The walk back to the palace was not particularly fast. The night wind swept through the alleyways, carrying a dry chill.
Lin Zhiyue and Qi Yan took Su Jinyu's coffin. Minister Su and his family stood to the side in a daze, offering no resistance. Perhaps realizing that the Su family's fortune had run dry, Minister Su looked completely hollowed out, lacking even the strength to lift his head.
Following half a step behind Qi Yan, Lin Zhiyue repeatedly pieced together the fragments she had gathered from Minister Su tonight—the method to lock the soul and drain fortune, the secret affair between Su Qing'er and Heir Xie, and Su Jinyu's wrongful death that turned her into a vengeful spirit.
As they neared the side gate of the imperial palace, the system screen lit up quietly at the edge of her vision. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that two of the quest items had turned a pale gold “Completed”—with checkmarks appearing next to both “The Truth of Su Jinyu's Death” and “The Truth of the Annulment Between the Su and Xie Families.”
The progress bar for the third quest, “Investigate the Origin of Noble Consort Su's Resentment,” was half-filled, stopping at 50%.
Just as she was about to look away, Qi Yan, who was walking ahead, suddenly slowed his pace. Without turning around, his voice drifted back clearly. “There is something I need to tell you. For the past few days, your Eldest Senior Brother and I have been investigating the cause of the weakening national fortune.
“The national fortune is typically formed by the dragon vein and earthly fortune, locked in place by heavy artifacts like the Imperial Seal. Two days ago, your Eldest Senior Brother borrowed the Imperial Seal under the pretext of investigating the weakening national fortune. As a member of the imperial family, he used the seal and his bloodline connection to locate the dragon vein and earthly fortune.
“When your Eldest Senior Brother and I followed the trail deep into the earth, the dragon vein had already dried up, seemingly drained over years and months. The remaining aura on the surface was entirely resentful energy.”
He paused here and glanced at Lin Zhiyue. Seeing that she seemed lost in thought, he continued, “Initially, your Eldest Senior Brother and I suspected that the Su family had reached some sort of agreement with a vengeful spirit, using it to absorb the national fortune to achieve some purpose of their own.
“That is why I did not let you go to the Su Manor alone tonight. A vengeful spirit that has consumed more than half of the national fortune has reached at least the early-stage Soul Transformation Stage. It would have been too risky for you.”
Lin Zhiyue listened quietly. The two walked side by side along the path outside the palace walls, their footsteps falling in a steady, overlapping rhythm on the stone flags.
“It was only tonight, when I saw that coffin in the Su family's backyard, that I realized we had guessed wrong.” Qi Yan turned his head to look at her, the moonlight tracing the sharp contours of his profile. “Su Jinyu is that vengeful spirit. After her death, her resentment accumulated for years. Once she broke free of the Su family's restrictions, she found the dragon vein and swallowed the national fortune.
“The people of the Su Manor had likely lost control of her long ago. They just did not dare make it public and were still trying to suppress her remains with that coffin.”
With that, he fell silent.
Lin Zhiyue frowned, resting her chin on her hand in silence for a moment before sorting out her thoughts. “So Master, you are saying Su Jinyu is now a vengeful spirit of at least the early-stage Soul Transformation Stage?”
Qi Yan gave a soft hum of affirmation.
Lin Zhiyue was at a loss for a moment. Her emotions told her that Su Jinyu was a victim, but her reason reminded her that draining the dragon vein, destabilizing the national fortune, and displacing the common people was a grave sin.
They soon arrived at the side gate.
The guards on the night watch poked their heads out, but upon recognizing Qi Yan and Lin Zhiyue, they quickly retreated back inside.
As she stepped through the palace gates, she glanced back at Qi Yan's retreating figure. He had already turned toward the side courtyard, his red and black robes casting a sharp silhouette in the moonlight before quickly vanishing around the corner of the corridor.
Withdrawing her gaze, she walked up the stone steps toward her own guest room.
Early the next morning, Lin Zhiyue called the others to the stone table in the side courtyard.
Cen Xi'er, Jiang Yuezhan, and Xiao Yuan arrived one after another. Once everyone was seated, she summarized her findings from the Su Manor's backyard and the information she had pried from Minister Su the previous night, explaining everything as concisely as possible.
Su Jinyu had been murdered in a conspiracy between her younger half-sister and her concubine mother. Heir Xie and Su Qing'er had engaged in a secret affair beforehand and publicly broke off the engagement afterward, causing Su Jinyu to die with deep grievances and become a vengeful spirit. The source of the drained dragon vein was her being trapped in the Su Manor for years; after breaking free, she had accidentally stumbled upon the location of the dragon vein and began consuming the national fortune.
Silence fell over the stone table after Lin Zhiyue finished speaking.
Jiang Yuezhan's expression showed no significant change, but his fingers pressed against his sword hilt with slightly more force than usual.
Xiao Yuan leaned against a corridor pillar, his expression remaining flat, though a faint, barely perceptible furrow appeared between his brows.
Hearing this, Cen Xi'er set her teacup down on the table with a sharper clatter than usual. “That Heir Xie—if he wanted to break off the engagement, he should have just done so. To carry on a secret affair and try to cover it up, trampling a girl's reputation underfoot, only to turn around and play the devoted lover waiting for his sweetheart... He is an absolute hypocrite and a scoundrel.”
Lin Zhiyue took a sip of her tea and nearly choked when she heard Cen Xi'er call him a “hypocrite and a scoundrel.” She quickly lowered the rim of her cup.
She collected her thoughts, swallowing the modern insults that had rushed to the tip of her tongue—words like “toxic man,” “sweet-talking jerk,” or “morally bankrupt.”
Though those modern terms were sharp and to the point, compared to Cen Xi'er's classic “hypocrite and scoundrel,” she suddenly felt that the cultivation world's insults were far more civilized.
Placing her teacup back on the table, Lin Zhiyue suppressed the curl of her lips and continued to fill in the remaining details from the previous night.
The current Su Jinyu was no longer the innocent young lady of a noble house who had died unjustly; she was now a vengeful spirit whose cultivation was close to the early-stage Soul Transformation Stage, and she needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.
Cen Xi'er slapped the table upon hearing this. “Then we should go search for Su Jinyu's whereabouts right now,” she said, her tone as brisk and straightforward as her personality.
Lin Zhiyue said to Cen Xi'er, “We can go, but we must have Master accompany us.” Though Cen Xi'er was slightly reluctant, she still nodded.
Their plan for the day was set—Lin Zhiyue would go together with Cen Xi'er, Jiang Yuezhan, and Xiao Yuan.
Since Su Jinyu had become a vengeful spirit and was neither in the coffin nor in the side room of the Su Manor's east courtyard, where could she be?
Lin Zhiyue made her decision on the spot—they would start with Su Qing'er to find Su Jinyu.
The resentful energy clinging to Su Qing'er was the best clue. She was Su Jinyu's younger sister, and also the enemy who had benefited the most from Su Jinyu's death.
With resentful energy relentlessly clinging to her enemy, Lin Zhiyue was certain that following the trail of Su Qing'er would lead them directly to Su Jinyu.
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