Chapter 45

Chapter 45

“Mm.”

Xia Ximo gave her usual indifferent response, then added something utterly devoid of emotion.

“If he is alive, find the man. If he is dead, find his soul. Can you not go look for him yourself?”

Those words instantly pressed down the emotions that had only just surged up in Ren Fengjue.

She did not know how to comfort people.

She only knew how to state the facts.

And the truth was, he had indeed never gone to search.

When that incident happened, he had been too young-a child of only a few years, just old enough to begin forming memories.

All he remembered was waking up and seeing his father’s heavy expression and reddened eyes.

His mother had held him and said, “Don’t go to South River Courtyard to look for your Little Uncle anymore.”

“Why?”

South River Courtyard had so many rare and interesting things that could not be seen anywhere else, and his Little Uncle had always been good at coaxing him into laughter.

To a child of only a few years, that place had been the most interesting part of the entire Marquis Mansion.

His mother stroked his head and gently coaxed him. “He has gone to a very faraway place.”

He asked anxiously, “Then when will he come back?”

“It is hard to say. Perhaps when you are grown.”

Later, after he had grown a little older, he happened to remember it one day and asked about it, only to be harshly reprimanded by his father.

“You are not allowed to mention your Little Uncle again.”

He asked why, and his father’s expression turned even uglier, his eyes full of warning.

“Because I said you are not allowed. Do not ask again!”

Thinking back on it now, he could still feel the emotions his father had suppressed, and the words his mother had found impossible to say.

He had thought that as long as he kept it buried deep in his memories and did not deliberately think about it, it would no longer affect him.

It was not until he accidentally dug it up again that he realized all these years had done was add a few more years to his age.

A knot in the heart left untouched would forever remain a knot.

In the silence, Ren Fengjue suddenly let out a self-mocking laugh.

“Miss Xia is right. Such a simple truth-why have I only understood it now?”

Xia Ximo seemed not to hear the self-mockery in his words and merely replied, “It is not too late to understand it now.”

“…”

Ren Fengjue had nothing to say, so he changed the subject. “Did Miss Xia discover anything just now?”

Xia Ximo did not beat around the bush. “More or less.”

She pointed at the portrait of a woman hanging on the wall and asked, “The woman in this painting should be the owner of this room, correct?”

Ren Fengjue glanced at it.

The woman in the painting had a graceful figure, delicate features, and a gentle bearing. She sat by the window with a pipa half-cradled in her arms. Beside her burned an incense burner, pale smoke curling from within.

Though the Ruyan he had seen was already a half-rotted corpse, judging by this portrait, it was indeed the same person.

Moreover, the scene in the painting-the pipa, the carved window, the incense burner-all matched the furnishings in this room.

“Yes. That is Ruyan.”

Xia Ximo said, “Yesterday, a wisp of a Yin Soul was attached to a pot of flowers, and Tianqing bought it back.”

“The soul hidden inside was hers.”

Ren Fengjue was rather surprised. “In the East Courtyard?”

“Yes.”

“Since you have found her ghost, can we know how she died?”

“No.”

Xia Ximo’s brows drew together slightly. “That wisp of a Yin Soul is very strange. Not only does it contain Baleful Qi and heavy resentment, it also cannot remember what happened before death.”

With the Yin Souls she had guided in the past, it had been easy to distinguish the Primary Soul from the scattered soul.

Once she found the Primary Soul, she could roughly understand the cause and course of events.

But this time, it was clearly far more troublesome.

If she could not begin with the Yin Soul, then she could only look for clues among the living first.

How had Ruyan been targeted by an Evil Entity?

And how, exactly, had she died? Where were her three souls and seven spirits now?
Ren Fengjue sank into thought as well, then said, “Who would have thought that after all these twists and turns, everything would lead back to the same matter?”

“It seems Miss Xia and I have no choice but to investigate this Soul-Nurturing Pearl.”

Xia Ximo had been about to say she had no interest in the pearl.

But on second thought, if she wanted to understand the whole story, she would still have to start with that pearl.

For once, she did not refuse outright. Instead, she asked him, “What did you find here during the day? Would you be willing to tell me?”

Ren Fengjue was more than happy to share. He immediately recounted everything that had happened after he arrived at Hongxiu Pavilion that morning, as well as what had taken place after he went to Prince Yu’s Mansion.

Then he added, “I’ve also questioned the manager in charge here.”

“According to her, Ruyan suddenly fell ill a few days ago. After that, she shut herself in her room and stopped receiving guests. From time to time, a foul stench would drift out of her room, and the servants were too afraid to go in.”

“During that period, they did summon several doctors to examine her, but unfortunately, none of them could determine the cause…”

As he spoke, a faint patter of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

Both of them had extremely sharp hearing. Almost at the same time, they turned to look, only to see the silhouette of a woman cast against the door.

“Ruyan…”

The person outside seemed to lack the courage to come any closer. She only dared to call out softly from the doorway.

It was a woman’s voice.

Then the woman knelt on the ground and said, “That day… it was all my fault. If I hadn’t insisted on dragging you to that Temple, nothing would have happened to you…”

Ren Fengjue immediately asked, “What happened at the Temple that day?”

At his words, the woman let out a frightened cry and stumbled as she tried to flee.

Yet she had barely taken two steps before she fell to the ground.

“Who are you?”

Seeing two figures emerge from the room, the woman’s face changed drastically. “Why are you here?”

Ren Fengjue showed her the jade token at his waist. “The Ministry of Justice is investigating a case. I hope you will cooperate.”

At the words “Ministry of Justice,” the woman seemed to guess Ren Fengjue’s identity at once. Terrified, she hurriedly knelt on the ground.

“Please forgive me, my lord. I… I’m a Flower Maiden here. I only wanted to come and see Ruyan. Her death… has nothing to do with me.”

Ren Fengjue frowned, but asked, “Then why did you say what you just said?”

The woman hesitated, seemingly unsure how to explain.

Ren Fengjue took two steps closer, his tone sharpening. “If you conceal anything, then in my eyes, you will be a suspect.”

“My lord…”

The woman was not at all able to withstand intimidation. She immediately replied, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk…”

She took a deep breath and glanced into Ruyan’s room. Gradually, she too fell into recollection.

The woman’s name was Simeng, and she was Ruyan’s only friend in Hongxiu Pavilion.

A month ago, the Manageress allowed them, as usual, to go out and purchase hair ornaments and rouge.

That day happened to be the very day His Majesty issued an imperial decree betrothing the legitimate daughter of the Zhuang Family to Prince Yu.

While they were buying rouge, Ruyan heard the news, and she became rather downcast.

Simeng saw it all. Since it was still early, she suggested they go to the nearby Qingping Temple to pay their respects and offer prayers for blessings.

Ruyan had not wanted to go at first, but she could not withstand Simeng’s persistent coaxing.

The two of them gave each of the four attendants accompanying them two taels of silver, then set off toward the outskirts of the capital.

What was strange, however, was that before they left the city, the sky had been clear for miles. Yet as they passed over a bridge, the weather suddenly changed. A gust of eerie wind swept through, and in the blink of an eye, torrential rain came pouring down.

At the time, the only place nearby where they could take shelter was an abandoned Temple. The attendants had no time to think it over and carried the sedan chairs into the Temple to escape the rain.