The embroidered-uniform guards who searched Sha Gu’s room found nothing.
“Marquis, the small chamber held only a few changes of clothing and daily necessities—nothing else.”
Sha Gu’s presence at the scene of the killer’s appearance naturally aroused suspicion. Yet her limp was genuine, and now, with no evidence found, even if her behavior was strange, she could be temporarily ruled out.
Huo Weilou turned to He Cheng. “Has the Daoist finished his calculations?”
“I checked this afternoon. It will take at least half a day more,” He Cheng replied, glancing at the sky. “By tomorrow, it should be ready.”
“And Nanny Yu?”
He Cheng said: “Since moving to her new quarters, she seems utterly broken, chanting scriptures all day, refusing food. Guards are posted, and she has not left her room once.”
Huo Weilou’s eyes grew grave. “Tomorrow morning, question the household servants. Start from tonight and work backward. Any unusual matter must not be overlooked. The killer began on New Year’s Eve, leaving those words behind—it is clearly revenge. He is someone within the estate, perhaps already acting before, though unnoticed.”
The masters of the household all had secrets. Since they would not reveal them, only the servants could be questioned. And the killer hiding in the estate was no sudden occurrence—could it be he had taken no action until now?
Bo Ruoyou’s heart stirred. She also felt this reasoning was sound.
At that moment, Huo Weilou rose and strode out. Standing under the corridor, he addressed Zheng Wenan and the others: “It is late. You may disperse. But recall carefully—before the old madam’s death, did anything strange occur in the estate? The killer dares to strike repeatedly, which means he knows his targets well. Any of you could be next.”
His words made everyone’s faces change. Zheng Yunni, standing at the front, looked especially tense and fearful. She dared not meet Huo Weilou’s gaze, lowering her eyes to the ground, visibly uneasy. That expression startled Bo Ruoyou. She quickly looked toward Sha Gu in the corner. And in that instant, clarity struck her like sunlight breaking through clouds.
No wonder she had felt Sha Gu’s eyes strangely familiar at the bamboo grove. Sha Gu’s brows and gaze bore a resemblance to Zheng Yunni’s!
Their temperaments were worlds apart—Sha Gu timid and dull, Zheng Yunni proud and dignified. And with the scar across Sha Gu’s face, one would not normally notice any similarity. But when they showed the same expression, the resemblance became strikingly clear.
Bo Ruoyou felt increasingly uneasy. The others, having heard Huo Weilou’s words, began to disperse. She looked at Zheng Yunni’s retreating figure, wanting to speak but hesitating. At that moment, Huo Weilou turned to her: “Do not go alone again.”
Bo Ruoyou quickly came back to herself and answered. Huo Weilou said no more, leaving the courtyard with He Cheng.
Bo Ruoyou stood for a moment, then turned to see Sha Gu still lingering in the corridor. She walked over gently. “Sha Gu, let me take you back.”
Sha Gu lifted her eyes, staring blankly at her for a moment, then hunched her shoulders and followed toward her quarters. She was not truly foolish—only slower to react than most. Along the way, Bo Ruoyou asked no further questions. Away from the crowd, Sha Gu relaxed a little. When they reached her room, it was just as the guards had said: a tiny chamber, its contents visible at a glance.
The servants’ courtyard was set apart. Though Sha Gu had her own small room, it was pressed against the eaves, damp inside, with a musty odor of mud drifting in from behind the house. Bo Ruoyou sighed. Life as a servant was harsh. “The estate is unsafe. Do not go alone to the plum grove at night again.”
Sha Gu nodded timidly, not daring to meet her eyes.
The guards waited outside; inside, only the two of them. Yet Sha Gu still seemed afraid.
Bo Ruoyou’s brows furrowed. She remembered the day she helped Sha Gu pick up fruit. Though Sha Gu had been timid then too, she clearly recalled that Sha Gu had looked at her and nodded in thanks.
A strange feeling unsettled Bo Ruoyou. She stared at Sha Gu, unable to make sense of it. Her gaze swept the room and fell upon a silk sachet by Sha Gu’s pillow. The fabric was fine, but the embroidery was sparse and uneven.
Bo Ruoyou’s eyes flickered. “Did the Madam sew this?”
Sha Gu turned her head slowly, then nodded lightly.
Seeing the messy stitches, Bo Ruoyou guessed it was indeed the Madam’s work. It seemed Chun Tao was right—the Madam truly pitied Sha Gu.
Her presence made Sha Gu uneasy, so Bo Ruoyou offered a few words of comfort and left.
On the way back to her guest quarters, the strange feeling lingered. Sha Gu’s timid manner was clear, yet standing in that cramped room, Bo Ruoyou had felt an inexplicable unease. She returned deep in thought. Chun Tao had been waiting long and hurried to greet her. “Miss, you’re finally back. I don’t know what happened just now, but the estate was searched again.”
Bo Ruoyou gave a bitter smile. After bathing, she spoke to Chun Tao about Sha Gu.
Chun Tao said: “Sha Gu is truly pitiful. They say she fled here during a plague. Her parents died. If the Madam had not taken her in, she would not have survived.”
“Because of the plague?”
Chun Tao nodded. “Seven or eight years ago, there was a plague in Luozhou. Miss, you don’t know? The Madam took her in. The Old Madam thought it improper and ordered an investigation. Since her background was clean, she was allowed to stay in the estate.”
Seven or eight years ago, Bo Ruoyou had been under ten years old, so she truly had no memory of it.
Bo Ruoyou said again: “Today I saw the Madam making a sachet for Sha Gu.”
Chun Tao replied: “That’s what the servants envy about Sha Gu. When the Madam was well, she sometimes did needlework. Not only that, she would make two at once—one for the young lady, one for Sha Gu. Imagine, such treatment, equal to the young lady herself. Because of this, the young lady dislikes Sha Gu very much.”
Bo Ruoyou’s heart gave a jolt. “Two at once? Identical?”
Chun Tao nodded. “Yes. But you can imagine—the young lady never used the things the Madam made. She always gave them to the servants. So we’ve seen them from the other sisters.”
Bo Ruoyou clenched her fists, recalling Huo Weilou’s words. She asked again: “In these years, has anything strange happened in the estate? For example, have any of the masters met with danger?”
Chun Tao frowned, thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I’ve only been here two years. I haven’t heard of any master meeting danger. Illness, yes, occasionally.” Then her eyes lit up suddenly. “But I’ve heard the older maids talk of past events. If any master suffered the most misfortune, it was the young lady. When she was five or six, she fell gravely ill, almost like hysteria. Before she recovered, she nearly fell into a lotus pond in the estate. At that time, the Marquis was still alive, and he ordered the pond filled in immediately.”
Chun Tao frowned again. “They say she almost got burned by fire too…”
Bo Ruoyou’s brows knitted. “Burned by fire?”
Chun Tao hesitated. “It was long ago, some trouble during New Year. The maid who spoke of it wasn’t clear, so I can’t be sure if it’s true.”
Seeing Chun Tao could recall no more, Bo Ruoyou did not press further. Chun Tao turned to speak of other illnesses among the household. Bo Ruoyou listened but found no clues—yet, thinking of the strange incidents surrounding Zheng Yunni, she could not shake the feeling of unease.
That was many years ago. If the killer had already struck back then, could they really have failed even to harm a mere child of a few years old?
And yet Sha Gu’s brows and eyes bore a resemblance to Zheng Yunni’s. Though the Eldest Madam suffered from madness, she showed particular affection toward Sha Gu. Perhaps she mistook her for Zheng Yunni. But aside from the similarity in the eyes, their facial contours were entirely different—and Sha Gu’s face was marred by scars, so much so that one could call her hideous and frightening.
A thousand tangled thoughts churned in Bo Ruoyou’s heart. Before sleep, she said softly, “Tomorrow morning, come with me to see the place where the young lady fell into the lotus pond all those years ago…”
Chun Tao quickly agreed.
After a night of shallow rest, Bo Ruoyou awoke again before dawn. She rubbed her temples, gathered her wits, then rose. After washing, she roused Chun Tao and bade her lead the way.
Chun Tao guided her eastward—toward the direction of last night’s bamboo grove. “After the lotus pond was filled in, since it lay close to the grove, purple bamboo was planted there. To those who don’t know, it looks as though the bamboo forest had always stretched this wide.”
Today, with an Embroidered-Uniform Guard accompanying them, when Chun Tao brought Bo Ruoyou once more to stand before that grove, a chill crept up from her feet. Could such coincidences truly be real?