While the man on the beam worried, Guan Xinrui finally returned. Seeing the study door ajar, he felt a slight jolt of alarm and hurried over.
With a creak, the study door opened. But when Guan Xinrui saw that it was his wife waiting inside, he immediately relaxed considerably.
"My dear, so it was you. Sorry for the wait. I had some urgent official business to attend to."
Guan Xinrui approached, asking after her with solicitous concern, but his wife, Liu Shi, sat there without a word. The maidservant beside her did not dare speak either.
Guan Xinrui paused, then stepped closer and reached out to touch his wife. She pushed his hand away, still saying nothing.
"My dear, what's wrong? Qiao'er, what's wrong with her?"
The maidservant looked at the County Magistrate and shook her head to indicate that she did not know. Guan Xinrui was bewildered, but then his wife glanced toward the desk and stood.
Liu Shi walked to the desk, picked up the document on it, and looked at Guan Xinrui.
"Husband, you are a learned man with ideals and ambitions. It was your upright spirit and talent that first won my admiration. But now, how could you write a document like this about something clearly connected to a murder?"
Guan Xinrui frowned, walked over to his wife, and took the document from her hand with a soft sigh.
"The situation at court and in officialdom is complicated. Since the dragon scale appeared here in Haiyu County, it will most likely end up in the imperial family's hands. That makes this an opportunity for me."
As he spoke, Guan Xinrui picked up the crossed-out document.
"There is nothing wrong with writing it this way, of course, but that would taint the dragon scale with ill fortune.