Qin Li’s eyes reddened as he called out softly, “Grandmother—”
Yan Chi and Qin Wan exchanged glances. Regardless of Qin Chen’s past actions, this time he had genuinely gone in to save Madam Jiang. If the corpse beside Qin Chen had been Cai He instead, it would have surely left the Qin household feeling much colder.
“Let’s prepare the body first,” Qin Wan said, then turned to look at Qin Li. “Second Brother, can you hold up?”
Qin Li lowered his eyes and quickly wiped the corner of his eye. When he raised his head, he nodded, “I can manage, I can manage—”
Qin Wan hesitated briefly before saying, “Sister-in-law has given birth to a daughter.”
Qin Li was stunned, his expression momentarily complex, though his eyes brightened slightly.
“That’s good, that’s good… At least Big Brother has an heir.”
Qin Li sniffled and coughed lightly twice. Qin Wan considered before speaking, “Madam fainted earlier. If she learns of this news, she’ll likely be even more distressed. The Qin household now relies on Second Brother to maintain order.”
Previously, the Qin household had Madam Jiang above and Madam Lin and Qin Chen below. But now, Madam Jiang was dead, Qin Chen was dead, and Madam Lin was either too grief-stricken to handle affairs or likely to develop serious illness. Looking around, truly only Qin Li remained as the sole man who could step up. Qin Li, who was previously the overlooked concubine-born son of both Madam Jiang and Madam Lin, was now in a very different position.
Qin Li coughed twice more, “Ninth Sister speaks truly. I understand.”
Qin Wan sighed and looked toward the Buddha hall behind the main room. The originally spacious and elegant main room had been burned to collapse, with surrounding walls reduced to burnt ruins. Looking past the blackened remains, one could see the Buddha hall still surrounded by flames. Qin Wan knew that inside lay a charred corpse.
Her eyes darkening, Qin Wan gathered her spirits and said, “I must go check on Sister-in-law. She was in danger earlier. I’ll leave things here to Second Brother.”
Hearing this, Qin Li quickly nodded, “Good… good!”
Qin Wan turned to look at Yan Chi, who raised his chin slightly, “You go ahead, I’ll watch things here.”
Qin Wan frowned, “But Your Highness’s injury…”
“It’s nothing,” Yan Chi smiled. “Not worth mentioning.”
Qin Wan disagreed, “While normally it wouldn’t matter much, now is different—”
“How is it different?” Yan Chi’s eyes brightened as he questioned Qin Wan directly.
Qin Wan wanted to say something but hesitated, “Now… now the physician is right before the Crown Prince, naturally it’s different—”
Seeing this, Qin Li seemed to understand something and added, “Crown Prince, please go. I can watch over things here.”
Yan Chi and Qin Wan’s eyes met briefly, and his lips curved into a smile, “Alright, let’s go then.”
Qin Wan turned and walked directly toward Ting Lan Court, with Yan Chi following behind. Somehow, Qin Wan instinctively felt he was in an extremely good mood. Puzzled, she walked very quickly, and soon the two arrived at Ting Lan Court.
Upon entering, Qin Wan immediately saw Wan Xing standing guard at the door. Seeing Wan Xing gave Qin Wan some peace of mind. Wan Xing curtsied in greeting. Qin Wan turned to Yan Chi, “Your Highness, please enter—”
Yan Chi stepped across the courtyard threshold. This was his second time entering Ting Lan Court.
Walking ahead toward the room, Qin Wan asked, “How is Fu Ling?”
Wan Xing quickly replied, “Sister Fu Ling has been unconscious since being brought back, and still hasn’t woken.”
Hearing this, Qin Wan became immediately anxious and hurried into the main room. At the doorway, she quickly walked toward the inner chamber, only turning back to address Yan Chi, “Please wait a moment, Your Highness.”
Looking at Wan Xing, she added, “Please escort His Highness to the warm pavilion.”
Yan Chi nodded, and Qin Wan headed to the inner chamber. Fu Ling had been placed in the side room next to the inner chamber – her quarters. She was covered with a brocade quilt and appeared unharmed. Qin Wan walked over in a few steps to check her pulse. After a moment, she let out a sigh of relief – fortunately, while Qin Chen had intended to kill her, he hadn’t harmed Fu Ling severely.
After tucking in Fu Ling’s quilt, Qin Wan returned to her chamber. She retrieved several commonly used medicines from a tall cabinet before heading to the warm pavilion. At the doorway, the warm pavilion was silent, with Wan Xing attending outside. Not only Wan Xing, but Wan Tao and Wan Tang, even Wan Li had come out today – the four of them standing outside made quite a pleasing sight.
Yet when she had entered earlier, these three hadn’t been visible.
Qin Wan didn’t go out, only glanced again at Wan Xing, noting her wooden expression with some relief.
Withdrawing her gaze, Qin Wan entered the warm pavilion directly. As soon as she approached, she saw Yan Chi standing before her writing desk.
This warm pavilion was where she usually practiced calligraphy, and what Yan Chi saw was a new piece she had just completed the night before. The sound of Qin Wan’s footsteps startled Yan Chi, who slowly turned around and said, “Your calligraphy is excellent.”
Qin Wan felt somewhat nervous, smiled briefly, and walked to the window-side couch, “Please come sit, Your Highness.”
Qin Wan took on the appearance of a physician, and Yan Chi compliantly walked over. Due to his shoulder injury, Yan Chi naturally loosened his collar. Qin Wan pressed her lips together, suddenly feeling the scene was somewhat strange…
Late at night, a man and woman, alone in a room, undressing…
“What are you spacing out for?”
The sudden voice brought Qin Wan back to her senses. Looking down, she saw Yan Chi’s shoulder was already exposed. On his strong, lean shoulder was a palm-sized red burn, with most of a large blister rubbed open, now a ghastly mess of raw flesh. Qin Wan’s brows furrowed as her mind focused. She took out the prepared medicine, cleaned the wound, and then carefully spread the medicinal powder evenly on his shoulder. Yan Chi sat upright while Qin Wan leaned slightly forward, her hair brushing against his arm as her shallow breaths fell on his shoulder, stirring an itching sensation in his heart.
“Fortunately you’re alright,” Yan Chi said suddenly, looking at Qin Wan’s profile and her slightly pink ears.
Qin Wan turned to look at Yan Chi, seeing his phoenix eyes filled with rippling light, scattered like stars, yet reflecting her image. Qin Wan had always felt Yan Chi was unfathomable, his eyes concealing endless darkness like an abyss beneath their shine. But now, though outside was the darkest pre-dawn night, Yan Chi’s eyes were inexplicably bright and clear, like winter stars warmed by the room’s lamp, with an unexpected tenderness that caught Qin Wan off guard.
Qin Wan pressed heavily on Yan Chi’s shoulder—
“Hiss…” Qin Wan’s movement was swift and decisive, causing Yan Chi to sharply inhale in surprise. Qin Wan withdrew her gaze, “Many thanks to Your Highness for the timely rescue—”
Yan Chi’s brows slightly furrowed as he looked at Qin Wan’s calm profile, pondering before asking:
“What exactly happened that night?”
Qin Wan continued working without pause, “Your Highness means the night I fell into the lake?”
Yan Chi gazed at her intently, “Was what Cai He said true?”
Hearing this, Qin Wan gave a bitter smile, “It should be true…”
Yan Chi’s eyes immediately darkened, “What do you mean?”
After finishing treating Yan Chi’s wound, Qin Wan finally straightened up, “When I woke up then, I truly couldn’t remember anything.”
Yan Chi raised an eyebrow, seeming somewhat skeptical. Qin Wan turned to put away the medicine bottle and continued speaking calmly, “But Your Highness knows I can examine corpses… Though my mind couldn’t remember things those days, the marks left on my body don’t lie. When I first woke up, I discovered strangulation marks on my neck, and minor wounds on my legs and arms. From these injuries, I could tell I hadn’t simply slipped and fallen into the lake…”
Qin Wan turned around, expression serious, “The curve and span of the strangling marks on my neck were quite large, clearly from a man’s hands. And I was pulled from Half Moon Lake, so I went back there. Perhaps by coincidence, I found bamboo branches from the Purple Bamboo Grove in the lake. At that time, I thought I was likely strangled to apparent death in the Purple Bamboo Grove, but the killer thought I was dead and threw me into Half Moon Lake…”
She paused, “Discovering all this took several days, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t remember what happened that night. I could only secretly search for clues. I suspected many people but never suspected Qin Chen. Perhaps because people in the household knew I couldn’t remember, he didn’t harbor killing intent toward me afterward. But as I investigated and prepared to ask the gatekeepers if he had left the Qin residence that night, he somehow learned of this. Thinking I had remembered the events of that night, he decided to kill me.”
Yan Chi looked at Qin Wan, momentarily shocked.
This was an experience even popular novels would struggle to write – Qin Wan was murdered but “came back to life.” Though she could have identified the killer immediately, she lost her memory. So while appearing calm and unruffled on the surface, she secretly began investigating who had tried to kill her.
“Knowing someone in the Qin household wanted to kill you, how dare you continue staying here?”
Hearing this, Qin Wan lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly, “First, I had nowhere else to go. Second, though I forgot past events and my personality changed somewhat, I knew my former self wouldn’t casually go to the Purple Bamboo Grove, and previously no one in this household truly wanted to kill me. There was only one possibility for my murder – I must have accidentally witnessed something I shouldn’t have.”
She continued, looking at Yan Chi, “The killer only wanted to silence me. But since I had forgotten past events then, there was no reason to risk killing me again. For him, my forgetting that incident was the most desirable outcome.”
Yan Chi looked at Qin Wan, the shock in his heart still not subsiding.
No matter what, Qin Wan’s courage exceeded his expectations. In both cases, she played an extremely important role, yet fundamentally, these two cases had nothing to do with her. Though she was involved, she was ostensibly safe. But her own attempted murder was different – knowing the murderous intent within the household, she still managed to accomplish so much.
How could an ordinary young lady accomplish this?
Suddenly, Yan Chi recalled what Qin Chen had said after being caught…
Qin Chen had asked her who she was…
In an instant, a strange sense of absurdity spread through Yan Chi’s body. He discovered Qin Chen’s words had affected him – he was even considering the possibility of what Qin Chen had suggested.
But if the person standing before him wasn’t the Qin family’s Ninth Miss, then who was she?
Her personality had changed, and her medical skills were revealed, but no one said her appearance had changed.
In this world, there couldn’t possibly be two identical Qin Wans, and if the current Qin Wan wasn’t the original Ninth Miss, then where was the original Ninth Miss? She couldn’t still be at the bottom of Half Moon Lake…
“Your Highness doesn’t believe me?”
Seeing Yan Chi hadn’t spoken, Qin Wan suddenly asked. Yan Chi shook his head, “It’s not that I don’t believe you, just that it’s incredible. At that time, you must have suspected many people – the Qin household was full of murderous intent toward you, yet you could remain here peacefully. Even after gaining the Grand Princess’s favor, you never sought help. If at first, you had nowhere to go, later you did, yet you didn’t leave. You wanted to find that killer by yourself.”
Yan Chi didn’t express some of his more complex emotions. Initially struck by Qin Wan’s stunning beauty, and later, her courage, wisdom, and achievements in medicine and examining corpses – he had known since her first corpse examination and case solution. However, learning of this incident gave Yan Chi an even deeper understanding of Qin Wan.
The image of Qin Wan in his heart became more resilient and substantial than before. He discovered her previously unrevealed strong and fearless spirit, and such a Qin Wan with all these merits combined even earned his respect.
Yan Chi deeply knew this was unprecedented – not just among women, but even among men in the world, none had shocked and impressed him so. Though his face didn’t show it, he suddenly began taking it seriously.
There are many kinds of love between men and women. Previously in his arrogance, apart from the political struggles at court, no man or woman entered his eyes. Except for the person in that position, he felt he could control all under heaven in his palm. Yet today he suddenly discovered that “all under heaven” didn’t include Qin Wan.
Qin Wan gently curved her lips, “Your Highness thinks too highly of me. I merely no longer wished to hide what I knew and could do, then used my knowledge to distinguish the levels of danger. If killing intent truly came before me, please believe, I would immediately run to the Marquis’s mansion for protection.”
After speaking, Qin Wan smiled first. She pointed at Yan Chi’s open collar, “Your Highness’s wound is treated. I must go check on Sister-in-law. Please take care, and keep the wound dry these next few days.”
Yan Chi stood up, his expression inexplicably serious.
He nodded without speaking and immediately followed Qin Wan out.
Walking behind Qin Wan, from his perspective, her figure was slender and thin. Not just him, but even an ordinary warrior could easily kill Qin Wan. Yet Yan Chi knew that even if she was as lowly as dust, she would surely be stronger than anyone else in the world…
Yan Chi hadn’t said where he was going but followed Qin Wan to Lin Feng Court.
Just as Qin Wan reached the door, a servant woman quickly walked out from inside. Seeing Qin Wan, she immediately brightened, “We were just about to look for Ninth Miss! Ninth Miss, the young madam has awakened!”