Old Yu was so frightened he nearly lost his senses. He scrambled up to run, hitting the high wall blocking his way, unable to distinguish if it was a wall or a door, pounding on it desperately.
A cold voice echoed from behind him: “You can’t get out that way.”
Old Yu froze, then whirled around.
Compared to the pitch darkness inside the coffin, the light now was dim, but at least he could make out a vague human silhouette not far away.
Old Yu slid down in fear, his crotch wet and dripping.
Mother of heaven, seeing a person was even scarier than seeing nothing at all.
Thinking of where he had just crawled out from, Old Yu could only conclude that the figure before him was a ghost – a female ghost!
The female ghost beckoned to him: “Come here.”
Old Yu was extremely reluctant, but his legs moved of their own accord. When he came to his senses, he was already in front of the female ghost, and only then did he realize there was also a male ghost beside her.
Two ghosts – there was even less hope now.
His legs gave way and he fell to the ground, begging repeatedly: “Amitabha Buddha, may the gods protect me. If you have grievances or vengeance, please don’t take it out on me…”
Although Yu-Jin wanted to kick this babbling fool into the south wall, he held back.
He could deal with him after Si’er finished questioning.
“I have a few questions for you. Answer to my satisfaction and I’ll let you go,” Jiang Si said slowly, frowning as she endured the stench of urine coming from Old Yu.
“You… you’re not ghosts?” A bit of color returned to Old Yu’s face.
The young woman’s voice was icy, her expression cold: “If you don’t answer properly, you’ll become a ghost. Whether that coffin will be put to use depends on you.”
Old Yu shuddered, the color draining from his face again.
Even so, he felt somewhat reassured.
As long as they were human, there was room for reason. Ghosts don’t reason.
Don’t ask him how he knew – everyone said so.
“Why did you redeem Yu’er?”
Old Yu was stunned. His eyes darted around as he instinctively tried to lie: “Yu’er? She’s my old flame—”
The young woman’s pale hand reached out, lightly tapping on the coffin: “It seems you didn’t understand what I said. Young Master, do you think we should cut off one of his fingers or two?”
Jiang Si was still dressed as a little maid, so addressing Yu Jin as “Young Master” didn’t seem out of place at all.
The young woman’s expression was obedient, her voice sweet. Yu Jin was delighted to hear it, thinking to himself how nice it sounded when Si’er called him “Young Master”. When they were married, he’d have to get her to call him that more often.
A cold glint flashed as a dagger pinned Old Yu’s hand to the ground.
Yu Jin smiled: “Cut off as many as you like, whatever satisfies you.”
Blood quickly welled up. Old Yu screamed in agony, quickly saying, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”
Jiang Si sneered: “They say a man won’t shed tears until he sees his coffin. You’re quite bold, trying to play tricks with the coffin right in front of you. I’ll ask my question one more time. This time, think carefully before you answer.”
Old Yu was completely terrified now. He babbled, “No need to think, I’ll tell you! I don’t know any Yu’er at all. A young man gave me money to go to the Yan Chun troupe and redeem a courtesan named Yu’er.”
“And after redeeming her?”
“After? After that, the man took Yu’er away.”
Jiang Si felt disappointed.
She had thought that since the person had used Old Yu to redeem Yu’er, they might have killed two birds with one stone and had Old Yu send Yu’er back to her brother. That way, they could have also found Yu’er’s brother.
Now it seemed she had been too optimistic.
“What did that young man look like? Any distinguishing features? Or anything unusual you noticed?”
Given how cautious the other party was, it was impossible to expect Old Yu to know that young man. If he could point out some features, it would still be a gain.
But Old Yu suddenly fell silent.
The dagger pinning his palm caused him excruciating pain. However, for someone like him, injury was a common occurrence. As long as his life wasn’t in immediate danger, this kind of pain was bearable – and had to be endured.
Yu Jin suddenly spoke up: “It seems you noticed more than just what he looked like… Tell us, do you recognize him?”
Old Yu looked up abruptly, staring at Yu Jin in surprise.
This was a dim room, with the only light source being sunlight filtering through a high window.
The light gathered into a beam, dancing with countless dust particles.
Old Yu still couldn’t make out Yu Jin’s features clearly, but he could sense the coldness in the other’s demeanor.
It was indifference towards an insect like him.
Glancing at the dark coffin, Old Yu hesitated for only a moment before making his decision. Steeling himself, he said, “This lowly one does know that person…”
“Who is it?” Yu Jin pressed, his expression unchanged.
Jiang Si was surprised and delighted. She looked at Yu Jin differently now.
As expected, he was indeed more cunning than her.
Old Yu shook his head: “I can’t say his name. When I said I knew him, I meant I’d seen him before by chance. He seems to be the servant of a young master from a noble family. Once, he passed by a place I frequent with that young master, buying a bouquet from a flower seller. Because it was a man buying flowers, I paid extra attention and remembered him. I never expected him to find me recently, asking me to redeem a courtesan…”
“So, he doesn’t know that you know him. Him finding you was purely coincidental?”
Old Yu nodded: “It should be.”
“If we let you see that person, could you recognize him?”
Old Yu answered without hesitation: “Of course I could.”
Yu Jin looked at Jiang Si.
Suppressing her excitement, Jiang Si asked Old Yu another question: “If we let you see that young master from the noble family, could you recognize him?”
“I could,” Old Yu said confidently.
Jiang Si smiled faintly.
This was good. They could soon find out whether that young master was Zhu Ziyu or not.
The Hanlin Academy was considered one of the most leisurely government offices in the capital. Even in the morning, when the day had just begun, it exuded an air of relaxation.
Zhu Ziyu had just brewed himself a cup of tea and had only taken two sips when someone walked in: “Brother Zhu, someone’s looking for you outside.”
Is someone looking for him at this time?
Although Zhu Ziyu was puzzled, he still walked out of the Hanlin Academy’s main gate.
The area outside the office was empty, with only passersby on the distant street.
Where was the person?
Zhu Ziyu looked around, and waited for a moment, but saw no one. Frowning, he turned to go back.
In the teahouse across the street, Yu Jin asked Old Yu: “Is that the man?”
“Yes…”
Jiang Si thought for a moment, then asked Old Yu: “Was that servant thin and small, with a baby face?”
Although she hadn’t paid much attention, she vaguely remembered Zhu Ziyu had such a servant.
She didn’t have many opportunities to meet Zhu Ziyu, so any servant that left an impression was one who frequently accompanied him.
Old Yu nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, he looked quite small. That’s why I was surprised when he asked me to go to the Jinshui River to redeem a courtesan.”
Yu Jin signaled Long Dan to take Old Yu away.
Jiang Si looked out the window at the Hanlin Academy office across the street, her heart as cold as ice.