Of the seven leaders of the Liu Gang back then, five had now appeared in Yuzhou City.

What about the other two?

The guard continued reporting, “This subordinate originally planned to continue listening to what they were saying, but Li Mingzhou pulled Yun Tongyang into a room, so we could only return.”

Wasn’t that even more strange?

What secret did Yun Tongyang and Li Mingzhou share between them?

Jingrong couldn’t figure it out for the moment, but perhaps this was a new clue.

He had originally planned to go find Ji Yunshu, but on second thought, that woman hadn’t rested properly for two days. If he told her now, wouldn’t it just cause more commotion?

So he immediately dismissed this notion!

At this time, Ji Yunshu was sitting anxiously in her room, glancing from time to time at Shi Zijin guarding her at the door.

Truly an obedient person.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, supporting her forehead.

Her mind was full of the case!

Finally unable to sit still any longer, she stood up abruptly and walked to the door. Shi Zijin’s figure immediately blocked her way.

“Master Ji, His Highness said to let you rest properly.”

“There are only two days left. I can’t just sit and do nothing.”

“That won’t do.”

“Zijin, I’m really not tired. If you watch me on His Highness’s orders, I’ll be suffocated to death in here.”

“But…”

“No buts. I need to go find Secretary Wen now to ask him for some materials on this case.”

Without allowing Shi Zijin to stop her, she gently pushed her aside, directly went around her, and headed toward the study where Wen Lingyang worked.

After going around two corridors, she arrived!

Wen Lingyang was writing something inside. Seeing Ji Yunshu enter, he put down his work and quickly stood up to greet her. “Master Ji, why have you come?”

“You showed me some case files before. I’d like to see if there are any other materials.”

She stated her purpose directly!

Wen Lingyang quickly took out a record book he always carried with him and handed it over. “The case materials are generally recorded in the case files, but the records in this book are things I casually noted at the crime scenes. Master Ji, please take a look and see if there’s anything that can help you.”

“Thank you very much.”

She took it and sat down on a chair nearby. While flipping through it, she said without raising her head, “Secretary Wen, don’t mind me. You can continue writing.”

Wen Lingyang nodded and didn’t disturb her.

She read her materials, he wrote his characters!

After about half an incense stick’s worth of time, she closed the book, walked to the desk, and tilted her head to look at the characters Wen Lingyang had written on the paper.

Clean and neat, each stroke forceful!

“Sinking, watching the shadow in the philtrum; enduring to achieve high advancement; returning beside past years; one by one, seeing old friends.”

Even though Ji Pei had taught her quite a bit of poetry back then, and her “cultural” level wasn’t garbage—she could even spontaneously come up with a line or two of profound poetry—still—

“What do these four lines of poetry by Secretary Wen mean?”

Wen Lingyang placed his brush back on the ivory brush rest and met Ji Yunshu’s gaze.

“Sir is learned and talented—surely you understand the meaning of these four lines?”

“This one’s learning is shallow!”

He smiled. “Actually, these four lines aren’t difficult to understand. If Sir ponders them more carefully, you’ll understand.”

“Is that so? Then fine, this one will take the trouble to memorize these four lines. After the case is concluded, I’ll ponder them.”

“As Sir wishes.”

The two smiled at each other.

Ji Yunshu placed the book on the table and pushed it toward him. “Thank you. I’ve finished reading it.”

“Did you find any clues?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Then what does Sir plan to do next?”

At this question, Ji Yunshu had no idea either. She shook her head, but her gaze wandered to the box beside that ivory brush rest.

The box was divided into three tiers, painted with brick-red lacquer, carved with very exquisite patterns on top, and at the top of the box was a small iron ring, seemingly used for hanging it somewhere.

The box didn’t look like an item that would appear here, and moreover, it didn’t seem like something a man like Wen Lingyang would own.

Curiosity piqued, she asked, “This box looks quite nice. Is it Secretary Wen’s?”

He actually nodded!

“Oh? In such an exquisite box, does Secretary Wen perhaps keep the Four Treasures of the Study?”

She stared curiously.

Wen Lingyang smiled warmly and generously opened the first tier of the box to show her. Inside were four or five neatly arranged brush heads.

“I saw that when Master Ji went to the Chang residence to examine the corpse previously, you also brought an exquisite sandalwood box. This one has the same habit—when I go out, I bring this, in case Lord Fang’s brush head breaks while recording cases. Besides, I’m accustomed to using my own handmade brush heads and am not used to others’.”

“I see. What about the second tier?”

He opened the second tier as well. Inside were small paper scrolls, each tied neatly with fine thread, about twenty-some arranged in order.

“This is also just in case. After all, sometimes there’s too much to record and the paper I’m carrying isn’t enough. If we’re in the wilderness and want to find a sheet of paper, it’s difficult, so I prepare my own.”

“Secretary Wen is truly meticulous.”

She praised him, her gaze falling on the third tier at the bottom.

Even more curious about what was stored in the third tier!

Wen Lingyang perceived her thoughts, but he didn’t intend to hide anything, so he was just reaching out to open it—

Suddenly—

Someone came running in from outside in a panic, crashing into the corner of the desk.

Bang!

“A ghost has come to claim a life, a ghost has come to claim a life…”

The man shouted while quickly crawling under the desk, his arms tightly hugging his knees, his eyes scattered and staring at the floor.

His mouth kept repeating “a ghost has come to claim a life.”

Seeing this sudden scene, both Ji Yunshu and Wen Lingyang were stunned.

Only after reacting did they see the man under the desk.

Disheveled hair, face full of stubble, the rough appearance of a man in his forties, lips pale white, eyes terrified. Yet the disheveled clothing on this person was made of silk—the fabric didn’t look like it belonged to an ordinary commoner’s household.

His whole body was tightly curled under the desk, trembling all over!

What was going on?

Ji Yunshu first exchanged glances with Wen Lingyang. Wen Lingyang shook his head, indicating he didn’t recognize him.

Only then did she cautiously walk over, slowly crouching down and trying to make eye contact with the man. But the man’s eyes were completely lifeless, filled with endless terror.

She could only ask in a gentle tone, “Who are you?”

“A ghost has come to claim a life, a ghost has come to claim a life…”

“What ghost? Who wants to claim your life?”

“A ghost, a ghost wants to claim my life!”

“Why claim your life? Who exactly are you?”

“A ghost has come to claim a life.”

The man only had this one phrase in his mouth.

Ji Yunshu couldn’t get anything out of him and was utterly puzzled.

At this moment, a young servant from the yamen came running in hastily. When he saw the man huddled under the desk, he slapped his thigh.

“Oh my, how did you get here?”

He moved forward to pull the man out.

But the man refused to come out no matter what. The two pulling and pushing, they worked up a full sweat.

Ji Yunshu simply stopped the person and asked, “What’s going on here?”

The servant wiped his sweat, extremely helpless, and replied, “Master Ji, I don’t know either. I was just about to go out the back door to sell some things, when this madman suddenly rushed in. In a blink, he disappeared. I searched for a long time—turns out he was hiding here.”

He ran in on his own?