Chapter 59. No one was there to light a lamp for him. ...
Chapter 59
Just after midnight, a dark figure appeared on a corner of the wall above the General Fenyong's mansion.
He Hansheng, dressed in black and with his face covered, leaned out from behind the wall and observed for a moment before speaking in a low voice: "The defenses are lax now. Just follow behind me and be careful."
"..." Shen Suining, who was also wearing a black cloak, snuggled into his arms, turned her head to look at him, and did not say a word.
Even with the mask on, He Hansheng could still see a hint of resentment in her beautiful eyes, which were hidden by the shadow of the hat brim. He couldn't help but chuckle: "You wouldn't wait for me at home, but now that you've come, you're putting on this act."
Shen Suining scoffed, "I've come all this way out of kindness, what business is it of yours how I pose?"
After saying that, Shen Suining propped herself up with her hands and gracefully flipped over the wall into the courtyard.
He Hansheng quickly followed.
Although He Bufan's general's mansion was not as heavily guarded as the Yong'an Marquis's mansion, it was still frequently patrolled by guards. Fortunately, it was late at night, and the two were agile, so they easily evaded the guards around them under the cover of darkness.
The surrounding houses were pitch black, except for the candlelight burning in the mourning hall, where servants and maids kept watch. Before the coffin was buried, the candles in front of the coffin could not be extinguished, otherwise the deceased would not be able to rest in peace, and his soul would wander around his former residence day after day, making it impossible for the living to live in peace.
Therefore, even though He Bufan had no feelings for Zhou Hao anymore, he still sent people to take turns keeping vigil for her, to ensure that her soul could enter reincarnation as soon as possible.
Shen Suining and He Hansheng hid behind the artificial hill and could see the scene inside the mourning hall from afar.
During the day, with many people in the house, nothing seemed amiss. But now, in the dead of night, the only light in the courtyard came from the white candles surrounding Zhou Hao's coffin and memorial tablet. The white silk in front of the mourning hall fluttered faintly in the gusts of cold wind, like shadowy figures. Coupled with the near silence of the night, the atmosphere became exceptionally eerie.
Shen Suining swallowed hard, subconsciously moving closer to He Hansheng, and muttered softly, "Judging from this atmosphere, it's clear that Zhou Hao died with his eyes wide open in disbelief. He Bufan should have invited a Taoist priest or monk to perform a ritual to help him pass on to the afterlife."
"If He Bufan believed in ghosts and gods, he probably wouldn't have been so cruel to his wife."
He Hansheng knew that Shen Suining was a little scared, so he gently pulled her into his arms with one hand on her shoulder. He looked at the few people in the room and said softly, "We should get closer."
Shen Suining nodded. Although she was a little scared, she obediently followed behind He Hansheng and took out the tranquilizing incense she had prepared in advance from her bosom.
She stuffed the incense sticks into a small bellows, lit it with a tinderbox, and blew on it several times towards the direction of the mourning hall.
The incense, carrying the smoke of the requiem, drifted into the mourning hall and quickly took effect. The servants keeping watch inside gradually lowered their heads and fell silent.
After waiting for a moment, the two quietly entered the mourning hall. Shen Suining then sprinkled some soothing incense into the brazier where the offerings were being burned to ensure that the person inside would not wake up in the short term.
After scattering the confetti, Shen Suining subconsciously clasped his hands together and bowed to Zhou Hao's memorial tablet. He then quickly returned to He Hansheng's side, who was now standing beside Zhou Hao's coffin, looking ready to open it at any moment.
Shen Suining quickly stopped him and dragged him to a secluded spot behind the coffin to hide. "Have you thought this through? Even if we open the coffin, we might not be able to figure out the real cause of her death. Besides, the body was treated before it was placed in the coffin. Maybe He Bufan has already erased the only clues we have?"
“Of course I know. But as you said, exhuming the body for an autopsy is the only way to find out the cause of Zhou Hao’s death, and I have to try.” He Hansheng’s attitude was resolute.
Shen Suining understood that this was a last resort and did not try to dissuade him further, only reminding him: "Then hurry up and don't make too much noise."
He Hansheng nodded.
The two stood up at the same time. He Hansheng stood behind the coffin, while Shen Suining squatted down beside him to keep watch. With the calming incense, the people inside the mourning hall wouldn't wake up easily. What she had to be wary of was whether someone would suddenly come to the door.
He Hansheng placed his hands on the sides of the coffin lid and said softly, "I apologize."
As soon as he finished speaking, he exerted his strength from his dantian and pushed open the heavy coffin lid. The dull thud made Shen Suining, who was standing to the side, break out in goosebumps.
After not hearing He Hansheng speak for a while, Shen Suining turned her head to the side.
Seeing him staring down into the coffin, his face slightly pale, Shen Suining's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
“The coffin,” He Hansheng said solemnly, enunciating each word clearly, “is empty.”
Shen Suining's eyes sharpened, and she straightened up to look into the coffin. Inside, there were only some gold and silver ornaments that appeared to be Zhou Hao's belongings and a clean set of clothes, but Zhou Hao's body was nowhere to be found.
The two exchanged a glance, and Shen Suining suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. Just as she was about to say something, footsteps suddenly came from outside.
"Someone's coming!"
He Hansheng immediately closed the coffin lid, squatted down behind the coffin to hide himself. For the sake of secrecy, he pressed Shen Suining into his arms, leaned against the coffin and used his body to block her. He then raised his hand to extinguish the white candles near the two of them.
In the dim light, Shen Suining knelt between He Hansheng's legs, her heart pounding like a drum.
Footsteps gradually approached the mourning hall. He Hansheng covered Shen Suining's mouth and nose, and held his breath as well.
The sound lingered for a moment in front of the mourning hall before entering. He Hansheng saw the person through the gaps in the coffin frame.
It is He Bufan.
He Hansheng frowned slightly.
Although Zhou Hao's coffin was to be buried at dawn, He Bufan was not the kind of person who would come to say goodbye to her. Besides, the coffin was empty, and Zhou Hao's body had probably already been placed elsewhere by him.
The smell of burning paper money and candles overpowered the incense for calming the soul, so He Bufan didn't notice anything unusual. He simply glanced around and saw that the servants keeping watch had all fallen into a deep sleep, and the candlelight in front of Zhou Hao's spirit tablet was already on its last legs.
He chuckled softly, took a new candle from under the table and lit it, then took a handful of millet stalks and threw them into the brazier.
After doing all this, He Bufan gazed at Zhou Hao's memorial tablet and chuckled softly: "I told you long ago that you were unpopular, but you wouldn't believe me. Now that you're dead, even the servants who were supposed to keep your candles burning don't care. If there really is a soul after death, I'm afraid you'd see it and get angry and heartbroken again."
“Alright, alright, it’s not that I’m heartless,” He Bufan reached out and touched the memorial tablet, as if caressing a lover’s cheek, though there was no tenderness in his eyes. “I know that if it weren’t for your useless brother, you wouldn’t have listened to me so easily. Now that your brother is dead, the rope that was tied to your mouth has been completely broken. So, he’s dead, and you can’t live either.”
The two people hiding behind the coffin heard it clearly, exchanged a silent glance, understood, and dared not make a sound.
He Bufan was completely unaware that there were other people in the mourning hall and continued to talk to himself in front of Zhou Hao's memorial tablet.
“Zhou Hao, don’t blame me for being heartless and disregarding our more than twenty years of marriage. If you have to blame someone, blame your foolish brother. If he hadn’t been so careless, things wouldn’t have come to this. You know, even if he hadn’t died, I would still have kept you by my side. Although you are as weak as he is, you are actually quite shrewd, which is what I like most.”
"I'm doing this so that you two siblings can reunite in the underworld as soon as possible. Zhou Fu is so timid; without you as his sister to keep him company, he'd probably be a useless piece of trash even in the underworld. You can't let him go in the mortal world either, so it's better for you to go down there sooner. I'm doing this all for your own good."
He Bufan's words became increasingly morbid, especially in the eerie atmosphere of the mourning hall, making people feel increasingly chilled.
Shen Suining's body trembled slightly uncontrollably. He Hansheng noticed this and tightened his grip on her arm, holding her firmly in his embrace.
"Your coffin will be buried tomorrow. As your husband, I've come to see you off and keep you company for a while. This is my way of doing my part in the end." He Bufan withdrew his hands behind his back, a hint of sinister intent appearing in his slightly weathered eyes.
"By the way, if you see He Changxin after you go down—"
He Bufan said slowly and deliberately, “Don’t forget to tell him that he didn’t die unjustly. There will be a day when you meet again in the afterlife. Remember to tell him in advance that his death cannot be entirely blamed on me.”
...
Before dawn, He Hansheng and Shen Suining climbed over the wall and came out.
Seeing that the two were safe and sound and had not alerted anyone else, Shen Fengyu and Ling Rui, who were waiting outside, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The two men carried lanterns and went forward, only to find that He Hansheng's face was extremely pale, and even Shen Suining's expression was much more somber than before they went in.
Shen Fengyu and Ling Rui exchanged a glance and asked in unison, "Why do you both look so pale? What happened?"
Shen Suining shook her head, while He Hansheng, who was standing next to her, walked forward without saying a word.
Seeing this, Shen Fengyu blurted out, "Did you two fight again?"
"..." Shen Suining glanced at her, speechless. "I haven't been so petty as to be inconsiderate of the occasion, have I?"
Shen Fengyu chuckled twice, and after thinking about it, she realized that neither of them were the type to disregard the bigger picture. Even if they had a quarrel, they wouldn't resort to violence at a time like this.
The three walked behind, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far from He Hansheng. Ling Rui and Shen Fengyu held lamps for Shen Suining on either side of her, and neither of them spoke.
Shen Suining pondered to herself that Shen Yan had always been concerned about the true cause of He Changxin's death, and He Hansheng had also been investigating in secret for three years without success. Now, they had obtained the information so easily that they had inadvertently learned that He Changxin's death was actually related to He Bufan.
Judging from his words, even if He Bufan wasn't the direct murderer of He Changxin, he was probably still involved. Shen Suining thought that Shen Yan and Wei Zhao had been investigating this matter all along, and she had never interfered. But right now, the two of them were still on their way back from Yangzhou and would probably arrive in the capital in a few days.
Shen Suining felt that this matter could not be delayed. After thinking it over, she called out to Shen Fengyu and asked, "You went to see Xiao Jiu today. Does she know if there are any new developments in the matter in Yunzhou?"
During the months since returning to Yangzhou, news from Huadu and Yunzhou was collected and relayed through Luo Jiuxun, which is why Shen Fengyu went to see her in the Nine Heavens as soon as she settled down.
However, the matter being investigated in Yunzhou was never under Shen Suining's jurisdiction. Shen Fengyu found it a bit strange that she suddenly asked about it, but she still answered truthfully: "I heard that the people from Qianji Pavilion seem to have found a new witness in Yunzhou, but they encountered some obstacles in the process of contacting the witness. Pavilion Master Wei has already gone there in person."
“He’s on the ship, and we don’t know how long it will take to get there,” Shen Suining pondered for a moment, then said to Ling Rui, “Ling Rui, you and Yan Zhen should take people to provide support immediately. In any case, before Pavilion Master Wei arrives in Yunzhou, we must ensure that all relevant people and witnesses are safe and sound.”
"Yes." Ling Rui replied, handed the lamp in her hand to Shen Fengyu, and leaped up, disappearing gracefully into the night.
Shen Fengyu glanced in the direction where Ling Rui had disappeared. "Young Master, do you have any new leads regarding the matter in Yunzhou?"
Shen Suining neither admitted nor denied it, but judging from her expression, Shen Fengyu knew that she was probably right. So she asked again, "So the expressions you and the young marquis had just had were because you found out about this?"
"Why are you talking so much right now?" Shen Suining was deep in thought, and her train of thought was being interrupted so frequently, so she immediately became impatient.
“Young Master,” Shen Fengyu suddenly stopped and patted her shoulder earnestly, “At a time like this, you shouldn’t be thinking about what we should do next. You should be thinking about what you need to do right now.”
Shen Suining was completely confused by her words and glared at her, "If you can't speak properly, then shut up."
Shen Fengyu sighed and gestured with her chin toward He Hansheng.
Shen Suining looked in that direction and saw He Hansheng's back. Although he was walking eastward in the direction of dawn, he was walking slowly alone on the dark blue stone street. There was no one to hold a lamp for him, and his tall figure inexplicably gave off a sense of loneliness and desolation.
Shen Fengyu handed the lamp to Shen Suining. She took it subconsciously, paused for a moment, and then turned around to meet Shen Fengyu's meaningful gaze.
She didn't say a word, but Shen Suining slowly understood something from her eyes. She secretly gripped the lamp in her hand, struggled internally for a moment, and then ran to catch up with her.
"He Hansheng!"
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