Bone Painting Coroner

Tang Si did not lie. It was true that she had seen this pattern when she was young. However, she only had a vague memory of it!

Ji Yunshu was not entirely convinced by Tang Si’s explanation. She carefully kept the wooden pendant into her waist pocket and said, “Miss Tang, I’ll assume what you said just now was a joke. It’s better for you to leave here as soon as possible.”

“I wasn’t joking!” She stomped her feet while she tried to defend herself. But Ji Yunshu could not be bothered. She pushed the door open, left the room and shut the door at her back.

Tang Si clenched her fist and was about to punch the door, but changed her mind the moment she raised her hand. She slowly lowered her fist and pouted, thinking that everyone was being mean to her. However, she had been trained to be thick-skinned since young, so naturally, she would not feel embarrassed to stay at the yamen. As the yamen runners were helpless against her, they had no choice but to prepare a clean room and two blankets for her. They did not forget to remind her before they left, “You need to leave tomorrow morning. We do not have many rations left in the yamen.”

“I have plenty of money,” she said, as she threw a pillow at the yamen runners. Feeling flustered, the yamen runners left the room.

She curled herself up in the small bed, tossed and turned, yet failed to fall asleep. She stared at the veil covering the bed, still pondering the pattern on the wooden pendant. As she dwelled in her thoughts, she traced the pattern with her finger in the air. Gradually, she fell asleep…

That night, Ji Yunshu did not leave Wei Yi’s bedside. She stayed up the whole night looking after him. At dawn, a maid knocked on the door and asked Ji Yunshu to have some food.

“It’s fine.”

“Teacher Ji, you’ll hurt your stomach if you don’t eat. I’ll look after Young Master Wei for you. Don’t you worry, I’ll inform you promptly if anything happens.”

Ji Yunshu shook her head. “I want to look after him on my own,” she said without shifting her weary and slightly unfocused eyes away from Wei Yi.

Wei Yi’s complexion had greatly improved. The sunlight streaming in through the window illuminated Wei Yi’s clean and innocent face. A cold breeze blew through the edges of the windows and gently ruffled Wei Yi’s long and thick eyelashes. His eyelashes moved along with the wind, appearing as if he was about to wake up at any moment!

Seeing Ji Yunshu’s determination, the maid had no choice but to leave the room quietly. The moment she stepped out of the room, she bumped into Mo Ruo, who was walking in her direction. “Young Master Mo.”

“Go and bring the medicine here.”

“Yes.” The maid obeyed and left.

Mo Ruo entered the room and headed straight to the bedside to feel Wei Yi’s forehead. Then, he opened Wei Yi’s eyes and inspected them. Ji Yunshu asked in a lethargic voice, “Will he regain consciousness?”

“Yes. After he regains consciousness and rests for a few days, he’ll be fine,” he said. Then, he rapped on Wei Yi’s head with his knuckle., “Foolish boy, you were extremely lucky. If I weren’t by your side when it happened, you would be having tea with the Lord of the Underworld now. However, you’re foolish in an adorable way. To be able to block an arrow for your loved one, your courage is praiseworthy. I admire your bravery.” That was more than mere bravery! In actual fact, he was willing to sacrifice for Ji Yunshu as much as Jing Rong. After mocking the unconscious Wei Yi, Mo Ruo turned around and said to Ji Yunshu, “Hurry up and get some rest. I’ll stay here.”

She massaged her temples as she opened her mouth, “I…” Mo Ruo stopped her. “You don’t have to worry. I promise you that I’ll return you a healthy Wei Yi. He’ll be the same old Wei Yi, or even better,” he assured.

After a brief hesitation, she nodded and said, “Thank you.” Then, she dragged herself out of the room. When she returned to her room, she removed her clothes and got ready to rest. However, she stopped halfway, put on her clothes back on, and headed out…

Lang Po rushed into Jing Rong’s room and reported, “Prince, I’ve arranged everything. The Capital has been notified. I’ve also locked up the dead bodies inside the carriage; they’ve been tied up and their heads covered with black cloth, ready to be sent to the Capital.”

Jing Rong listened to Lang Po but did not reply immediately. He repeatedly tapped the table with his index finger. Beside his hand, there was a small package wrapped in a wrinkled yellow paper. It seemed like a bag of medicine. After a short silence, he picked up the small package with his index and middle fingers and passed it to Lang Po. He ordered, “If anyone tries to attack you on your journey, you’ll have to capture them alive. To prevent them from committing suicide, you might want to quickly use this medicine during the fight to knock them out. I reckon… that you might be able to send at least one live person into the jail of the Supreme Court.”

“Yes.”

“There’s more. You should let Ziran personally send the captives to the Capital. In the meantime, let him scrutinize the situation in the Capital.”

“Understood.”

Jing Rong paused for a short while, “Were the people in Anfu affected by the incident yesterday night?”

Lang Po cupped his hands as he answered, “The people were definitely frightened. Fortunately, we were able to quickly kill all the men in black yesterday. Hence, the news was not leaked out; no real harm was done.”

Jing Rong made a ‘Hmm’ sound before he asked again in a solemn tone, “When can the newly appointed County Magistrate arrive?”

“He is already on his way. The Royal Court sent the order to assign an official from a nearby county, saying that this is only a temporary position. Later, the Ministry of Personnel will appoint another official to take over the position.”

“Fine. You can go now.” Jing Rong waved his hand.

“And…” Lang Po appeared conflicted.

Jing Rong threw him a cold glance. “Speak.”

“There’s a lady named Mu Jin waiting outside.”

Mu Jin?

“Why is she here?”

“This humble one has no idea. She said that she was here for your Highness. This humble one knows that she was with your Highness yesterday, hence, this humble one did not send her away.”

Jing Rong was confused. How did Mu Jin know that he stayed in the yamen? After some contemplation, he told Lang Po, “Let her in.”

“Yes,” Lang Po replied.

Mu Jin came in shortly. Just like yesterday, she was dressed humbly yet neatly. Her every move was full of elegance and she carried her aura like a mist around her. Once she entered, she bowed to Jing Rong. “This humble woman, Mu Jin, greets Prince Rong.”

Compared to yesterday, she seemed to have gained some manners like a young woman from a humble family. She acted nothing like the free-spirited lady who discussed poems and songs at the drinking table yesterday. However, that was not surprising as she was now aware of the difference in their ranks.

Jing Rong stood in front of the screen and glanced at her with his sharp eyes. “How did you find out?” Mu Jin raised her head, looked at Jing Rong and replied truthfully, “How difficult is it to find out? Anfu is not a big place to begin with. There aren’t many new faces around. Furthermore, it caused a huge commotion when your Highness and your people were attacked by assassins yesterday. Mu Jin has always been a detail-oriented person compared to the others. This one could easily deduce the identity of your Highness after revisiting the recent corruption scandal of the Anfu County Magistrate.”

After listening to her explanation, Jing Rong smiled. “Miss Mu Jin is very smart.”

She grinned and her gaze landed on Jing Rong’s injured hand which was wrapped in bandages. She seemed upset as she promptly took out the medicine that she had brought over. “This one witnessed your Highness’ hand getting hurt yesterday night. Hence, today, this one decided to be rude and visit without permission to send your Highness this medicine.”

“Thanks.” He accepted the medicine and put it aside, but he had no intention of using it.

Mu Jin frowned indistinctly. “This medicine has to be applied.”

Huh?

Before Jing Rong could react, she made him sit down. She carefully unwrapped the bandage around his hand and revealed the wound on his palm. A fine layer of powder had been applied on the wound. It was the medicine from Mo Rou, but it was not clear what it was made of. For a short while, Jing Rong was too stunned to resist Mu Jin’s behaviour. Mu Jin looked at his wound and her eyes teared up as she felt anguish for Jing Rong; she quickly opened the medicine container and applied it on the wound. At the same time, she said, “Your Highness should never neglect an arrow wound. It can cause pain in the future. It’s necessary to apply medicine on it immediately. This medicine is passed down by my ancestors and is very effective in curing arrow wounds. It’ll only take two to three days to recover after applying it.” Jing Rong looked at Mu Jin, who was caringly attending to his wound. He intended to reject Mu Jin, but at the same time, felt warmed by Mu Jin’s actions. He thought, ‘How good it will be if Ji Yunshu can treat me like this?’

Unbeknownst to him, a thin silhouette had paused behind the door for a few moments before vanishing.