Lu Chang’s behavior had changed two days ago. His emotions seemed as taut as a fully drawn bowstring, ready to snap at the slightest provocation. The recent incident with the horse was a prime example. In the past, he would have been concerned and angry, but he wouldn’t have lashed out so indiscriminately.
Despite his attempts to hide it, Ming Shu could see that she was the source of his tension.
Something serious must have happened.
“Brother!” Ming Shu followed Lu Chang into his room, watching as he hurriedly poured a cup of cold water and drank it down.
It seemed he was trying to calm his nerves.
Lu Chang had realized he was becoming paranoid and suspicious. If Tang Li’s words were meant to unsettle him, she had succeeded. With the enemy hidden and his composure shaken, he was not only playing into Tang Li’s hands but also putting himself in a vulnerable position.
The scene he witnessed upon entering the mansion had completely overwhelmed his rationality. He couldn’t bear to imagine what he might do if something happened to Ming Shu.
When had Ming Shu become such an all-encompassing presence in his heart?
He knew he had fallen for her, but he never realized how deeply this feeling could change him.
“I’m fine,” he responded gruffly to Ming Shu’s concern.
Fine? Who was he kidding?
Ming Shu walked to the window seat and beckoned to him. “Brother, come here.”
Lu Chang collected himself, observing Ming Shu’s cheerful demeanor, seemingly unaffected by his mood.
“I’m sorry, I might be overworked lately…” he said, his tone softening as he approached the couch.
Ming Shu sat on a low stool beside the couch and patted it. “Lie down.”
Confused, Lu Chang complied. Ming Shu smiled, “Haven’t you looked in a mirror this morning? The dark circles under your eyes reach down to here…” She exaggerated, gesturing to her chin. “How long has it been since you’ve had a good night’s sleep?”
How long? He didn’t know, but his recent insomnia had been particularly bad. Still, Ming Shu’s playfulness made him smile.
“What are you planning?” Lu Chang asked, lying down as instructed, his heart easing slightly.
“You’ll see.” Ming Shu grabbed a soft pillow and placed it under his neck before sitting back on the stool.
“You’re not going to interrogate me, are you?” Lu Chang asked, looking up at Ming Shu sitting beside his head.
Ming Shu rubbed her hands together, then placed her warm palms on his forehead. Looking down at him, she said, “Just sleep for a while. You’re overthinking things.”
Her warm hands gently massaged his forehead, her fingertips pressing firmly on his brow. A dull ache spread from where she applied pressure, and a wave of fatigue washed over him. Lu Chang suddenly felt an indescribable weariness and relaxation.
“Brother, do you remember the dangers I faced on the way to the capital? Assassins, blizzards, mountain bandits… I survived those life-threatening situations. Looking back now, it all seems like an exciting yet terrifying dream.”
In one night, she had fully accepted his mother, and they had supported each other to reach this point. Even now, knowing he wasn’t her blood brother, she still trusted him completely.
“It does feel like a dream,” Lu Chang agreed. For him, everything since Jiangning County had been dreamlike.
This dream had transformed both of them.
“Without you, there would be no Ming Shu,” she said softly.
“You’re overestimating me. I’m just an ordinary person,” he replied, eyes closed.
“I’m not overestimating you,” Ming Shu countered. It was precisely because she knew he was ordinary that his actions were so remarkable. Barely past twenty, with no power, influence, or background, just slightly smarter than others with a bit more experience, he had risked his life to bring her to the capital. He had protected her every step of the way, never mistreating her, always considerate and attentive. His actions often made one forget he was barely an adult himself.
“Hmm?” Lu Chang’s voice was now tinged with sleepiness.
Ming Shu fell silent, continuing to gently massage his forehead, lulling him to sleep.
After leaving Lu Chang’s room, Ming Shu instructed Lai An to stand guard outside before heading to the front courtyard to find Wei Zhuo.
Wei Zhuo was discussing matters with Cao Hai in the hall. Upon hearing the servant’s announcement, they promptly invited her in.
Ming Shu came to apologize on Lu Chang’s behalf: “General Cao, my brother has been overwhelmed with work lately, causing him distress. He impulsively hurt your deputy, and I’m truly sorry. I’m here to ask for your forgiveness on his behalf. How is the deputy’s condition? Has a doctor examined him?”
Cao Hai waved dismissively: “It was my deputy’s recklessness that nearly harmed you, Miss Lu. Your brother was merely protecting you out of love. There’s no need to blame him or worry about it.”
“Don’t worry, Ming Shu,” Wei Zhuo added. “I’ve already had a doctor check on Deputy Chen. It’s just some superficial wounds, nothing serious. You needn’t concern yourself.”
Ming Shu nodded: “Thank you, Uncle Wei, and thank you, General Cao, for your magnanimity.”
Having apologized, she saw they were discussing official business and excused herself, not wanting to disturb them further.
After she left, Cao Hai remarked, “It’s truly pitiful. If she were to remember her past and learn of the Jian family’s tragedy, who knows how heartbroken she’d be.”
Cao Hai, being from Jiangning Prefecture, had met Jian Jinhai and handled Gao Shicai’s case. Moreover, knowing Lu Chang had no siblings in Jiangning, he couldn’t be fooled about Ming Shu’s identity.
“Heartbreak is inevitable,” Wei Zhuo sighed. “We can only hope she moves past it quickly.”
“Indeed,” Cao Hai sighed as well. “Who knows what she overheard? If her memory returns, it might help with the case.”
Wei Zhuo could only shake his head in response.
Apart from Ming Shu herself, no one knew what she had heard that night.
————
When Lu Chang awoke, it was already dark outside. No one had called him for dinner.
Though his sleep wasn’t long, it was deep and dreamless, leaving him refreshed. The fog of recent days had lifted, and long-absent clarity returned. He lit a lamp and sat quietly at his desk, neither writing nor reading, just staring at the tabletop in meditation until someone knocked.
“Brother, are you awake?” Ming Shu, seeing his room lit, knew he was up and brought him the dinner they had saved.
“Ming Shu, come here,” Lu Chang beckoned, not moving from his seat.
Ming Shu set down the food and looked at him quizzically—he appeared much more spirited, his countenance clear and bright as before.
“I need to ask for your help with something,” he said.
Ming Shu’s eyes lit up at his words. She quickly rounded the desk to his side and lowered herself.
Though there was no one else in the room, Lu Chang’s mysterious manner made Ming Shu lean in close, offering her ear.
Lu Chang smiled, his breath brushing her ear as he spoke.
Ming Shu’s ear tingled, and her face grew warm.
After listening for a while, Ming Shu straightened up and patted her chest confidently: “Don’t worry, Brother. When it comes to acting, I’m an expert.”
The next day, Cao Hai’s escort team finally arrived in the capital with Gao Shicai’s body and all related suspects. Lu Chang had no time to rest. He oversaw the coroner’s examination and interrogated all involved parties, hoping for a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, Ming Shu wasn’t idle. Though Peng and her son weren’t found, the records from Qing’an Hall had arrived.
According to official documents, Willow Waner was admitted to Qing’an Hall last March with suspected plague, isolated in a single room. All food and medicine were left outside by an apprentice. Another record detailed her condition changes, medication, and diet, logged weekly by her attending physician. Her illness worsened at one point but suddenly improved last July. By this April, she had fully recovered and returned to Bianjing at month’s end.
Ming Shu scrutinized the records three times. Apart from the sudden recovery, nothing seemed suspicious. However…
She brought the book to her nose, sniffing lightly, then flipped to the back and sniffed again before offering it to Ying Xun.
“Master, smell this.”
“What is it?” Ying Xun asked while sniffing.
“The ink’s fragrance changes. Didn’t you notice?” Ming Shu pointed out.
The ink of the time often contained borneol or musk, giving written characters a faint scent. The fragrance of the ink characters in this book varied slightly between the front and back.
Ying Xun, being male, wasn’t sensitive to this, but Ming Shu was. Women’s innate appreciation for beauty and fragrance made her more perceptive to scents than Ying Xun.
“Smell carefully again. From last March to July, there’s only a faint musk scent. But from July, starting with the page noting Willow Waner’s improvement, the ink scent changes. It likely contains borneol, giving a hint of coolness,” Ming Shu explained.
“There is a difference, but that doesn’t prove anything. Perhaps the record keeper simply changed ink?” Ying Xun suggested.
Ming Shu shook her head: “Besides the change in fragrance, the intensity varies. Though scented ink leaves fragrant characters, the scent fades over time. The first four months’ scent is very faint, but from July to this April, the ink’s fragrance hasn’t changed at all and remains strong, more like recent writing.”
“Are you suggesting someone altered this record?” Prompted by her observation, Ying Xun examined the book, closing it to inspect the binding.
Indeed, there was a slight discrepancy in the binding.
Someone had likely torn out the pages before the health improvement last July. Though thoroughly removed without leaving fragments, the thickness difference where pages had been sewn in was barely noticeable.
“Should we question the doctor who treated Willow Waner?” Ming Shu suggested.
“The elderly doctor passed away shortly after Willow Waner left Qing’an Hall,” Ying Xun replied. He had considered questioning the doctor earlier, but unfortunately, the man was no longer alive.
Ming Shu tapped the table thoughtfully, then said, “Master, if this record was tampered with, it suggests something significant happened last July. Something that could directly expose Willow Waner’s identity. What could it be?”
Qing’an Hall was a quarantine facility for plague patients. What major event could occur there, except…
“A death?” Ying Xun responded quickly.
His words struck Ming Shu like lightning.
If the real Willow Waner had died at Qing’an Hall, with her parents already deceased and neighbors unable to identify her, what better way to conceal one’s identity than by assuming Willow Waner’s?
But why did this “Willow Waner” go to such lengths to enter the Lu family, the household of the Minister of Works?
If it was merely for the title of a minister’s daughter, she would be an ordinary person seeking fortune. How could such a person navigate such complex machinations?
This was beyond what an ordinary person could accomplish.
“If the real Willow Waner died… the records were likely altered this April, but she died last July. Surely they couldn’t have altered the handling of the body?” Ming Shu pondered.
“I’ll investigate,” Ying Xun said.
Such an investigation would take time.
June passed, and Bianjing entered July.
The new Third Miss Lu, who had recently entered the Minister of Works’ household, had become the family’s new favorite in just over ten days. Even the Minister, who usually paid little attention to his daughters, treated her differently.
As the Qixi Festival approached, the Zhongyuan Festival… would soon follow.