Сhарtеr 6: The Вuddhа Dеvоurs Sin (3)
Тhe Lu family wаs, аfter all, а proреr оffiсiаl hоusehold, аnd Zhu Yan’s father belonged tо Zhаng Xingwеi’s faсtiоn. Wu Таiming weighеd thе рrоs аnd cоns, stepping fоrwаrd without hеsitation, onlу to seе Shen Du lift his chin slightlу аnd sау соldlу, “Havе уou fоrgоttеn what I sаid?”
Immediаtеly, Zhu Yan bеhind him gаve а slight bow to Shen Du аnd replied, “Ноw wоuld I darе.”
Wu Taiming was instаntlу stunnеd. Thе Ninth-rаnk Сlеrk оf thе Ministrу оf Justicе was busу, and supеriors hаd еvеn fewеr оррortunities to slаck off. For over hаlf a month, todаy was thе first time Wu Таiming had rеturned home with enough leisure to chat with his family. Yet before half an hour had passed, he was urgently summoned to the Western Brightness Temple, so naturally, he hadn’t heard about the Zhu family marrying their daughter to Shen Du.
Zhu Yan had no time to explain to him. Leaving Lu Chuichui to quietly fill Wu Taiming in, she said to Shen Du, “I am, after all, a Ninth-rank Clerk in the Ministry of Justice. With a murder case occurring here and my superior urgently summoning me, I cannot neglect my duties. Great Pavilion Commander, rest assured—I don’t need to proclaim myself as Madam Shen by wearing wedding attire. Everyone in Chang’an will know that the White King of Hell took a wife today.”
“I won’t follow your example, openly neglecting and ignoring yet stopping the bridal sedan to issue warnings, doing nothing but unnecessary things. I…”
Zhu Yan raised her eyes and said, “...am not that enamored with the Great Pavilion Commander, nor do I need to trouble myself over him.”
With that, she bowed, stepped sideways, and walked into the scene.
The eighteen-year-old girl in her wedding attire crouched calmly by the burial pit without a trace of panic or unease. Her fingertips pressed into the soil in the pit, and merely touching and looking weren’t enough—she even picked up a pinch of slightly darker black soil and tasted it.
She even smacked her lips twice afterward.
Seeming to find nothing unusual, she stood up again, carefully lifting the long hem of her wedding dress to inspect the forest for any suspicious traces without disturbing the scene.
Finally, finding it too cumbersome, she gathered the hem and tied it into a messy knot at her waist.
From then on, she never looked back, just as she had said—she had no interest in him.
Shen Du frowned and gestured toward Zhu Yan to the other Inner Guards present.
Before the guards could move, Zhu Yan had already noticed the commotion. Removing her hand from a bamboo stalk, she strode back to Wu Taiming’s side.
The messy knot at her waist remained untied.
Shen Du turned his head. Jing Lin climbed out of the burial pit and reported, “I examined the shovel marks at the bottom of the pit. They don’t seem to have been made in the past few days—likely some time ago, but it’s difficult to determine exactly when.”
Jing Lin handed over a bottle of soil. “There’s very little blood, mostly corpse fluids. Liang and Kuang were likely transported here after their blood had mostly dried post-mortem.”
“However, no wheel tracks were found.”
Jing Lin said gravely, “There are plenty of footprints, though. But this is a capital temple, with countless worshippers and many people strolling leisurely among the bamboo. Even Prince Ying and Princess Yong’an are honored guests here. If we investigate based on footprints, I fear His Majesty… would be furious.”
Shen Du grunted in acknowledgment and ordered, “Have the Ministry of Revenue send someone to examine the pit bottom.”
Without determining when the pit was dug, they couldn’t begin screening visitors.
Jing Lin understood and was about to arrange it when Zhu Yan nearby said lightly, “April fifteenth.”
The date the pit was dug.
Shen Du frowned. “How do you know?”"The edge of the pit is thinner at the bottom and thicker at the top, with a sharp point of impact and rounded edges. The murderer, or perhaps an accomplice, used a common round-headed shovel. The soil at the pit's edge is loose, while the center is compact, and the bottom layer is tightly packed—this is typical of soil after rainfall. Today is the eighth day of the fifth month, and the last rainfall occurred on the fifteenth day of the fourth month."
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