition didn’t exist, did it?

“Yesterday a young woman named Wen Qing came to find my wife…” Qi Shuo briefly explained the situation. “That’s why today I brought my wife to wait at the yamen.”

“I see.” Magistrate Liu looked deeply at Lin Hao, thinking to himself that this Heir’s Consort seemed to always encounter incidents.

Going together to see the person filing the report followed naturally. It was indeed Chang Shi.

When Chang Shi saw the two of them, she didn’t even have the energy to feel surprised. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles—clearly she hadn’t slept much the previous night. She murmured, “Qing’er still hasn’t been found…”

“How about this, Magistrate Liu—today I’ll go meet with Yan’er’s companions. As for Wen Qing’s case, I’ll trouble you to lead people in the search.”

Magistrate Liu had no objection to Qi Shuo’s suggestion. “Have Liu Sheng accompany you.”

Liu Sheng was Constable Liu, Magistrate Liu’s clan nephew. Yesterday he had led people to question Yan’er’s several companions.

On the road, Constable Liu explained the situation to Qi Shuo and Lin Hao. “There are five who regularly played with Yan’er, all young women in their teens. One lives at the head of the alley…”

Qi Shuo listened quietly to the end, then said, “Let’s go to Yan’er’s home first.”

Yan’er’s family ran a sizable general goods shop. When the group arrived, Yan’er’s mother was sitting blankly at the shop entrance. The neighbors probably knew her family had suffered a tragedy—at this hour, no one was coming to buy goods.

Upon seeing the group, the woman sprang to her feet. “Have you found the villain who harmed Yan’er?”

The hope bursting forth in the woman’s eyes made Lin Hao’s heart ache a little. She said gently, “Elder Sister, with people coming and going here, it’s inconvenient. Let’s go inside to talk.”

The woman nodded and led the group toward the back.