He Also Transmigrated on the Wedding Night - Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Ah Lu had touched the wedding candles before she died.
On the second loop, I finally saw it clearly.
The red caught under her fingernails wasn’t blood. It was wax.
There was a small burn on her palm.
As if she had once pried open something scalding hot by force.
But the red candles in the bridal chamber were still burning perfectly fine.
There were no missing pieces.
At least, not on the surface.
The doctor managed to keep Lu Wenzhou alive for the time being.
I kept watch by the bed.
Everyone thought we were wary of each other.
In truth, we were comparing notes.
“The first category,” I said.
“The evidence the murderer used to convict us.”
Lu Wenzhou’s eyes were closed.
“The knife, the blood, the wedding dress, the night watchman’s testimony, Ah Lu’s death.”
“The second category.”
“Counterevidence left by the original bodies.”
“The wedding candles, the marriage contract, and possibly the divorce letter.”
“The third category.”
He opened his eyes.
“The holes the murderer patched at the last minute.”
“The steward touching the knife, switching the cups, pushing the night watchman.”
We fell silent at the same time.
The categorization sounded elegant.
But it was useless.
We still didn’t know what the Red Deed was.
Nor did we know what the original husband and wife wanted us to find.
Lu Wenzhou’s hand suddenly pressed beneath his pillow.
He pulled out a divorce letter.
One corner of the paper was already soaked with blood.
“They wanted to use this to prove Pei Du despised his wife,” he said.
I took it and read it.
The divorce letter was coldly written.
Every word seemed to shove its recipient out the door.
But when I reached the end, my hand stilled.
Lu Wenzhou saw it too.
This wasn’t about casting off a wife.
It was about clearing her of responsibility.
The divorce letter severed Shen Lingyi entirely from the Pei family’s accounts, land deeds, and marriage contract.
If Pei Du truly died on his wedding night, this letter would ensure Shen Lingyi wasn’t implicated by association.
A sudden ache rose in my chest.
The original couple had not been bitter enemies.
At least, Pei Du hadn’t been.
Before his death, he had left his wife a path to survival.
It was then that we found the hidden layer in the marriage contract.
Inside was only half a sentence.
The Red Deed is not in the account room, but beneath the lamp.
“Beneath the lamp.”
I looked toward the red candles.
Lu Wenzhou shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“If this was a clue left by the original body, the murderer may know about it too.”
No sooner had he spoken than someone shouted outside.
“The account room is on fire!”
Firelight flared beyond the window paper.
A blinding red.
I stared at that blaze, my heart sinking.
The murderer knew we would head for the account room.
Or rather, he wanted us to think the Red Deed was there.
The bailiffs arrived even faster this time.
The steward knelt on the ground and said Lu Wenzhou and I had colluded on our testimony.
He said we had known Ah Lu would die.
He said Lu Wenzhou had written the divorce letter before the wedding, proof the husband and wife had never been on good terms.
The bailiffs moved to arrest me.
But Lu Wenzhou forced himself to speak despite his wound.
“I wrote the divorce letter.”
“She didn’t force me.”
“I wrote it because I wanted her to leave the Pei family.”
Those words could not save me.
But they dragged him into the charge of collusion as well.
The look in the bailiffs’ eyes changed when they looked at him.
Madam Pei changed too.
At last, she no longer looked only at me.
She looked at Lu Wenzhou as though he were someone who had to be silenced as quickly as possible.
I wanted to argue back.
But this time, there was even more evidence.
And it fit together even more neatly.
Before Lu Wenzhou was carried away, he suddenly grabbed my hand.
His hand was very cold.
“Jiang Nanxing.”
“Don’t fight it.”
“Next time.”
I saw half of the Heart-Linked Lock peeking out from his sleeve.
A second crack had split across it.
Two of the three acacia patterns had shattered.
The midnight bell rang.
The firelight, the stench of blood, the bailiffs’ hands, all of it broke apart.
I was back in the bridal chamber again.
This time, I knew.
There was only one chance left.
