The handsome officer summoned two maids from the Yan Mansion — one named Liu Shao, who had discovered the body that morning, and another named Xiao Yue, who had heard a sound in the middle of the previous night.

Both young maids were badly shaken, Liu Shao in particular, who trembled without stopping while the handsome officer questioned her.

The officer had a naturally amiable face, with fine and upright features. Even in his stern police uniform, he radiated a warmth that put people at ease.

Sure enough, after a few softly spoken words of reassurance, Liu Shao’s composure steadied considerably — though recounting her experience still made her shrink visibly.

“At six o’clock this morning, I went to draw water from the well as usual. When I let the rope down from the windlass, I felt like the bucket wouldn’t go down no matter what. I looked into the well and saw something dark floating there. It wasn’t yet light, so I couldn’t make it out clearly. I went back to the room and found a torch, and when I shone it down, I realized it wasn’t just some object — it was a person. I rushed to find the steward, and the steward reported it to the Jinlin Guard.”

“And you?” The handsome officer kept notes being taken beside him as he turned to Xiao Yue.

Xiao Yue hunched her shoulders and softly recalled: “In the middle of last night, I got up to use the privy. I had just sat up when I heard a loud splash outside the window — like something had fallen into water. I knew there was a well out there, and people were always telling ghost stories about it. I was terrified. I didn’t dare go to the privy at all, and I huddled under my covers the whole night.”

“Do you remember what time it was?”

“While I was hiding under the quilt unable to sleep, I looked at the wall clock. It was two in the morning.”

The handsome officer continued, “Were you close to the deceased?”

“Cui Nong lived right next door to us. We were all quite familiar with her.”

“Do you think she would have taken her own life?”

Xiao Yue thought carefully before answering: “Her mood had been very poor lately. She kept throwing things, then crying after. We’d ask her if something was wrong, but she wouldn’t say.”

Liu Shao added from the side: “Yesterday evening, she was shouting in her room that living like this was no better than being dead.”

“Yes, she really did say that — a lot of people heard it.”

The handsome officer and the young forensic examiner exchanged a glance and shook their heads somewhat helplessly. “The scene has been compromised too severely. There’s nothing of value to collect.”

Before the Jinlin Guard had arrived, at least a dozen servants had been running back and forth through the area. Expecting those people to have preserved the scene was simply an impossibility.

The forensic examiner covered the body with a cloth and removed his mask. “It’s a suicide. The case can be closed.”

While the others were talking, Master Yan strode over briskly. After a brief exchange with the handsome officer, the Jinlin Guard began to wrap up, and since the death did not appear to be criminal in nature, the body was temporarily placed in the Yan Family’s care while waiting for Cui Nong’s relatives to come and claim it.

The moment the police tape came down, the crowd parted on its own. The handsome officer led the way out, his uniform impeccably neat — yet beneath his eyes ran fine threads of red. The exhaustion in his bearing clearly came from extended sleep deprivation.

It seemed the Jinlin Guard was still pursuing the Chen Family Massacre. The case had caused widespread public panic, and the pressure from above to investigate thoroughly and bring the killer to justice had been mounting.

As he passed by Yan Qing, the handsome officer paused for a fraction of a second. His gaze swept sideways toward her, and the corner of his attractive mouth curved into a faint, meaningful smile — though it vanished as quickly as it had appeared, drifting away with his retreating footsteps.

Yan Qing watched his departing figure with a thoughtful expression. It seemed this dashing officer knew who she was.

—