Not one person’s skeletal remains?

“What?” someone exclaimed. “What does that mean?”

The bearded man deliberately kept them in suspense, smiled, and said: “Because a master pointed out that those skeletal remains have major problems.”

He stubbornly refused to get to the main point, and everyone grew anxious.

Someone even slammed the table: “Just say it all in one breath! Don’t be so long-winded like some woman.”

“Hurry up and tell us! Everyone’s waiting.”

“Don’t rush, don’t rush, I’ll tell you slowly.” The bearded man coughed lightly and said: “That master is said to be a young gentleman. Because he had some relationship with Song Zhi, our Magistrate Zhuo called him in for questioning, but couldn’t get anything out of him. Later, I heard Song Zhi’s testimony was wrong, so Magistrate Zhuo was about to immediately convict Song Zhi of murder. That young master immediately stepped forward to stop him, insisting that those white bones had problems, saying the white bones were pieced together from two deceased persons’ skeletal remains, so the case couldn’t be closed like that. When Magistrate Zhuo heard this, his expression changed. He immediately slammed the table and said she was talking nonsense. The young master said to bring the white bones into the court hall, and she could verify them to find out. But Magistrate Zhuo didn’t agree.”

“What happened next?”

“Next! Young Master Cheng came to the yamen.”

“Young Master Cheng? The second son of Marquis Pingyang, Li Cheng.”

The bearded man said: “That’s right! He ordered Magistrate Zhuo to have the white bones brought into the court hall for that young master to examine. As a result, after this examination, sure enough, those white bones really were two people’s skeletal structures put together—and they were one man and one woman.”

“Then what?”

“Then Young Master Cheng asked that young master what method could determine who the man and woman were? That person said two words: bone drawing.”

Bone drawing?

Everyone was puzzled.

The bearded man explained: “It means they can draw out what the deceased looked like in life based on the shape of the skeletal remains.”

After he finished saying this, several people’s expressions froze, and several others immediately laughed and said: “What kind of joke is this? This is absolutely impossible. How could there be such supernatural nonsense?”

“How is it supernatural nonsense? Since that person could examine and find problems with the skeletal remains, presumably they wouldn’t make such boasts. In any case, Young Master Cheng has already ordered that young master to handle this case, and even Magistrate Zhuo must follow his commands.”

This matter was truly interesting!

Everyone began discussing it in bits and pieces.

This matter spread from the tavern’s first floor to the second floor. In a private room on the second floor, a woman was standing by the window, wearing a blue dress with long hair over her shoulders. Just from her back, one could see her graceful figure and sense an aristocratic aura.

Because the door was open, she heard everything the people outside were discussing.

She couldn’t help but furrow her brows.

With a feeling of disappointment at unfulfilled potential.

The little maid behind her said: “Second Young Master said he was going to find that Magistrate Zhuo. How did he end up getting involved in investigating a case? Isn’t this meddling in other people’s business? The Marquis has ordered Second Young Master to escort you, Miss, back to Gaoding as quickly as possible. Now it’s probably going to be delayed again.”

Complaining!

The woman sighed: “Acheng is just like this—he always loves meddling in other people’s affairs.”

“Then, Eldest Miss, what should we do now?”

“Forget it!”

“Are we really going to stay here with Second Young Master?”

The woman turned around. That face wasn’t devastatingly beautiful, but she was still a standard beauty.

She sat down at the table, poured herself a cup of tea, took a sip, and said: “Father said to have Acheng bring me back. If I return to Gaoding first by myself, Father will definitely punish Acheng. As his older sister, I can’t just stand by and watch, can I?”

The maid said nothing more.

This person was called Li Wenshu, the legitimate daughter of Marquis Pingyang and Li Cheng’s biological older sister. She appeared gentle and gracious with the bearing of a great family, but was actually a woman with great ideas and determination. Moreover, she was well-read in countless books and was a female scholar. Once, someone praised her in front of Marquis Pingyang, saying that if she were a man, she would definitely be even more formidable than her father, Marquis Pingyang. What a pity she had a female body.

Two years ago, Li Wenshu went to Nanyin Academy in Bianbei to study under a master. A month ago, her teacher passed away. After she finished handling her teacher’s funeral, she planned to return to Gaoding. Marquis Pingyang originally wanted to send people to bring his precious daughter back, but thinking of his disappointing son still wandering and carousing outside, he assigned this task to him instead. Because Li Cheng wasn’t afraid of anyone since childhood, except for his older sister. Whatever Li Wenshu said, Li Cheng didn’t even dare to fart back. So Marquis Pingyang decided on this plan precisely to have him personally go bring Li Wenshu back to Gaoding, which would also make Li Cheng behave himself.

At first, Li Cheng refused!

But he was afraid of Li Wenshu. Helplessly, he had no choice but to make the trip to Nanyin Academy to pick up his sister.

Li Wenshu actually loved this younger brother very much, but she loved deeply and disciplined strictly!

Before long, Li Cheng came to the tavern from the yamen.

As soon as he entered, he saw Li Wenshu sitting there with a stern expression, and his heart trembled violently.

“Elder Sister!” he called out ingratiatingly.

Li Wenshu ignored him and turned to order her maid: “Go tell the waiter we can serve the dishes now.”

“Yes!”

The maid went out to call for the dishes.

Only the two of them remained in the private room.

Li Wenshu still didn’t look at Li Cheng.

After Li Cheng sat down, he smiled at her, sharing the interesting matter he’d encountered: “Elder Sister, don’t you want to know what I went to do?”

“…”

“I handled a major matter!”

Li Wenshu still ignored him.

“Elder Sister…”

“Have some tea.” She poured Li Cheng a cup of tea.

But Li Cheng didn’t dare accept it, just grinned foolishly.

Li Wenshu glanced at him: “I’ve already heard about the major matter you mentioned.”

“So quickly?”

“Yiwu is only this big. It’s hard not to know.”

Li Cheng nodded: “That’s true! Elder Sister, that young master I encountered is truly talented. A pile of white bones was assembled in just a few moves, and he could even point out the peculiarities of the white bones, saying he could even draw out what the bones looked like when they were alive.”

“Don’t be deceived.”

“How could I be deceived? I truly admire that person. This is the cleverest of all the women I’ve seen. It’s just a pity she’s from Dalin—Father definitely won’t agree to me marrying her.”

What?

Li Wenshu looked at him strangely: “A woman?”

Li Cheng opened the folding fan in his hand, looking extremely proud: “Of course. Although she wore men’s clothing, with my experience having seen countless women, she’s clearly a young lady.”

How rare!

Li Wenshu was somewhat interested now.

Seeing she didn’t speak, Li Cheng gently bumped her with his hand: “Elder Sister, what are you thinking?”

“Nothing!” Li Wenshu came back to her senses, then looked at him sternly and said: “You really do love meddling in other people’s business. Father told you to bring me back to Gaoding as quickly as possible, but you’ve delayed a lot of time along this journey. Today you even took on this case. When we return late, Father will definitely punish you.”

He felt so wronged!

With a bitter face, he said: “Elder Sister, you don’t know—that Magistrate Zhuo is truly an incompetent official. He was about to casually close the case. If I hadn’t arrived in time, that case would have definitely become a miscarriage of justice. I’m doing a good deed. Father won’t scold me. Elder Sister, you’re not even praising me!”

Hmm! It was indeed a good deed.