On a clear morning seven days later, Qin Wan and Fu Ling walked out of the western rear courtyard. The Qin Manor servants hiding nearby watched them with curiosity and some reverence.
“After seven days of religious ceremonies, Ninth Young Miss is still fine. Is she truly alive?”
“Of course! If she were possessed by evil spirits or fox demons, the high monks would have exorcised them by now!”
“I don’t think it was an evil spirit possession – it must have been a Bodhisattva’s blessing. After all, Fu Ling was saved by Ninth Young Miss!”
As the discussions continued, Fu Ling let out a light snort, “Young Miss didn’t die, yet they insisted she had. When Young Miss woke up, they tried to slander her with talk of evil spirits and fox demons. Well, now that the ceremonies are done, they should finally keep quiet.”
After seven days of confinement, Qin Wan finally accepted her identity as the Qin Manor’s Ninth Young Miss and settled her mind.
The urgent matter now was naturally to investigate why this Ninth Young Miss had died. What puzzled her was that during these seven days, not a single person had come to inquire about anything. Didn’t the killer fear she would wake up and reveal the truth?
Today, Qin Wan wore a moon-white dress with wide sleeves. Her ink-black hair was held up with a simple hairpin, cascading down like a waterfall. Bathed in the morning light, she emanated an elegant air, her features as pure as the bright moon. Without saying much, she softly requested, “Tell me again what happened that day.”
Fu Ling felt somewhat distressed – her Young Miss truly couldn’t remember past events.
“That day, after lunch, Young Miss took a half-hour nap. In the afternoon, upon hearing that Young Master Huo had entered the manor, Young Miss became unsettled. However, Young Master Huo only spoke with the First Young Master and Second Young Master – we wouldn’t be invited.”
“Young Miss was melancholic then and barely ate any dinner. After dinner, Young Miss suddenly said she wanted to go for a walk.”
Fu Ling said with self-reproach, “It was my fault. When I accompanied Young Miss out, I forgot to bring a cloak. That night had turned quite cool, and when I accompanied Young Miss to the lotus pond, a wind suddenly rose, making it even colder.”
“I wanted Young Miss to return, but Young Miss wished to stay by the lotus pond a while longer. So I let Young Miss wait while I went back to fetch a cloak. It took less than the time to burn half an incense stick, but when I returned to the lotus pond, Young Miss had vanished!”
Fu Ling’s nose reddened as she continued, “I became very worried then. Young Miss was timid, and it was late at night by the lotus pond – one wrong step and she could fall in. I frantically searched around the pond but couldn’t find Young Miss. Worried she might have returned to her courtyard, I went back to check, but she wasn’t there either…”
“I searched for half the night. In the latter half of the night, it began to rain. Having no choice, I went to find the steward but was stopped outside his courtyard. I was so desperate that I knelt outside the steward’s courtyard – I knelt there for nearly two hours.”
Though Fu Ling was normally kind and lively, at this point, she spoke through gritted teeth, “The steward never showed his face. As dawn approached, someone suddenly came saying Young Miss had jumped into the lake…”
Though eight days had passed, Fu Ling’s eyes still reddened as she spoke of it, “At that moment, I felt like the sky was falling.”
Qin Wan patted her hand comfortingly, “Then I was pulled out and quickly sent to the mourning hall?”
“Yes!” Fu Ling sniffled, “The Old Madam said it was inauspicious and invited masters to perform ceremonies for a day, planning to take Young Miss out for burial early the next morning.”
Qin Wan narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up, “Is this the lotus pond you mentioned?”
The two had walked south to a square pond about thirty zhang wide.
In late summer and early autumn, the pond was full of standing lotus leaves. A gentle breeze carried the fragrance of lotus flowers.
Pavilions and towers stood around the four sides of the pond. In the center, a corridor bridge led to a pavilion on the opposite side.
“Yes, Young Miss was standing by the corridor bridge then.”
At this lotus pond, the north side only had a wooden path circling the pond, while the pavilions and towers were all on the south side. Qin Wan approached from the north and stood at the northern end of the corridor bridge. “Where is Half Moon Lake?” she suddenly asked.
Fu Ling showed confusion in her eyes, “Half Moon Lake is still to the south. When I heard Young Miss had jumped into the lake, I wondered how she had gotten there. Given our status, and since Young Miss disliked causing trouble, she usually only came to walk by the lotus pond.”
Because she hadn’t walked there herself.
Qin Wan said silently to herself, “Take me to see it.”
The two crossed the lotus pond via the corridor bridge and came upon an artificial mountain. Beside it stood a pavilion, and behind that were two buildings with upturned eaves. As they walked, Qin Wan observed clearly that although this was the Third Branch’s manor in Jin Zhou, it was still luxurious. This residence had a view every ten steps and a building every five steps, elegant and expansive, with a thoughtful layout showing the owner’s noble status.
After walking for about half an incense stick’s time, they reached Half Moon Lake.
True to its name, the lake was crescent-shaped, with lush flowers and trees on both shores and two lakeside pavilions standing quietly. At this moment, there was no one by the lake, and the occasional servants who passed by would only steal a glance before hurrying away.
The shock of Qin Wan’s return from death still lingered.
“Young Miss, do you remember? From here going south, the young masters’ and young misses’ residences are on the left, the concubines’ quarters are on the right, the Old Madam is in the Buddhist hall to the east, and the Master and Madam are in the main courtyard at the front…”
Fu Ling pointed briefly, but Qin Wan didn’t respond to her words, only asking, “Where was I pulled out that day?”
Fu Ling hurriedly walked forward about ten steps, “Here, right here…”
It was a huge natural black tortoise stone, half on shore and half in the lake. Standing on the stone provided a clear view of the entire lake scene. Qin Wan walked toward the stone.
“Young Miss, don’t go there—”
Fu Ling was still traumatized, but Qin Wan shook her head. Though she didn’t speak, her bearing carried an undeniable authority that made Fu Ling startled into silence.
Watching Qin Wan move forward, Fu Ling felt somewhat dazed.
Her Young Miss was very different from before!
Looking at the rippling lake surface before her, Qin Wan slightly furrowed her brows. The lake was very deep here, certainly deep enough to drown someone. But Qin Wan hadn’t drowned – she had been disposed of here. For disposing of a body, this tortoise stone seemed rather conspicuous.
This Ninth Young Miss had been killed on the evening of the twenty-first of July, and her body was disposed of in the lake late that night.
From this, she deduced that the killer was someone from the Qin Manor. However, even at night, the Qin Manor had many servants – there was no guarantee no one would see. When disposing of a body, one would naturally choose a secluded location.
Qin Wan crouched down and put her hand in the water, carefully feeling the flow.
Half Moon Lake wasn’t stagnant – though it appeared calm, there must be undercurrents at the bottom. The body would have moved.
After a moment, Qin Wan looked toward a flowering grove about seven or eight zhang upstream from the tortoise stone.
It was a grove of Rose of Sharon. The flowering season had passed, leaving only green foliage. Qin Wan stood up and walked slowly toward it. Fu Ling wanted to follow but had only taken two steps when Qin Wan said, “Wait here.”
When thinking about a case, Qin Wan disliked any disturbance, not even footsteps.
The Ninth Young Miss’s situation had been pitiful, and though she was timid, she wasn’t one to cause trouble. Why was she killed? And where? Could it have been in this Rose of Sharon grove? Her clothes had been changed and burned. From the injuries on her body alone, she couldn’t yet piece things together – those friction burns could have been caused on any rough ground.
Qin Wan stared intently at the emerald lake.
This was where the body was found – there must be clues!
Daylight had fully broken, and the sun was climbing up from the horizon. Qin Wan walked to the lakeside by the grove, her gaze sweeping over it like arrows. At first glance, nothing seemed unusual. Not giving up, Qin Wan leaned forward to look at the lake bottom.
As Qin Wan searched intently, a shadow suddenly fell behind her.
Qin Wan thought it was Fu Ling and turned instinctively to speak, but as soon as she turned, a pair of hands violently pushed her out!