Chapter 5

Dong Jingmo led me to a small courtyard not far from the previous one. He pushed open the door to the main room and said, “How does this place suit you, Sir?”

I strolled inside and saw that the lighting was quite good, with tables, chairs, and writing materials all prepared. I thanked him, “It is excellent. I must trouble the Eldest Young Master to bring everyone here. I need to question them one by one.”

“Very well. Please wait a moment, Sir.”

Dong Jingmo arranged for two young maids to serve tea and refreshments, then turned and left the courtyard.

Before long, he returned with dozens of servants.

Song Lan, familiar with my methods, had these people divided into two groups by gender, standing outside the door waiting to be questioned, and instructed the constables to ensure no one whispered to each other.

I questioned them individually inside the room.

After a day and night, these servants had gone through two rounds of questioning. It was clear they had been warned not to speak carelessly; their answers were all the same. None claimed to have seen how the Singing Girl turned into a skeleton. They only said they heard someone shouting, and when they looked, there was already a skeleton on the ground.

“Isn’t this all prearranged?” Song Lan blew on the ink on the paper, frowning. “What can we possibly learn from this?”

“Not necessarily.” I stood up, walked out of the room, and pointed beyond the low wall. “Is there a lake nearby?”

“Yes,” Dong Jingmo replied. “My father loves lotuses and had this lake dug to raise them. They are in full bloom now. Would you like me to accompany you to take a look, Sir?”

I waved my hand, “I’m just a bit tired. I’ll walk by the lake myself. If the Eldest Young Master is concerned, you may send someone to follow me.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Dong Jingmo instructed two maids, “Fu Ling, Chang Pu, serve well.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The two bowed to Dong Jingmo and followed behind me as I left the courtyard.