Zhang Minxian did not expect that Zhan Feiyu, despite her young age, possessed such boldness, intending to inspect Zhou Shuyao's boudoir where she had committed suicide.
Recalling the room still stained with blood, Zhang Minxian couldn't help but frown. "Miss Zhan, although you and Shuyao knew each other, Shuyao is already gone. There's no need for you to do this."
Zhou Shuyao's body had already been moved to the adjoining side room, but the room was splattered with blood everywhere. Not to mention Zhan Feiyu, a young girl, even Zhang Minxian himself couldn't bear to look.
"Lord Zhang, Miss Zhou committed suicide shortly after Yang Xu left. These successive murders are all aimed at Yang Xu." Zhan Feiyu's expression was calm, but her stance was resolute.
To put it bluntly, Zhan Feiyu didn't care about the deaths of Fu Langhuan and Zhou Shuyao, nor would Old General Yang and Yang Shoucheng. However, since both murder cases involved Yang Xu, it was impossible for Zhang Minxian to stop her. If this case wasn't thoroughly investigated, even without concrete evidence, public opinion alone could ruin Yang Xu.
The Fu family was also unwilling for Magistrate Zhu to exhume the body, but circumstances dictated their actions, and the Fu family had no choice but to yield. In the same situation, Zhang Minxian could only do the same.
Zhan Feiyu had laid bare the truth. Despite his displeased expression, Zhang Minxian still stood up. "Since that is the case, Miss Zhan, please follow me."
Passing by the side room where the body was kept, hearing the heartbroken cries of Zhang Minhua from inside, Zhan Feiyu did not pause and walked directly towards the main house in the backyard.
As Zhang Minxian was an official, the four guards responsible for security did not enter the inner room but stood guard outside the door to prevent anyone from tampering with the scene.
Upon entering the inner room, a scent of blood could be detected, and after passing the dividing screen, the smell of blood became instantly more pungent.
Zhan Feiyu stood at the doorway and looked into the room. Just as the constables had reported, the wall by the window was splattered with blood, and a small pool of un-dried blood remained on the floor.
Perhaps unwilling to see this painful scene again, Zhang Minxian did not follow but stood in the adjoining flower hall, his hands behind his back, looking out the window, his entire being seemingly shrouded in an overwhelming sadness.
"Big Brother, that pair of scissors is the murder weapon." Zhan Feiyu pointed to the scissors lying on the ground.
There were bloodstains on the blades of the scissors, which were not large. Looking at the small basket placed on the low table, it contained threads of various colors and some fabric, suggesting these were scissors used for needlework.
Zhan Feiyu looked at the exquisitely decorated boudoir before her. Even though it was a temporary residence, the room was furnished with all necessary items. To the left of the entrance stood a tall Ru porcelain vase with a narrow mouth, holding several plum blossoms; on the right wall hung a landscape painting.
Further inside stood a rosewood table, adorned with not only the Four Treasures of the Study but also small items like an incense burner. On the other side, by the window, was a dressing table.
The cosmetic box on the dressing table was not closed, with hairpins and ornaments casually placed inside. Beside it lay a pair of gold and jade earrings with a jade rabbit pounding medicine motif.
Zhan Feiyu frowned slightly, carefully avoiding the bloodstains on the floor as she walked towards the dressing table. Indeed, there was only one earring.
Yin Wuyan stopped Zhan Feiyu, who was about to crouch down and look under the bed. "No need to look further. There's only one earring."
"Then is the other one on Zhou Shuyao's ear?" Zhan Feiyu murmured, her gaze returning to the bloodstains on the floor.
"The person stood in the bloodstains, with her back to the wall behind her." Yin Wuyan's clear voice rang out. For such a straightforward crime scene, Yin Wuyan could visualize the events with a single glance.
Zhan Feiyu nodded in understanding. Zhou Shuyao had cut her carotid artery with scissors, and the splashing blood had sprayed onto the wall behind her. Due to blood loss, Zhou Shuyao then fell to the ground.
The scissors she held in her right hand also fell nearby, and the pool of blood on the ground was from the wound on her neck continuing to bleed.
As for the scattered bloodstains on the ground, they were likely traces left by Zhou Shuyao's struggles as she was dying. However, having lost too much blood, she quickly fell unconscious, unable to save herself or call for help.
"Big Brother, can you tell if it was suicide or murder?" Zhan Feiyu, relying on her limited experience from novels and movies in her previous life, could only be certain that Zhou Shuyao had indeed died from a severed carotid artery.
However, whether she had cut it herself or someone else had, Zhan Feiyu couldn't tell.
"We'll know after seeing the body," Yin Wuyan said, surveying the inner room. The furnishings were all neat and tidy, indicating that Zhou Shuyao had not struggled before her death.
After spending about fifteen minutes in the inner room, Zhan Feiyu and Yin Wuyan came out.
Zhang Minxian, who had been standing with his back to them, immediately turned around. Judging by his somber and solemn expression, his grief had been completely suppressed.
"Shuyao's body is in the adjoining side room." His voice was somewhat hoarse, and Zhang Minxian's attitude had become much colder.
It was understandable. If Zhan Feiyu hadn't been a student of Scholar Gu, Zhang Minxian would never have allowed her, a young girl, to cause such a scene. As for inspecting the body, it was also out of necessity; if Zhang Minxian hadn't brought it up, Zhan Feiyu would have.
The crying in the side room had stopped. Zhang Minhua was now standing outside the door, her eyes swollen red. If not for the support of two wet nurses, her body would likely have given out.
"Minhua." Looking at his heartbroken sister, Zhang Minxian knew that any words of comfort were pale. He could only pat her shoulder and instruct the maids and wet nurses beside her, "Take good care of your madam."
Nothing in the world is more sorrowful than parents outliving their children. Zhang Minhua had lost her dignified and elegant demeanor; her hair and clothes were somewhat disheveled. Even though she had stopped crying, tears still trickled from the corners of her eyes. The extreme grief left her only able to shed tears numbly.
Seeing Zhan Feiyu about to enter the side room, Zhang Minhua, who had been staring blankly, suddenly seemed to go mad. She broke free from the wet nurses' support and screamed hysterically, "What are you doing? Get out, all of you, get out! No one is allowed to disturb Shuyao's rest, get out..."
Her hoarse throat could not emit a sharp cry, and her muffled shouts sounded like a mother beast who had lost her cub, only able to let out such mournful whimpers.
"Minhua, calm down!" Zhang Minxian embraced Zhang Minhua, who was blocking the doorway. Watching her go mad and yell, he could only suppress his grief and persuade her, "Shuyao is gone, Minhua. Calm down, stop crying. Your throat can't take it."
"Big Brother, don't talk nonsense. Shuyao is just sleeping!" Zhang Minhua, enraged, acted like a madwoman, hitting Zhang Minxian, who was blocking her from entering the room.
But as she hit, her strength waned, and finally, she collapsed onto Zhang Minxian and burst into tears again.
"Help your madam to rest." Zhang Minxian looked at his sister, who was emotionally collapsing, with heartache. After taking a deep breath, he could only ask the wet nurses to help her away. If she continued to cry, her body wouldn't be able to bear it.
Zhan Feiyu stood silently to the side, watching Zhang Minhua, whose legs had gone weak and was eventually supported away by the wet nurses. This grief of losing a daughter could not be fake.
Zhang Minxian was unwilling to even go to the boudoir where the incident occurred, let alone enter the side room to face Zhou Shuyao's body. He merely turned aside, allowing Zhan Feiyu and Yin Wuyan to enter.
As soon as she stepped into the room, Zhan Feiyu felt an inexplicable chill, and the scent of sandalwood made her feel an indescribable sense of oppression.
"If you're scared, stay by the door," Yin Wuyan said in a deep voice. Before, they had only seen the bloodstains, but now Zhou Shuyao's body lay on the bed in the side room.
"I..." Before she could utter the word "not," Zhan Feiyu, though not afraid of corpses and having had blood on her hands, ultimately did not go to examine the body.
Yin Wuyan gently patted the young girl's head before striding towards the bed. The body was covered with a white cloth.
Perhaps because Zhang Minhua couldn't accept Zhou Shuyao's death and forbade the maids and wet nurses from tidying up Zhou Shuyao's remains, Yin Wuyan lifted the white cloth and saw a pale, pale face with bloodstains on her face and neck.
There was a deep cut on the left side of her neck, not long but very deep. Yin Wuyan's gaze shifted upwards; her left ear had no earring.
Pushing aside the scattered hair, her right ear bore the jade rabbit pounding medicine motif gold and jade earring.
As for other areas, Yin Wuyan merely glanced at Zhou Shuyao's hands. Her right hand also had bloodstains, but her fingers were clean.
Unlike Fu Langhuan's hands before, which had skin and flesh fragments lodged between her fingernails from scratching someone during their struggle, Zhou Shuyao's were clean.
The bloodstains on her clothes also matched the pattern of blood spatter during a neck cut. Yin Wuyan stared at the body for a long time before covering it with the white cloth again.
Seeing Yin Wuyan return, Zhan Feiyu, who was waiting by the door, looked up. Upon seeing the earring in Yin Wuyan's hand, her eyes widened.
"Let's go out." Yin Wuyan said nothing more, and he and Zhan Feiyu left the side room together.
Before the door had even closed, hurried footsteps could be heard. Zhan Feiyu looked up to see Magistrate Zhu, who had arrived by official sedan chair, accompanied by constables and the coroner.
Leading the way was Yang Xu, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, accompanied by Yang Shoucheng. Even Qiu Zongxi and Qiu Jinyu had arrived.
As for He Sheng, who was protecting Yang Xu, he lagged behind. His aura was restrained, and coupled with his drab clothing and unremarkable appearance, it made it easy for people to overlook him.
When Yang Shoucheng and Coroner Tao went to inspect the boudoir, there was a scattered earring next to the cosmetic box, and the other was inside the box.
As for the autopsy, Coroner Tao only conducted a cursory examination of the fatal wound on the neck and checked the exposed arms and other areas.
Apart from old injuries sustained during the struggle with Fu Langhuan, there were no other new injuries. As for the inside of her clothes, Coroner Tao dared not investigate. Magistrate Zhu then asked the wet nurses responsible for guarding the female prison to conduct a check, and they found no new injuries on her body either.
This delay had already passed half an hour. Qiu Zongxi and Yang Shoucheng were seated in the main hall, with Zhang Minxian still accompanying them. Despite the death of his niece, even if it were his own parents who had passed away, the etiquette of hosting guests could not be neglected.
Yang Xu stood in the corridor in a daze, listening to the renewed cries of grief from the direction of the side room, his entire being lost.
Yang Xu could accept Fu Langhuan's death, but he never expected that in just three or four days, another person would die. Thinking of his unpleasant parting with Zhou Shuyao and his angry, thoughtless words, Yang Xu's lips trembled. His dark, small face was tense, standing there like a wooden pillar.
"Xiao Xu, the dead cannot be brought back to life. Try to be strong." Qiu Jinyu patted Yang Xu's shoulder comfortingly. He knew that Yang Xu was going to see Zhou Shuyao today, so he could understand Yang Xu's current self-blame and guilt. After all, it was a living life, and by blood relation, she was Yang Xu's cousin.
After a long silence, Yang Xu finally managed to speak as if his throat were blocked, "It's my fault. I caused her death!"
Zhan Feiyu walked over. Fortunately, the corridor was sheltered from the wind, so it didn't feel too cold. "I inspected the room and the body. She committed suicide with scissors. It has nothing to do with you."
Yang Xu's dazed and vacant eyes gained focus. He looked at Zhan Feiyu and shook his head, his pain evident on his face. "If I hadn't asked her to go to the Fu family to pay respects, we wouldn't have argued, and she wouldn't have died."
Although there were rumors about Fu Langhuan's death in every alley and street of Xiangwu County, with various accounts of how she died, Yang Xu knew the truth.
On that day, because of Fu Langhuan's death, upon learning that Zhan Feiyu had gone to the Fu family in the middle of the night, Yang Xu had impulsively misunderstood Zhan Feiyu, thinking she had killed Fu Langhuan. Afterward, he had humbled himself and apologized profusely.
Later, the former subordinates of the Yang family found clues, indicating that both Fu Langhuan and Zhou Shuyao had inhaled large amounts of Gui Cao, which caused them to lose their minds. In their delirium, they clashed, not only scratching each other but also Zhou Shuyao suffocating Fu Langhuan to death.
Yang Xu knew that the real culprit was the person behind the distribution of Gui Cao. Zhou Shuyao was not exactly a murderer; she was out of her mind at the time and didn't even remember killing someone.
But ultimately, Fu Langhuan was dead. Yang Xu wasn't asking for Zhou Shuyao to be punished, but he believed that he and Zhou Shuyao both bore responsibility for Fu Langhuan's death. They should at least have gone to the Fu family to pay their respects.
"I did not kill伯仁 (Bo Ren), but Bo Ren died because of me." Paying respects was necessary, and similarly, they owed the Fu family a life. If they could help in the future, Yang Xu would definitely offer his assistance.
However, Zhou Shuyao vehemently opposed it, even arguing with Yang Xu. Both of them harbored guilt and self-reproach in their hearts due to Fu Langhuan's death, and the emotions suppressed for days erupted all at once.
One was a fourteen-year-old girl, the other only eight. Neither had experienced much, nor had they ever taken a life. Although Zhou Shuyao was a few years older, she knew in her heart that she had choked Fu Langhuan to death.
Thus, they erupted into a fierce argument, and Zhou Shuyao, her emotions collapsing, finally screamed at Yang Xu, "You keep saying I killed Fu Langhuan. Fine, I'll pay her with my life!"
This was the last thing Zhou Shuyao said to Yang Xu. Yang Xu was not eloquent. His purpose in coming was to persuade Zhou Shuyao to go to the Fu family to pay respects, to ease his own conscience. He never expected the argument to escalate like this.
Seeing the crying Zhou Shuyao, Yang Xu could only leave the separate residence first.
Upon returning to the Qiu residence, Yang Xu still thought that if Zhou Shuyao was truly unwilling to go to the Fu family, he would go alone. After all, even though Fu Langhuan had schemed against him, she didn't deserve to die.
But what Yang Xu didn't expect was to receive the news of Zhou Shuyao's suicide out of guilt. Qiu Zongxi also learned of this. The former subordinates of the Yang family were the first to report to Yang Shoucheng, and then they went to the Qiu residence to inform Yang Xu. The group hurried over.