He Also Transmigrated on the Wedding Night - Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The one who died was a maid.
Her name was Ah Lu.
I lingered over that name for a long time.
Because whenever anyone mentioned her, the words came far too easily.
They said, with practiced ease, that she was Shen Lingyi’s dowry maid.
They said, with practiced ease, that she had disposed of the murder weapon for me.
They said, with practiced ease, that I had killed her to silence her.
As if that entire story had been tucked beneath their tongues long ago.
Before I had even seen the body, the constables had arrived.
The gates of Pei Mansion stood open.
The wedding banquet had yet to disperse.
The guests were stopped in the front courtyard, their whispers rustling like rain.
A constable entered the bridal chamber. He looked at Lu Wenzhou, then at me.
He asked, “Why are the young madam’s hands covered in blood?”
I said, “I was trying to save him.”
The steward immediately said, “That is what she said just now as well. But the knife was right beside her.”
“Where is the knife?”
The red gauze was lifted.
The knife was still where it had been.
But there was a bit of ash on the hilt now.
Very fine.
As if someone had rubbed it with their sleeve, but failed to wipe it clean.
I looked at the steward.
His head was lowered.
He would not look at me.
After the physician forced some medicine into Lu Wenzhou, he was awake, though speaking was difficult.
He testified for me.
He said that after I woke, I had kept pressing down on his wound the entire time.
The constable’s expression did not ease.
“The young master is gravely injured. I fear his mind may not be clear.”
Lu Wenzhou gave a faint smile.
“If my mind is not clear, then why are you all in such a hurry?”
The constable choked on his words.
But it was no use.
Ah Lu’s body was carried in.
She had died in a side room.
There was a ligature mark around her neck.
Beside her hand lay a bloodstained handkerchief.
On the handkerchief was my name.
Shen Lingyi.
I stared at those two words, and a chill suddenly crawled up my back.
The murderer had not dragged us into this on a whim.
He had even prepared my handwriting in advance.
The steward said, “Ah Lu always obeyed the young madam’s orders. After the young madam stabbed the young master, she ordered Ah Lu to take the bloody clothes to the side room and dispose of them. Then she killed her to keep her quiet.”
I said, “I never left the bridal chamber.”
“Someone saw you leave.”
“Who?”
The steward lifted his head.
“The night watchman.”
As soon as he finished speaking, an old night watchman was brought in.
The old man knelt and said that during the second watch, he had seen the young madam go toward the side room.
I asked, “Did you see my face?”
He lowered his head.
“I saw the wedding dress.”
“Did you see me kill anyone?”
“No.”
“Then what did you see?”
His lips trembled.
“I saw the wedding dress enter the side room.”
The wedding dress.
Not me.
I wanted to ask more.
But the constable had already pressed down on my shoulder.
Lu Wenzhou suddenly sat up.
The physician cried out, “Young master!”
Blood surged from his chest again.
I instinctively moved forward.
But the constable blocked me.
Lu Wenzhou braced himself against the edge of the bed and looked at the steward.
“The cup.”
I froze.
His voice was very soft.
“The cup on the right.”
“Someone touched it.”
The steward’s gaze flickered.
Only for an instant.
But I saw it.
The constable did not.
After Lu Wenzhou said that, his eyes shut, and he collapsed straight back down.
The physician threw himself forward.
“The poison is taking effect!”
I was dragged out of the bridal chamber.
Red lanterns swayed before my eyes.
I heard someone say Young Master Pei was not going to make it.
Someone else said the young madam had murdered her husband and silenced the witness, and that the evidence was complete.
I was shoved into the woodshed in the rear courtyard.
The door closed.
The lock fell into place.
I leaned against the wall, my hands covered in Lu Wenzhou’s blood.
Once it cooled, the blood felt like a hard shell over my skin.
I thought of what he had said about the cup on the right.
I thought of how the steward had wanted to touch the knife.
I thought of the night watchman saying what he saw was the wedding dress.
And I thought of the dead maid in the side room.
Her hand had been curled.
There had been a speck of red beneath her fingernails.
A red that did not look like blood.
It looked like wax.
All at once, a bell rang outside.
Midnight.
Pain shot through my wrist.
The Heart-Linked Lock hidden in my sleeve split with a fine crack.
There had originally been three acacia patterns on the back of the lock.
The first pattern lit up, as if it had been burned apart by fire.
In the next instant, the reek of blood rushed back into my face.
I opened my eyes.
My hand was once again pressed to Lu Wenzhou’s chest.
Outside the door, someone shouted, “The young madam has killed someone!”
Lu Wenzhou opened his eyes.
This time, he looked first at my wrist.
Then at me.
“Jiang Nanxing,” he said.
“Just now wasn’t a dream.”
