The light from that oil lamp trembled slightly.

Hearing Ji Yunshu ask this, Suyun’s dark eyes filled with shock.

“Master Ji, why are you… asking these things?”

“You just need to answer me properly for now. Think carefully—it’s very important.” Ji Yunshu’s composed face was serious and solemn.

At this moment, what she held in her hands wasn’t merely a simple murder case.

But two living human lives!

Suyun’s hands resting on her knees gripped tightly at the corners of her clothing. She lowered her eyes and began to review the scene from that night in her mind.

“That day, I secretly returned to the mansion and put poison in the medicinal soup for Miss in the kitchen. I watched with my own eyes as that bowl of medicine was carried into Miss’s room. I knew Miss would usually sleep after drinking her medicine, so during that time, not even Qiao Xin would go in. I was very afraid and very worried at the time.”

Speaking to this point, her hands gripped even harder, her fingertips turning white.

“So I kept hiding and didn’t dare go out. Only after everyone had gradually fallen asleep did I secretly sneak into Miss’s room. The moment I pushed open the door, I remember very clearly—there was no lamp lit in the room. Miss was lying on the floor, beside her… was the spilled medicinal soup. That’s all I saw at the time.”

Suyun tried her utmost to remember. Her bloodless face, reflected in the lamplight, actually appeared somewhat flushed.

Ji Yunshu’s expression was tense: “So you can confirm for certain that there was no lamp in the room at that time?”

“I can confirm it.” She nodded vigorously, afraid of missing that slight thread of hope.

“Good. Now think again—at that time, did your mistress have any wounds on her body?”

After thinking carefully, she shook her head.

“Truly none?”

“There should have been none. If there had been wounds, I couldn’t have failed to notice them when I dragged Miss onto the bed.”

Ji Yunshu’s expression became troubled. Though she had pieced together most of the answer in her heart, if she didn’t have complete certainty, she still didn’t dare rashly report to the yamen to reopen the case.

The next moment.

Suyun excitedly grabbed Ji Yunshu’s hand, her body also rising slightly from the ground.

“Master Ji, I’ve told you everything I know. You said you could save me, could save Lin Duan—is that true?”

Those eyes that had originally been filled with despair now rekindled with hope like dying embers bursting back into flame!

Her arm was gripped with considerable force. Ji Yunshu had to admit—

It hurt a bit!

Frowning from the pain, Ji Yunshu said: “Suyun, since I could come here to see you, I naturally have an idea. But the case is somewhat complex and can’t be resolved in a short time. Right now, all the evidence points to you having killed someone, and you yourself have already admitted it. To overturn the case, we must find sufficient evidence to prove the murderer is someone else.”

“The murderer is someone else? Could it be… Miss didn’t die from hemp poison?”

“I’m not certain,” Ji Yunshu replied.

That single phrase “not certain” left Suyun’s heart in anxious turmoil. She pressed her lips tightly together and sobbed quietly.

Ji Yunshu thought for a moment, then asked her: “That night, what medicine was your mistress drinking?”

“Miss often had headaches, so she was drinking calming medicinal soup.”

“What ingredients were added?”

“There was sour jujube seed, arborvitae seed, polygala root, silk tree bark, and oh yes, also spring return herb. Because Miss feared bitterness, spring return herb slices would be added to the medicinal soup.” She spoke each word extremely clearly.

Spring return herb!

On that thin wax oil, Ji Yunshu had indeed smelled the scent of spring return herb!

She held her anxiously suspended heart and pondered carefully.

The hope that Suyun had finally kindled absolutely couldn’t be extinguished now.

And Ji Yunshu was precisely her life-saving straw!

Seeing Ji Yunshu’s prolonged silence, Suyun reddened her eyes and said anxiously: “Sir, regardless of the final outcome, can you promise me you’ll definitely help Lin Duan? I’m the one who harmed him. He shouldn’t have to die. I’ll bear all the guilt alone—it has nothing to do with him. He was only trying to help me.”

She cried her heart out.

What Ji Yunshu feared most in life was seeing women cry. Right now, she really wanted to take out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

But after all, she was a “man”—this wouldn’t be proper, wouldn’t be proper.

Dismissing this notion, Ji Yunshu spoke with a seemingly comforting tone: “You have Lin Duan in your heart, and Lin Duan has Suyun in his heart. Heaven has always favored those who are deeply devoted. You’ve lost one child, but Heaven will grant you another. So hold onto hope—this case will definitely come to light.”

Ji Yunshu had probably read too many romance novels to say such things.

But for Suyun, it was extremely comforting!

Those deeply sunken eyes gradually lowered, and she nodded heavily!

…

Coming out of the prison, Ji Yunshu’s expression was calm and neutral, making it difficult to discern her current mood with the naked eye.

The guard, holding her sandalwood box, came forward again.

“Master Ji, are you leaving?”

What else? Stay here to chat about life with you?

Ji Yunshu gave the guard a cold, indifferent glance, took her sandalwood box from his hands, and wiped a layer of dust from it with her sleeve.

While asking: “How much is your monthly salary?”

“Huh?”

The guard was surprised. He scratched his head, smiled awkwardly, shrugged his shoulders, fidgeted with his hands, and made a peace sign with his fingers.

“Two taels.”

Ji Yunshu made an “mm” sound, took out three taels of silver from her waist, and stuffed them into his hand.

Holding the heavy three taels of silver in his palm, the guard grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

He hadn’t expected Master Ji to reward him with silver—a full three taels!

Unexpectedly, Ji Yunshu poured cold water on him: “Go buy some thick clothing and some medicine for treating cold injuries. Deliver them to that young lady from earlier and a man named Lin Duan. Good food and drink—not a single thing can be lacking.”

Crash—

The sound of a heart breaking!

So it wasn’t for him after all!

But broken as he was, the guard’s face wrinkled into a ball. He bent at the waist, appearing very troubled: “Sir, those confined in the prison are all criminals. Doing this doesn’t follow the rules.”

“Then let me ask you—isn’t there a regulation that as long as the Ministry of Justice’s writ hasn’t arrived, even death row prisoners cannot die?”

“Yes.”

“Magistrate Liu has already submitted the Zhou family case to the Ministry of Justice, but the case judgment hasn’t come down yet. If the prisoners die in the prison, can you bear that responsibility?”

To put it nicely, he was a guard. To put it bluntly, he was just a small jailer. Of course he couldn’t bear such responsibility.

But…

“Master Ji, I’m just following the regulations.”

This person—why was he so foolish? She couldn’t get through to him no matter what she said!

Ji Yunshu “looked” at him: “The regulations tell you to guard the prisoners, not to refuse them clothing and medicine. If you continue to be obstinate and unreasonable, I won’t give you the remaining tael.”

What?

Out of the three taels, he could keep one tael!

His face lit up with joy.

Clutching the silver, he licked his lips and chuckled: “Yes, yes, yes, you’re right, sir. I’ll take care of it immediately, absolutely handle it properly!”

She snapped her fingers.

Money makes the devil push the millstone—not wrong at all.

Too lazy to waste more words on him, Ji Yunshu held her sandalwood box and left.