Night fell, and the Jin Family Fortress was wrapped in profound silence. Though the tales of the "avenging ghost" remained unverified, people not speaking of them aloud did not mean their hearts were free of doubt.
A gust of wind swept past the white funeral banners, rustling like footsteps echoing through the great hall of the Jin residence, making the skin of anyone who heard it crawl with goosebumps.
"I'm tired. You should all head back to your rooms and rest," Li Lianhua said, giving a sleepy yawn and rubbing his weary eyes.
"Brother Lianpeng? Going to sleep just like that?" Qian Mingyue carefully skirted around the two coffins. With the moon bright and the stars sparse tonight, a persistent premonition lingered in his gut that something was about to happen.
"Sir, the hour is late." Li Lianhua paused. "When it's time to sleep, one must sleep. Otherwise, how are the things that ought to come out supposed to show themselves?"
A sudden wave of enlightenment washed over Qian Mingyue. He waved his hand toward everyone in the hall and announced, "Alright, everyone disperse for tonight. Scatter!"
The crowd exchanged uneasy glances, looking from one person to the next, but no one budged.
Liu Ruyu, in particular, was living in sheer terror ever since she discovered that the pendant she had buried was gone. She couldn't touch a morsel of food, haunted by sleepless dread, and insisted on having four or five maids and matrons escort her wherever she went, deathly afraid that the "avenging ghost" would realize she wasn't dead yet and come back to claim her life.
"Mistress, you haven't closed your eyes all day. Tomorrow you still have to oversee the funeral rites for the Fortress Master and the Young Master. Let this old servant accompany you down to rest for a while," Granny Fang offered, moving to steady Liu Ruyu. But Liu Ruyu recoiled as if startled, refusing with a shrill cry, "I'm not going! I'm staying right here, I'm not going anywhere!"
"Brother Lianpeng, where is Lady Bai?" Qian Mingyue scanned the room, noticing Bai Buyu's absence.
"Oh, Lady Bai said she was tired about a quarter of an hour ago and has already gone back to her room to rest."
"For a woman, Lady Bai possesses extraordinary courage. She isn't afraid in the least." Qian Mingyue first offered a word of praise, but as a thought struck him, worry crept into his expression. "Isn't it too dangerous for Lady Bai to return to her room alone, though? What if—"
"It's quite all right." Li Lianhua smiled with cultured gentleness. "That thing's target is unlikely to be Lady Bai. Magistrate Qian needn't worry on her behalf."
Upon hearing this, all the color drained from Liu Ruyu's face, and she began to tremble like chaff in the wind.
Early the next morning, the servants of the Jin Family Fortress watched in dismay as Bai Buyu stepped out of Jin Dagen's master bedroom looking completely refreshed. She gave a comfortable stretch and cheerfully greeted the passing maids.
At that moment, Li Lianhua and Qian Mingyue also emerged from the guest quarters. Qian Mingyue had not returned to his official office the previous night; instead, he had stubbornly dragged Li Lianhua along, insisting on discussing the case. After several polite refusals failed to deter him, Li Lianhua had traded a cup of tea for a peaceful night's sleep.
Rubbing his stiff neck, Qian Mingyue simply could not fathom why he had suddenly collapsed into deep sleep the night before, completely wasting a prime opportunity to discuss the case with Brother Lianpeng.
"How did it go?" Li Lianhua asked.
Bai Buyu shook her head. "I sprinkled fluorescent powder on the doorframes, windows, and roof beams. If anyone had come by, they certainly would have left traces. But I checked this morning, and no one came last night."
Li Lianhua nodded, as if this were entirely within his expectations.
Qian Mingyue mirrored Li Lianhua's unruffled nod, then asked earnestly, "Brother Lianpeng, what shall we do next?"
"Feed the horses," Li Lianhua said.
"Ah?" Qian Mingyue let out a bewildered sound.
Li Lianhua exchanged a few words with the stablehand, then spent a full hour conscientiously feeding the two lean horses, only leaving the stables with a look of deep satisfaction once the animals were snorting contentedly with full bellies.
In the great hall of the Jin residence, Liu Ruyu had been worn down to a wretched shadow of herself. Granny Fang was holding out a bowl of porridge containing a silver spoon, presenting it right before Liu Ruyu's eyes as she gently coaxed, "Mistress, please eat at least a little. Otherwise, your frail frame won't hold out."
Liu Ruyu waved a hand dismissively, her gaze unfocused, until Li Lianhua walked in—at which point a flicker of light returned to her eyes.
"Doctor Li..."
For reasons unknown, this cultured and gentle-mannered Li Lianpeng inexplicably gave Liu Ruyu a sense of peace and reassurance, though she herself could not understand why she felt that way.
It was like a drifting duckweed catching hold of a straw in a shipwreck.
"Mistress," Li Lianhua said. "I have a question that troubles me, and I would like to seek your guidance."
Liu Ruyu collected herself. "Please go ahead, Doctor Li."
"There's no particular rush for my question. Mistress may finish her meal first," Li Lianhua said. "Grief harms the body; please take care of your health, Mistress."
Liu Ruyu's lips quivered slightly, and she finally forced herself to pick up the silver spoon and swallow two mouthfuls of thin porridge.
"Mistress, as you mentioned, that Daoist priest gave you a pendant. Why didn't you wear it close to your body, but instead buried it near the rockery in the back courtyard?"
Li Lianhua tapped his fingers rhythmically against the table, as if deep in thought. "I suspect that at first, you didn't believe him, did you?"
"That's right."
Liu Ruyu nodded. The Daoist priest had appeared out of nowhere, and just as inexplicably handed her a valuable hollowed-out gold filigree pendant. She wasn't a fool; no matter how she looked at it, something felt strange about the whole affair.
"Since it was a hollow pendant, there must have been something inside it, right?" Li Lianhua asked.
Liu Ruyu hesitated for a moment, let out a soft "mhm," and wore a rather peculiar expression. "There was indeed something inside. Inside the pendant was a talisman... and that talisman... wasn't quite suitable for me to carry around on my person."
Curious, Qian Mingyue asked, "Why?"
"It was... it was a matchmaker's talisman."
"A matchmaker's talisman?" Qian Mingyue and Bai Buyu were both completely baffled.
This made no sense whatsoever, inside or out. What could be the intention of a Daoist priest who gives a married woman a pendant concealing a matchmaker's talisman?
"My husband and I are far apart in age, and I was afraid he might misunderstand if he saw the pendant. Moreover, what the Daoist priest had done already seemed bizarre and inexplicable. After turning it over in my mind, I decided it simply wouldn't do. In the end, I simply placed the pendant inside a wooden box and buried it beneath the rockery in the back courtyard."
"I see." Li Lianhua pondered for a moment. "When you buried the pendant, Lady Liu, did anyone see you?"
Liu Ruyu shook her head. "At the time, I didn't know what to do with the object, and my husband happened to be away from the manor that week. I initially thought of tossing it into the pond, but then I remembered the Daoist priest's warning that disaster was looming, so I casually buried it beneath the rockery stones. Since it was late at night, no one should have seen me."
"If no one saw her, how could a well-buried pendant vanish into thin air?"
Qian Mingyue interjected, "Though we've been going on and on about this pendant, what connection do this pendant and the priest who gave it have with the deaths of Fortress Master Jin and Young Master Jin? Perhaps that priest isn't as complicated as we think; for all we know, he might just be an idle fellow who let worldly desires get the better of him and took a fancy to Lady Liu."
"Impossible," Bai Buyu shot down the idea instantly. "A temple, a Daoist priest, and a matchmaker's talisman—three such illogical things mixed together. No matter how much I think about it, there is only one possibility that makes any sense."