Just as she closed her eyes, Shen Du suddenly drew in a sharp breath, his brows furrowing tightly, jolting her back to full alertness.
Hastily rising and moving far away, Zhu Yan looked at Shen Du with panic, “What’s wrong? Are… are… are you alright?”
Her tongue tripped over the words, and Zhu Yan wished she could slap herself to snap out of it properly. What had just happened? How had she become so entranced?
Shen Du appeared somewhat frustrated, perhaps regretting that he hadn’t endured the pain earlier…
“It’s nothing,” he said, his eyes betraying a hint of panic as he feigned calmness. “The wound might have reopened. Would you mind taking a look?”
“Oh, alright.” Zhu Yan’s face felt scorching hot, and she knew without looking that it must be bright red. She carefully examined Shen Du’s wound, her mind replaying the recent events.
“It’s fine. Perhaps I didn’t bandage it well enough, but it’s better now,” Zhu Yan said, speaking without thinking. “It’s getting late, we should rest.”
After saying this, she ran to the bed without looking back, covered herself with the blanket, and wrapped herself up like a silkworm cocoon, completely motionless.
Seeing this adorable side of Zhu Yan, Shen Du chuckled and shook his head, somewhat regretful that he had missed his chance.
And so, the night passed peacefully.
However, that night at the Ministry of Justice was far from peaceful, as a major incident occurred.
Early the next morning, Lu Chuichui ran to the Shen residence in a panic. Learning that they hadn’t risen yet, he impatiently knocked on their door.
Zhu Yan opened the door, surprised to see Lu Chuichui’s distressed expression. “You’re here so early, and looking so troubled. Has something happened?”
“Thank heavens you slept here. You scared me to death! I thought you had perished in the fire,” Lu Chuichui said, still shaken. “There was a fire at the Ministry of Justice last night, and it started in the side room where you were staying. Everyone else got out, but you were nowhere to be seen. I thought…”
“A fire!” Zhu Yan exclaimed in shock. How could a fire have started of nowhere?
Lu Chuichui nodded, “By the time people noticed, the fire was already too big. Fortunately, it’s been put out now, but dozens were injured. You should come and see.”
Zhu Yan quickly grabbed a cloak, with Shen Du following closely behind. The three hurried out of the Shen residence towards the Ministry of Justice.
“What exactly happened?” Zhu Yan asked anxiously.
Lu Chuichui explained as they walked, “Everything was fine in the first half of the night. It was only in the latter half, close to dawn, that the fire suddenly broke out. Everyone was sound asleep and didn’t notice. The fire grew larger and larger until finally, some nearby civilians noticed and woke everyone up.”
“What about the arsonist?”
“There was no time for that. The fire was so big, that the entire Ministry was about to burn down. Everyone was scrambling to save their lives, who had the presence of mind to look for the arsonist?”
Though somewhat exasperated, it was understandable. Amid a fire, self-preservation would be the only thought, with no time to search for the culprit.
When the three arrived at the scene, the rear courtyard of the Ministry of Justice was in complete disarray.
This area had been where everyone rested, with individual rooms for each person. Now, it was nothing but a pile of ruins.
The smoldering wood still occasionally emitted crackling sounds, the fire had been extinguished, and a crowd of onlookers had gathered at the entrance. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, though many were injured.
Seeing Zhu Yan arrive in haste, Ji Fangming quickly approached, “Madam Zhu, it’s truly fortunate that you weren’t here yesterday. If you had been…”
Ji Fangming didn’t finish his sentence, only turning his head to look at the ruins behind him.
In such a severe fire, if Zhu Yan had truly been present, not even her bones would likely have remained.
Thinking about it this way, it was indeed thanks to Shen Du’s insistence on her staying that night that Zhu Yan felt a surge of gratitude towards him.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on such thoughts. The fire had started in her room, which meant the culprit had targeted her specifically, intending to end her life. This was no trivial matter.
Ji Fangming had also been burned, his face blackened, with a ghastly wound on his elbow.
Zhu Yan was at a loss for words to express her current emotions, while Shen Du seemed to have noticed something amiss.
His gaze swept across the scene, then over the crowd of onlookers at the entrance.
With just one glance, Shen Du’s heart skipped a beat.
Among the crowd was a hunchbacked woman, her face tightly covered with a silk scarf. By chance, a sudden gust of wind lifted her scarf, revealing her face, her features, and her eyes – Shen Du recognized her instantly as Chen Huoe from years ago.
How was this possible? She was supposed to be dead, how could she appear among the crowd?
While Shen Du was dazed, finding it all unbelievable, the woman had already disappeared from the crowd.
Shen Du knew he couldn’t have been mistaken, but the only explanation was that she had somehow come back to life.
Could all those legends they spoke of be true? How could that be possible?
Shen Du remained silent for a long time, standing there with a gloomy expression.
Zhu Yan noticed his state and came to his side, asking in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
“I saw Chen Huoe,” he said. As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone present shuddered.
How could someone who had died possibly appear? The Grand Chancellor must have been seeing things.
“Could she have come back for revenge?” Ji Fangming said with a terrified expression, only to receive a fierce glare from Shen Du.
“We’re all educated people, how can we so easily believe in tales of ghosts and spirits?”
Chastened by Shen Du’s words, Ji Fangming dared not speak further. Zhu Yan, however, lowered her head in serious contemplation.
Though the story sounded fantastical, Zhu Yan was certain in her heart that Shen Du wasn’t lying.
But what was the deal with Chen Huoe? Was she truly still alive?
Zhu Yan returned to the Shen residence with Shen Du, pondering the situation. The only one who could provide answers to this mystery was the mentally unstable Chen Shoujie.
With a “worth a try” attitude, Zhu Yan prepared to leave, but Shen Du stopped her, “Where are you going?”
“To find Chen Shoujie,” Zhu Yan said frankly. “He’s the only one who can give us answers now.”
“But he’s mentally unstable. Even if he says something, it might not be reliable.”
“We don’t have a better option right now,” Zhu Yan looked at Shen Du earnestly. “Everything happens for a reason. Even if he’s mentally unstable, what he says might be useful to us. We can’t just investigate blindly.”
Zhu Yan’s reasoning made sense, so Shen Du nodded and decided to accompany her.
“You’re still injured, you should stay home and recover. I’ll let you know if I find any leads.”
Shen Du had no intention of listening, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold smile, “My injury is a minor concern. If you were to go alone and lose your life, that would be the real problem.”
“Wouldn’t that suit your purposes just fine?” Zhu Yan teased. “After all, there’s not much time left, and it would save you from getting your hands dirty.”
Shen Du’s eyes narrowed. The mention of this matter inexplicably angered him. He was concerned for her, couldn’t she tell?
No longer paying attention to Zhu Yan, Shen Du strode ahead.
Zhu Yan pouted and hurried to catch up.