The Lu family was, after all, a proper official family, and Zhu Yan’s father was part of Zhang Xingwei’s faction. Wu Taiming weighed the pros and cons and unhesitatingly stepped forward. However, he saw Shen Du lift his chin and say coldly, “Have you forgotten what I said?”

Then, Zhu Yan behind him made a slight bow to Shen Du and answered, “How dare I?”

Wu Taiming was immediately stunned. The Criminal Division Scribes were busy, and their superiors had even less chance to slack off. It had been half a month, and today was the first time Wu Taiming had returned home with free time to chat with his family. But before they could talk for even half an hour, he had to rush to Ximing Temple. Naturally, he hadn’t heard about the Zhu family marrying their daughter to Shen Du.

Zhu Yan had no time to explain to him, leaving Lu Chuichui to quietly fill Wu Taiming in. She said to Shen Du, “I am, after all, a ninth-rank Scribe of the Criminal Division. A murder has occurred here, and my superior urgently summoned me. How could I neglect my duty? Grand Commander, please rest assured, I don’t need to advertise that I am Madam Shen by wearing festive clothes. The people of Chang’an will know that the White King of Hell has taken a wife today.”

“I won’t learn from you, clearly neglecting and ignoring yet stopping the sedan chair to warn—doing unnecessary things. I…” Zhu Yan raised her eyelashes and said, “I’m not that fond of the Grand Commander, no need to trouble yourself for my sake.”

With that, she bowed, stepped across, and walked into the scene.

The 18-year-old girl in festive attire showed no panic or unease as she crouched by the burial pit. Her fingertips rubbed the soil in the pit. Not content with just looking and touching, she even pinched a bit of the darker black soil and tasted it.

She even smacked her lips a couple of times.

Seemingly finding nothing unusual, she stood up again, carefully lifting the long skirt of her festive dress to investigate the forest for any suspicious traces without disturbing the scene.

Finally finding it cumbersome, she gathered the skirt at her waist, tying it into a messy flower.

From then on, she never looked back, just as she had said, showing no interest in him.

Shen Du frowned and pointed at Zhu Yan to the other Internal Affairs officers.

Before the officers could move, Zhu Yan had already noticed the commotion. She took her hand off a bamboo stalk and walked back to Wu Taiming in large strides.

The messy flower at her waist remained untied.

Shen Du turned his head as Jing Lin climbed out of the burial pit and reported, “I’ve examined the shovel marks at the bottom of the pit. They don’t look like they were dug in the past few days. They seem to have been there for some time, but it’s hard to determine exactly when.”

Jing Lin handed over a bottle of soil, “There’s very little blood, mostly body fluids. For both Liang and Kuang, it seems their blood had mostly dried up before they were transported here.”

“However, we didn’t see any wheel tracks,” Jing Lin said seriously. “There are many footprints, but this is a temple in the capital with countless worshippers. Many people come to admire the bamboo and take leisurely walks. Even Princess Yong’an of the Ying Kingdom is an honored guest here. If we were to investigate based on footprints, I’m afraid His Majesty would… be furious.”

Shen Du grunted in acknowledgment and ordered, “Have the Ministry of Revenue send someone to look at the bottom of the pit.”

Unable to determine when the pit was dug, it would be impossible to investigate visitors.

Jing Lin understood and was about to make arrangements when Zhu Yan said lightly from the side, “April 15th.”

The date the pit was dug.

Shen Du frowned, “How do you know?”

“The soil at the edge of the pit is thin at the bottom and thick at the top, with sharp points and rounded edges. The perpetrator, or accomplice, used a common round-headed shovel. The soil at the edge of the pit is loose while the center is compact, which is characteristic of soil after rain. Today is the eighth day of the fifth month, and the last rain was on April 15th.”