In this clearly laid-out room, only one space was large enough to accommodate a person.
Xiao Jin Yu moved all the bedding on the bed to one side—one quilt and two mattresses. Just moving these items had already left him slightly breathless.
When he saw the wide gap between the two joined bed boards, Xiao Jin Yu let out a soft sigh of relief.
Thankfully, it wasn’t sealed shut.
The downside was that he had just taken several types of medicine to barely delay the onset of his symptoms for a quarter of an hour, and now he could clearly feel the effects rapidly fading. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and the pain spreading from deep within his bones showed signs of breaking through like a dam.
With no time to overthink, Xiao Jin Yu reached out to try lifting the bed board. Just as his hand was about to touch it, the board suddenly shifted on its own.
It stopped moving in the blink of an eye.
For a moment, Xiao Jin Yu wasn’t sure if it had actually moved or if his dizziness had caused him to see things. He froze briefly, and in that split second, the bed board abruptly sprang upward.
Xiao Jin Yu had no time to pull his hand back. His right forearm slammed squarely into the sharp edge of the board with a dull thud of wood hitting bone. As the sound echoed, he saw the truth behind the moving bed board.
Chu Chu lay flat in the space beneath the boards, her arms stretched forward to push the board up high. With a forceful shove, she tossed it onto the other board before gripping the edge of the bed and sitting up. "Were you trying to suffocate me?" she exclaimed.
After being cramped in there for so long, she had finally seen a sliver of light and couldn’t wait for the man in red to leisurely lift the board!
After taking two deep breaths, she noticed Xiao Jin Yu pressing tightly on his arm, his face ashen.
"H-how... how is it you?"
Xiao Jin Yu wanted to ask the same question even more—and in a shout, at that. Why is it always you! Unfortunately, he was using most of his energy to endure the pain and could only glare coldly at her, his brow furrowed, while she stared back with an innocent expression. "Why did you run off..."
Chu Chu had nearly forgotten about the matter, but his question brought it all back. She swiftly rolled out and stood up, putting three steps between them, her back straight. "I already asked the guard to return all the money to you, and I don’t want the wages for being your maid either. I can’t stop you from deceiving people, and I won’t hold it against you for tricking me. But I’m a coroner—lying brings retribution. From now on, find someone else for those deceitful tasks."
Leaning against the chair back, Xiao Jin Yu endured a sharp pain along his spine and mustered the strength to speak. "That wasn’t deception..."
"Say what you will... You can just disregard the examinations I did earlier. There are plenty of skilled coroners in the capital—it’d be safer to have them re-examine everything anyway. I won’t wait to testify in court; I’m going home now. But there’s one more thing..." Chu Chu pointed to the spot she had just crawled out from. "I don’t know where Young Master Gu Yao went, but the person he entrusted to me is still in there."
There’s another person inside?
The pain intensified sharply. Xiao Jin Yu’s left hand gripped the armrest tightly, his knuckles pale and prominent. Frowning deeply, he struggled to keep his voice steady, though a faint tremor seeped through. "What person...""I don't know either. Please tell him that person is truly dead and beyond saving. I just examined him - although he has many injuries, they're all superficial and not fatal. He died from taking too much aphrodisiacs, the same kind of aphrodisiacs as the previous victims."
"Alright... you may go..."
☆、16 Jujube Ginger Soup (Sixteen)
Xiao Jin Yu didn't remember how he lost consciousness, but he regained it purely due to a sharp pain in his hand. While his vision was still blurry, he heard Jing Yi's voice coming from beside the bed.
"When I went to get medicine from Old Man Ye, he told me that if you hadn't arrived at the Royal Mansion by the beginning of the Xu hour tonight, he would announce your death to the mansion and then slit his own throat to accompany you in death."
Ye Qian Qiu often made harsh threats, but rarely this severe.
"What time is it now..."
"The beginning of the Shen hour. Two hours remaining."
He had probably... been unconscious for most of the day.
When Xiao Jin Yu moved his right hand slightly, a dull pain shot from his forearm through his entire body, reminding him of that inexplicable injury. Frowning, he used his left hand to slowly prop himself up. "Who brought me here..." His last memory was of Chu Chu running out of Gu Yao's room, after which everything went blank.
"Wu Jiang. He ran into Chu Chu as soon as he arrived, and that girl told him you seemed ill."
Xiao Jin Yu's brow relaxed slightly. "Wu Jiang is already here?"
"Been here for a while," Jing Yi hesitated, "but someone has already left."
Xiao Jin Yu painstakingly settled his body and gave a faint, bitter smile. "I know..."
Jing Yi was taken aback. "You know?"
"She told me everything. I permitted it..."
Jing Yi immediately jumped up from the bedside. "Why would you permit Gu Yao to commit suicide?!"
Now it was Xiao Jin Yu's turn to be stunned. "Gu Yao is dead?"
"Didn't you just say you knew?"
Xiao Jin Yu's face flushed, then immediately darkened as he furrowed his brows tightly. "Issue the order... preserve the body in its current state, no one is to approach... I'll examine it myself."
"Too late. The examination is already complete."
"Who performed it?"
"Who else? Isn't there only one coroner who entered As Returning Pavilion with you?"
Gu Yao had died in the bathroom of Jing Yi's room, having slit his wrists. By the time Xiao Jin Yu arrived, Gu Yao's body had already been removed, leaving only a tub full of bloody water and the overwhelming smell of blood throughout the room.
Chu Chu stood by the bathroom door, and at first glance noticing that Xiao Jin Yu's sickly pallor seemed much improved from before, she felt an inexplicable surge of joy.
As Xiao Jin Yu passed by her, accompanied by Wu Jiang and Jing Yi into the bathroom, he gave her only a brief, neutral look. "You haven't left yet?"
That layer of joy felt like it had been suddenly covered with a shovelful of snow, instantly cooling by half. "My bundle is still at Prince An Manor."
OpenNovel