Meihua choked up as she recounted that day’s events. “After discovering our beloved was the same person, we both felt he was attracted to us. One word led to another and we quarreled. I said that Jing-gege and I had played together since childhood—just because you’re prettier, would he like you? Yan’er said I was the good-looking one…”

Lin Hao thought of the young novice’s words and nodded slightly.

“Later I got angry and left first. I never imagined that Yan’er would—” Meihua’s eyes reddened, no longer concealing her self-reproach. “I shouldn’t have invited Yan’er to Tianyuan Temple…”

These past few days, she hadn’t had a moment’s peace, constantly praying this was all a dream. The nightmare would end, Yan’er would still be alive, and they would still be good friends who occasionally bickered.

The walls around her heart collapsed with her confession. Meihua covered her mouth and wept bitterly.

“What’s the full name of this Jing-gege you mentioned, and where does he live?”

Meihua stopped crying, wariness appearing in her eyes.

“Don’t overthink it. This is just a normal investigation. We won’t wrong innocent people.”

Meihua bit her lip and hesitated, then said somewhat reluctantly, “His name is Zhang Jing. He lives on the same alley as my family. After I left Tianyuan Temple that day, I went to look for him, but he wasn’t home. His family had received word that his aunt had passed away, and the whole family had gone outside the city to attend the funeral. Yan’er’s matter has nothing to do with him at all…”

The young woman’s tone grew agitated.

“If that’s the case, you have even less to worry about.” Lin Hao consoled her warmly.

Meihua anxiously grasped her white silk skirt. “Then… will you summon him for questioning?”

Everyone knew she and Jing-gege were close. If they saw Jing-gege being interrogated by officials, wouldn’t they guess that the one with Yan’er that day was her?

Lin Hao understood Meihua’s worry and dispelled her concerns with one sentence. “Funeral attendance can be verified with a simple check. There’s no need to summon him for questioning.”

Meihua breathed a sigh of relief.

But Lin Hao’s tone shifted. “However, if there are no new leads, we can only conduct an in-depth investigation focusing on you few who regularly played with Yan’er. Meihua, think carefully again—didn’t you encounter any unusual people at Tianyuan Temple, or did anything unusual happen?”

“Unusual people—” Meihua pondered, then shook her head. “No. There were quite a few people offering incense that day, but nothing unusual—”

She paused, her tone uncertain. “After Yan’er and I quarreled, I left first. Because I was angry, I walked rather hastily and accidentally bumped into someone. Does that count as unusual?”

Lin Hao’s heart stirred. She quickly asked, “Was that person male or female?”

“A woman.”

“Do you remember what she looked like?”

Meihua quickly shook her head. “I couldn’t see her features. She was wearing a veiled hat.”

“What about her age, build, clothing?”

“I felt she was only two or three years older than me. She was very thin. Though she had no maid accompanying her, her dress didn’t seem like that of an ordinary family…”

“When you bumped into her, she didn’t say anything?”

“No, but she should have been quite angry.” Meihua tried hard to recall. “The veil on her hat swayed, and I saw her mouth was tightly pursed—”

Meihua suddenly stopped, her expression conflicted.

“What is it? Did you remember something?” Lin Hao inquired patiently.

“I don’t know if I saw wrong or if it was really like that—” Meihua hesitated.

Lin Hao patted her hand. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll verify it afterward. You just need to say what you noticed.”

“Her face seemed to have a scar…”

“A scar?” Something flashed through Lin Hao’s mind. Because it came too quickly and suddenly, she couldn’t grasp this spark of inspiration. “What kind of scar? Left cheek or right cheek?”

“Left cheek… no, it seemed to be the right cheek!” Meihua shook her head. “I can’t remember clearly. Maybe I saw wrong…”

It had only been a casual glance. If she hadn’t just been wracking her brain to recall, she wouldn’t even have remembered such a detail.

Scar, young woman from a wealthy background, Tianyuan Temple, beautiful young women without heads… Lin Hao silently recited these words in her mind. That fleeting spark of inspiration became lightning that cleaved through the chaos in her mind, and a person surfaced.

Meihua watched Lin Hao’s expression change and nervously called out, “Elder Sister?”

Lin Hao came back to herself, suppressed her surging emotions, and showed Meihua a reassuring smile. “Wait a bit longer before you go out.”

Meihua obediently nodded and sat a while longer before walking into the courtyard at Lin Hao’s reminder.

Lin Hao remained composed and chatted with the last young woman.

The five young women had spent similar amounts of time inside, and their expressions when they came out also looked similar. Neither Constable Liu nor Yan’er’s mother could distinguish which one was connected to Yan’er.

Qi Shuo asked Constable Liu to escort the several young women home and took his leave of the woman together with Lin Hao.

“Official, they, do they know what happened to Yan’er that day?”

“Elder Sister, rest assured. The murderer who harmed Yan’er will definitely be found.”

As soon as they left Yan’er’s home, Lin Hao said in a low voice, “Go to Tianyuan Temple.”

She had Qi Shuo enter the carriage and explained the information she had obtained along the way.

“Hearing Meihua say the woman she bumped into seemed to have a scar on her face, I suddenly thought of someone.”

“Who did you think of?”

Lin Hao shook her head slightly. “I’m afraid that saying it might influence our judgment. Let’s go to Tianyuan Temple to verify first.”

“Actually, I also thought of someone.”

“Who?”

“Second Miss Tang, who was hideously disfigured at Qinglu Temple outside the city over a year ago.”

The Second Miss Tang that Qi Shuo spoke of was Tang Wei, second young lady of the Wuning Marquis Manor. Her elder sister Tang Qiang had died at the hands of the deposed Crown Prince, and because of this, Emperor Tai’an had not pursued the matter of the deposed Crown Prince being attacked at the Wuning Marquis Manor.

The originally prominent and illustrious marquis manor had gradually lost its presence in the capital’s wealthy circles.

“It seems we thought of the same person.”

Qi Shuo smiled and drew her close. “Many times, intuition is a kind of judgment formed by synthesizing various pieces of information. It’s not unfounded nonsense.”

While they were speaking, they arrived at Tianyuan Temple. The two directly sought out the abbot and inquired about the list of distinguished guests who had made incense donations on the day of Yan’er’s disappearance.

For those donors who contributed substantial incense money, monks specifically recorded their names. Though Buddhist temples claimed to be pure and tranquil places, in certain aspects they truly couldn’t avoid worldly customs.

Sure enough, the two found the name of the Wuning Marquis’s wife on the list.

“Are the lists from over a year ago still preserved?” Qi Shuo asked.

Having experienced such incidents twice, Tianyuan Temple had been significantly affected. The abbot also wanted the murderer caught soon and was very cooperative, ordering the steward monk to present the account books. “These types of ledgers are kept for at least five years. Two benefactors, please examine them at your leisure.”

The two huddled together and began looking from the account books of two years ago. They quickly found the name of the Wuning Marquis’s wife in the ledger—it was about a month before the first headless female corpse was discovered.

Looking through the records, the Wuning Marquis’s wife came to Tianyuan Temple roughly once every three months or so, plus some festivals. Probably after her daughter’s incident at Qinglu Temple, she had shifted her incense-burning and Buddha-worshipping activities here.

“Thank you, Abbot.”

Walking out of Tianyuan Temple, Lin Hao glanced into the distance. “Though the Wuning Marquis Manor has declined, going directly to investigate would likely alert them.”

If Wen Qing’s disappearance was Tang Wei’s doing, then she might be the key to solving the case.