... The scene continues to rewind...
Finally, it stopped on a foggy night, with the fog covering the entire Jing'an Prefecture, reducing visibility to less than ten steps.
" Jixiang... it's late at night, you should go and rest."
The servant Laifu woke Jixiang, took the lantern from his hand, and stood outside Bai Yunjin House.
Jixiang yawned and lowered her voice, "Then I'll be going now... Master hasn't been sleeping well lately and is a bit irritable, so be careful."
"Okay... Go back to sleep now."
After Jixiang left, Laifu, who was usually keeping watch obediently, secretly slipped to the side gate and opened it when no one was around.
He then returned to Bai Yunjin's door. Bai Yunjin had a habit of getting up every night to relieve himself, and today was no exception. As soon as he stepped out the door, he saw Laifu dozing off at the doorway.
Bai Yunjin kicked him in anger, "Light the lamp..."
Laifu hurriedly got up, picked up a lantern, rubbed his eyes, and led the way... Just then, Bai Yunjin suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
He turned around abruptly, a crimson hem of clothing flashing past and disappearing into the thick fog.
Bai Yunjin was startled. " Laifu... did you just see something pass by?"
Laifu looked around. "No... Master, are you seeing things?"
Hearing this, Bai Yunjin urged him with some skepticism, "Take me to the outhouse quickly... I don't know what's gotten into us today, there's such a thick fog."
Laifu didn't speak, silently leading the person to the outhouse. He left the lantern behind and stood silently outside the outhouse, surrounded by darkness. Two scarlet hems passed by his eyes.
Laifu seemed oblivious, his eyes lowered, lost in thought... A terrified scream echoed from the outhouse, "A ghost... Laifu, Laifu..."
A hint of sarcasm flashed in Laifu's eyes as he strode into the outhouse, anxiously asking, "Master... what's wrong?"
Bai Yunjin hadn't even had time to pull Laifu and pointed at the embroidery thread on the ground, saying, " Laifu, where did this embroidery thread come from?"
Laifu glanced in the direction he was pointing, looking around in confusion. "Master, what are you saying? The ground is completely clean, there's nothing there."
Bai Yunjin's eyes widened in disbelief, "Didn't you see it? The embroidery thread..."
"Master... you must be still half asleep. Where would you get embroidery thread from this outhouse..."
Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Bai Yunjin was so frightened that the hairs on her body stood on end. She took Laifu's arm and hurriedly walked towards the bedroom. Even after lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), she was still uneasy and ordered Laifu to stay by her side, keeping her company all night.
Jin Shanyao stopped reading here and the scene quickly flipped forward, skipping over the scenes of the embroiderers serving guests and officials, and also skipping over the scene of them crying and begging Bai Yunjin for half a packet of Five Minerals Powder.
... In the blink of an eye, the page flipped to three years ago...
At that time, Qiuju was only twelve years old. That day, she had just finished embroidering the bed curtains and was walking back home, exhausted.
Suddenly remembering that her family was coming to visit her today, she decided to go to the back door to check. But she had only gone halfway when she saw Chunju running out of the courtyard where guests were being received in a panic.
Qiuju's heart tightened, and she followed him as if possessed. She hid in the shadows and saw a man with a mole on his forehead, his clothes open, grab Chunju and forcibly drag her into the courtyard.
Qiuju went around to the back of the house and peeked through the crack in the window. She saw Chunju struggling desperately, but the man pinned her down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and brutally assaulted her.
By the time the matter was over, Chunju had already passed away.
Startled, she covered her mouth tightly. Before she could react, Bai Yunjin walked in from outside.
He stepped forward and greeted him with the utmost obsequiousness, " Lord He."
He instructed Jixiang to bury Chunju's body under the peach tree in the courtyard.
Jin Shanyao a long sigh of relief. This Chunju should be the second corpse, but who is this Lord He? Why hasn't she seen him before? Could he be the previous prefect?
With this question in mind, she continued flipping through the pages, noticing the changing vegetation in each room over time.
The scene was intermittent. Jin Shanyao his Spiritual Power and spun around, finding an old Yang Shu outside the courtyard. The Yang Shu was tall and lush, and the treetops could be seen from the entire Cloud Brocade Workshop.
... Five years have passed in the blink of an eye...
The image of Jin Shanyao is frozen in the Bai Yunjin Courtyard.
A girl was kneeling in the courtyard, bound hand and foot, her mouth gagged. She was trembling with fear, and tears streamed down her pale face.
At this moment, she was in despair, kowtowing repeatedly to Bai Yunjin, whimpering as if begging for mercy.
Without a word, Bai Yunjin dragged the stick and walked towards her step by step. Under the girl's terrified gaze, he raised the stick high, swung his arm in a wide arc, and smashed the stick hard on her head.
Blood gushed out instantly. Before the girl could even close her eyes, she collapsed to the ground with a thud. Bai Yunjin's hand was still trembling as she killed for the first time.
He called Jixiang, and the two of them dug a hole in the yard, threw the person in, and buried him. In their panic, no one noticed that a little girl was lying in the corner.
For the next few days, Bai Yunjin was restless every night, so she planted a peach tree on it to appease the spirit.
So that's why peach trees are planted everywhere in Cloud Brocade Workshop.
Jin Shanyao confirmed that this was the first victim... Yao Yuniang. As for how she died, it wasn't shown in the scene. Jin Shanyao moved forward two days.
When they found Yao Yuniang, she was sitting in the embroidery room learning embroidery from Xiaju. Xiaju was about eight or nine years old at the time, holding the needle and teaching Yao Yuniang the needlework step by step.
Suddenly, footsteps came from outside. Xiaju immediately stuffed the embroidery into the quilt and pulled Yao Yuniang aside to chat casually.
Yao Yuniang said with a smile, "I'll bring you dried fish when I go home tomorrow."
Before Xiaju could answer, Qiuju and Chunju walked in. "Oh... Sister Yao... you brought Xiaju dried fish, what about us?"
Yao Yuniang laughed upon hearing this, "Bring them all... you little gluttons won't be spared."
The scene pauses, Jin Shanyao searches back and forth between the two days following Yao Yuniang's death, finding no clues... The first two deaths had causes, but why did this one die?
The scene abruptly ends after Yao Yuniang leaves Cloud Brocade Workshop. When she returns, she is being carried into the mansion in a sack, a scene that coincides with the time of Yao Yuniang's death, making further viewing pointless.
In other words, Yao Yuniang's death occurred outside Cloud Brocade Workshop. Recalling the scene of Yao Yuniang's death, her clothes were intact without any signs of tearing. Moreover, she was just a maid and had not taken Five Minerals Powder. So why did she die?
... The Jin Shanyao continued to sway as it flipped forward...
The scene lingers on Yao Yuniang meeting a couple. Yao Yuniang is holding a bowl in her arms. "Mother... I received one tael of silver this month. You and Father can buy some meat and some dough tonight, and make dumplings with all meat filling."
As she spoke, she picked up a stir-fried oyster and put it in her mouth. "You shouldn't go beachcombing anymore. The seawater is too cold for your ankles... Besides, it takes a whole basket of oysters to dry into just one plateful."
Looking at her daughter Yuniang felt both heartache and sorrow. "My daughter loves to eat this; I'd be willing to dry as much as she wants..."
" Yuniang... come in quickly, the new apprentice has arrived."
"Hey... I'm coming," Yao Yuniang hurriedly stuffed two oysters into her mouth, handed the bowl back to her mother, and ran into Cloud Brocade Workshop.