Yue Ning’s eye twitched, and Qin Wan spoke with complete understanding, “If the Princess truly feels uncomfortable, there’s no need to force yourself. Besides, we don’t need that many people here, and it’s quite cold outside. Perhaps we should return to Ting Lan Court to sit…”
“I’m not forcing myself!” Yue Ning exclaimed sharply, suddenly striding toward the long table.
Qin Wan raised her eyebrows, exchanging a glance with Fu Ling. By the long table, Xu He hurriedly bowed upon seeing Yue Ning approach.
“Greetings, Princess…”
Yue Ning waved her hand, glancing to the side, “What needs to be done now?”
Xu He looked questioningly at Qin Wan, and only after she reassuringly shook her head did he explain, “Since we’ve discovered multiple sets of remains, we need to organize all the bones set by set, then package them together and register them. This will make the later investigation more convenient.”
Yue Ning responded with an “Mm,” then turned to look at Qin Wan, “How do we do it?”
Qin Wan sighed and stepped forward, “The bones are difficult to identify, and they’re all from similar age groups. Princess, please let us handle this.”
Yue Ning frowned, “Can’t you teach me?”
Qin Wan couldn’t help but smile, “This isn’t something that can be taught in just a few words.” Seeing Yue Ning’s disappointment, she turned to look at several case files nearby, “How about this – could the Princess help with the record-keeping?”
Yue Ning’s eyes brightened, “Good, that’s good. Like that first time when I helped you, although… although I only recorded half, I’m different now from before.”
Yue Ning recalled the first time she helped Qin Wan take notes, when she ended up running away feeling sick, and her face showed some embarrassment. Qin Wan remembered too – back then, Yue Ning didn’t know what examining corpses would be like and had boldly volunteered, but ultimately couldn’t handle it. “The paper and brushes are over there, thank you for your help, Princess…”
Yue Ning gave a light snort and stepped forward to take up the writing materials. Qin Wan moved forward and began carefully organizing the bone piles that had already been sorted. Soon, Qin Wan spoke, “Let’s designate this as Number One. Number One skeleton, the deceased was between ten and ten and a half years old at the time of death. The skeleton is complete, with no obvious injury marks or signs of poisoning. The cause of death is currently unknown. Estimated time of death at least eight years ago, exact time difficult to determine.”
Yue Ning recorded everything Qin Wan said point by point. Meanwhile, Xu He took out a cloth bundle, and Qin Wan carefully placed the bones into it. Xu He then took a brush and wrote the character “one” on it.
Yue Ning nodded approvingly, “This method is quite good.” After a slight pause, she asked curiously, “But… how can you determine the age at death just from the bones? And why can’t you determine the exact time of death?”
Qin Wan’s lips curved slightly – Yue Ning’s questions made it seem like she was testing her. “Bones change continuously with age. Children’s skeletons are small and adults’ are large – that’s basic. Elderly people’s bones become porous, with wear at the joints, while bones from children to young adults have specific characteristics at each age before development is complete. The most obvious indicator is the teeth…”
As she spoke, Qin Wan walked to a nearby bone pile and picked up a tooth.
“Look, this is the deceased’s second molar, which typically emerges starting at age eleven. So we can determine the deceased was at least eleven years old. Looking at other subtle features in the bones helps confirm the age at death.”
After a brief pause, Qin Wan sighed, “Generally, an adult corpse buried in soil takes seven to ten years to completely turn to white bone. The younger the age, the shorter the time. This means these children died at least six to nine years ago. In this excavation, Second Aunt’s remains were on top, with their remains below, indicating they died at least eight years ago. As for whether it was exactly eight years, nine years, ten years, or more, I cannot be certain. Moreover, the well was full of sand, silt, and mud, with almost nothing to use as a reference for timing, so determining the specific time is truly difficult…”
Even though she couldn’t calculate the exact time of death, hearing all this left Yue Ning somewhat amazed, “Your medical skill is truly extraordinary.” She then looked at Xu He, “Do other doctors know when each tooth emerges?”
Xu He shook his head, “They probably couldn’t…”
“Did Miss Nine study Lord Shen’s writings?” a clear voice suddenly rang out. Qin Wan turned to look and saw Yan Chi striding over from the bamboo grove, his gaze falling on her.
Yue Ning also looked at Qin Wan, “You studied Lord Shen’s writings?”
Qin Wan’s lips pressed slightly together, “Indeed…”
Xu He’s eyes brightened as if he’d found a way to learn, while Yan Chi said, “Lord Shen’s writings specifically discuss bone examination, even detailing how many bones are in the human body and how they connect, all explained very clearly.”
Qin Wan calmly nodded, “That’s right. I studied Lord Shen’s writings and combined with my medical studies, I understand these aspects more deeply than others.”
After a pause, she suddenly asked, “How does Your Highness know?”
The corner of Yan Chi’s lips curved slightly, “On the reading list you gave me, there were only two works by Lord Shen, so I had people find his other books. Yesterday while reading, I happened to come across this section.”
Qin Wan nodded internally, but before she could speak, Huo Huaixin came striding in from the outer courtyard. Seeing Yue Ning present, he first paid his respects to her, then looked at Yan Chi and said, “Your Highness, the Qin family’s Old Madam won’t say anything, Madam Qin also claims she knows nothing, and Master Qin is still unconscious. This is truly…”
Madam Jiang was elderly, and Lady Lin was a woman – Huo Huaixin couldn’t easily use force, which was quite troublesome.
Hearing this, Yan Chi gave a slight laugh, “It seems the Old Madam wants us to question Master Qin. What do their family doctors say? When will Master Qin wake up?”
“The doctor said he won’t wake until tomorrow morning…”
While Huo Huaixin seemed quite troubled, Yan Chi remained unhurried, “There’s no rush. Let him recover somewhat – he’ll need the energy to answer our questions. Besides, we don’t know many of the internal details of this case yet. We can wait until my people return from Yang County to question him. No hurry.” After a pause, Yan Chi’s eyes grew serious, “These two cases weren’t committed by the same person. One is an old case from years ago, while the other is a new case within the household. They need to be considered separately.”
Huo Huaixin nodded, “This official understands. In that case, we should focus on excavating the remaining remains first.”
The second Aunt and the children’s remains were naturally the old case, with the culprit likely being one of the Qin family’s masters. But the new case was different. Yan Chi pondered briefly while looking at Qin Wan, “It seems now that the killer’s first and second murders were intended to draw attention to these two wells. Thinking of it this way, the killer must be connected to the case from eight years ago.”
His voice lowered as he continued, “Could it be revenge?”
Qin Wan swept her gaze across the now-devastated area under the flower shed and nodded, “It does seem that way. But too many people died eight years ago – we don’t know if this person is connected to Second Aunt or these children.”
“The people from Yang County will return soon, and those sent to the neighboring prefectures have already departed. We should have responses within seven days, ten at most.” Yan Chi had already sent people out, and with his name behind them, they could get things done in any nearby prefecture.
Qin Wan nodded and turned back to continue organizing the bones on the table with Xu He. Soon after, word came from the bamboo grove that another set of remains had been found. With this, eleven sets of remains had been discovered below Second Aunt.
Just by looking at the skull of the new remains, Qin Wan knew it was another child’s skeleton. All the deceased were children who never grew up. If they hadn’t died, they would be about Yan Chi’s age now. But their lives had ended back then, finally becoming these stark white bones. Everyone’s expressions grew increasingly grave, unconsciously showing signs of grief. What kind of person could do this to so many children?
The rain that had fallen for several days had stopped, and the weather had indeed grown cooler. Yue Ning stayed until it was almost dark before leaving the Qin residence. By then, another set of remains had been discovered from the direction of the bamboo grove. To excavate all the remains, the ground between the bamboo grove and the flower shed had been torn up, creating a deep trench. Huo Huaixin had called in nearly half the yamen runners from the prefecture office, and on this second night, the runners didn’t rest, planning to dig out all the remaining remains overnight.
“Miss, they’re still busy over at the bamboo grove. You should rest first.”
Fu Ling advised Qin Wan as usual and having stood outside all day, Qin Wan was indeed exhausted. Without letting Fu Ling say more, she went to bed early. As soon as her head hit the pillow, drowsiness overcame her, and she soon fell into a deep sleep.
The night passed dreamlessly. When Qin Wan next opened her eyes, it wasn’t yet light outside. Perhaps because she had gone to bed early and slept so soundly, she didn’t feel as sleepy now. However, with the sky not yet bright, it wasn’t appropriate to get up. The Qin residence was now guarded day and night by prefecture guards, and she didn’t know the situation at the bamboo grove. It wouldn’t be wise to rush over there at this hour.
Qin Wan thought for a moment and closed her eyes again to rest. In the pre-dawn hours, the residence was completely quiet, her small courtyard especially so – you could hear a pin drop. Perhaps because of this silence, Qin Wan’s consciousness soon began to blur again. But just as she was starting to drift off, she suddenly heard several strange shouts…
Qin Wan’s eyes snapped open, but when she concentrated on listening again, she couldn’t hear anything.
In the brief moment of confusion, the sky outside had barely begun to brighten. Qin Wan found those few strange shouts rather eerie and couldn’t help but get up, pulling aside the bed curtains. The room was somewhat chilly, so she put on an outer robe and walked to the window. With a creaking sound, she pushed open the lattice to listen, but still couldn’t hear anything.
Qin Wan frowned slightly, asking herself if it had been a dream.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside, and Fu Ling entered, looking rather surprised to see Qin Wan standing by the bed, “What’s wrong, Miss? Why are you up?”
Qin Wan shook her head and quickly asked, “I thought I heard some shouting just now. Did you hear it?”
Fu Ling, looking barely awake, rubbed her eyes at these words, “What shouting? This servant didn’t hear anything. I only woke up when I heard Miss open the window. What’s wrong? What did Miss hear?”
Qin Wan slowly shook her head, “I’m not sure. Maybe I was dreaming.”
“Miss must be too tired these past few days, thinking too much. You were probably still working on the case in your dreams.” Fu Ling spoke as she walked closer, intending to close the window. “Miss should go back to sleep. Don’t stand in the draft and catch cold.”
It was coldest in the early morning, and Qin Wan did feel a chill. She pulled her robe tighter and turned to walk toward the bed, “I must have misheard. It’s still early, you should sleep more too. The bamboo grove should be finished being excavated today.”
Fu Ling closed the window lattice and nodded, “All right, Miss need not worry. I’ll go check later.”
Qin Wan nodded and lay down again. After getting up, she felt waves of chills, but fortunately, there was still some warmth under the brocade quilt. Qin Wan quietly waited a while before she began to feel better.
This time lying down, Qin Wan truly had no more sleepiness, just quietly waiting for the sky to brighten a bit more before getting up.
However, just as Qin Wan was lying there planning to get up, suddenly a commotion of footsteps came from the courtyard outside, followed by several voices. Someone seemed to cry out in shock, and soon, Fu Ling came running in.
“Miss, something’s happened, something’s happened to Third Master…”
Qin Wan sat up immediately in bed, looking at Fu Ling, “What happened?”
Fu Ling pressed her lips together, “His Highness came personally. He didn’t say specifically, but he seems very anxious…”
Qin Wan’s heart jumped. Qin An hadn’t been questioned yet – how could something have happened to him? Thinking this, she turned to get out of bed, put on an outer robe, and headed for the door. In her hurry, Qin Wan thought this night was still yesterday evening when she had slept in her clothes, but tonight was different. She pushed the door open urgently and immediately saw Yan Chi standing under the corridor outside.
Perhaps because her movements were too sudden, Yan Chi turned around and also saw Qin Wan. Their eyes met, and Yan Chi saw Qin Wan’s inner clothes beneath her outer robe. He glanced at her once, then turned his gaze aside.
Fu Ling also rushed up in alarm, “Miss, you haven’t changed yet…”
Yan Chi’s unusual behavior and Fu Ling’s words made Qin Wan freeze. She looked down at herself, and her expression immediately changed, a faint blush rising on her jade-like cheeks. Pulling her outer robe tight, she turned and went back inside.
Fu Ling’s face showed distress, “Miss…”
Qin Wan frowned, “I was too anxious. It’s fine, it wasn’t too improper.”
Her words seemed somewhat self-consoling, but given the urgency of the situation, Fu Ling couldn’t say much. She just helped Qin Wan change clothes very quickly and put up her hair before turning to go out.
When she went out, the faint blush had faded from Qin Wan’s face. Yan Chi stood tall and elegant under the corridor, and when he turned his head, his eyes were also completely calm. Qin Wan asked urgently, “What happened to Third Uncle?”
Yan Chi’s expression darkened, “About half an hour ago, he suddenly went mad, and now he’s in critical condition.”
Qin Wan’s heart jumped – right now, Qin An absolutely cannot die!