Xin Zizhao put down the medical book in his hand again. He cleared his throat softly before speaking up so that the person outside could hear him. "Come in."
As soon as Wei Shuxuan heard Xin Zizhao's voice asking her to come in, she immediately pushed open the door of the room. She closed the door behind her, walked over and sat down beside Xin Zizhao. "Um... I have something to tell you."
"What do you want to tell me?" Xin Zizhao looked at Wei Shuxuan. His usually cold and aloof eyes now seemed to be ablaze with a different kind of spark.
The hesitant look on Wei Shuxuan's face fell into Xin Zizhao's eyes. He understood what was going on in her mind and asked, "Do you want to talk to me about the case investigation you did outside the palace today?"
"… It's kind of like that, but not exactly," Wei Shuxuan was a bit confused about what she was saying. Usually, she was sharp - tongued, but now since she had made a mistake first, she didn't know how to apologize to Xin Zizhao.
"Well, what do you want to say?" Seeing Wei Shuxuan stammering, Xin Zizhao actually felt a bit amused. He propped his chin up with his hand and waited expectantly for the person in front of him to say what she wanted to say.
Wei Shuxuan stared at Xin Zizhao for a long time. Then she lowered her head and played with the tassels hanging from the belt around her waist. Her words came out in a rush. "I'm really sorry for making you wait for me to come back today. I shouldn't have stayed outside to have dinner with others without telling you. That's all."
"… You know you made a mistake?" Xin Zizhao asked rhetorically.
"Of course I know. I just saw that you seemed to be in a bad mood and you kept giving me the cold shoulder. I originally thought I wouldn't come, but..." Wei Shuxuan paused for a moment. "I've thought it over carefully. I realize I did something wrong, so I came to apologize to you."
"… Forget it, but there mustn't be a next time for this kind of thing."
Xin Zizhao didn't really want to blame her. Since she came to admit her mistake, he wouldn't make things difficult for her.
"I know. I'll go back first. I'm really tired today."
"Where are you going tomorrow?"
"Huh? I'm planning to investigate inside the palace tomorrow."
"I remember you said the murderer was very familiar with the palace, so you suspect the murderer is someone from the palace?"
"Yes. So you should take good care of me. I'm so afraid of being caught on something."
"… I'm going to rest. You can leave."
"… You're so heartless."
Wei Shuxuan pouted and gave Xin Zizhao a discontented look. Xin Zizhao met her somewhat aggrieved gaze but didn't say much. "You haven't told me the answer yet."
"I know. Hurry up and leave."
With that, Xin Zizhao issued an order for her to leave. Wei Shuxuan had no choice but to obediently leave Xin Zizhao's room.
The next day, Wei Shuxuan had planned to inquire for information inside the palace, but she didn't expect Ge Zian to visit her in the Fenghe Palace in person.
"Ge Zian, why are you here?" Wei Shuxuan looked at him in surprise.
"Didn't you tell me yesterday that you were going to investigate inside the palace today? So I came. I want to see if there's anywhere I can help you."
"Thank you!" Wei Shuxuan looked extremely happy. Xin Zizhao, who was standing beside them, felt extremely irritated when he saw Wei Shuxuan smiling so happily at Ge Zian.
Xin Zizhao flicked his sleeves and left the Fenghe Palace with a book in his hand.
"Hey, Xin Zizhao..." Wei Shuxuan just called out, but Xin Zizhao had already disappeared. She murmured, "Why does this Xin Zizhao run so fast? I still wanted to ask him to go with us to investigate the case."
Seeing the somewhat disappointed look on Wei Shuxuan's face, Ge Zian asked her, "What's wrong?"
"Um... Actually, it's nothing. Let's go."
Ge Zian felt that Wei Shuxuan seemed to be hiding something. Moreover, from the way she addressed the Fifth Prince, their relationship seemed to be quite special.
Wei Shuxuan and Ge Zian planned to visit the locations where each victim was attacked and the surrounding areas according to the records compiled by the imperial guards.
The first victim was attacked near the Ningshou Palace. According to the witness at that time, the maid was carrying the stewed bird's nest to Emperor Jinzheng. To reach Emperor Jinzheng's bedroom, the Qianyu Palace, she had to pass by the Ningshou Palace. Wei Shuxuan guessed that the maid might have met the on - coming murderer on the way and was stabbed several times in the abdomen.
Wei Shuxuan had also examined the wound of the first victim before. Based on her past experience, the wounds on the abdomen must have been caused by several consecutive stabs from the front, so this was the only way she could explain it.
"Do you think there's anything suspicious, Mr. Wei?" Ge Zian surveyed the surrounding environment as Wei Shuxuan had told him. There didn't seem to be anything special, and too much time had passed. Even if there were clues, they would have disappeared long ago.
"I haven't found anything suspicious. I've just made an assumption."
Wei Shuxuan saw some flower beds around. "Zian, go and check the flower beds over there. See if there's any bloodstain left."
"Okay."
Ge Zian rarely did this kind of thing. He didn't know how to search more quickly, so he could only search the ground inch by inch.
After searching one flower bed, he moved on to another. Ge Zian inexplicably felt a sense of unease. There were no stones in the flower bed he had just checked, but there were stones in this one. With his suspicion, he went to the nearby flower beds that hadn't been checked yet. There were no stones in them.
At this moment, Ge Zian thought the stone pile was very suspicious. He walked over, squatted down, and picked up the stones. The soil here looked flatter, as if someone had deliberately flattened it. Ge Zian began to loosen the flattened soil. It was soon dug open. He continued to dig deeper. It seemed that whatever was buried wasn't very deep.
After digging a few more times forcefully, Ge Zian hit something. It seemed to be a hard object. He could vaguely see the general outline of the buried object from the soil - covered place.
After Wei Shuxuan finished checking the places she needed to check, she saw Ge Zian squatting in the flower bed doing something. She ran over curiously, bent down and watched Ge Zian digging the soil. Then she saw a faint silver light emerging from the pit. "Zian, dig faster! It looks like a metal object to me."
"Don't rush me. I'm already digging, aren't I?"
"I'll help!" Wei Shuxuan really couldn't stand Ge Zian digging so slowly. She leaned over, squatted down beside Ge Zian, and helped him dig.