Chapter 2

Chapter 2

While the side hall was brightly lit, the main hall of the Huo Mansion felt as though it were being crushed under the weight of a funeral.

Huo Yanzhi sat in the seat of honor, his face ashen. Luo Yingxue knelt beside the corpse, weeping and wailing. I stood before the coffin, with Shen Xingjian at my side. No one spoke first.

Finally, it was Shen Xingjian who broke the silence.

“This coffin was sent to the gates of the Marquis Mansion by the manager of the Huo Family’s West Manor outside the city,” he said. “The messengers claimed a girl died at the manor, and that before her death, she kept crying out that she wanted to return to the Huo Mansion to see Eldest Miss Huo.”

Luo Yingxue’s sobbing faltered. “She naturally should have returned to the Huo Mansion. She is the true blood of the Huo Family.”

“Whether she is of the blood is not determined by crying,” Shen Xingjian said tonelessly. “It is determined by investigation.”

He raised his hand, signaling his attendants to bring in the coroner.

Luo Yingxue’s expression shifted. “Heir, this is a private matter of the Huo Family’s inner chambers…”

“If she is to board the bridal sedan for my Marquis Mansion tomorrow, then this is no longer just a private matter of the Huo Family,” Shen Xingjian looked up, his gaze sharp as a blade. “What does Lord Huo think?”

Huo Yanzhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but in the end, he did not stop him.

I glanced at Shen Xingjian.

This man was usually as cold as a piece of jade. I had originally thought he only came here after weighing the pros and cons, but standing beside me now, he truly seemed to be giving me a bit of room to breathe.

The coroner’s examination was swift.

The deceased was approximately eighteen years old and had died of drowning. However, there was little water in her lungs, indicating she had been poisoned before falling into the water. There was a tiny needle puncture at the back of her neck, and faint marks on the inside of her left wrist from long-term rope friction, as if she had been restrained for years.

My heart sank.

Why would a “legitimate daughter” kept secretly at a manor be treated like a prisoner?

Even stranger were the piercings in her earlobes.

Like all noble ladies in the capital, I had my ears pierced since childhood-the left hole toward the front and the right hole slightly toward the back, to accommodate matching sets of gold and jade pendants. But her piercings on both sides were uneven, clearly having been repositioned multiple times, as if they had been forcibly modified later to match someone else’s.

I raised a hand to touch my own earlobe, a sudden, unspeakable chill washing over me.

The coroner then extracted a tiny gold needle from her hair bun. The end of the needle was engraved with a very faint character: “Ying.”

Luo Yingxue’s face turned white instantly.

“Mother,” I stared at her, “isn’t this the needle you often use in your room to pin the ledgers?”

“Nonsense!” She stood up abruptly. “It’s just a gold needle with an engraving. There are plenty of people in the capital with the name ‘Ying’!”

She spoke quickly, as if desperate to distance herself from it.

Shen Xingjian, however, leaned down and pulled a red string from behind the corpse’s neck, which had been tucked under her collar.

A tiny copper bell hung from the red string. The body of the bell was worn, and inside was stuffed a small scroll of paper.

The paper was swollen from the water. I carefully unfurled it, only able to make out a few fragmented lines.

“If I die… find Nanny Zhou… Buddhist hall… don’t trust… Luo…”

The last few characters were a blurred mess, leaving only a few ink stains.

But it was enough.

The girl hadn’t died a sudden, accidental death.

Before she died, she was clearly desperate to leave me clues.

Shen Xingjian looked up at me. “Who is Nanny Zhou?”

My throat felt dry. “She was an old nanny who served my biological mother. She was sent away to the manor to retire ten years ago.”

Shen Xingjian asked no further questions, stating only: “The wedding will be postponed for three days. If the truth is not brought to light within those three days, Eldest Miss Huo will not board the bridal sedan.”

Luo Yingxue wanted to say more, but Huo Yanzhi glared her into silence.

I had thought he would at least side with me, but to my surprise, he avoided my gaze and said coldly, “For these three days, you are not permitted to leave the mansion.”

I suddenly understood.

He wasn’t trying to protect me.

He was simply afraid that the Huo Family’s reputation would be utterly shattered in front of outsiders.

Late at night, I returned to my room alone. Pushing the door open, I discovered a pair of men’s boots by the bed.

Shen Xingjian stood by the window, holding the half-piece of the jade lock that I kept at the bottom of my jewelry box.

He turned to look at me, his gaze calm.

“Huo Lingning,” he said, “how much do you remember of what happened before you were four?”