Madam Jiang and Yue Qing rushed over. “Ning’er, are you alright?”
Yue Ning supported herself against the corridor railing outside, retching until tears streamed down her face. Her mouth was filled with bitterness, and she felt as if all strength had been drained from her body. When had she ever been so disheveled in all her life?
Yue Ning felt utterly ashamed. If that inner room was a battlefield, she was now nothing but a deserter!
Thinking this, Yue Ning looked back, catching a glimpse of Qin Wan’s focused profile through the corner of the window lattice.
Yue Ning’s face flushed hot. She suddenly realized how disrespectful her earlier dismissive attitude toward Qin Wan had been!
“Quickly, Lu Yun, bring some water!” Madam Jiang was deeply concerned. “Child, you shouldn’t have forced yourself. Even your mother could barely stand watching from outside, let alone you being inside. Quickly drink some water to wash away the taste…”
While Madam Jiang wiped Yue Ning’s lips, she instructed Lu Yun to clean up the mess on the ground. Yue Qing and Yue Jia helped Yue Ning sit down nearby, while Yue Qiong and Huo Huaixin stood watching, their expressions grave.
Not only had Yue Ning been unable to bear it, but even these two men felt somewhat queasy.
Battlefield killing was different from an autopsy, and watching prisoners being beheaded from the execution platform was different too. Watching Qin Wan gradually expose the deceased’s internal organs before everyone created a prolonged, meticulous sensation that made their scalps tingle.
Only Yan Chi and Xu He remained standing outside the window watching Qin Wan.
Yue Ning’s disturbance hadn’t affected her. Her gaze remained focused, her body seeming to maintain a fixed arc. Her hand was extremely steady as she cut upward from the abdomen, one stroke at a time. From Yan Chi’s angle, Lin Daxing’s evisceration by Qin Wan was an extremely shocking and horrifying scene. Even Yan Chi didn’t wish to look at such a scene for long, yet Qin Wan remained completely composed.
Was it just because she was a physician?
She was so young, and even as a doctor, she likely hadn’t saved more than a hundred patients. Moreover, not every physician can identify the cause of injury just by looking at wounds. Only coroners with extremely high skill and experience could accomplish this. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they simply ask outside doctors to perform official autopsies?
Time passed slowly. The smell of blood and decay seeped out from the inner room. Smelling this, Xu He’s face gradually turned pale. At one point, he finally couldn’t help but retreat to the doorway, taking deep breaths of fresh air from outside.
Qin Wan’s form finally paused. Being watched by everyone was different from being completely alone. She ultimately couldn’t maintain her father’s level of detachment. Xu He’s departing footsteps allowed her to fully relax and focus.
Qin Wan unconsciously moved her aching neck, but this movement made her freeze.
She had thought the window would be empty, but unexpectedly, Yan Chi was still standing there.
At this moment, his usually overwhelming gaze held no pressure at all. Mixed with the ink-like night outside, it fell upon her like clear, serene moonlight or warm, yellow lamplight.
His attentive yet unobtrusive goodwill caused Qin Wan’s heart to skip a beat.
Today was only Qin Wan’s second time meeting this “Demon King.”
Whether from her previous knowledge of him or her impressions upon meeting him in person, she knew that this Crown Prince was high above others, wielding great power. Though perhaps righteous, his methods and schemes were certainly not benign.
She respected his lofty status and admired his achievements in protecting the country, but felt no further curiosity or closeness toward him. From her perspective, their meeting at the An Yang Marquis’s mansion was merely coincidental, and they would have no further interaction.
Their eyes met for just a moment, yet thousands of thoughts rushed through Qin Wan’s mind. She seemed to glimpse another side of this Crown Prince that few could see, like a clear and gentle glance on a cold winter night.
Qin Wan quickly withdrew her gaze. Her lips pressed tightly together as her knife fell again, swift and precise.
The smell of blood and decay grew stronger, yet Yan Chi’s lips curved slightly.
That glance just now seemed different from all their eye contact throughout the day.
The vast An Yang Marquis mansion and the Yue family faded away, leaving only him and her in what felt like a private moment under the evening breeze and dim lamps. Like two drops of ink touching by chance, though it was just a light brush, her spirit, and character spread through his entire being like ink stains, slow and deep, instantly arousing in him a desire to understand her thoroughly.
By the time Yue Ning recovered, a quarter-hour had passed. She was completely listless, having lost all her earlier vigor. Madam Jiang looked at her with deep concern, then glanced back at the window. “If even Ning’er with her personality couldn’t handle it, I don’t know how Wan’er…”
Huo Huaixin had calmed down. He glanced at the water clock nearby. “It’s been almost half an hour. I wonder if Ninth Miss can find the cause. If after all this time, it turns out to be as Xu He said about the ribs piercing the organs…”
He looked at Yue Qing. “I’m afraid Second Young Master will be even more disappointed.”
But Yue Qing shook his head. “I’ve written my testimony and stamped it. I’m already in the worst situation. Even if Ninth Miss’s final results don’t change anything, at least I can die with acceptance.”
Huo Huaixin couldn’t help but feel anxious again. He didn’t want to prosecute the An Yang Marquis’s son. Even though Yue Qiong was upright, he feared creating friction with the An Yang Marquis’s household. But at this point, did they expect him to admit he had wrongly decided the case?
If so, he would not only lose face before the An Yang Marquis’s household but would also be exposed as an incompetent official who nearly created a wrongful conviction and spoke empty words, even before a sixteen-year-old girl…
“That’s precisely the point. Don’t speak carelessly about today’s events!”
Madam Jiang gave this instruction, then glanced at those inside. Qin Wan’s reputation already bore the burden of being called an ill omen to her parents. If this was connected to performing autopsies, even worse rumors might spread…
Inside, besides Huo Huaixin and Xu He, there were only the Yue family’s masters, along with Lu Yun and Wei Yan Zhi.
Wei Yan Zhi quickly nodded. “This junior understands. Madam, please rest assured.”
Madam Jiang asked, “Where is Wan’er’s maid?”
Lu Yun quickly replied, “Waiting outside.”
Madam Jiang nodded, then anxiously looked toward the window lattice. Qin Wan’s autopsy results would determine Yue Qing’s future, so naturally, she hoped the results would be favorable to him.
Just then, Qin Wan straightened up inside the side room. “May I trouble His Highness to call Lord Huo and the Marquis over.”
Being close by, Huo Huaixin and the others immediately heard Qin Wan’s words.
Knowing the results were out, everyone hurried back to the window.
As soon as Huo Huaixin took his position, he stared intently at Qin Wan. “Well?”
As his words fell, Qin Wan’s hand reached into Lin Daxing’s chest. When she withdrew it, her palm held a bloody mass of flesh. Huo Huaixin instinctively asked, “What is this?”
As Huo Huaixin asked, others also stared at what lay in Qin Wan’s palm.
The object looked like a piece of rotting flesh, and seeing it made Yue Ning’s stomach begin to churn again.
“This is the deceased’s heart. As the Prefect can see, it has been crushed to this state…”
Ignoring the suddenly pale faces of Huo Huaixin and the others, Qin Wan said gravely, “Among the deceased’s five organs, only the heart was ruptured. The deceased died from this heavy blow to the chest with a blunt object. The killer was not the Second Young Master.”