The ambiguous posture was truly too provocative. Their eyes met—one pair curved with teasing charm, the other shocked and embarrassed.

Clearly, Ji Yunshu belonged to the latter category.

This young scholar was truly quite handsome!

A mischievous intent rose unbidden in his heart. Jingrong said, “Sir’s waist is truly slender. If these lanterns in the pavilion were extinguished, this prince would truly think he was embracing a woman.”

These words jolted Ji Yunshu awake. She raised both hands, waving her long-sleeved robes, and used all her strength to push him away, finally breaking free from his hold.

“Your Highness, please conduct yourself with propriety!”

Gone was her earlier bashfulness—Ji Yunshu was somewhat angry now!

Jingrong’s expression remained unchanged. “It’s a cool late winter evening. Surely… one cannot even make a joke?”

Shameless!

“When Your Highness makes jokes, should there not be some limit? Two grown men embracing—if someone saw us, Your Highness may not care about face, but this humble one still does.” Ji Yunshu’s tone was unfriendly.

Seeing that he had truly provoked her anger, Jingrong furrowed his brows but revealed a satisfied expression. “I thought Scholar Ji was truly reserved and indifferent, cold as a frozen pine. But it turns out…” He lowered his head close to her face with a mischievous smile. “Scholar Ji can also get angry. Wonderful!”

Wonderful my foot!

Ji Yunshu’s cold gaze glared fiercely at him. Suppressing the fire in her heart, she lowered her shoulders and evened her expression. “Prince Rong, it’s already late. You and I bickering here—how does that show any respect for Miss Zhou, who has yet to be buried?”

“True enough. Important matters come first.” Jingrong came back to his senses and nodded.

“Prince Rong said he would help, so please trouble Your Highness to remain in this pavilion. This humble one will go down for a moment. In a while, you must find some way to hide yourself—as long as I cannot see you, that will suffice.”

“Are you making things difficult for this prince? This pavilion cannot conceal a person.” Jingrong objected.

Was this young scholar trying to get revenge on him?

But Ji Yunshu had already turned to head downstairs, tossing back without looking, “That’s Your Highness’s problem. Use your brain.”

Her voice faded as she descended.

Ji Yunshu walked to the rear garden, some distance from the pavilion—precisely the place Qiao Xin had passed through at the time.

Selecting a position, she raised her eyelids to look toward the pavilion, but it was completely empty with no sign of Jingrong.

So she walked to the other end of the garden, and still saw no one in the pavilion!

Just as she wondered where that troublesome Buddha had hidden himself, she saw Jingrong leap down from the top of the pavilion, landing steadily and squarely before her.

Ji Yunshu merely blinked, looking at him calmly and asking, “Where was Your Highness hiding just now?”

“Scholar Ji is so clever—can’t you guess?”

“I cannot.”

Jingrong felt rather bored. He raised his hand and pointed to the roof. “This triangular roof—the protruding part in the middle can conceal exactly one person. No matter from which direction someone below looks, they cannot see.”

Only then did Ji Yunshu suddenly realize!

The triangular roof structure was originally an ancient architectural style. She hadn’t expected to overlook this point.

“So the killer knows martial arts.”

As Ji Yunshu reached this conclusion, she herself was somewhat startled.

Her surprised reaction was rather unexpected to Jingrong. His eyes darkened as he asked, “What are you surprised about?”

“I’m surprised… the killer may not be just one person.”

“What’s your basis?” Jingrong’s expression grew serious.

Ji Yunshu pondered in her heart, then said, “After Miss Zhou died, there were traces showing someone had lifted her arm and dragged her. This is what caused the protrusion on her shoulder bone. The reason such a protrusion formed must be because a person with little strength used their full force to drag her. However, someone capable of scaling the roof and knowing martial arts would certainly not have little strength, and moreover, when dragging Miss Zhou, they could not possibly have needed to use their full force.”

Jingrong narrowed his long, cold eyes slightly, also falling into this deep fog of mystery!

This case was truly becoming more and more interesting!