Bone Painting Coroner

Wei Yi interrupted Ji Yunshu before she had the time to finish saying “is fake”. He was watching with hope and expectation and asked her, “Shu’er, do you like it?”

“…” Ji Yunshu could not give an immediate reply.

“I secretly went to buy it yesterday, it is a chain you wear on your ankle. The vendor told me that girls like this kind of jewelry the most. Shu’er, you will be beautiful with it on.” Wei Yi impatiently picked up the silver chain. He didn’t leave any time for Ji Yunshu to refuse or even say anything before he squatted down in front of Ji Yunshu and carefully put the silver chain around her left ankle. The jewelry nestled around her ankle as the small bells jingle beautiful to the ears. He got up and immediately praised her, “It looks good on you.”

Ji Yunshu raised her foot and looked at the accessory on her left ankle. Because the chain was very thin, it wasn’t rigid, and it didn’t hinder her movements. Moreover, the bells’ sound is very faint due to their sizes. Although it is a second-hand good, she didn’t want to burst his happy bubble for the time being. ‘In any case, this item is beautiful so how could it be a second-hand good?’ Ji Yunshu received her gift happily. “Thank you! I like it a lot.”

Wei Yi raised his chin, proud of his gift. He then said, “I chose it. You are the prettiest with it.” Looking at his joyful mood, he must have forgotten everything that happened with Jing Xuan, erasing it from his memories. This was one of Wei Yi’s unique characteristic. Ji Yunshu hurriedly brought him outside the room to prevent him from laying down on the floor and staring at the silver chain.

It was a terrible mess inside the courtyard. Fortunately, Ji Yunshu had stopped Jing Xuan before it became worse. Without her timely interference, the plum trees would probably all be uprooted. While the servants were busy tidying the courtyard, it started to drizzle. If they didn’t clean properly, everything will be wet and covered in mud. Wei Yi broke into a run and came to a halt next to a young maidservant. He hurriedly took the broken pot from her hands while kindly saying, “Big sister, I will help you.”

“Young master Wei…” The maidservant couldn’t prevent him from taking over her task. Wei Yi quickly threw the broken pot into a big barrel with all of the other trash.

Since Ji Yunshu couldn’t do anything about the rain, she hastily cleaned the courtyard.

“Teacher Ji, it’s better to let us do it.”

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s clean up everything quickly before the rain increases.”

“Yes.”

Quickly, the crowd-filled courtyard was cleaned. However, due to the rain, the place was filled with mud making the ground slippery and causing quite a few servants to fall and get covered in mud.

With Wei Yi’s big heart, he felt sorry for them and didn’t hesitate to help them get up and even ordered them to sit on the side instead of causing chaos.

Wei Yi felt as if he wielded his authority to perfection, thus his excitement increased even more, fueling him to work harder.

Ji Yunshu wanted to clean more, but her hands had yet to touch the fragments of a vase when Wei Yi rushed over and told her, “Shu’er, let me help you.” His words warmed her heart, and her lips stretched into a genuine smile.

Busied silhouettes could be seen scuttling around, making the courtyard very lively. Within the drizzle, the pitter-patter of water accompanied the faint jingle of bells. At this moment, the courtyard seemed to transform into an illusionary scene for the beauty of this instant could be hardly described.

Meanwhile outside the courtyard, standing under the lantern, hair and shoulders drenched by raindrops, Jing Rong watched the smile illuminating Ji Yunshu’s face. It was plain to see how beautiful her smile was. Yet, it made his heart ache because her smile wasn’t directed at him. Right, she did smile at him, but it was always the indifferent and polite kind of smile. He ardently wished many times that she would one day devote her feelings to him as she did for Ji Pei and stay at his side. He also wished that she could be as relaxed and joyful in front of him as she was in front of Wei Yi, showing such an unrestrained smile. If that day could really come, he wouldn’t mind waiting for her. ‘There is no harm in waiting for a bit longer.’

The next day, the capital governor arrived at the Rong estate and reported the results of the search in Lin mountain yesterday. He enumerated all the discoveries that were found, “I dispatched a great number of people for the search, but we found nearly nothing, unfortunately. The body was found at the foot of the mountain, near the main road. Thus, there were too many traces of horse carriages, countless footprints, and everything is a mess. Not to mention how impossible it is to search for clues on the main road itself. Another group was searching for any form of habitation or shed nearby and we only found an abandoned cottage. However, no one has used the place for a very long time and the surroundings have been reclaimed by the wilderness. The place didn’t seem to hide anyone recently. The victim couldn’t possibly escape from anywhere in the surroundings. Apart from those things, we didn’t discover anything else.” After he was done reporting, he sighed helplessly.

The trail was once again broken. The two-month investigation still ended up in a dead end. Ji Yunshu had some doubts. It was impossible not to find anything… The only explanation for this situation was the carelessness of the runners under the governor. After she considered a few points, she declared, “I’m going to Lin mountain.”

“Out of the question!” Jing Rong vetoed before adding, “Your body is not well. You can’t go there.”

“I’m very healthy!” Ji Yunshu retorted.

Jing Rong pulled her near him and spoke with a solemn expression, “It’s very humid on Lin mountain, even during July and August. Don’t forget that the wound on your face cannot be exposed to too much humidity or it won’t heal properly and be ruined.”

‘That’s right!’ She almost forgot about that. The doctor did mention a few recommendations like being forbidden to go to damp places as to avoid stopping the wound from healing or even possibly reopening it. “If I don’t go there myself, this case will end with cold trails.”

“Absolutely no way! Your safety is more important than anything else.” His words didn’t leave any room for argument.

Ji Yunshu knew his temper. Still, she was about to argue when several palace eunuchs came in.

A eunuch approached them in small steps with his hands clasped in front of his abdomen. He spoke in a practiced tone, “This lowly one is paying his respect to Prince Rong. Her ladys.h.i.+p, Concubine Xiao, has pa.s.sed the order to summon Teacher Ji immediately to the palace.”

……

At this moment, Jing Xuan was sitting inside a pavilion with her hands propping her chin. Her big eyes were watching the flowers growing in the garden. Lost in thought, the corner of her mouth curled up occasionally in an obvious bashful way. Next to her, her two maidservants were glancing at each other in puzzlement.

‘What is going here? Don’t tell me the princess has been possessed by a devil?’ Ever since she came back yesterday, Jing Xuan smiled like an idiot and sometimes her face would turn crimson and she became bashful, acting like a coquettish little girl.

Jing Xuan bit her lips and giggled quietly. Her shoulders shrank closer to her body as she showcased her shyness again as a feeling surged out. Further away from her, five palace maids were carrying some pastries while walking toward the main hall. Suddenly, Jing Xuan turned towards one of her servants and instructed, “Go and bring some pastries here.”

“Yes, Princess!” The palace maid hurriedly went towards the other five maids and said something to them. Finally, she came back empty-handed.

Jing Xuan asked, “Where are the pastries?”

“Princess, they said that the pastries are to be brought to the main hall.”

After hearing the reply, how could she restrain herself? Jing Xuan hit the stone table. “Such courage! This Princess wants to eat, but they didn’t give?”

The maid hurriedly lowered her head and explained, “They said that they are expecting the arrival of a n.o.ble guest. Thus, her Ladys.h.i.+p had ordered them to prepare the best pastries.”

“A n.o.ble guest? Who?”

“I heard them say that it is Teacher Ji.” Once the answer was said, Jing Xuan immediately smiled bashfully and became extremely excited.