The white cloth was pulled away, revealing the naked corpse, wounds covering every inch, face twisted in agony.

The old man couldn’t help but turn his gaze away.

But the coffin keeper here looked at it as if seeing something beloved, wearing a satisfied smile as he extended his slender fingers to caress the corpse.

“Look, every inch of his skin is crying out about how it hurt, this blow damaged his spleen… this blow made him unable to breathe… this blow made him…” he said as he examined it.

The old man coughed.

“It’s getting late, I still need to hurry back,” he said.

The coffin keeper pouted.

“You people really don’t appreciate good things. This is so interesting, forget it if you don’t want to listen,” he said, straightening up and pulling the white cloth to cover the corpse’s head. He extended his hand, “When you leave, remember to leave the money, so I won’t be delayed in preparing the burial, lest the deceased clings to you.”

These words made the old man shudder involuntarily. Seeing this young man grin at him, he knew he was being teased and felt somewhat embarrassed and angry.

“When have I ever shortchanged you,” he said in a low voice, while opening the cloth bundle he carried with him, spreading it out on a small stool nearby.

If Qi Yue were here, she would certainly be very surprised, for what was revealed in that cloth bundle were also surgical instruments. Of course, they couldn’t compare to hers, but though crudely made, they were indeed tools for cutting and incising.

The old man’s hands trembled as he took a deep breath and picked up a small knife, aiming it at the corpse and cutting down.

The coffin keeper stood nearby watching. At this moment he shook his head.

“Look at those trembling hands, cutting the wrong place will make the deceased feel pain,” he said.

These words made the concentrating old man’s hand shake again, and he glared at him with some anger.

The coffin keeper smiled at him, stretched and yawned as he turned around.

“You go ahead and work. I’ll go sleep for a while. When you leave, close the door properly so wild dogs and such don’t come in to gnaw on the flesh,” he said.

The old man watched him leave, feeling slightly relieved in his heart, when suddenly he remembered something.

“Coffin keeper, has anyone else come here?” he asked.

The coffin keeper stopped walking, without turning his head back, waved his hand at him.

“Money makes things easy. If you have the guts, come on in,” he said.

Physicians who bought corpses to study the five organs and six viscera were not few in number…

The old man obviously knew this point too.

“I mean, have any women come here?” he asked again.

This time the coffin keeper turned around, showing his teeth in a smile.

“Yes,” he said.

The old man’s eyes lit up, breathing rapidly.

“Really?” he raised his voice to ask.

The coffin keeper smiled and pointed toward the rows of corpses.

“Quite a few came in lying down,” he said, “Standing ones, haven’t had any yet.”

The old man let out a breath, not bothering to pay him any more attention.

“Physician Wang, why are you suddenly thinking of women? Could it be you’re interested in female… corpses?” the coffin keeper asked with a smile, his face showing a few traces of lewdness amid the cold expression, looking even more sinister in this death-filled room.

The old man ignored his teasing.

“Someone said there’s a woman who can perform abdominal surgery to treat wounds…” he said slowly.

The coffin keeper was startled, then laughed heartily.

“Before the cock crows, Physician Wang, you’d better work faster,” he didn’t pick up the old man’s topic, but said this instead, as if he hadn’t heard that sentence at all, waving his hand and humming a little tune as he walked out.

The old man was also made to shake his head by his laughter.

“A woman,” he muttered to himself, then smiled, “It must be that Liu Pucheng’s doing. Afraid of being held accountable for the crime of stealing corpses, so he’s latched onto a high branch, pushing it onto that woman, the young marchioness… he really dares to make such a connection… This young marchioness is said to have unknown origins, could she be his… illegitimate daughter?”

A distant cock crow came through, interrupting the old man’s wild thoughts. He hurriedly steadied his mind and continued working.

Under the dim lamplight, a busy figure cast shadows, along with increasingly heavy breathing, making this charity house’s night even more eerie and sinister.

When dawn was breaking, the coffin keeper heard the sound of the door opening and closing, knowing that Physician Wang had left, so he yawned and got up from the wooden bed.

“Work, work,” he said, while pulling out a sewing box from under the bed. Lifting the half-worn garment on top, he revealed a large bundle of thread underneath, along with four or five needles of different sizes.

By the dim remaining night mist, one could see that the thread was different from the common sewing thread people usually saw.

The coffin keeper, still drowsy, carried the sewing box to the corpse storage area.

The corpse on the table, with white cloth covering its head, still lay peacefully, except its belly had been opened, a mess as if gnawed by wild dogs.

The coffin keeper hummed a little tune as he put down the sewing box and picked up a needle to thread it.

“…Really… so clumsy… look at this mess…” he grumbled as he spoke, while reaching his hand into the corpse’s abdominal cavity, placing those internal organs that had lost their shape and lay scattered back in their proper positions, “…These physicians are really stupid, no courage, absent-minded, can’t even do such simple things properly…”

With his needle flying up and down, the originally messy abdominal cavity gradually returned to its original state, skin sewn layer by layer. His movements were skilled, and he would occasionally squint his eyes and yawn.

When the first ray of morning light fell on the charity house, the coffin keeper had also completed his work. The blood and flesh on the ground had been swept clean, and the corpse lying flat on the table seemed to have become completely intact, except for that line of stitches across the chest.

The coffin keeper somehow pulled out a piece of clothing from somewhere, deftly dressed the deceased, rolled up a broken mat, and placed the corpse on a grass mat nearby as if carrying a cloth sack.

“Alright, sleep now,” he said, looking at the corpse and clapping his hands.

He got up and walked out the door. Due to the charity house’s special function, sunlight seemed unable to reach it. Though the surroundings were already bathed in morning light, here it was still quite dark.

The coffin keeper grabbed a money pouch from under a stone by the door, weighed it in his hand, and smiled with satisfaction.

“Got money! That marquis household is really stingy, only gave one pouch of money for silence, not even enough for me to gamble once. This is good now, been hungry for several days, time to have a good meal at Granny Wang’s tea shop,” he put the money pouch in his bosom, folded his arms and walked toward the city in the morning light.

When the morning light shone into the room, Chang Yuncheng finally woke up. The first instant he opened his eyes, his whole body tensed and he sat up abruptly, then realized he was still in his own room, just not on his usual sleeping couch.

He relaxed, looking at the small room in the morning light, with books and strange quill pens arranged on the table, clean and tidy.

Chang Yuncheng picked up his clothes and put them on, looking toward the bedroom opposite.

The bedroom door was tightly closed. He smiled slightly, walking over with big steps while getting dressed.

“Hey,” he called out.

No response came from the bedroom.

“Get up,” he called again.

Still no response from inside. Chang Yuncheng hesitated for a moment, then reached out to push open the door.

The bedding was piled messily on the bed, empty of people. The sound of water came from the washing room.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally made up his mind and reached out to push the washing room door.

“Qi Yueniang,” he called.

When his hand touched the door, his heart beat violently, and he closed his eyes at the same time, but when he touched it, the door didn’t open.

This woman…

Chang Yuncheng opened his eyes and vigorously shook the door.

Qi Yue’s laughter came from inside.

“Pervert, I’m not that stupid,” she laughed.

“Come out, I need to use it,” Chang Yuncheng said.

“I’m not finished yet, wait a while,” Qi Yue said from inside.

Chang Yuncheng snorted and turned back to sit down.

The sound of splashing water came from the washing room, along with the woman’s soft humming.

“Sounds terrible,” Chang Yuncheng said, while tapping the table with his hand.

Time slowly passed. At first he could sit leisurely, but soon he couldn’t sit still.

“Hey, are you done yet?” he walked over and knocked on the door again.

“Not yet…” came Qi Yue’s drawn-out response.

“Enough is enough,” Chang Yuncheng pounded the door twice and said.

The splashing water inside became even louder.

Chang Yuncheng had indeed been joking at first, but now he was getting rather urgent. He simply pushed the door hard, not knowing what the woman had propped behind the door. It was so heavy that it wouldn’t budge at all.

Early in the morning, did she expect him to run outside to relieve himself? If word got out…

Hearing the thumping sounds from inside, A’Ru and Qiu Xiang, who had been eavesdropping outside, couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Lord, do you have any orders?” A’Ru pushed the door open and entered, head lowered.

Qiu Xiang timidly followed behind A’Ru, not daring to breathe heavily.

Chang Yuncheng strode out past them.

“Young Marchioness?” A’Ru called again.

The sound of heavy objects moving came from the washing room, then the door opened, and Qi Yue swayed out with her hair loose.

“Prepare breakfast,” she said with a smile.

A’Ru and Qiu Xiang quickly retreated. One went to call A’Hao to do hair, the other went to prepare food service.

“Sister A’Ru,” Qiu Xiang pulled A’Ru aside and whispered as they left, “The Lord and Young Marchioness seem to have slept together…”

A’Ru was startled. She couldn’t help but look back at the bedroom, seeing the familiar bright red brocade quilt she had prepared for the Young Marchioness, right there on the Lord’s bed…

This was impossible. She instinctively looked to the other side, where Qi Yue was already seated in front of the bronze mirror, and on the arhat bed beside her were azure bedding and quilts.

“They just switched places, that’s all,” she sighed in relief, but also felt a bit disappointed, and said, pulling Qiu Xiang out.

When Chang Yuncheng returned from the study, Qi Yue had already finished eating.

“Really no manners,” he couldn’t help but say angrily.

Qi Yue was strolling in the corridor, hearing his words only smiled.

Sitting alone in the dining room, without that annoying woman, Chang Yuncheng instead felt eating was no fun. He casually ate a few bites then came out.

Maids were cleaning and sweeping in the courtyard, quiet yet lively.

Chang Yuncheng walked into the room but couldn’t see Qi Yue.

Qiu Xiang was leading two maids making beds and folding quilts, wiping tables, chairs, and benches. Seeing him enter, they quickly bowed.

“Where is the Young Marchioness?” Chang Yuncheng asked.

“The Young Marchioness went out,” Qiu Xiang said.

Chang Yuncheng immediately felt his chest full of frustration.

This annoying woman, what did she think this place was, running out all day long? Was staying in the room so difficult?

Going out was one thing, but not even saying a word—what did she take him for?!

“Where did she go?” he shouted angrily, “Who gave her permission to go out freely?”

Qiu Xiang was frightened and trembled.

“She said to the medicine shop?” she stammered in reply, “The Young Marchioness said, said she had reported to the Marchioness…”

This annoying woman…

Chang Yuncheng angrily sat down, flicking his sleeves.

“All of you get out,” he looked at the maids in the room, feeling only irritation.

Qiu Xiang quickly led everyone out.

The room returned to quiet, a quiet that made one even more irritated…

Chang Yuncheng grabbed his cloak and strode out.