“Enough, no more arguing,” Zhu Yan interjected. “Jing Lin, escort him to the guest room. I’ll check on him later.”
Shen Du forcefully declared, “You’re not allowed to go. Since you’re so concerned, Jing Lin, have that Xiu Xiu girl take care of him. Madam is too busy.”
“Yes, sir,” Jing Lin responded, dragging Pan Chi away despite his protests.
With his injuries, Pan Chi was no match for Jing Lin.
Zhu Yan gave a sidelong glance at the domineering man. “Are you satisfied now?”
Shen Du, his face dark, spoke coldly, “Now that you’ve become a member of the Shen family, you should observe proper wifely conduct. Stop fraternizing with these questionable characters and tarnishing our family’s reputation.”
His words were harsh but tinged with jealousy. Unfortunately, Zhu Yan, unfairly scolded, failed to detect it.
Zhu Yan was so angry her heart ached. “Questionable? Wifely conduct? Tarnishing reputation? Shen Du, is this how you see me?
I may be a woman, but I come from a scholarly family and received a proper education. I may not understand all the grand principles, but I know the importance of gratitude. Pan Chi has saved my life multiple times. Shouldn’t I show appreciation?
Not just me, but everyone at the city gate yesterday benefited from his help. Now he’s severely injured. Is it wrong to take extra care of him?”
The grand formation set up by Half-Face Ghost and the soul-stirring melody were countered thanks to Pan Chi’s extensive knowledge of Western Region divine music, averting a civil war.
It was precisely because of this that Pan Chi suffered such severe internal injuries, coughing up blood and fainting on the spot.
Pan Chi was merely a bit unruly, fond of joking and teasing. Zhu Yan indulged him, simply wanting to distract him from his pain. After all, only one night had passed; his internal and external injuries couldn’t have healed so quickly.
Who knew Shen Du would stumble upon them, his mouth incapable of producing anything but unpleasant words?
Zhu Yan rattled off a series of points, leaving Shen Du speechless.
Indeed, he had no rebuttal.
Normally, he would never say such things, but today he had lost his composure and said many hurtful words.
After a while, he said, “Zhu Yan, I didn’t mean it that way. I just spoke in haste.”
“Forget it, I don’t want to argue with you,” Zhu Yan sighed, changing the subject. “How did the interrogation go? Did Wang Buzui and Mo Qianzhi confess?”
Zhu Yan, more than anyone, hoped to resolve the case quickly and round up the Fire Moth Party. After all, they had already targeted her family.
Although Shen Du had assigned Internal Guards to protect them secretly, it was still treating the symptoms rather than the root cause. If there were any oversights, she dared not imagine the consequences.
Therefore, only by completely eradicating the Fire Moth Party could she feel at ease.
Shen Du, naturally aloof and proud, saw Zhu Yan’s indifferent attitude and felt a heavy weight in his heart. He lost the will to explain further and followed her lead, saying, “Both men are tight-lipped; we can’t crack them yet. With civilians present, if we use torture, it might confirm Mo Qianzhi’s claim of ‘forced confession.’ It’s quite troublesome.”
“If the living won’t talk, why not look to the dead? Have the items from the secret chamber been brought back?”
Shen Du nodded, “They’re in the autopsy room.”
These items were evidence, though parts of the victims’ bodies, couldn’t be returned for proper burial yet.
“Then let’s go take a look together,” Zhu Yan said, pulling out a pouch from her bag. “If you’re in a bad mood, have some sweets. This meat jerky is good, sweet and savory, not too greasy.”
She had bought the jerky on her way to pick up Pan Chi. It was sweet but not cloying, perfect as a snack.
Shen Du didn’t respond but took the pouch and kept it with him. The two walked side by side toward the autopsy room.
Zhu Yan observed Shen Du’s movements. As he walked, his posture remained upright, his robes fluttering. His cloak was covered in dust; he had been too busy lately to clean it, despite his usual neatness. His chest protruded slightly, where he had put the pouch she just gave him.
He kept his gaze straight ahead, his whole body tense. Noticing her prolonged stare, he glanced at her sideways. Zhu Yan’s heart skipped a beat; Shen Du’s look was too gentle. She felt uncomfortable, especially as his lowered fan hid his sharp eyes, which contained only her.
Shen Du turned back, continuing to look straight ahead as if that glance had been an illusion. Zhu Yan raised her hand, hesitated, then lightly patted her chest.
Something was off with her…
After walking for a while, Zhu Yan decided to share her findings with Shen Du.
“When I was captured and taken to Guangchun Hall, I discovered that Wang Buzui had Fire Moth Party followers disguise themselves as Half-Face Ghosts to kill people and take parts of their bodies. It seems related to the Fire Moth Party’s rumored ‘secret of resurrection.’ He wants to revive his sister. I’ll need to ask Xiu Xiu for more details about his sister. Also, he had a Buddhist incense smell, not like it was on his clothes, but emanating from his body.”
“So they went through all this trouble to resurrect the dead? Then why, after killing so many people yesterday and initiating the ritual, did they return to Guangchun Hall to start another ritual?”
If not for the complex ritual, by the time they arrived, Zhu Yan and the others might have met a terrible fate.
After Shen Du raised this point, the two exchanged a knowing glance and said in unison: “Luring the enemy in to trap them.”
“Taking advantage of the chaos to take lives.”
Zhu Yan couldn’t help but feel embarrassed; Shen Du was always so formal in his speech.
Noticing Zhu Yan’s expression, Shen Du rephrased: “They don’t want us to leave Yingzhou alive, or even Gannan Circuit.”
“It seems… Lord Shen has become an eyesore to someone,” Zhu Yan said, standing on tiptoe to pat Shen Du’s shoulder. Before he could react, she quickly scurried away.
Shen Du: “…”
He paused for only a moment before catching up to walk beside her.
Upon entering the autopsy room, Zhu Yan immediately began opening the sealed jars one by one.
As Shen Du entered, he smelled a sweet scent of honey.
“What’s this?”
He walked over and peered inside. There was a head, eyes staring straight up, showing no signs of decay. The skin had shriveled and wrinkled, the lips dry and grayish-purple, the nose collapsed, and the cheeks sunken.
It reminded Zhu Yan of the amber stone Pan Chi had given her, with a small insect inside, lifelike, even the fine hairs on its legs visible.
Tsk, the head in the jar was even worse off than the small insect. The Fire Moth Party truly disregarded human life and the law to the extreme.