After saying this, Pei'er returned to the ground.

Su Youran had been waiting outside the manor. After listening to Pei'er's report, she said nothing, gave her a bag of silver and a contract of indenture, and then returned to her residence.

...

The body lay in state at the Yun residence for seven days, and on the eighth day, Yun Tianbai carried the portrait of the deceased in the funeral procession.

Since she was carried into the Duke's mansion in a grand sedan chair carried by eight men, she deserved a magnificent funeral.

Unexpectedly, when they reached a hillside, the funeral procession ran into the funeral procession of Prince Rong's mansion.

Prince Rong's mansion laid in state for half a month before burying the heir, so that he could return to the capital.

The mountain road was narrow, and Yun Tianbai didn't want to cause trouble, so he stopped to let him pass.

Perhaps because the mountain road was narrow, when the two coffins passed each other, a strong man carrying the coffin from Prince Rong's Mansion didn't notice and stepped on the foot of a strong man carrying the coffin from Yun's Mansion.

The strong man's legs went weak, and the coffin on his shoulder fell down the hillside, tumbling and rolling all the way down.

The coffin lid was originally nailed in place, but it couldn't withstand the rolling around, and half of it was knocked off.

When everyone rushed down the hillside, they were all dumbfounded.

One of the burly men carrying the coffin exclaimed, "No wonder this coffin is so light! Turns out there's nothing inside!"

Several locals had followed along to watch the spectacle, and some of them, as light as swallows, came down the hillside. Upon seeing this, they began to discuss it amongst themselves.

"How come it's an empty coffin? Where's the body? Could it have fallen out just now?"

"Impossible! The coffin lid is only half open. Even if there's a corpse inside, it's hard. How could it have fallen out through this crack?"

"Didn't you hear what the coffin bearers said? This weight is wrong!"

"Tsk tsk, the young mistress suddenly died... and there was no body found... could it be...?"

"Oh dear, there was a rumor a few days ago that the eldest young mistress of the Duke of Pingguo's mansion went missing while offering incense. Could it be... true?"

"Hey, if she's missing, go find her. Why claim she died suddenly?"

"Women from wealthy and powerful families, once they disappear, how can they claim to have any innocence? Of course they'll 'die a violent death'!"

Yun Tianbai, who was already feeling listless and had to pretend to be overwhelmed with grief to arrive late, was dumbfounded when he saw this scene and heard these comments.

How did things turn out this way?

If Shi Wenxia were to die without a trace, what would the people think if this were to spread?

With Su Youchen joining, Yun Tianyi, who had dropped from fourth to fifth in the rankings, asked with a hint of schadenfreude, "Big brother, what's going on? Are we going to bury an empty coffin now? Should we continue?"

Yun Tianbai choked on his words, unsure how to respond.

Just then, voices came from the top of the hillside, and soon an old woman called out in a loud voice, "Young Master, Fifth Young Master, Madam has something to say. Come up first and go back to the manor!"

Everyone was stunned again. Today's event was truly spectacular!

An empty coffin was found during the funeral procession, and then they carried the empty coffin back to the mansion?

That's true, if there's no body, what's the point of burying them?

This seemed to offer Yun Tianbai a way out, so he turned and walked up.

Eight strong men left to carry the coffin stared at each other, wondering what to do with the empty coffin. Should they carry it or not?

...

When Yun Tianbai and his group returned to the Duke's mansion, they were dumbfounded again.

Lu Ningzheng, the Prefect of Jingzhao, had a solemn expression.

In the main hall, where the coffin was originally placed, there was now a corpse.

Yun Tianbai looked puzzled and stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting, "Lord Lu, what is this?"

Lu Ning returned the greeting and asked, "Your Highness, what's inside that coffin...?"

He saw the eight men behind him carry the coffin back, and knew that they must have discovered it as well.

Yun Tianbai said with a wry smile, "The lady's body has mysteriously disappeared."

He could never admit that there was only an empty coffin. Judging from the situation, it must have been the Jingzhao Prefecture that discovered Shi Wenxia's body.

Seeing the large crowd, Lu Ning nodded and said, "Today, the constables of the Jingzhao Prefecture found a corpse by a river during their patrol. The shoes were the style of Miss Yun's embroidery shop, so we investigated and found that someone said it was the eldest young mistress of the Yun family. So I brought the body here."

This clearly indicates that they already knew it was Shi Wenxia, ​​which is why they dared to bring him here.

Yun Tianbai breathed a sigh of relief. This made it understandable that he didn't know the body had disappeared, and it confirmed that she had died suddenly.

He stepped forward, lifted the white cloth, glanced at it, his pupils dilated for a moment, and then immediately covered it back up.

He cupped his hands in thanks to Lu Ning, saying, "She was my late wife. Thank you, Lord Lu."

Lu Ning nodded, "I've been quite thirsty on my journey, I wonder..."

Yun Tianbai immediately understood, knowing that he had something to say, and quickly invited Lu Ning to the tea room next door.

Once inside, Lu Ning saw him close the door before saying, "Your Highness, what I said earlier was merely to give the people an explanation. The truth is, this morning I received a secret report that the late Madam was in the cellar of a Zhou family estate in the suburbs of the capital. I then ordered the constables to search, and unexpectedly, they actually found her!"

Lu Ning was on good terms with Su Yiren, a guest, so he naturally recognized the eldest young mistress of the Yun family.

Yun Tianbai's expression changed. "Then she...?"

Although he had only lifted a corner of the cover, he could still see that her face and neck were covered in bruises and blood, and that she was only covered by clothes from the shoulders down, so she looked like she had died naked.

"Don't worry, I've already told the constables at the scene to keep quiet, they definitely won't spread it," Lu Ning said. "When we found her, she... was already dead. The cellar was completely dark, and there was a filthy beggar next to her, barely clinging to life..."

He didn't say much else, but he probably knew what had happened.

Yun Tianbai suppressed his shock and asked again, "Who gave you the secret report? And why the Zhou family's estate?"

Lu Ning shook his head. "It was a letter delivered to the government office by a little beggar. The letter detailed when the late Madam arrived at Guangxiao Temple and how she was abducted by the Zhou family to the manor... Only with such certainty did we dare to order a search and arrest."

"The Zhou family? Who are they?"

Lu Ning said, "This case involves your maternal grandparents' family. If you don't file a complaint, I will not pursue the matter."

The meaning is that if the people don't complain, the officials won't investigate. If Yun Tianbai, as the aggrieved party, doesn't want to investigate, he won't make a fuss.

Yun Tianbai gritted his teeth, "Investigate!"

After all, she was a woman who had been pampered for two lifetimes. It was impossible not to feel heartbroken when you saw the way she died.

But who exactly wanted to harm Wenxia like this?

Lu Ning nodded, "In that case, I will go to the Zhou family to arrest them!"

Three days later, Zhou Qingqian was imprisoned, and Shi Wenxia was buried again.

The entire city was abuzz with discussion, wondering what had happened.

The Zhou family was also shocked, especially Zhou Qingqian's mother, Xiao Shi, Yun Tianbai's maternal aunt.

She never imagined that after her daughter was forced to kneel in the ancestral hall last time, she not only didn't restrain herself, but instead became even more outrageous and did something so harmful.

Yun Tianbai was completely bewildered.