Jing Zhaoyin shuffled forward half a step.

“Master surely knows that this matter of Prince Rong returning to the capital ended up causing a commotion in court. His Majesty stripped Minister Ji of his position on the spot, and General Ji was sent to the frontier. The Six Ministries of the court are inherently interconnected—one matter involves all six—so this incident with the Ministry of War has affected the other five ministries as well. It’s been incredibly chaotic. The Jingzhao Prefecture, which governs the capital, has also become a complete mess. This official truly has unspeakable difficulties! Last night I didn’t sleep a wink, and early this morning I hurried over to find Master.” He sighed again, “Let’s not talk about it, let’s not talk about it.”

He waved his hand dismissively!

Ji Yunshu listened but said nothing, continuing to work with the skeleton in her hands.

She ignored him.

So—

Jing Zhaoyin started a different topic. “I heard that when Master went to Yu Manor to handle a case, you solved quite a few cases along the way and caused quite a stir.”

“Just a few cases, that’s all.”

“Master is truly impressive.”

Heh heh.

Getting no response, Jing Zhaoyin pursed his lips and continued, “Old Lady Xie’s case has been closed. The Court of Judicial Review has reopened the case and entered it into the records. It’s just that this official doesn’t quite understand—how is it that the matter of the disaster relief silver wasn’t investigated? Could there be some crucial clue that was overlooked?”

Ji Yunshu shook her head. “I’m not clear on that. This case was handled by the Prince. I don’t understand the ins and outs of it very well. If Jing Zhaoyin wants to know the details about the disaster relief silver, you might as well go ask him yourself.”

“That won’t do, that won’t do.” He hastily waved his hands, revealing an embarrassed expression. “Even His Majesty has stopped pursuing the matter now. If this official were to bring it up before the Prince, it would be somewhat inappropriate.”

How awkward!

Then why are you even mentioning it?

Ji Yunshu’s lips curved slightly but she said nothing.

Yet she noticed something—today, Jing Zhaoyin seemed somewhat unusual.

Unusually unusual, even.

But as she was working with the skeleton in her hands, she really didn’t have the extra mental energy to think about other things.

Not knowing whether Jing Zhaoyin was feeling stifled and uncomfortable if he didn’t speak up, he simply gritted his teeth and leaned forward again, looking at the scattered yet neatly arranged pile of bones. He carefully inquired, “Master, how is the Linjing Case progressing now?”

“Still investigating.”

“How much longer for these skeletal portraits?”

“I don’t know.”

“An estimate?”

Ji Yunshu lifted her eyes and frowned. Though somewhat impatient, she still earnestly explained, “Jing Zhaoyin, as you know, this case is already fourteen years old, and these skeletal remains were also burned to death. So compared to skeletal remains that died only two or three years ago, producing a portrait from bones that have been dead for fourteen years is far too difficult. Even if I had four pairs of hands, I might not be able to draw all the skeletal portraits in a short time. Moreover, this case is a major case—we really can’t be careless. The slightest error, even a fraction, will affect the entire drawing. Otherwise, when we investigate later, it will naturally be much more difficult.”

Quite patient!

Jing Zhaoyin swallowed and nodded.

He understood!

But a moment later he opened his mouth again, hemming and hawing, hesitating to speak…

Ji Yunshu took a deep breath and simply asked directly, “If Jing Zhaoyin has something to say, you might as well speak plainly. With you going round and round like this, I’m getting dizzy from your circling.”

His thoughts exposed, Jing Zhaoyin’s face turned terrible!

His entire face fell as he let out a heavy sigh, saying nothing.

Ji Yunshu put down the finger bone in her hand and picked up a rib bone, examining it from left and right as she casually remarked, “If you don’t want to say it, then forget it.”

“Actually… someone died last night.”

Hmm?

Someone died?

Her hands paused.

Damn it, her occupational hazard was about to kick in again.

She fiercely suppressed that professional impulse in her heart as she asked.

“Who?”

“A merchant who came to the capital to do business, called Gao Meng.”

Uh!

Gao Meng?

Why did this name sound so familiar?

Thinking carefully, wasn’t he the person she’d run into on the street yesterday who dealt in tiger pelts?

He’d just arrived in the capital—how could he be dead already?

She turned her head and asked in confusion, “Why would a merchant just suddenly die like that?”

“I don’t know! And also…”

Jing Zhaoyin hesitated to speak again.

Ji Yunshu asked, “Is there something else?”

“Truly nothing can be hidden from Master. Last night there was heavy rain, thunder and lightning. Many buildings in the outskirts of the city collapsed, and the flood waters rushed through. The entire suburban area was a complete mess, with common people fleeing everywhere to seek refuge.”

“So?”

“It was precisely because of last night’s heavy rain—not only did buildings collapse, but an abandoned temple outside the city also collapsed. A Buddhist statue inside was struck down by a wooden beam and completely shattered.”

Buddy, can you get to the point?

Ji Yunshu patiently continued asking, “And then?”

“What no one expected was that beneath that Buddha statue, there was actually a deep well. A terrible stench emanated from it. People who normally lived near the temple went to investigate. When they looked down into the well, they actually saw something glowing below. Vaguely, they seemed to see the shadow of a person. They reported it to the authorities overnight. This official sent people down to look, and it turned out… it was a corpse. The corpse had been stabbed many times. After this official investigated, I learned that the deceased was Gao Meng, a merchant who had just arrived in the capital yesterday to do business, dealing in tiger pelts.”

“Since you already know who the deceased is, you should just continue investigating. At the crime scene, there must be traces of the murderer. Search carefully once through, and you should be able to find them.”

“That would be easy to handle. The coroner examined the body—the deceased died at the seventh hour last night, while the Buddha statue collapsed at midnight. Before that, someone must have been there. But at the seventh hour, because the flood waters had just risen, there was no one in that area at all, so no one saw anything. The temple was swept through by water, so all clues are gone. And also…” Jing Zhaoyin’s entire face wrinkled together.

Ji Yunshu sensed something. “At the bottom of that well, is there something else?”

“Indeed!”

Uh!

Jing Zhaoyin’s expression grew grave as he said, “Down below… there are also seven more skeletons!”

“Skeletons?”

“That’s right, skeletons. Along with that corpse, they were pressed beneath the Buddha statue in the dry well.”

“Skeletons in a dry well? And pressed beneath a Buddha statue in a dry well?” Ji Yunshu murmured. “It seems that dry well is a hidden small-scale mass grave, and moreover, it’s a dedicated one.”

“What does Master Ji mean by this?”

“It’s…” She paused, thinking. If she really started discussing this case, wouldn’t that mean she was planning to take it on? Wouldn’t that be falling right into Jing Zhaoyin’s scheme?

No way!

She shook her head.

“Nothing in particular.”

“Master Ji…”

She cut off his words.

“Your Excellency, if the Buddha statue in the temple has collapsed, you should notify the Ministry of Works. If you’ve seen a dead person, you should also notify the Court of Judicial Review.”

“But Master, those skeletons…”

She interrupted again. “The Linjing Case can’t be delayed any further. If you want me to help you investigate cases, I’m powerless to do so. After all, I can’t split myself in two—I’m truly too busy. Besides, in all of Great Lin, is there really not a single person who can solve cases? Are the court’s stipends all being used to support idle people?”

Jing Zhaoyin felt embarrassed.

Speechless!

Ji Yunshu put down the skeleton in her hands and walked out of the hall, tossing out a remark as she went, “Jing Zhaoyin should hurry back. The case is urgent.”

Jing Zhaoyin stood rooted to the spot, his face turning pale.

Then he raised his hand and slapped himself, saying, “Too talkative.”