The early morning of Yudu was damp.
Perhaps due to the wind and rain Chen Shi had summoned last night, nighttime had brought thunderstorms only to parts of Mingfeng Pavilion, but by morning, a fine, misty rain was falling in and around Yudu, pattering continuously.
The rain was not heavy, yet the bluestones on the streets were washed remarkably clean, and a few children braved the drizzle to splash in the puddles at the street corners, splattering themselves from head to toe.
Zhang Ji, the head steward of Prince Zheng's Mansion, braved the rain to reach Happy Forest and inspect Du Shenshou's corpse, his expression instantly sinking.
Not long after, he arrived beneath the city gate tower, watching the yamen runners carry the corpse of Shopkeeper Qiu of Mingfeng Pavilion down from the upper floor.
Aunt Xue of the Hongniang Association had also gone missing, her body nowhere to be found.
Someone had heard the sounds of combat on the canal's surface the previous night, the fluctuations of spells intensely fierce.
Yet the duration was extremely brief, lasting at most one or two breaths before vanishing without a trace.
The yamen runners had also investigated, but neither the bridge nor the two banks of the canal bore any remaining traces.
"Aside from Zhuge Jian, they are all good-for-nothings!"
Head Steward Zhang Ji felt a burning pain in his chest. Zhuge Jian had resigned from his post as bailiff and vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a pack of wine-guzzling, rice-wasting sacks in the yamen—including the penal magistrate!
He summoned a yamen runner and instructed, "Have the coroner summon his soul! And find a few corpse-salvagers to search the canal; they might just find Aunt Xue's body!"
The yamen runner hurried off to execute the order.
Head Steward Zhang Ji's