The case files were soon brought by Lu Chang and placed on Ming Shu’s desk.
The thick stack of papers bore the weight of thirty-seven lives from the Jian family. Ming Shu didn’t immediately open the files. She placed her hand on them, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Once these files were opened, her last shred of false hope would be shattered completely.
Lu Chang didn’t leave. He sat down beside her and said, “The files are quite complex. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask me.”
As he spoke, he gently covered her hand with his, hoping to offer some warmth. She quickly withdrew her hand, opening her eyes to say, “Thank you.”
She carefully opened the files. The documents inside were meticulously organized. On top was Gao Shicai’s confession letter, followed by his autopsy report, the crime scene investigation, records of the incident during the journey to the capital along with everyone’s testimonies, Cao Hai’s investigation on the road, Gao Shicai’s background information, and so on. After that came Lu Chang’s list of suspicious points and speculations about Gao Shicai’s death… The files on Gao Shicai alone comprised dozens of pages.
Ming Shu set aside Gao Shicai’s information and continued reading.
Next were the details of her and Lu Chang’s assassination attempt in Bianjing—the assassins’ backgrounds, testimonies, and the process of the attack, all clearly documented. Following that was Zhou Xiuqing’s separate file, isolated as the most crucial witness.
The files were arranged chronologically, with more recent events at the front and earlier ones towards the back.
The pursuit of Cloud Flower Mountain and the Jian family massacre was at the very end.
Ming Shu sorted through the files, finally picking up one case file.
This case involved numerous Jiangning officials, making the information highly complex. There were thirty-seven autopsy reports for the victims alone…
“Ming Shu… maybe you shouldn’t look at this one yet,” Lu Chang tried to stop her.
The first file she picked up was the list of Jian family victims and their thirty-seven autopsy reports.
Nothing in these case files could be more cruel than this document.
Ming Shu hadn’t read it in detail, but her eyes were already reddening—the first name on the list of the deceased was Jian Jinhai.
Her father.
The string of names that followed were all former Jian family servants. Most of these servants had been personally selected by her mother when she was alive or were her mother’s attendants. Her mother had a compassionate heart and loved to help the poor. Many of the servants in their household were homeless people she had taken in… Although the Jian family wasn’t a scholarly lineage, they treated their servants well. These people, having received kindness, watched Ming Shu grow up and treated her like family. From a young age, Ming Shu didn’t maintain strict master-servant distinctions. With the Jian family being small, these people were her family.
Now, her family had become mere names on a list, each one piercing her heart like a knife.
Lu Chang’s attempt to stop her failed. She stubbornly picked up the autopsy reports, opening the first one, which was again her father’s.
After reading just two lines, she couldn’t continue. Her breathing quickened as she pressed the stack of papers onto the table, her whole body trembling as she used all her strength to hold back the tears threatening to spill.
Jian Jinhai’s face appeared in her mind, only to be replaced by the image of his corpse from the autopsy report…
“Were they all… burned to death?” Her voice, thick with unshed tears, trembled.
“No, most were killed instantly with a single strike. The fire was set afterward,” Lu Chang took the stack of papers from her hands. “Ming Shu, don’t look anymore. I’ve gone through these autopsy reports countless times. The only suspicious point is about Xiao Qingting and the others who should have been with you on Cloud Flower Mountain that day…”
“Yes, I discovered Concubine Zhou’s affair with another man and suspected that her son might not be my father’s child. So I took Xiao Qingting, Nanny Ying, and three Jian family guards up Cloud Flower Mountain,” Ming Shu slowly sat back in her chair, trying to calm herself as she recalled that night. “I had thought Zhou’s lover was at most a minor official. I never imagined his background would be so extraordinary, far beyond what the Jian family could handle.”
Such sordid affairs shouldn’t have been her concern, but with only her and her father left in the Jian family, and Concubine Zhou turning out to be a deceitful person whose dishonorable actions affected the Jian family’s lineage, who else could she entrust to investigate if not herself?
That day, she had bribed a maid at Water Fairy Temple to spy on the conversation inside. She was already shocked by what she overheard, and upon learning of their schemes, she was even more horrified. She immediately planned to leave Cloud Flower Mountain and return to Jiangning County that night. But unexpectedly, they were noticed by the other party when leaving. Fearing that they had overheard secrets, the order for silencing was given.
“That day, I brought… Xiao Qingting, Nanny Ying, and three guards… To protect me, they all… all…” Ming Shu’s mind flashed back to that terrifying night of killing, with blades falling nearby and blood reddening her vision.
She closed her eyes. The voices of Nanny Ying and Xiao Qingting seemed to echo in her ears, crying, “Young mistress, run! Run quickly…”
Five lives were sacrificed for her to barely escape, rolling down the cliff.
“Ming Shu, why don’t you rest for a while?” Lu Chang gently offered her a silk handkerchief.
“I’m fine,” Ming Shu didn’t take his handkerchief, instead roughly wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
Lu Chang placed the handkerchief on the table beside her hand and continued, “Then it’s clear. Those five were killed on Cloud Flower Mountain, but their names were added to the list of victims in the Jian family case. The killers must have bribed officials to falsify records and add these names to the victim list to erase evidence from Cloud Flower Mountain and dispose of the five bodies.”
This point was mentioned in Gao Shicai’s confession, and the involved Jiangning officials had also confessed.
Ming Shu nodded and reached for the files and testimonies of other suspects from Jiangning County.
“Ming Shu, what exactly did you see and hear at Water Fairy Temple?” Lu Chang asked the most crucial question.
Ming Shu didn’t look up, recalling as she spoke, “The man involved with Zhou Xiuqing was indeed Gao Shicai. I heard them plotting about my family’s property, discussing that night’s robbery. However…”
She suddenly looked up at this point, a flash of surprise in her eyes, but she stopped speaking. She quickly put down the documents in her hand and turned to look at Zhou Xiuqing and Gao Shicai’s files.
“However, what?” Lu Chang pressed.
Ming Shu moved quickly but didn’t stop questioning, “The witness you mentioned before, was it Zhou Xiuqing?”
Lu Chang nodded, “Yes, it was her. She was first confined by Gao Shicai, then luckily escaped and hid in Jiangning. The Third Prince’s men found her and were about to bring her back to the capital for questioning when an accident occurred, and she was snatched away by Tang Li’s people. Zhou Xiuqing must know something, but unfortunately…”
“Unfortunately what? Where is she now? Tang Li told me that you two made a deal. If you agreed to help her, she would hand Zhou Xiuqing over to you last night. But since she died without sending a signal, did you not find Zhou Xiuqing?”
Although it was Lu Chang who impersonated the Third Prince on the meditation platform, Tang Li’s people shouldn’t have discovered this. However, before her death, Tang Li had mentioned that without her signal, they wouldn’t be able to find Zhou Xiuqing.
“We found her,” Lu Chang sighed heavily at her words. “I never really expected Tang Li to hand her over to me. Before that, I had already secretly arranged for people to investigate Zhou Xiuqing’s whereabouts. Asking you to help me act, agreeing to her demands, was just to make her lower her guard, thinking her plan had succeeded, so she would reveal their true intentions to me earlier, allowing me to prepare a response.”
Tang Li thought she could manipulate and use him, so he took advantage of her overconfidence to probe their real purpose from her. He then pretended to agree to persuade the Third Prince to pray on the meditation platform, setting up the plan to leave the platform. He aimed to have as much contact with Tang Li as possible, secretly ordering people to monitor and observe her every move, deducing Zhou Xiuqing’s whereabouts from this—after all, no matter how cautious a person is, as long as they need to transmit information externally, there will always be traces to follow.
Two days before the Ullambana Festival, Lu Chang had already narrowed down the search area. On the day of the festival, he pretended to wait for her message to release the captives while secretly arranging for their rescue.
The plan was going smoothly until…
“Until what?” Ming Shu asked urgently.
“We successfully rescued the people, but on the way back, they were ambushed. Zhou Xiuqing was shot through the heart with an arrow,” Lu Chang said, clenching his fists.
All their efforts were in vain.
Ming Shu’s breath caught in her throat. She stared at him for a long while before asking, “Was Zhou Xiuqing… the only remaining witness?”
“If there’s another culprit behind Gao Shicai, Zhou Xiuqing might have been the only one who could prove this person’s existence. But now she’s dead.”
Ming Shu’s hand on the table gradually curled into a claw, then suddenly gripped tightly.
After a moment of silence, she suddenly lowered her head and frantically opened Gao Shicai’s case files. She flipped through them page by page, then opened Zhou Xiuqing’s file, followed by the testimonies of other witnesses…
“Ming Shu, I’ve gone through all these testimonies. No witness or evidence can prove the identity of a second culprit,” Lu Chang said.
He had read every page of the case files dozens if not hundreds of times. Yet, no matter how many times he went through them, he couldn’t find a single loophole.
Gao Shicai’s confession took responsibility for all the crimes. All the accomplices related to this case—Gao’s private soldiers, the Jiangning County clerk, and yamen runners, the garrison troops guarding the city—all pointed to Gao Shicai. Even the bandits who broke into the Jian family’s house that day had been pursued and scattered by the Jiangning garrison. The only bandit leader who had contact with the murderer was already beheaded during the arrest.
If it weren’t for Zhou Xiuqing’s abduction, Ming Shu’s encounter with danger, and Tang Li’s words, coupled with the missing stolen silver, even Lu Chang might have believed that Gao Shicai was the sole culprit.
The only certainty was that Gao Shicai was undoubtedly involved in this case. However, whether there was another person behind him… that was what they urgently wanted to know.
Zhou Xiuqing could have broken this deadlock, but now she was dead too.
Ming Shu ignored Lu Chang’s words and continued to carefully examine the pages she had pulled out.
The information was vast and extremely complex. It was difficult to read and digest everything at once, but Lu Chang understood that she couldn’t stop now. Though she appeared calm on the surface, the pain and hatred were merely suppressed in her heart. She desperately needed to do something to alleviate this suffering that made her feel worse than death.
He could only quietly keep her company.
As time passed and night fell, Lu Chang lit the sheepskin lamp on the desk. He poured out the cold, untouched tea by her hand and replaced it with warm tea.
Madam Zeng had already learned of Ming Shu’s situation. She had wanted to come to see Ming Shu personally, but Lu Chang felt that Ming Shu wasn’t in the mood to see anyone. He persuaded his mother not to come, so she made some porridge and sent it over with Qingrao.
“Ming Shu… take a break,” Lu Chang said, not knowing how many times he had seen her press her fist against her stomach.
“No need,” Ming Shu replied without looking up.
“Mother made some porridge. Have some, then you can continue,” Lu Chang said, bringing the porridge over.
“I don’t want to eat,” Ming Shu said, turning another page, showing no intention of stopping.
Lu Chang stirred the porridge, which had cooled to an appropriate temperature. He said, “You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. The case files won’t run away, but if you don’t eat something, you might not be able to keep going…”
He reached out to gently pull her, but Ming Shu forcefully shook off his hand and said sharply, “I said I’m not eating. Don’t bother me!”
Bang—
Before she finished speaking, they heard the harsh sound of breaking porcelain.
The bowl of porridge in Lu Chang’s hand had been knocked to the ground. Lu Chang stood by the table, letting out a muffled groan and frowning, his left hand reaching back to touch his right shoulder.
Ming Shu came to her senses and realized what she had done. She finally put down the case files and hurriedly stood up. Instinctively, she started to say, “Brother…” but she quickly corrected herself, “Lord Lu, I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine…” Lu Chang leaned against the desk, his brows still furrowed, seeming to be enduring something.
Ming Shu now noticed how unwell he looked—his face was sickly pale, his eyes lacked spirit as if he was forcing himself to stay upright, and his forehead was covered in a fine sweat…
“Sit down first,” she said, helping him into a chair. She could hear his labored breathing. “Is it the injury from last night?”
Last night, he had embraced her as they fell, smashing into the altar table. Although the height wasn’t fatal, injury was unavoidable. Her impulsive action just now must have aggravated his wound.
After a moment, Lu Chang felt the pain in his chest and back subside. He said, “I’m fine, it’s just a minor injury. It’ll heal in a few days.” He grasped her hand. “I’ll have them bring another bowl of porridge. Please have some.”
Ming Shu tried to pull her hand away, but he held it tightly. She nodded and said, “Alright, go ahead.”
She hadn’t seen Lu Chang eat anything either.
Lu Chang called for Qingrao, asking her to clean up the floor and bring more porridge. Ming Shu sat down beside him again, temporarily shifting her focus from the case files. After Lu Chang finished giving instructions, she said, “Falling from the meditation platform, you say it’s a minor injury; standing on the platform for the Third Prince, you say it’s a small matter… You’ve taken on so much for me. I… thank you.”
“As long as you don’t blame me for bringing you to the capital without your consent,” Lu Chang replied.
“In that situation, if you hadn’t brought me to the capital, would there still be a Jian Ming Shu in this world today?” Ming Shu thought of the events of the past few days, each one as vivid as if it happened yesterday. She stood up and said, “I have no way to repay you for saving my life, Lord Lu. Please accept Ming Shu’s bow…”
Lu Chang immediately grabbed her, his eyes showing a hint of annoyance. “What are you doing?”
He didn’t want to dwell on these matters under such circumstances, but she…
It was always ‘Lord Deputy Magistrate’ or ‘Lord Lu’, and now she wanted to bow to him…
“Ming Shu, although you haven’t been with me in the capital for long, is gratitude all that remains in your heart?”
Ming Shu couldn’t complete her bow, nor could she answer his question.
She was just someone with no real connection to him, and even her form of address required careful consideration before she could speak.
They weren’t siblings, so calling him ‘Brother’ wasn’t appropriate. They also weren’t the Lu Chang and Jian Ming Shu of the past, so she couldn’t bring herself to call him ‘Brother Lu’ anymore. As for his name… that would imply a unique intimacy, which she couldn’t possibly use.
Aside from calling him ‘Lord’, she didn’t know how else to address him, just as she had no answer to his question.
She had no answer, and she didn’t want to think about it.
Qingrao’s arrival broke Ming Shu’s silence. She moved around the table, took the two bowls of porridge Qingrao brought, and placed them on the table. She simply said, “Let’s eat.”
Lu Chang didn’t pursue the matter further and began eating with her.
Neither spoke again as they ate half their bowls, seemingly just going through the motions. Suddenly, Lai’an appeared at the door, hesitating to enter, pacing back and forth.
“Aren’t you going to call him in to ask?” Ming Shu knew he was looking for Lu Chang.
“No need. It must be Uncle Wei sending someone to find me.”
That afternoon, Lai’an had already come four or five times. Lu Chang knew what it was about, but he had instructed that no one was to disturb him and Ming Shu, so Lai’an didn’t dare to enter.
Ming Shu finished eating and pushed her bowl away. She gathered the scattered documents and organized them together, then asked him, “Can you manage?”
“If you can endure, why can’t I?” Lu Chang asked in return.
“Then let’s go,” Ming Shu said, standing up.
“Where?”
“I’ll accompany you to see Uncle Wei and settle the matters of the Ullambana Festival,” Ming Shu replied. After all, no one knew Tang Li’s plan better than she did. Moreover, Tang Li’s scheme had also implicated Zhou Xiuqing and was related to the Jian family case. She had to go, no matter what.
As darkness fell, rain began to pour again. The lights illuminating the rainy night not only lit up the slippery roads but also revealed the slanting rain falling like needles. Lu Chang and Ming Shu each held an umbrella as they walked out. Ming Shu moved quickly, not bothering to avoid puddles on the path. Lu Chang followed behind, watching her silhouette wrapped in the rain.
She had never liked carrying umbrellas, always complaining they were heavy. In the past, whenever it rained and he was nearby, she would playfully hide under his umbrella, stubbornly refusing to leave with a smile. Though willful, she only ever sought shelter under his umbrella, never anyone else’s—she clearly understood the boundaries of relationships.
Back then, Ming Shu’s smile was as bright as her name, like a small crescent moon.
Now, Lu Chang wondered if such a smile would ever grace her face again.
This thought caused an indescribable pain in his heart.
Ming Shu, unaware of his thoughts, suddenly stopped, looking ahead at someone hurrying back through the rain.
Cao Hai was rushing through the rain without an umbrella. His face was drenched, and he roughly wiped it with his palm. Seeing Lu Chang and Ming Shu, he quickened his pace to meet them.
“You’ve come at the right time. I’m here on behalf of the Marshal to fetch you. If you don’t hurry to Daxiangguo Temple, the Third Prince might come to get you himself. Quick, let’s go,” Cao Hai said, delighted to see them. He then added, “Lady Lu… how are you?”
“My surname isn’t Lu, it’s Jian,” Ming Shu replied coldly.
“Jian…” Cao Hai was stunned for a moment before realizing, “You’ve regained your memory?”
“Yes,” Ming Shu said flatly.
“That’s wonderful news!” Cao Hai exclaimed joyfully. Rain gathered on his face, forming droplets that ran into his eyes. He blinked, looking somewhat comical. “Have you remembered anything else?”
Lu Chang’s brow furrowed slightly, about to interrupt their conversation when Ming Shu responded: “No. Apart from Gao Shicai and Zhou Xiuqing, I didn’t see or hear of any third person.”
She spoke with conviction, causing Lu Chang’s brow to furrow even more.