The rare blizzard that had struck the Capital once in several decades abruptly ceased on the morning of the second day. The accumulated snow was knee-deep when stepped on. In such cold weather, even the most diligent merchants preferred to stay warm in their homes rather than brave the cold wind to set up their stalls.

The night watchman had missed his hour and hurriedly set out with his gong. The sun had not yet risen, and daylight had not fully broken. He tightened his tattered padded jacket and trudged through the snow, one foot deep and one foot shallow. Unhurriedly, he passed by the main gate of Prince Yu’s mansion.

The gate of Prince Yu’s mansion was slightly ajar, with only half of the “Double Happiness” character remaining on the door. The night watchman noticed there were no guards and found it strange. The people of Prince Yu’s mansion were usually fierce and menacing, and the night watchman had been scolded by the guards at the door many times. Today, however, he saw no one, which was odd. When he saw the half-remaining “Double Happiness” character, he suddenly understood. Yesterday was the day Prince Yu welcomed his Princess. The guards and servants must have received wine and food to celebrate, and after drinking heavily, they were nowhere to be seen.

Thinking of the young lady who had entered the Prince’s mansion with an uncertain future, the night watchman shook his head and was about to walk past Prince Yu’s gate. Just then, a cold wind blew, causing the heavy gate to creak open wider, making the dark gap larger. The night watchman couldn’t help but pause. The door creaked and swayed slightly. For some unknown reason, a strange feeling suddenly surged in the night watchman’s heart. He didn’t know where this feeling came from, so he stood stiffly at the entrance for a while, until some early vendors saw him and greeted him: “Old Li the Fourth, what are you standing at the door for?”

The night watchman’s heart suddenly jumped, and he realized what that strange feeling was. In broad daylight, no matter how fierce the commotion had been yesterday, how could there not be a single sound from the mansion? Even if everyone were drunk and asleep, shouldn’t dogs or birds be being raised? But there was nothing, just a deathly silence, as if it were a tomb.

His hand trembled slightly as he stepped forward. Just as he approached the dark gap in the door, a thick smell of blood hit him, almost making him stagger. The night watchman pushed the door, but it wouldn’t open. Looking down, he saw a square block of ice and snow wedged in the black gap.

It seemed that last night’s wind and snow had formed a block that happened to get stuck at the entrance.

The night watchman widened his eyes, took two steps back with a “thud, thud, thud,” and suddenly let out a terrible scream, causing people on both sides of the street to look his way.

In the first ray of morning light, the crystal-clear block of ice and snow became especially clear. Thick blood had congealed into a solid block, winding from the door gap like an ice river, but stopping abruptly just before it could rush out of the mansion gate. It was like someone being chased to the end of their rope, struggling to survive, only to have their life path cut off by a single door.

Like flowing fresh blood.

…

The entire household of Prince Yu’s mansion in the Capital was massacred on the day of his wedding. From top to bottom, servants and concubines, even cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks—none were spared. Whoever carried out the deed must have harbored a deep blood feud against Prince Yu’s household to have killed so thoroughly and cleanly. The method was efficient; all victims were killed with a single strike. The gold, silver, and jewels in the mansion remained untouched, clearly showing this was not done for money.

It was well known that Prince Yu was cruel and vicious, with numerous evil deeds to his name, and had made many enemies. No one knew who had done this. However, the perpetrator was extraordinarily bold, for to go against Prince Yu’s mansion was to go against the imperial family of Ming Qi. Everyone knew that Emperor Wen Hui valued his brother, Prince Yu, the most. For so many years, Prince Yu could act with impunity in the Capital, making even the princes fear him, all because he had Emperor Wen Hui backing him.

This time, however, contrary to everyone’s expectations, Emperor Wen Hui did not issue any special orders to capture the culprits, nor did he offer any rewards. He merely instructed the officials to investigate the matter properly, entrusting it to the Magistrate of the Capital. The Capital Magistrate was decent at handling matters, but for investigating cases, he was mediocre at best. Emperor Wen Hui’s actions clearly showed that he did not wish to waste too much energy on the massacre at Prince Yu’s mansion. The clever ones saw through it—Prince Yu must have done something to anger Emperor Wen Hui beforehand, otherwise, why would the Emperor appear so indifferent? Perhaps Emperor Wen Hui was secretly pleased that someone had removed a thorn in his side.

But speculation is speculation, and rumors are rumors. As they were passed from mouth to mouth, some strayed further from the truth, while others came closer to it.

In the massacre at Prince Yu’s mansion, one person survived. This person was none other than Shen Qing, who had married into the Prince’s household just the day before. The night watchman was the first to discover something amiss at Prince Yu’s mansion in the early morning. There were many pedestrians on the street at the time, and some braver ones banded together and rushed into Prince Yu’s mansion. As for the scene they encountered inside, even those who only heard the descriptions felt their hair stand on end.

According to those who saw it, Prince Yu’s vast mansion was densely packed with frozen corpses and blocks of blood. The blood had spilled throughout the courtyard, and last night’s blizzard had frozen it quickly, making the entire ground appear as red ice. The corpses were all frost-covered and stiff as sculptures.

Everywhere they went was filled with the stillness of death, with no survivors.

Prince Yu’s body was found in his bedchamber, with a knife wound through his chest. Beside him were two servant girls. Shen Qing was found collapsed at the bedchamber door, with gold and silver valuables scattered around her. At first, people thought she had also been killed, but when they moved her, she woke up. Thus, Shen Qing became the sole survivor of the entire Prince Yu’s mansion.

For Shen Qing, this might be a good thing, yet it also seemed worse than death. The entire Prince Yu’s mansion was massacred, yet only Shen Qing was spared. If it was because Shen Qing was innocent and had no connection to the mansion, then why had the killer not spared even the servants and concubines, clearly showing no mercy? Moreover, Shen Qing had fainted beside a trail of scattered gold and silver jewelry, looking as if she had been trying to escape.

Most importantly, besides the knife wound through his chest, Prince Yu’s neck also bore traces of being stabbed by a woman’s hairpin. And the newly married Shen Qing became the most suspicious.

With so many suspicious points, Shen Qing immediately became the target of accusations. Even with nine mouths, she couldn’t explain herself clearly. There was no way around it—who could blame people for suspecting her when everyone in Prince Yu’s mansion had died, yet she alone survived?

The Capital Magistrate’s men naturally had to take Shen Qing in for questioning. Whether or not Shen Qing was truly connected to this matter, as the only living witness, she became crucial. To find clues, or at least to put on a show for the world to see, Shen Qing certainly could not easily escape.

By the time the Shen family received this news, the officials had already arrived at Prince Yu’s mansion to make the arrest. When Ren Wanyun heard of this, she immediately fainted. Meanwhile, Shen Gui and Shen Yuan hurriedly packed up and prepared to leave.

“Yuan’er, where are we going now?” Shen Gui was indecisive when facing his son. He knew that, whether true or not, Shen Qing was now involved in this matter. Although Emperor Wen Hui hadn’t shown great anger about it, serving the Emperor was like serving a tiger—who knew the Emperor’s true thoughts? If the Emperor were to blame him for this in the future, it would greatly damage his career.

Shen Yuan replied coldly: “Let’s go find the Capital Magistrate. It’s too late to go to the Prince’s mansion now. Sister has been taken away, and the Magistrate must know many inside details.” He paused, casting a glance at Shen Gui: “Father need not worry, this won’t be blamed on you.”

Shen Gui heard the sarcasm in Shen Yuan’s words and felt annoyed, but he couldn’t say anything. So he pretended not to understand Shen Yuan’s meaning and said: “If that’s the case, let’s go quickly.”

On the other side, Luo Xueyan and Shen Xin were also preparing to depart.

“Qiu’er, go to the Prince’s mansion. Old Second is going to the Constabulary, and Old Third has entered the palace to gather information. Someone needs to keep an eye on the Prince’s mansion. Your father and I will go to the palace first. This matter is of great importance; it would be terrible if spies infiltrated the city.” Luo Xueyan instructed Shen Qiu: “You deal with the Prince’s mansion, check on our Shen family’s dead, and later we’ll need to send money for relief.”

“Don’t worry, Mother, leave this to me,” Shen Qiu readily agreed.

After Shen Xin and his wife left, Shen Qiu straightened his clothes, preparing to go out, when he suddenly heard Shen Miao’s voice from behind: “Big Brother.”

“Sister?” Shen Qiu was startled, turning around to ask: “Why aren’t you staying in your room? What are you doing out here?”

“Is Big Brother going to the Prince’s mansion?” Shen Miao asked.

“That’s right,” Shen Xin answered. “There are still some matters to attend to. I’ll come back as soon as they’re handled.”

Shen Miao looked at him and said: “Big Brother, take me with you.”

Shen Qiu was taken aback, then shook his head firmly: “Sister, I know you have deep grudges with Prince Yu’s mansion. Now that Prince Yu’s mansion has met such a fate, honestly, I also think they brought it upon themselves. If you want to see their end with your own eyes, let me see it for you. There’s no need for you to go personally.”

Shen Miao smiled: “I just want to go and see.”

“There’s nothing good to see there,” Shen Qiu deliberately tried to scare her. “I heard that last night, those people died miserably, all disemboweled, with blood several feet deep. It’s likely their spirits still linger in the mansion because they died unjustly. If a young lady like you goes there, you might see ghosts.” The people in Prince Yu’s mansion, though they died tragically, were certainly not as horrific as Shen Qiu described. Shen Qiu was just trying to frighten Shen Miao, as he truly didn’t want her to see those bloody scenes. How could a delicate young lady from an official family be exposed to scenes of death?

However, after he finished speaking, Shen Miao still showed no reaction. It was as if he had described the most ordinary scene. Shen Miao even smiled: “As children of a military family, if we were frightened by mere ghosts and spirits, wouldn’t that make us seem weak? Does Big Brother also fear seeing scenes of death on the battlefield?”

“Of course not!” Shen Qiu immediately replied, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had misspoken. Seeing Shen Miao calmly looking at him, she said: “If that’s the case, there’s nothing to fear. Big Brother, take me with you.”

“No, Sister, what would you do at Prince Yu’s mansion?” Shen Qiu struggled: “There’s nothing there.”

“I just want to go see. Big Brother doesn’t need to worry about me. As you said, officials are guarding the place now, so there won’t be any danger. Taking me along won’t cause any trouble.”

Shen Miao spoke with such determination that Shen Qiu realized from recent events that Shen Miao was a person with her ideas and a very stubborn temperament. Once she decided on something, ten oxen couldn’t pull her back. If they didn’t let her go today, she would likely sneak out on her own another day. It would be safer if he accompanied her today.

“Alright,” Shen Qiu stared at her. “When we reach the Prince’s mansion, don’t wander off. I’ll have Mo Qing follow you. If anything seems wrong, call for me immediately.”

Shen Miao smiled: “Understood.”

…

In just one night, Prince Yu’s mansion seemed to have changed completely. Inside and out, everything had transformed. Yesterday, it had been filled with distinguished guests and laughter, with a scene of bustling carriages and smiling visitors at the door. Today, the vermilion gate was covered with white seals, and guards with solemn faces stood at the entrance, fearing that some vicious killer might suddenly appear.

The half “Double Happiness” character on the door swayed lonely in the wind. It seemed that it could no longer withstand the ravages of the cold wind, and the remaining half also fell from the door, floating slowly to the ground, where it was trampled into a snow pit by passing guards, disappearing.

Occasionally, curious commoners gathered in front of Prince Yu’s mansion, pointing and discussing. Although they expressed regret, there was also a hidden sense of satisfaction. Over the years, Prince Yu’s evil deeds had been well-known to all. Seeing evil receive its just reward was perhaps the most satisfying thing in the world.

When Shen Qiu and his group arrived at Prince Yu’s mansion, this was the scene they encountered. Recalling the joy of yesterday’s visit and the deathly silence of today, the contrast was stark, giving one a sense of disorientation. Even someone like Shen Qiu, who was accustomed to life and death, couldn’t help but be moved.

After all, an entire household, with no one spared, was truly too tragic.

Shen Qiu’s soldiers explained their purpose to the officials at the gate of Prince Yu’s mansion, and they were allowed to enter. As soon as they went in, everyone was stunned by the scene before them.

The bodies of the servants in the mansion had been dragged away, but the bloodstains from last night remained. The bloodstains had frozen into ice, looking terrifying at first glance, as if the entire mansion was crimson. Even after a night of snow, it couldn’t cover the heavy smell of blood. Through the crimson ground, one could almost see the brutal massacre in last night’s blizzard, almost hear the desperate cries in the night.

The soldiers were all somewhat horrified, and Shen Qiu frowned tightly. Suddenly remembering that Shen Miao was beside him, fearing that she would be frightened, he quickly looked at her, intending to offer some comfort. But when he turned his head, he saw that Shen Miao’s gaze was calm, even more composed than the soldiers beside him.

Shen Miao lowered her eyes to look at the crimson ground. What did this amount to? The blood of enemies only made one feel excited. In her previous life, the blood of the entire Shen family must have been more tragic than what she saw now. She felt no emotion, no sympathy, no sadness, no fear, only wishing she could throw her head back and laugh, then fiercely hack at Prince Yu’s corpse a few times.

“Sister…” Shen Qiu hesitantly asked, “I need to go investigate. Do you want to go inside and rest?”

Shen Miao looked toward the southwestern corner of Prince Yu’s mansion and smiled slightly: “Yesterday, when we came, I heard the maids of the Prince’s mansion mention that there’s a tea room there for resting. I’ll go sit there for a while. When Big Brother finishes his business, come find me in the tea room, alright?”

“Over there?” Shen Qiu followed Shen Miao’s gaze to the southwestern corner, where trees grew lush and were trimmed exquisitely, presumably a place that Prince Yu had specially renovated for flower viewing and enjoyment. He nodded: “Have Mo Qing accompany you inside. Don’t wander off.”

Shen Miao agreed and headed toward the southwestern corner with Mo Qing. Fearing that her maids would be frightened by the bloodiness of Prince Yu’s mansion, Shen Miao hadn’t brought any of her maids today. Mo Qing was a guard, so naturally, he wouldn’t fear such things.

Mo Qing followed behind Shen Miao and was surprised to discover that Shen Miao seemed to know this place like the back of her hand—where there were corners, where there were corridors, where to climb steps—she knew everything. Even if she had visited this place yesterday, she seemed too familiar with it.

With this question in mind, Shen Miao had already arrived at the entrance of the tea room. The tea room was nestled among flowers, with grapevines on the frames outside. In summer, when grapes bear fruit, drinking wine and eating fruit here, admiring flowers, and chatting would be quite elegant. However, this elegance applied to Prince Yu seemed somewhat odd.

“You wait outside,” Shen Miao told Mo Qing. “I’ll go in alone.”

Mo Qing hesitated, and Shen Miao glanced at him, saying: “It’s just a tea room. If you’re worried, you can go in first to check it.”

Mo Qing immediately cupped his hands and said: “Yes.” Then he took the lead, carrying his sword as he entered.

Shen Miao watched Mo Qing’s back and felt momentarily disoriented. In both her previous life and this one, no matter what role he played, Mo Qing always seemed to be this cautious and loyal.

The tea room was large, divided into three sections by screens. Each section was extremely luxurious, different from the elegance outside, more like the style of the imperial palace. Mo Qing checked carefully, confirming there were no assassins hiding inside, before cupping his hands to Shen Miao and saying: “Miss, if you need anything, just call for me. I’ll be guarding outside.” With that, he left.

After Mo Qing left, Shen Miao walked to the table in front of the tea room. On the table was a blue and white tea set with fine glaze, similar to what she had seen in the palace before. Shen Miao glanced at it and walked past. She passed the first screen, then the second, and came to the third section of the tea room.

In the third section, the walls were covered with calligraphy and paintings. Looking closely, the inscriptions on the artworks were by famous masters. This room full of calligraphy and paintings must be worth a fortune. Shen Miao looked at them one by one, as if appreciating the art, until she stopped in front of one particular painting.

It was a painting of a night banquet, by the great artist Liu Yuan of the previous dynasty. The painting depicted the splendor of a night feast at an official’s mansion from the previous dynasty. Beautiful maids, fine wine and delicacies, guests fully enjoying themselves. The figures were lifelike, the ink outlines exquisite, the colors vivid. Among the many paintings on the wall, it did not stand out, yet Shen Miao stared at it, as if attracted by the scene in the painting.

She stared at the night banquet painting for a long time. After a moment, she finally reached out her hand and slowly felt along the surface of the painting. She searched very carefully until she reached the clothing of the protagonist of the night banquet, a pot-bellied official.

The clothing was also very intricately done. Even in a painting, when touching it, one could almost feel the buttons on the garment.

Shen Miao did feel them.

The slight raised texture under her fingertips felt different from the rough texture of the paper. Shen Miao pressed down, and there was a faint “click” sound.

With that subtle sound, the wall in front of her, covered with paintings, suddenly split in two, revealing something like a secret chamber. From the outside, one could only see a long corridor illuminated by torches, appearing very spacious.

Shen Miao let out a small sigh of relief, and without hesitation, lifted her skirt and stepped inside.

…

At the innermost part of the secret chamber, there was a coffin. The lid of the coffin had been lifted, revealing what was inside—it was empty. Two people stood in front of the coffin: one in purple clothes, the other in snow-white attire—it was Xie Jingxing and Gao Yang.

Xie Jingxing held a yellow cloth package in his hand, containing something unknown but heavy. Gao Yang smiled and said, “That old dog Prince Yu hid the item here. If not for Chen’s massacre last night, finding this would have taken us considerable effort.”

“So we just need to wait and pick up the pieces,” Xie Jingxing said. “Let’s see if there’s anything else around.”

Gao Yang agreed, searching around while saying: “Speaking of which, Prince Yu didn’t even leave a guard here. This place must be quite secret, probably known only to him.”

“The Fu family is suspicious by nature,” Xie Jingxing said lazily. “Wouldn’t you hide it if you were him?”

“I certainly would hide it,” Gao Yang lightly waved his fan, smiling with extreme elegance, but the words that came out of his mouth were quite terrifying: “If I were that old dog Prince Yu, and someone discovered this place, regardless of who they were, even if they didn’t know the secret inside, as long as they stumbled upon this secret chamber, I would probably kill them to silence them. Only the dead can keep secrets. Prince Yu did this aspect quite well.”

Xie Jingxing didn’t bother with him and searched around for other items.

Meanwhile, Shen Miao, holding a torch, walked quietly through the gloomy secret passage. Compared to her usual slow pace, this time she walked with much more urgency. The reason was simple: she didn’t know when Shen Qiu would come looking for her, and before he did, she needed to get that item.

This secret chamber in Prince Yu’s mansion was discovered by Fu Xiuyi. She had overheard a conversation between Fu Xiuyi and Pei Lang. At that time, Pei Lang had copied a painting of Liu Yuan’s night banquet and told Fu Xiuyi that the mechanism to Prince Yu’s secret chamber was on the clothing of the protagonist in the night banquet painting. Pei Lang had also said, “The item is in the secret chamber. Your Majesty can explore it.”

What exactly was this “item”? Shen Miao didn’t know, but from the tone of Pei Lang and Fu Xiuyi’s conversation, the “item” must be very important to Fu Xiuyi. When Shen Miao spoke to the Chen brothers about the massacre, besides leaving no loose ends, it was also for this purpose.

If she didn’t wipe out the entire household, leaving people from Prince Yu’s mansion alive, someone might know the secret of the chamber. If they discovered her actions, it could cause trouble. Now that everyone in Prince Yu’s mansion was dead, this secret had likely not been discovered yet. After all, in her previous life, Fu Xiuyi only learned about this after he had ascended the throne.

As long as that “item” was very important to Fu Xiuyi, or beneficial to him, it must not fall into his hands. Either destroy it or send it to Fu Xiuyi’s enemies. At least with this “item,” there would be one more chip to use against Fu Xiuyi in the future.

This was why she had come to the Prince’s mansion with Shen Qiu today.

Shen Miao felt along the wall of the secret chamber as she walked deeper. The chamber wound on endlessly, much longer than she had imagined. After turning another corner, the space suddenly opened up, as if she had emerged from a narrow corridor into a vast hall. Torches hanging on the stone walls illuminated the entire chamber brightly.

And in that chamber, a coffin lay horizontally, with two people standing in front of it.

Before Shen Miao could move, she heard one of them shout sharply: “Who goes there!”

The voice was very familiar. She hadn’t even had time to identify it when, in the bright firelight, two figures suddenly turned around, revealing two familiar faces.

Xie Jingxing and Gao Yang.

How could Xie Jingxing be here, and wasn’t Gao Yang from the Imperial Medical Bureau? How could he be involved with Xie Jingxing?

Even as composed as Shen Miao was, she was stunned, followed by a moment of mental chaos. Those earlier doubts took root in her mind, as if suddenly finding an outlet. In a flash of insight, something seemed about to break through.

“Shen Miao!” Gao Yang’s gaze was also surprised, but then he turned to Xie Jingxing and said: “Act now!”

Shen Miao’s bright eyes widened. Feeling dizzy, before she could see the figure flashing in front of her, she was roughly pushed back, her spine hitting the stone wall behind her, causing her to draw in a sharp breath of pain. Following this, a slender hand gripped her throat, with Xie Jingxing’s handsome face just inches away.

Xie Jingxing had almost pinned Shen Miao against the stone wall. His icy clothes touched her face, and his hand was also cold. His eyebrows and eyes were as dazzling as the blazing sun, the curve of his lips intoxicating, yet his gaze was clear to the point of cruelty.

“Shen Miao cannot be spared,” Gao Yang said quickly. “This is a matter of great importance. Her dying here today is her misfortune. Throw her body here, and let’s leave. No one will discover it. Third Xie, don’t be soft-hearted, do it!”

Shen Miao looked at Xie Jingxing. The hand gripping her neck was slender and beautiful yet filled with fierce determination, firmly locked and unwilling to release.

The purple-robed youth’s features were even more vividly handsome in the firelight, each stroke like a bewitching spirit stepped out of a painting. The more captivating his appearance, the more cruel his smile, like a cat toying with a mouse. However, what his gaze revealed was absolute indifference and killing intent.

He truly wanted to kill her.

Shen Miao stared at him without moving, her clear eyes brighter than a spring stream after the first snow melts. There was neither joy nor sorrow in them, as if they could reflect a person’s entire life.

Xie Jingxing’s gaze flickered slightly. Suddenly, he smiled and gently covered Shen Miao’s eyes with his other hand. He slightly bent his head, leaning close to Shen Miao’s ear, like a lover’s whisper, and said softly:

“Don’t look at me, I’ll feel reluctant.”