Shao Mingyuan seemed to sense something and gripped her hand tightly once before quietly releasing it. Without showing any emotion on his face, he asked the village chief: “Village chief, do you know whether the Tofu Beauty died before or after the Qiao family fire?”

“This—” The village chief shook his head, “Who could say for certain? The Tofu Beauty had a son studying at the school in town, and she usually lived alone. Everyone only discovered she was dead after putting out the Qiao family fire, so no one knows exactly how long she’d been dead.”

“What was the Tofu Beauty like as a person?” Chi Can interject.

The village chief looked at Chi Can with surprise, his expression changing slightly: “Young master, are you suggesting the Tofu Beauty was murdered?”

“Isn’t that a possibility?”

The village chief shook his head repeatedly: “Not likely at all.”

He picked up a tobacco pipe from beside him and asked Shao Mingyuan and the others: “Do you smoke?”

Several people shook their heads.

The village chief lit his tobacco pipe on his own, took a deep puff, and continued through the smoke: “The Tofu Beauty was widowed young and quite beautiful, but she was fairly proper in her conduct. Though she attracted some gossip because of her widow status, to speak of murder would be going too far. We’re all neighbors here—who would be so ruthless?”

“But dying in a water vat is strange in itself—” Yang Houcheng couldn’t help saying.

The village chief glanced at Yang Houcheng and smiled: “Actually, it’s not that strange. You young masters come from big places and probably haven’t seen the kind of water vats rural families use. Those vats are more than half a person’s height. If the water in the vat is shallow and you bend down to scoop water, you could accidentally fall headfirst into it if you’re not careful.”

“We’ll stay there then.” Shao Mingyuan said.

The village chief was stunned.

So all his talking had been for nothing?

“Marquis, I must remind you that since the Tofu Beauty died, there have been vague rumors in the village that the place is haunted.” The village chief said this while glancing at Qiao Zhao.

“No matter, we have so many grown men—we’re not afraid of such things.” Shao Mingyuan smiled, as if remembering something, “By the way, village chief, you said the Tofu Beauty’s son studies at the school in town. Does he come back to stay here normally? Would it be convenient for us to stay at his house?”

The village chief knocked his tobacco pipe against the table edge and shook his head: “He doesn’t come back to stay. That child was raised through his mother’s hardships and had a deep bond with her. When the Tofu Beauty died like this, the child was so grief-stricken he fell seriously ill. There’s a teacher surnamed Guo at the school who is kind-hearted and loves talent—he took the boy to live at his own home.”

Shao Mingyuan asked for the name of Tofu Beauty’s son.

“He’s just called Shanzi. If you distinguished guests want to stay there, you needn’t tell him. Just leave some silver when you go—that would be helping the child.” The village chief sighed.

“Naturally.”

Shao Mingyuan and the others declined the village chief’s invitation to stay for a meal and asked him to lead them to their lodging first.

The group walked to the end of the village and indeed saw a solitary house with no other dwellings nearby.

Led by the village chief, everyone entered the gate, while quite a few villagers followed behind to watch the excitement, whispering among themselves.

“Someone’s living in Tofu Beauty’s house? Just recently, Erwa heard ghostly wailing coming from her house when he was walking at night—aren’t these people afraid?”

“What would they be afraid of? Did you hear? That tall, handsome young man walking in front is the Qiao family’s eldest son-in-law.”

“The Qiao family’s eldest son-in-law? I’ve never seen him before.”

“Of course you haven’t seen him ‘s the Northern Expedition General, the distinguished Marquis Guanjun!”

“Ah, I didn’t think of that at first. So that’s Marquis Guanjun. I didn’t expect him to also have two eyes and one mouth, and he looks quite refined too.”

“Refined or not, he’s still the great personage who made the barbarians flee in defeat. No wonder he’s not afraid of ghosts—ghosts aren’t as scary as barbarians.”

The villagers’ chatter had no effect whatsoever on Shao Mingyuan and the others, but the dilapidated state of the Tofu Beauty’s courtyard left nowhere to step.

“This needs a thorough cleaning.” Yang Houcheng sighed as he looked around.

As the team leader for this trip, he busily directed his subordinates to clean the house, but was stopped by Shao Mingyuan.

“Chongshan, have them go buy daily necessities first. The house cleaning can wait.”

“Uh, alright.”

“Village chief, the Tofu Beauty died in that water vat?” Shao Mingyuan turned his head to ask the village chief.

“That’s right, in that very water vat.”

“Was the water vat moved by anyone afterward?”

“Who would move it? How inauspicious!”

Shao Mingyuan smiled: “We’ve troubled you today, village chief. You should head back first. It’s chaotic here—once we get it cleaned up, we’ll invite you for drinks.”

“Excellent! Marquis, if you need anything, just ask. This old man will take his leave first.”

If not for Marquis Guanjun and these people being here, he wouldn’t even want to approach this kind of haunted house.

After the village chief left, Shao Mingyuan lifted his foot and walked toward the water vat placed in the corner by the wall.

Seeing this, Qiao Zhao silently followed.

Chi Can glanced at the two of them, then looked away and said to Yang Houcheng: “There’s not even a place to step here. Let’s go outside for some fresh air.”

Yang Houcheng nodded quickly: “Good idea.”

Although Shixi seemed to have let go, watching the girl he once liked pair up with his good friend must still be uncomfortable.

Shao Mingyuan walked to the water vat, estimated its height, and turned his head to say to Qiao Zhao: “Zhaozhao, step back a bit.”

Qiao Zhao shook her head: “I’m fine.”

Shao Mingyuan thought for a moment, didn’t try to persuade her further, and reached out to lift the lid covering the water vat.

An indescribable smell hit them.

Coroner Qian, who was quite interested in the water vat, sniffed and nodded: “Mm, that’s the smell of a corpse.”

Looking at his expression of enjoyment, Shao Mingyuan and Qiao Zhao exchanged glances, rather speechless.

After that smell had dissipated somewhat, Shao Mingyuan lowered his head to peer into the water vat.

The water vat had long been empty of water, and even the moss that had once covered the vat walls had turned gray-white from prolonged dryness. There were some cracks at the bottom of the vat, and about two feet up from the bottom was a clear dividing line.

Shao Mingyuan reached his hand inside and scraped hard against the vat wall with his fingernail, leaving a shallow mark on the wall.

Shao Mingyuan stared at that mark, his eyes gradually deepening.

Qiao Zhao stepped forward and stood on her tiptoes to look into the water vat.

Being short was just this inconvenient.

Shao Mingyuan directly pulled her back.

Qiao Zhao looked up at him.

Shao Mingyuan said gently, “You can ask me about anything you want to see. The water vat is so tall, and you’re so short—if you stand on your tiptoes looking inside like that, what if you fall in?”

Miss Qiao’s face darkened.

He said she was short right to her face, so casually?

Had he only learned the rogue’s techniques of putting his hands on girls without permission, but failed to grasp the skill of sweet talk?

Seeing his beloved girl’s tense expression, the young general had a flash of inspiration and asked in a low voice: “How about I hold you so you can see?”

Qiao Zhao quickly glanced at Coroner Qian not far away, then said with a cold face: “Just tell me what’s at the bottom of the water vat.”

The bottom of the water vat was pitch black, and being short, she couldn’t see clearly at all.

“There’s nothing there, which is why I think the Tofu Beauty’s death probably wasn’t an accident.”