Beautiful as a painting, yet under daylight appearing like a painted skull, her words gentle but carrying ghostly undertones. Chen Zhao unconsciously stepped back, feeling that even under the bright sun, cold sweat had broken out on his back.

Seeing this, Zhang Lan laughed: “The dead boy can’t speak properly. Miss needn’t worry—whatever happens, the Master will handle it. Miss just needs to stay put.”

These words were vicious, as if certain that Jiang Ruan was the mastermind of the murder. With one sentence she determined her guilt, leaving no chance for rebuttal. Jiang Ruan smiled slightly: “Where does Nanny Lan get such words, speaking with such certainty? Could it be such a coincidence that Nanny Lan also witnessed me killing someone?”

Zhang Lan was stunned and gave a dry laugh: “This… this old servant didn’t.”

“Then that’s right,” Jiang Ruan said softly: “When Nanny Lan speaks, please be more careful. Those who don’t know might think Nanny Lan is deliberately framing me.”

Zhang Lan’s heart tightened. She looked up at Jiang Ruan, who was smiling as she looked back at her. But that smile seemed not to reach her eyes—the spring water in her pupils resembled a black abyss, carrying cold mockery.

Just then, several soldiers ran over and said to the thoughtful head bailiff: “Chief, a female corpse was found in the well.”

These words struck like thunder. The surrounding maids and women immediately stepped back from Jiang Ruan, looking at the master and servants with eyes full of fear and disdain.

Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi were startled and couldn’t help looking up at Jiang Ruan. But they saw her expression unchanged, still smiling faintly as she stood in place, her body frail yet firm, inexplicably reassuring. The two maids then calmed themselves, not even glancing at the surrounding people, standing composedly.

This composure from the three made the head bailiff look at them with new respect. With such developments, it was rare for someone to remain unperturbed. Having handled cases for many years, he knew such composure could only come from truly having done no wrong.

The head bailiff’s gaze swept around the courtyard. Besides Jiang Ruan’s three, everyone else formed their own groups. This was somewhat unreasonable—these servants called Jiang Ruan “Miss” but showed no respect, and this courtyard was dilapidated, not resembling a young lady’s boudoir. The head bailiff understood somewhat. Any miss sent to an estate was there to reflect on her mistakes, but this family’s miss seemed to have bad luck—not only living in dire straits but also being framed.

“Chief?” The subordinate officers inquired.

The head bailiff came to his senses and looked at Jiang Ruan: “Miss Jiang, forgive us. The female corpse was found in your courtyard—for now we must trouble you to stay in jail for a period.”

After saying this, he observed Jiang Ruan’s expression.

Jiang Ruan accepted his gaze quite calmly, even politely curtsying to him: “I will follow your orders completely.”

She neither cried nor made a fuss—rather than being taken to jail, it seemed more like she was going to a banquet, her demeanor not diminished in the slightest. The bailiff admired her even more and said thoughtfully: “Miss Jiang needn’t worry. I, Li Mi, will certainly investigate this matter thoroughly and will never let any villain escape.”

These words were meaningful. Jiang Ruan smiled slightly: “Thank you, sir.”

The surrounding officers all looked with some amazement. Their chief Li Mi had always been a stern-faced god, never showing kindness to criminals, and was most rigid and inflexible. Today he was gentle and caring toward this young girl, quite shocking.

Chen Zhao also sensed this and smiled: “Sir must investigate carefully and serve justice for the people.” Then he turned to look at Jiang Ruan: “Miss, Zhao will come see you in a few days. Miss needn’t worry too much.”

“What rubbish,” Lian Qiao snorted: “Framing on one hand, then trying to please our Miss on the other. Chen Zhao, do you take Miss for a fool for you to toy with? Remember this—you’re just a steward’s son. Before Miss, you never have the qualification to mention names. Your name has only two characters: slave! Bah!” Lian Qiao spat on Chen Zhao’s face. Chen Zhao’s expression turned from green to white, then white to green.

Jiang Ruan smiled slightly, then said to Li Mi: “Sir, since Chen Zhao claims to have seen me kill someone, it has nothing to do with these two maids. Please allow these two maids to remain on the estate to send word to my family.”

Li Mi thought for a moment and nodded: “Good, I agree.”

Lian Qiao tearfully grasped Jiang Ruan’s hand: “Miss must be careful, don’t let anyone bully you.” Thinking again, she felt uneasy: “Better let this servant accompany Miss—this servant isn’t afraid of jail.”

Jiang Ruan laughed, squeezing her hand: “Silly girl, this isn’t a spring outing—what companion do you need? I’ll be out soon. If you come with me, who will send word to my family?”

Jiang Ruan emphasized the words “send word.” Lian Qiao was stunned. Bai Zhi came over to pull her away and said to Jiang Ruan: “Miss must take good care of yourself. We servants will certainly deliver the message.”

Jiang Ruan nodded and said to Li Mi: “Let’s go.”

The surrounding officers were stunned again—they’d never seen someone so actively enter jail. Moreover, Jiang Ruan’s actions made her appear to be the master, with these officers seeming like accompanying guards. Chen Zhao’s eyes also flashed with deeper meaning. He had wanted to see Jiang Ruan in a wretched state, but unexpectedly even at this point, she maintained her calm composure, even giving him a half-smiling glance, her grace unchanged, making hearts race.

After a long while, Zhang Lan finally slapped him hard: “What are you looking at? What’s there to see? Unlucky!”

When Jiang Ruan reached the jail, Li Mi arranged for her to have a separate cell. The jail also held other people who, seeing a delicate young girl arrive, immediately began spouting crude words. But Jiang Ruan looked on coldly, neither angry nor embarrassed.

Someone in the adjacent cell, seeing her thus, was rather surprised and curiously pressed against the iron bars to look at her. Seeing Jiang Ruan had no intention of initiating conversation, they spoke up: “Hey, little girl, why were you arrested?”

Jiang Ruan looked toward the voice and saw a filthy person looking at her, clothes completely covered with dust and mud, hair disheveled so the face wasn’t clear, but the voice was exceptionally sweet—a young woman’s voice.

Jiang Ruan glanced at her but didn’t respond.

The woman was stunned and persisted: “Hey, why won’t you talk to me? Are you deaf? You look quite pretty, but turns out you can’t hear. Tsk tsk, how pitiful.”

Jiang Ruan looked at her: “What business is it of yours?”

“So you’re not deaf or mute,” the woman cried out joyfully: “I’ve been bored to death here. Now that you’ve come, we can keep each other company.”