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墨書 Inktalez
A faint glimmer of light appeared outside the window.
Ren Pingsheng took off his gloves and tucked my mask into his pocket, saying, "Ah Ying, this is a gift for me!"
"Is that it?" I felt quite unwilling.
Although I had roughly deduced the cause of death and understood his background, the case was still unsolved!
"I already know how he died, but I'm not going to tell you now because I want to see you again," Ren Pingsheng said with a hint of mischief in his smile. "Perhaps I can present my findings in the county hall tomorrow?"
"As a girl, how would I have the chance to go to the hall!" I felt a bit disheartened.
"You’re incredibly clever; how could you not find a way? Come on, it’ll be fine." Ren Pingsheng paused before asking, "Does your Brother Qiu Yuan spoil you?"
The scene of last autumn when he slapped my hand away flashed through my mind, and I couldn't help but sigh.
"I used to be thoughtless and treated my brother poorly, so I'm someone he dislikes..."
Ren Pingsheng chuckled softly. "Then don’t follow him anymore. From now on, come with me, okay? I'll treat you well and take you to do all sorts of interesting things. You’re someone who doesn’t like being lonely; you’ll definitely be happy with me."
That was so straightforward!
While I wasn't as reserved as people from ancient times, I was still a young girl who had never been in love! Such a naked confession made my face burn intensely. I wasn't sure if my face was red, but I couldn't bring myself to speak.
The handsome guy didn’t pressure me for an answer. He gently took my hand with his beautiful fingers that had just touched the corpse, making my heart race. He led me to the door of the mortuary and said, "It's bright now. I believe Ah Ying never gets lost. So go back and rest. We will meet again soon."
He winked at me and slowly walked away in another direction.
I felt completely dazed. This night had been filled with ghosts, corpses, and a charming stranger, turning my mind into a muddled mess. Ren Pingsheng was an interesting person and quite an outstanding handsome guy!
I silently cursed myself for being infatuated and quickly pulled my thoughts together. In some ways, Ren Pingsheng and Nie Qiuyuan were quite similar, yet their temperaments were completely opposite. Ren Pingsheng had the appearance of a typical warm-hearted man, but there was a subtle feeling about him that emanated an inexplicable coldness, far colder than the autumn chill.
I couldn't remember how I made it back home; I collapsed into bed and fell asleep almost instantly, utterly exhausted. It wasn't until dawn that Melan came to wake me for breakfast, mentioning that Nie Qiuyuan and Luo Dachun had already gone to the hall.
I barely had time to eat breakfast before I hurriedly ran to the hall. Was today the day we would hear the answer to the case?
"I saw the floating Peony Lantern last night! Right in our county office..." I exclaimed in a panicked tone as I burst into the hall. "It was really—"
The word "scary" got caught in my throat as I noticed everyone staring at me as if I were an alien. Qiu frowned, while Luo Dachun gave a wry smile. "Liuying, are you having another episode?"
But that wasn't the main point. The main point was that there were more than ten people sitting in the hall, and Ren Pingsheng was nowhere to be found.
"Last night... Chief Clerk... Peony Lantern..." I stammered, suddenly struggling to form coherent sentences.
To my surprise, a thin old man jumped up abruptly, waving his hands in panic. "Absolutely not! I wouldn't dare disturb Lord Nie's family in the middle of the night! Besides, we were all busy handling the lanterns in the northern outskirts last night; even Miss Melan was with us. We were all together—there's no way that happened!"
I was left utterly confused. Who on earth was this man?
"This is our county Registrar, Chen Shou. The Chief Clerk you mentioned..." County Magistrate Ge Qing Song looked puzzled.
What? The Feng County Clerk Chen Shou is this shriveled old man? Then...
Who on earth is Ren Pingsheng?!
"The unresolved cases in Feng County are all handled by the Registrar behind the scenes... Tomorrow, I'll give you a demonstration; you must come..."
"You're lying!" I spat out bitterly.
“Liuying, what happened?” Nie Qiuyuan noticed something was off.
“Last night, I saw a Peony Lantern, and it scared me. I called for you, but you were all gone. Then, I ran into the Chief Clerk. He was fine and hadn’t seen the Peony Lantern…” I spoke like a child who had done something wrong, naturally hesitant to mention what I had done with the Chief Clerk.
“So, the Chief Clerk you encountered isn’t this Lord Chen Shou?”
I nodded. “He was a young man about my brother’s age. He is the Feng County Clerk and told me… not to panic.”
Nie Qiuyuan furrowed his brows slightly. “Did you get his name?”
“He is called Ren Pingsheng.”
I answered normally, but when I said Ren Pingsheng, Nie Qiuyuan looked as if he had been struck by lightning, his eyes widening in shock.
It was the first time I had seen such a drastic change in his expression. He even stood up abruptly, seemingly about to grab my arm, but then he froze. I felt his heart skip a beat, and I couldn’t help but feel alarmed.
Did I do something wrong?
“Brother…” My words were cut short by a sharp sound, followed by a stinging pain on my left cheek.
It turned out that Nie Qiuyuan had raised his hand and slapped me hard.
“How can you be so disrespectful, talking casually with a strange man late at night? How will you manage your marriage in the future? Your adoptive father must impose strict discipline on you!”
I was stunned by the slap and looked up in shock. This wasn’t like him at all, yet he acted as if I didn’t exist, not even glancing my way.
For some reason, I didn’t feel angry with him; instead, tears welled up in my eyes from feeling wronged. Was this really my fault? It seemed he just disliked me for no reason at all. I sniffled and moved closer to Luo Dachun, who also looked surprised but tried to mediate: “Alright, alright, let’s leave it at that. Liuying is just frightened.”
The atmosphere was awkward. However, the seasoned officials in the hall quickly diverted the conversation, discussing the recent events in the county.
"Why has our county adopted this custom? It’s not even the Festival of the Dead yet, and last night was a day of sacrifice. Every year around this time, something happens; even releasing a Kongming Lantern can lead to trouble."
So they weren't present last night because they were mediating a dispute.
But wait, Kongming Lantern?
A sudden flash of insight struck me.
Kongming Lantern, also known as sky lanterns, were originally used for military purposes in ancient times, but nowadays they are primarily released for blessings. It seems that Feng County has a tradition of releasing Kongming Lanterns during their rituals for the deceased, as these lanterns carry written messages up into the sky, allowing mourners to convey their thoughts to the departed.
Legend has it that Kongming Lanterns were invented by Zhuge Liang. Back then, Zhuge Liang was besieged by Sima Yi in Pingyang and could not send troops out for help. He calculated the wind direction and made floating paper lanterns to send out a distress message, which ultimately succeeded. Thus, flying Kongming Lanterns became an effective tool for delivering messages.
What if the Peony Lantern in this ghost story is actually a Kongming Lantern?
Images flashed through my mind: Peony Lanterns hanging from treetops, Peony Lanterns at the scene, a secret chamber, poisoning, Mirror Gate, traitors, Anti-Japanese Drama...
Finally, my thoughts settled on the moment when the deceased swallowed the poison.
So that’s how it was.
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