Chapter 4

Chapter 4

My single sentence plunged the entire hall into silence.

The color drained from Xiao Mingyi’s face almost instantly, but she reacted with lightning speed, covering her lips with her hand. “My sister must be confused from the fright. I don’t even know which well you’re talking about.”

Zhou Xuzhang stepped in with a gentle tone to smooth things over. “Lanyin is severely traumatized. Lord Wen, you should take her back first.”

However, Wen Xiuzhu did not move.

He looked at me as if waiting for me to finish what I had to say.

I decided to take a gamble. “The last person the palace maid saw before she died was Miss Xiao. She wanted me to pass on a message. She said the lady in the well has been waiting for many years.”

Of course, those weren’t her exact words.

All I had actually seen were fragmented images and a blurred mention of the ‘Begonia Well.’ But I knew that for someone with a guilty conscience, this would be enough.

Sure enough, Xiao Mingyi’s fingertips trembled, nearly shredding the handkerchief in her grip.

The Imperial Consort’s expression darkened. “Wen Xiuzhu, do you dare allow such absurd talk of ghosts and monsters to run rampant in the palace?”

Wen Xiuzhu bowed unhurriedly. “To answer Your Highness, this official does not believe in gods or ghosts; I only believe in evidence. Since someone has mentioned a well, I shall investigate it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately ordered his men to detain the palace maids and eunuchs near the side hall, not even sparing the Imperial Consort’s personal staff. Zhou Xuzhang’s expression stiffened slightly, yet he maintained a smile. “Lord Wen is indeed swift and decisive in handling cases.”

That night, I did not return to my manor. Instead, Wen Xiuzhu took me to a side hall of the Dali Temple under the pretext of questioning.

Once we were alone, he finally spoke. “Gu Lanyin, what exactly are your capabilities?”

I countered with a question, “Does Lord Wen want to hear the truth or a lie?”

“The truth.”

I watched the flickering candlelight on the desk and said softly, “My mother knew how to light the Bone-Lighting Lamp, and so do I. The eyes of the deceased retain the final scene they witnessed. I simply see what is there.”

Wen Xiuzhu remained silent for a moment. Surprisingly, he didn’t press for more details, only saying, “I have already sent men to explore that well in the Cold Palace. If there truly are remains, we will have results tonight.”

I looked at him and suddenly asked, “If the investigation leads to the Xiao Family, will you continue?”

The Imperial Consort and half the imperial court stood behind the Xiao Family. This question was essentially asking if he was willing to trade his life for the truth.

Wen Xiuzhu looked up, his voice cold but certain. “When I investigate a case, I do not look at who stands behind it.”

My heart jolted inexplicably.

Late into the night, news arrived.

There were indeed remains in the well.

It was a female corpse that had been dead for at least seven or eight years; the bone development had stopped at around twelve or thirteen years of age. Most bizarrely, the neck bone was fractured, and there was an extremely fine groove from a gold wire on the edge of the skull. A piece of begonia-shaped gold leaf was wedged into a crack in the bone.

Wen Xiuzhu placed that piece of gold leaf before me.

I recognized it at a glance. It was a pattern used on the Xiao Family’s privately commissioned gold ornaments.

“There is also this.” He pushed a small wooden box toward me.

Inside the box was a jade pendant found among the fragments of the corpse’s clothing. Carved upon it was a tiny character: ‘Yi.’

The room fell so silent that only the popping of the candle wick could be heard.

I suddenly understood what my mother meant by ‘investigate the daughter of the Xiao Family first.’

The one who died in the well was the real daughter of the Xiao Family.

Then who was the Xiao Mingyi currently alive?

Wen Xiuzhu had clearly reached the same conclusion. His eyes darkened completely. “This is no ordinary murder. This is a Body-Switching Fate.”

My palms tightened.

Body-Switching Fate.

In my previous life, I was that substitute corpse.

Urgent footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door. A bailiff lowered his voice and said, “My Lord, an edict has come from the palace. You are to immediately transfer the case of the corpse in the well to the Imperial Clan Court and cease all further investigation.”

Wen Xiuzhu let out a cold laugh, his fingers tapping lightly on the table. “They certainly moved fast.”

I looked up at him. “Will you hand it over?”

“I will,” he said.

My heart sank instantly.

But in the next moment, he pushed the jade pendant engraved with the character ‘Yi’ into my palm and whispered, “So, before I hand it over, Miss Gu must accompany me to the Mass Grave.”

I froze.

Wen Xiuzhu’s gaze was calm. “The fact that someone doesn’t want us to investigate proves this lead is real. Those remains in the well aren’t the end; they are only the beginning.”

He was right.

Because I had already remembered something else.

The night before my wedding in my previous life, my mother’s old servant had come to find me, only to die at the Mass Grave.

Before he died, he was clutching a register.