The Criminal Investigation Bureau members silently followed behind. Suzhen said, “You all go back to your rooms first and wait for my orders. I need to think about what to do next.”

“Alright.” Wu Qing agreed first. Suzhen then remembered something else and cursed herself for being unprofessional – how could she have forgotten! She immediately called out to Xiao Zhou, “Go deliver a message to His Majesty… no, to Ming Yanchu for me. Ask whether the skeletal remains from that secret chamber have been retrieved, and whether they’ve continued investigating that eunuch who lured Li Zhaoting into the trap. Also, ask him to prepare a place and relevant tools – I need to examine corpses!”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhou’s face immediately darkened. “Li Huaisu, what should I say about you? At this critical moment, you only care about work. How much is His Majesty paying you? Can’t you see how those people are getting ahead of themselves!”

“Just go ask His Majesty for things – it’ll be perfect to interrupt their date, and since you’re asking, it shouldn’t be blamed on me.”

By the end, she finally smiled slightly. Suzhen tried to grab her, but wasn’t quick enough and she ran away.

Suzhen was both annoyed and amused. Wu Qing was thoughtful, patting her shoulder and leading Zhui Ming and Tie Shou away first.

She walked aimlessly through the palace, suddenly wanting to ignore everything and find Leng Xue to leave this place!

But Leng Xue was no longer here.

And her brother still hadn’t come to find her!

She rubbed her aching temples, thinking of the wrongly dead coroner and her parents whose remains still couldn’t rest in peace. That burning anger finally slowly subsided. How could she only think of herself?

“Magistrate Li.” A sudden voice from behind interrupted her daze.

Turning around, she saw it was Ming Yanchu.

“The message from your bureau’s advisor has been delivered to His Majesty. Those skeletal remains were ordered collected and properly placed by His Majesty at the time, and the autopsy materials were prepared early, knowing Magistrate Li would certainly need them. Magistrate Li woke up a moment earlier and had already gone to examine them.”

“The eunuch from the Imperial Supply Bureau is still being investigated – it won’t be dropped. We’ll notify Magistrate Li immediately if there’s news.” Ming Yanchu spoke while stepping slightly aside. “This servant will first take Magistrate Li to where the corpses are stored.”

After that incident, Ming Yanchu perhaps felt guilty toward her and had maintained a very respectful attitude. But after all, he was Lian Yu’s man. Better to avoid him when possible. Suzhen bowed and said, “Just arrange for a eunuch to take me there. You’re usually busy with affairs – no need to trouble yourself.”

Though she didn’t particularly insist, Ming Yanchu could read expressions – how could he not understand her thoughts? He immediately bowed with a smile: “Then I thank Magistrate Li. Xiao Ma, take Magistrate Li there. If Magistrate Li has any instructions, report back immediately.”

He called over a eunuch from behind and gave stern instructions. The eunuch repeatedly agreed and led Suzhen away.

The place where the corpses were stored wasn’t far. It was clear Lian Yu had made arrangements, setting aside a room in nearby palace quarters. Many imperial guards stood watch outside the door.

Upon reaching the door, Suzhen dismissed the young eunuch and entered to work alone.

As the door opened, she saw someone in the room turn to look – she was startled, then saw it was Li Zhaoting.

So he had come here too.

She wasn’t particularly happy to see him either, but they’d inevitably encounter each other at work. She nodded to him and began surveying the surroundings.

Li Zhaoting also nodded, maintaining his previous posture of leaning and observing, quietly examining things.

The room was almost identical to her autopsy room at the Criminal Investigation Bureau, with no unnecessary clutter.

A large table sat in the center of the room, covered with white cloth and holding many skeletal remains.

Below the table was a bronze basin burning ginger and other herbs.

Not far from the table were two small tables – one held a bronze pot and several cups, the other had several oil paper packages. Nearby were two chairs with robes, gloves, and a wooden box placed on them.

The wooden box looked familiar – it was one she usually used, apparently moved from the Criminal Investigation Bureau.

The skeletal remains on the table weren’t completely connected – they were separated into thirty or forty pieces. Two sections had been cut through – undoubtedly her masterpiece from chiseling bone for light in the secret chamber.

Lian Yu must have given instructions to preserve their original state – the bones hadn’t been reassembled.

Li Zhaoting’s assessment that day was correct. Looking over them, she estimated they would make about three bodies when reassembled.

The human body has 206 bones total. Fortunately, they hadn’t completely fallen apart – otherwise, just assembling the bones would be exhausting. She moved efficiently, quickly going over to put on the outer robe and gloves, then moved the box next to the table and opened it.

“Any discoveries?”

Suzhen asked Li Zhaoting while sorting the scattered bones back into place.

Li Zhaoting shook his head. “They’re just bones now – the skin, flesh, and clothing have all rotted away. What could there be?”

Suzhen frowned, then heard him say, “There is one thing though. I investigated that secret chamber after waking up – it wasn’t purpose-built.”

“Oh?” Suzhen perked up, looking at him. “How so?”

“Those spoiled grains,” Li Zhaoting said, walking to the small table and bringing over one of the oil paper packages.

Suzhen stopped her work and opened the paper package. A heavy moldy smell hit her nose – she saw green and black rice grains inside.

“I found it strange at the time. If this secret chamber was specifically built to dispose of corpses, why store grain? Though uncooked and inedible, it was still odd. After waking up the day before yesterday, I specifically asked people in the palace. At first, no one knew, but after questioning five or six old palace servants, I finally got some information from two old servants. Looking through Imperial Household Department records, I learned this cellar existed before the previous two emperors’ reigns – not just one, but several. They were originally places where the palace stored grain. With each new emperor came changes. Later, when the palace underwent construction again, most wine and grain was moved out, some places expanded into palace rooms, and these cellars were gradually forgotten.”

“I see.” Suzhen put down the package, her face gradually showing some joy. “Very good. This at least explains two things: First, this person is very familiar with palace conditions. I previously thought the possibility of other palace maids acting from jealous revenge was questionable due to timing, but now we can basically rule out palace maids – they entered the palace later and wouldn’t know about places even some old palace servants didn’t know. It’s impossible they later killed someone in the know and then disposed of the body there. Second, since this cellar existed early on and was only covered when buildings were constructed later, there logically shouldn’t be a mechanism for convenient access. Since there is a mechanism, someone deliberately created it later. Why create a mechanism? To bury corpses. These buried corpses must be related to Consort Yu’s case.”

“Palace construction is inevitable, but unless investigating this case, Lian Yu wouldn’t disturb this ground. So it was quite safe.”

“Exactly. No one expected this cold case from years ago to be reopened today.” Li Zhaoting nodded, seeing that while speaking, Suzhen had already reassembled the skeletal remains. The table now showed three complete skeletons. Her movements were swift, and his eyes showed a rare trace of approval.

This was extremely rare between the two of them. In the past, Suzhen would have been overjoyed, but now she was completely unromantic, completely oblivious, keeping her head down examining the bones while saying, “I’m scared now too, but living people are sometimes more frightening.”

“They can scheme, harm people, kill people, and also…” She wanted to say “change their hearts,” but quickly realized it wasn’t appropriate to discuss this with him and stopped.

Li Zhaoting seemed afraid of disturbing her work and didn’t say much more, only saying, “Look carefully. We currently have no direction, no evidence – it’s very difficult.”

“Mm,” Suzhen responded while continuing her work, casually adding, “If there’s anything you want to see among these corpses, just tell me and I’ll turn them for you to see.”

“Why?” Li Zhaoting’s voice was very light from beside her, but carried some abruptness.

This was an extremely steady person who rarely showed such surprise.

Probably from knowing this person too long, once the previous romantic feelings were gone and he stopped attacking her, their interaction had a familiar yet casual atmosphere. Suzhen smiled: “You’re afraid of getting dirty. Remember when you were fourteen and brought your favorite inkstone out for sketching? You dropped it in a mud pit. I originally wanted to trick Leng Xue and my brother into getting it for you, but they weren’t stupid at all and ran away in seconds. In the end, I helped you fish it out. That place was so dirty, with some dead things in it…”

“You went back and bathed three times. And that inkstone – I ended up throwing it away because it was dirty.” Li Zhaoting said.

“Yes, useless effort. But how could we think so much at the time?” Suzhen saw the medicinal herbs in the basin on the floor were nearly burned out, so she took a piece of old ginger from her box along with a small knife, preparing to cut some to throw in.

But the pain in her heart seemed to lighten a bit with this laugh.

However, within her vision, Li Zhaoting wasn’t like her – he wasn’t smiling. He rarely smiled, but he also rarely looked at people this way.

He was an extremely courteous person. Even when they broke up initially, though he was cold, decisive, and brooked no refusal, he wouldn’t look at her like this.

His gaze was pitch black, quite aggressive.

She knew this description was somewhat strange, but that’s how Li Zhaoting’s gaze felt now. Had she somehow offended him again?

Whatever – she currently wanted someone to cheer her up, not the energy to worry about his emotions. She pretended not to see and casually swung her knife.

Her heart truly couldn’t focus on two things at once!

The next moment, she cried out softly, looking at her finger and gasping.

“Are you an idiot? Your left hand is already damaged – do you want to chop up the other one too for symmetry?”

The voice behind her suddenly deepened. Suzhen was about to get angry when Li Zhaoting had already stepped forward and gripped her wrist. This grip was extremely forceful, making her gasp in pain again.

Looks like they’ll have to leave the palace tomorrow instead.