Lin Sui’an lay in bed, blinking her eyes, feeling a little dazed.
Outside the window, daylight blazed bright, the weather mild and pleasant. The rustling of the bamboo grove caressed her eardrums like music, bringing an indescribable sense of ease. The room still held faint traces of a calming incense fragrance — she recognized that scent. When Ling Zhiyan had stayed over before, Hua Yitang had specifically ordered it burned in the room. Its name was: Late Spring Days Playing Soft and Gentle.
Three strings of cash per brazier’s worth of precious incense, and its sleep-inducing effects were simply too good. She had been awake for an entire incense stick’s worth of time, yet no matter how hard she tried to recall, her memories of the previous night stopped at the point where she had been halfway through bandaging Hua Yitang’s wounds — everything after that was a complete blank.
When had she fallen asleep?
And how had she gotten back?
Lin Sui’an lifted the blanket and looked at herself. She was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. She grabbed her sleeve and sniffed it. The familiar scent of fruit wood answered the question in her heart.
It seemed Hua Yitang had carried her back.
Lin Sui’an stretched out a long, comfortable yawn, changed into fresh new clothes, washed up simply, picked up Qian Jing, and headed out the door. The morning sunlight outside was so dazzling it made her squint involuntarily — and then she saw Hua Yitang standing in the morning light.
He was wearing a snow-white long robe, the cuffs and the hem of the garment tie-dyed in a hazy pale blue. His upright figure was like an iris swaying in the breeze. The crystal-clear glazed jade hairpin caught the light brilliantly, reflecting the color of his hair at his temples, making it glimmer and shine. Lin Sui’an was reminded of two phrases: the looks of youth and a face fair as rouge, hair rich as green.
“Lin Sui’an, good morning.” He smiled and gave his sleeve a flourish. “How do I look in today’s outfit?”
Lin Sui’an: “…Calamitously beautiful.”
Hua Yitang’s smile grew even more brilliant. “That’ll do, then.”
Lin Sui’an said helplessly, “We’re going to the Court of Judicial Review to investigate a case today, not to a beauty pageant.”
“The Chief Justice of the Court, Chen Yanfan, was once a relative by marriage to the Feng family. Because of the Feng family case earlier, he’s been making things difficult for Ling Liulang at every turn. Today we’re going to back Ling Liulang up — we absolutely cannot dress too disrespectfully. See here — there’s meaning behind everything I’m wearing today.” He paused, then snapped his fan open with a crack and struck an affected pose. “The Azure Clouds Rising High robe, the White Crane Spreading Wings boots, the Wind and Clouds, Startling Thunder hairpin, and — the Rivers and Mountains for a Thousand Li fan! Strung together, it reads: ‘Rise straight to the azure clouds, a roc soaring ten thousand li, one cry that astounds the world, able to settle the realm!'”
Lin Sui’an: “…”
All she saw were four words: peacock spreading its tail.
“Has Jin Ruo come back?” Lin Sui’an walked out of the courtyard quickly. “Has the doctor gotten up yet?”
Hua Yitang strode along in great steps to keep up. “Jin Ruo has probably been held up by the business at the Pure Gate in the Eastern Capital — we haven’t seen him yet. I just saw Yi Ta carrying a tea kettle into the doctor’s room, so he should be up soon. For breakfast, Mu Xia prepared the red rose plain cake you love, the sour cream fruit junket, and the mutton bo tuo noodles. Forget the minced fish — it’s not good to eat raw or cold things in the mornings this time of year —”
Lin Sui’an’s footsteps came to a halt. She turned her head and stared at Hua Yitang’s face.
Hua Yitang: “Wh-what?”
“You seem to be talking an awful lot today,” Lin Sui’an leaned in closer. “When you have a guilty conscience, you talk especially much.”
Hua Yitang’s eyes darted to one side. “I-I have nothing to feel guilty about…”
Lin Sui’an narrowed her eyes. “Last night, you —”
“Nothing happened last night while you were asleep! I swear!” Hua Yitang raised his hand and shouted.
Lin Sui’an: “…”
She saw Hua Yitang’s sleeve slide down past his elbow, revealing a section of fair skin. Around his wrist was a ring of dark bruising, obviously caused by someone gripping it tightly. So that was why he had deliberately worn a robe with blue cuffs today — to hide this injury.
And moreover, looking at the position and size of the bruise —
“Could it be…” Lin Sui’an looked at her own hand in astonishment. “I did this?”
Hua Yitang pulled his sleeve back down, raised his eyelids, and gave Lin Sui’an a long, mournful look. “Last night, when I was seeing you back to your room… you suddenly dragged me inside the bed curtains… It’s fortunate that I’m quick on my feet, or I might not have been able to extricate myself…” His long lashes fluttered. “You know how strong you are. A delicate and frail wastrel like me naturally couldn’t withstand it…”
Lin Sui’an’s expression cracked.
Emotionally, she naturally didn’t believe a word Hua Yitang said. But rationally, facts spoke louder than words — the bruise on Hua Yitang’s wrist was ironclad proof. Could it be that this body of hers had a habit of sleepwalking? Yet even after racking her brain, her memories of last night’s dreams were a complete blank.
Could it have been something her subconscious drove her to do?
Th-this — this, this, this… wouldn’t that make it even harder to explain?!
Hua Yitang let out another long, mournful sigh. “At the time, you also whispered something in my ear —”
Lin Sui’an: “…What?”
“You said —” Hua Yitang bent down, his eyes curving into crescent moons. “Yun Zhong Yue, don’t even think about escaping — Pfft! What kind of expression is that?! Ha ha ha ha ha ha —”
Lin Sui’an: “…”
She wanted to smack this idiot!
Lin Sui’an stormed off in a huff — and so she didn’t see Hua Yitang behind her, gazing at her retreating figure, touching the bruise on his wrist. In the morning light, his earlobes were flushed crimson.
Just as Hua Yitang had said, when they arrived at the water pavilion, Fangke was eating breakfast with the sulky face of someone who’d just been forced out of bed. Yi Ta’s hellish potion tea billowed with dark, black steam — no need to actually drink it; a single sniff was enough to jolt anyone wide awake. Because the second foodie, Jin Ruo, was absent, a full third of the breakfast was left over, leaving Mu Xia’s spirits rather low. Even while driving the carriage, he kept a long face.
The Hua Family’s sixty-six estates were located in Jingxing Quarter, and the Court of Judicial Review was situated in the Imperial City — both in the northern part of the capital. They exited through the south gate of Jingxing Quarter, went around Guiyi Quarter, headed north along the road between Sigong Quarter and Qinghua Quarter, passed Daoguan Quarter, and arrived at the Imperial City’s Xuanren Gate.
The walls of the Imperial City were different from the quarter walls — built with a rammed-earth core and faced with brick on the outside, solid and immovable, strong as a fortress. Looking westward along the massive black lacquer gates studded with golden nails, one could see the famous Yingtiian Gate tower. At the third quarter of the hour of the Dragon, the morning drums rolled thunderously. Tens of thousands of birds roosting within the Imperial City took wing and swept across the rooftop ridge-beasts of buildings high and low, while officials of the fifth rank and below from the Three Departments, Six Ministries, the Censorate, and the Three Courts each carried their food boxes, streaming forward into the morning sun toward their respective offices and bureaus — a sight of grand splendor.
By the time the Hua Family carriage arrived at the eastern city gate, the first quarter of the hour of the Snake had already passed, so naturally they saw none of that lively scene. Carriages were not permitted within the Imperial City. Mu Xia had to remain outside the city gate. Ling Zhiyan had been waiting outside for some time, produced his identification token, and led the group inside on foot.
The Court of Judicial Review was located to the south of the Department of State Affairs, adjacent to the Bureau of Provincial Governance and the Bureau of Military Ordnance. Compared to the imposing grandeur of the Department of State Affairs, its architectural style was markedly more clean and capable. Along the way, every official they encountered was clutching a stack of documents and walking briskly, eyes fixed straight ahead — clearly all under considerable work pressure.
Ling Zhiyan walked quickly, and spoke quickly. “Last night I reviewed the case files related to the river corpse cases from the past five years. After screening and sorting through them, I found that the complexity of this case is even worse than I imagined.”
Hua Yitang: “How so?”
“I suspect these several river corpse cases are the work of a single killer. And furthermore —” Ling Zhiyan pushed open the door to the Records Hall. A chill unique to the place swept over them, carrying with it a faint smell of ink. “— it is very likely not just four cases, but fifteen.”
The center of the Records Hall had been cleared, with a wooden table left empty. The previous files had all been moved aside, leaving only a dozen or so case scrolls draped across it. Ming Shu was tidying up the candles on the table — judging by the number of candles, Ling Zhiyan had clearly pulled an all-nighter.
Ling Zhiyan invited the three of them to sit, then pushed the case files in front of Hua Yitang. Lin Sui’an took one look at the densely packed characters on the scrolls and her eyes swam — she very sensibly retreated to the second row. Fangke was even more outrageous: leaning against his large wooden case, arms folded inside his sleeves, he actually began to doze off with his eyes closed.
Lin Sui’an glanced at him. Fangke didn’t even twitch an eyelid. “I don’t trust other people’s autopsy results. Looking at them would be a waste of time.”
Lin Sui’an: “…”
As you wish, Great Master.
The human high-speed scanner, Hua Yitang, worked at his usual steady pace. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had finished reading all fifteen case scrolls, and was now frowning and waving his fan.
Ling Zhiyan began: “In the third month of the sixth year of the Xuanfeng reign, on the tenth day, a female corpse was discovered at the drainage outlet of the Caoqu canal in Shanglin Quarter — a woman of approximately eighteen years of age, with fine features, the body perfectly intact. After investigation, she was identified as a woman of good family from Congshan Quarter, by the name of Li Sanniang. She had gone missing on the first day of the third month of the sixth year of Xuanfeng, and her family had reported it to the Jingzhao Prefecture. The cause of death was strangulation, after which the body was thrown into the Caoqu canal. The killer has not been apprehended to this day.”
Lin Sui’an: “The sixth year of Xuanfeng — that was two years ago?”
Fangke: “In a great city like the Eastern Capital, with over a million people, it’s hardly unusual for one or two people to die in a month or two.”
“The strange thing is, every two or three months, a similar case would appear. The bodies were all found in waterways, all died of suffocation, all dumped post-mortem, and all the victims were young women. Moreover, all of these bodies had one thing in common: they were remarkably well-preserved.” Ling Zhiyan paused. “By normal reasoning, a body submerged in water should bloat —”
“Perhaps the body wasn’t in the water long enough?” Lin Sui’an glanced at Fangke. “Or perhaps the body underwent some sort of special treatment.”
Fangke said nothing, but his fingers moved ever so slightly.
Hua Yitang’s fan tapped one by one across the scrolls on the table. “In the four cases before the first month of the seventh year of Xuanfeng, the autopsy records noted: ‘body intact, skin smooth, expression peaceful, cause of death strangulation in all cases.’ Starting with the case from the third month of the seventh year of Xuanfeng, the cause of death changed to suffocation with no obvious external injuries, and the autopsy record gained an additional line: ‘the deceased’s complexion is as if in peaceful slumber.’ From the second month of this year onward, another note was added to the autopsy records: ‘the body’s skin color shows a faint pinkish hue.’ In the two cases from the ninth and tenth months, the autopsy record even bore the description: ‘the body’s color appears lifelike.'”
Ling Zhiyan: “From the eighth month of this year onward, the Eastern Capital has intermittently been visited by rumors of demonic activity. On the second day of the eleventh month — the very day the Hua Family’s carriage entered the city — a new female corpse was discovered in the Yishui canal. The body’s condition was strikingly similar to the one found in the Yunshui River yesterday, and could even be called beautiful. The rumors of demonic activity have since grown more and more widespread. Quite a few people have even connected the earlier cases, saying that this demon is of extraordinary origin, and particularly fond of draining the vitality from beautiful young women.”
Lin Sui’an: “Is there any connection between these victims?”
Ling Zhiyan shook his head. “All fifteen women were unmarried women of good family. Their addresses were scattered across various quarters of the Eastern Capital, and they did not know each other. Their families, neighbors, and so on had no connection either.”
Lin Sui’an clicked her tongue: could this be random killing?
“There is one more common thread — they all first went missing, and the bodies were found seven to ten days after their families reported them missing.” Hua Yitang’s gaze swept across the case files. “But the reasons for their outings were all different, and the places they went were different as well…”
“Armchair strategizing is useless,” Fangke said, rising with his large wooden case on his back. “Let’s go look at the bodies first.”
Lin Sui’an immediately perked up. “Are all fifteen bodies still here?”
Ling Zhiyan: “At the moment we only have the last two female corpses. The rest of the deceased were claimed long ago by their families and laid to rest.”
Lin Sui’an: “Can you find the specific burial locations of the deceased?”
Ling Zhiyan: “Hmm?”
“Ahem, ahem, ahem!” Hua Yitang quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “What Lin Sui’an means is, this case is complex, and a second autopsy may be needed, so it’s best to be prepared.”
Ling Zhiyan nodded. “Lin Niangzi is indeed thorough in her thinking.”
Fangke turned to look at Lin Sui’an, his gaze considerably suspicious.
The walk from the Records Hall to the Corpse Repository took about a quarter of an hour on foot. Hua Yitang deliberately slowed his steps and pulled Lin Sui’an aside, saying quietly, “Are you thinking of viewing the memories of all the bodies?”
Lin Sui’an: “Just the skulls will do.”
Hua Yitang frowned. “Have you forgotten what you promised me last night?!”
Lin Sui’an patted Hua Yitang on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I remember very clearly. When the time comes, I’ll definitely bring you along.”
Hua Yitang let out a sigh of relief, then asked: “What did you see yesterday, anyway?”
“It should have been a fabric shop, but unfortunately I couldn’t make out the name clearly.” Lin Sui’an was somewhat uncertain. “And the feeling was that the memory lasted a much shorter time than before.”
“What do you mean?”
“All I know so far is that the memory images are related to the victim’s state at the time. Perhaps the victim wasn’t paying particular attention to what was in front of her,” Lin Sui’an thought back to the memory-blurring phenomenon caused by the Five-Stone Powder earlier, “or perhaps her consciousness was unclear —”
Hua Yitang tapped his fan, his brow deeply furrowed.
The Corpse Repository of the Court of Judicial Review, like those of local government offices everywhere, was situated in the coldest and most shadowed northeastern corner, surrounded by tall scholar trees and low-growing shrubs that blocked the sun above and kept the dampness away below.
Outside the door of the Corpse Repository stood a young official in red robes. Lin Sui’an found him familiar-looking. It was only when Ling Zhiyan stepped forward to exchange greetings that she remembered — this was the man she had seen at Fan Ba’s establishment before. He was Zhang Huai, the Junior Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, and apparently on fairly good personal terms with Ling Zhiyan.
Zhang Huai smiled somewhat awkwardly. “By Chief Justice Chen’s orders, I have been here for some time awaiting the arrival of the Fourth Young Master of the Hua Family. I invite the Fourth Young Master to proceed to the reception hall for a conversation —”
Before he could finish, Fangke shoved him aside. “Move. You’re in the way.”
Zhang Huai stumbled from the collision. In the blink of an eye, Fangke and Lin Sui’an had already entered the Corpse Repository. Zhang Huai quickly blocked Hua Yitang’s path. “Chief Justice Chen’s meaning is that he requests the Fourth Young Master of the Hua Family to immediately —”
“Has Junior Justice Zhang ever heard the saying that the dead take precedence?” Hua Yitang used his fan to knock Zhang Huai’s hand aside, smiling on the surface while cold underneath. “If the Chief Justice truly wishes to compete for priority with a dead person, he’s welcome to lie down inside and wait for me.”
With that, he pulled Ling Zhiyan along and the two entered through the main door.
Zhang Huai stood there dumbfounded for a moment, rubbed his nose, and cleared his throat.
A head emerged from the shrubs on the south side of the Corpse Repository. Its hairline had receded almost to the crown of the head, and what little hair remained was gathered into a miniature bun no bigger than a glutinous rice ball. A row of bulging veins throbbed across the gleaming forehead — none other than Chief Justice of the Court, Chen Yanfan.
“No respect for superiors, no manners, no filter, and now he’s cursing me to an early death!” Chen Yanfan said furiously. “What kind of fox friends and dog companions has Ling Zhiyan been keeping?!”
Zhang Huai said helplessly: “Chief Justice, the Emperor’s personal edict dictates that this case is to be jointly investigated by Sixth Young Master Ling and the Fourth Young Master of the Hua Family. Even if you’re a hundred percent unwilling, you can’t defy an imperial decree, can you?”
“The Fourth Young Master of the Hua Family is an uneducated good-for-nothing wastrel! What does he know about investigating cases?! He’d better not lead our Sixth Young Master astray!” Chen Yanfan dragged a wooden ladder out from the shrubs, leaned it against the ventilation window of the Corpse Repository, and tottered up it shakily. He pressed his eye against the ventilation window and peered inside, frantically gesturing for Zhang Huai to keep watch for him.
Zhang Huai had no choice but to steel himself and collude in this disgraceful act with his superior. He thought to himself that it was lucky this Corpse Repository was in such a secluded location with so few people passing by — otherwise, if anyone saw the Chief Justice and the Junior Justice of the Court of Judicial Review crouching here eavesdropping and peeping, he would have no choice but to resign and surrender his seal to preserve what remained of his dignity.
Just at that moment, Chen Yanfan, pressed against the ladder, suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and exclaimed under his breath: “What on earth is that red-robed coroner doing?!”
Side Story:
Regarding What Actually Happened When Hua Yitang Escorted Lin Sui’an Back to Her Room
Hua Yitang gently set Lin Sui’an down on the bed, carefully removed her shoes, pulled the covers over her, and tucked the edges in snugly. Then he sat at the bedside, quietly watching Lin Sui’an’s sleeping face.
Lin Sui’an seemed to be sleeping rather restlessly. Her brow grew more and more furrowed, a faint sheen of perspiration appeared on her forehead, and her lips moved in a quiet murmur — clearly she was talking in her dreams.
Hua Yitang frowned. “Mu Xia.”
“What is Fourth Young Master’s instruction?” Mu Xia appeared without a sound.
“Prepare the calming incense.”
“Yes.”
She had clearly been sleeping soundly just a moment ago — how had she suddenly come to this? Hua Yitang pressed the back of his hand to Lin Sui’an’s forehead. Good, no fever. Could she be having nightmares from today’s exhaustion —
Suddenly, Lin Sui’an seized Hua Yitang’s wrist and flung it sideways. Hua Yitang felt himself like a flower petal caught in a storm — with a whoosh he flew up, and with another whoosh he came back down. In the blink of an eye, he had tumbled down onto the inner side of Lin Sui’an’s bed, sending the curtains trembling with a rustling, ambiguous sound.
Hua Yitang was stunned. He stared dazedly at Lin Sui’an’s sleeping face, so close before him, for a long moment. Then he snapped back to his senses. His face burned red as fire. He scrambled to climb off the bed — but the moment he got up, a powerful force yanked him back down. Lin Sui’an had seized his wrist in a death grip, painfully tight.
Hua Yitang dared not move. He knew Lin Sui’an’s strength all too well. One wrong move and his scrawny little arm might well be broken. He had no choice but to stay put, lying meekly beside her, awaiting rescue from Mu Xia.
The night deepened. The stars fell asleep. The wind grew still.
All that could be heard was Lin Sui’an’s breathing. The pillow and bedding were all filled with her scent. Hua Yitang felt his face was like a flatbread on a griddle — scorching hot, nearly cooked through. He could only force himself to slow his breathing and keep his heart calm. Gradually, his attention was drawn to Lin Sui’an’s increasingly furrowed brow. He even felt as though his own heart had turned into a dumpling, all pinched and pleated.
But one hand was locked in Lin Sui’an’s grip, and the other couldn’t reach from this position. After much deliberation, he could only carefully shift his head — and pressed his forehead gently against the center of Lin Sui’an’s brow. A moment later he pulled back. Sure enough, her brow relaxed a little.
Before he could even exhale in relief, Lin Sui’an’s brow furrowed tight again.
His forehead pressed to hers a second time — pulled back — her brow relaxed — then furrowed — pressed again — pulled back — furrowed — pressed again… This repeated who knows how many times. Hua Yitang truly couldn’t hold on any longer. He gave up trying, leaned in close, pressed his forehead directly against Lin Sui’an’s, and closed his eyes.
This way, she won’t have nightmares anymore. Hua Yitang thought, contentedly.
Mu Xia stood by the bedside, holding the gently spiraling calming incense, feeling deeply conflicted inside.
Lin Niangzi was sleeping very soundly. Fourth Young Master was sleeping even more soundly. Should he wake Fourth Young Master or not?
Mu Xia looked again at their hands. Lin Niangzi had long since released her grip on Fourth Young Master’s wrist, leaving a faint ring of bruising behind. Only now it was reversed — Fourth Young Master had taken firm hold of Lin Niangzi’s wrist instead.
Mu Xia thought it over, set down the calming incense, went back to the Siyuan Garden to fetch a fresh set of clothes for Hua Yitang and left them at the head of the bed, then sat down at the bedside and let out a long yawn.
Oh well. Best not to disturb them. He just needed to wake Fourth Young Master first thing in the morning.
Tonight, let them both have a proper night’s sleep.