Chapter 912, (1): Coincidence
After a long time had passed, the drowsy Sang Qien was suddenly roused awake. She felt dizzy, and her entire body was drenched in cold sweat from fright. She had actually fallen asleep in the coffin! But the coffin was airtight, so it would be easy to suffocate to death inside!
Sang Qien quickly turned around to check on Zu An. However, she saw him looking at her with a smile as soon as she raised her head. She blushed and asked quietly, “When did you wake up?”
Zu An replied, “I’ve been awake for a bit already.”
Sang Qien gave him an accusatory look. “Then why didn’t you wake me up?”
Zu An said with a smile, “I couldn’t bear to do it from how soundly you were sleeping.”
Sang Qien panicked when she heard him say he ‘couldn’t bear to’. A storm of thoughts rushed through her mind in that instant. She quickly changed the topic to hide her embarrassment. “You really are something. Aren’t you scared that we might just suffocate to death inside the coffin?”
“Don’t worry, I already opened up a crack.” Zu An pointed above himself. Sure enough, there was a sliver of light coming through from above. Even though it wasn’t that obvious, it was enough for ventilation.
Then didn’t he wake up a long time ago, and just kept looking at me all night?
Sang Qien felt a bit light-headed. She didn’t dare think about that subject any more. Instead, she asked, “What’s the situation outside?”
Zu An put away his playful smile. “The guards have already pretty much pulled back. The ones that are left are dozing off as well. There are only a few maids left here, and the other maids have all fallen asleep. Only the concubine’s personal maid Qiu Yue is still burning paper offerings in front of the coffin.”
Sang Qien was alarmed. Wouldn’t she hear what they were saying if she was right in front of the coffin?
Zu An seemed to have seen through her worries and reassured her, “Don’t worry, she isn’t a cultivator.”
Sang Qien sighed in relief. Then, she finally realized that she was still leaning against his chest. They were pressed up against each other so closely she could feel his breath when he spoke.
Even though she had studied a bit of everything for the sake of more comprehensive knowledge, even knowing a bit about autopsies, she knew absolutely nothing about romance. She had absolutely zero experience. She felt her entire body become a bit weak when she felt the powerful masculine energy around her. It was even a bit hard for her to think normally.
Fortunately, the maid Qiu Yue spoke outside. “Your highness, please be at ease. You can’t blame me for what happened that day; I didn’t know that this would happen either…”
Qiu Yue had deliberately lowered her voice. If not because Zu An and Sang Qien were so close, and that they were both cultivators, they wouldn’t be able to hear those words at all.
Sang Qien was shocked. She quickly looked at Zu An and said, “Looks like there was some ulterior motive behind the concubine’s death after all. This maid is one of the insiders.”
Zu An nodded. He had already known that much.
He had noticed that Qiu Yue was way too calm when he interrogated her before. After all, the concubine was her master, so their lives were practically tied together. And yet, after the concubine died, she actually didn’t look all that bereaved. When he had asked if the concubine might have been killed, she didn’t directly refute it either.
Normally speaking, shouldn’t a servant’s first reaction have been to call for help and investigate the truth? He had wanted to make sure that he hadn’t misunderstood her, so he’d asked how the concubine treated the maid normally. She’d said that the concubine treated her like a sister, so her response made even less sense. That was why he had known that there was something wrong with the maid, but he just hadn’t voiced his suspicions yet.
Zu An listened to the servant mumble for a long time, but she didn’t say anything really useful. He became a bit impatient and pushed open the coffin.
Qiu Yue raised her head in puzzlement when she heard a noise coming from the coffin. When she saw the coffin’s cover move, she felt her soul leave her body. She was about to scream when a black figure darted out. Then, she blacked out.
Zu An didn’t stop there. His figure turned into a streak of lightning, instantly tapping the sleeping maids and making sure they were completely asleep.
Sang Qien crawled out from the coffin and asked with a bit of hesitation, “How are we going to deal with the aftermath now that we’ve created this huge fuss here?”
Zu An patted her shoulder. “Don’t be in such a rush to come out yet.”
Sang Qien was confused. Zu An seemed to have noticed her bewilderment and said with a nod, “Stay in the coffin.” He tossed her a set of clothes afterward, saying “Change into these clothes inside the coffin.”
Sang Qien had been wondering why she was going to stay in the coffin, but those clothes drew her attention. The material was soft and sleek, clearly made of precious material. The style was also noble and elegant. It was a beautiful dress.
But that’s not important right now! She quickly reacted, and asked, “What kind of dress is this? Why should I change into it?”
If not because they had already spent some time together, she would have suspected that he was using this chance to mess with her.
Zu An replied, “Those are King Qi’s concubine’s clothes.”
Sang Qien was speechless. Even though she wasn’t scared of corpses, this guy had made her sleep in the coffin, and then made her change into the corpse’s clothes? Wasn’t that way too weird?
“I need you to pretend to be the concubine to get some confessions out of this maid,” Zu An explained. That was something Daji could take care of too, but he didn’t want to reveal his trump cards to too many people. Furthermore, King Qi Manor was on high alert at the moment. It would be troublesome if the ki fluctuations caused by Daji’s skill ended up alerting King Qi Manor’s people.
“Why do you have the concubine’s clothes?” Sang Qien’s eyes widened. She looked at him in confusion.
“I snagged a set during my investigation during the day.” Zu An gave the nearby ‘Pin Ru’s Wardrobe’ a look. He had left that wardrobe in a corner after taking out the clothes.
“Qiu Yue is the concubine’s personal maid, so she couldn’t be more familiar with her master. Will this really be enough to fool her?” Sang Qien was skeptical. Did this guy just want to see her change clothes?
“She feels guilty to begin with, and it’s the seventh night. If she sees you come out from the coffin, she’ll be absolutely frightened. How could she be bothered with trying to tell you apart?” Zu An didn’t tell her about Pin Ru’s Wardrobe and instead explained it in a different way.
Sang Qien nodded. There would be a good chance if they did that. However, she exclaimed, “Then you have to turn around! You better not peep!” She was a bit distressed. She really was completely going along with this man’s pace today! He had probably already planned this from the very start!
While she finished her preparations, Zu An hid in a corner, then unsealed Qiu Yue’s acupoint.
When she slowly woke up again, Qiu Yue felt that her surroundings were incredibly sinister. A cold chill blew past, and the candle flames in the funeral hall flickered. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed them together to create a bit of warmth.
“Qiu Yue…” came a faint voice from inside the funeral hall.
Qiu Yue’s eyes widened in confusion. She looked all around her, but didn’t see anything. She pushed her nearby companions and asked, “Did you all hear anything?”
But those companions were completely knocked out. They didn’t wake up even when she pushed them.
“Qiu Yue…” The cold and eerie voice spoke again.
Qiu Yue felt more and more scared. She quickly kowtowed to the surroundings. “Is that your highness? You must have returned tonight. I hope you’ve enjoyed your meal and drink, and that you can pass on peacefully…”
It was a woman’s voice. Even though it wasn’t too similar to the concubine’s voice, she was utterly terrified and couldn’t tell the difference. Furthermore, the concubine was now a ghost, so it was normal for her voice to have changed.
Creeeeak!
Suddenly, a loud creak came from the coffin. Qiu Yue jumped in fright and looked up in alarm. She saw that the center coffin’s lid was slowly being pushed open.
“Your highness…” Qiu Yue felt her scalp turn numb. She wanted to call out, but it was hard for her to even speak loudly. She wanted to run, but she suddenly went limp. She couldn’t even crawl back up to her feet.
Zu An, who was watching from the shadows, smirked. This woman has been scared so badly I don’t even have to do a thing.
The coffin lid suddenly stopped. Qiu Yue looked upward in alarm. Then, she saw a woman slowly sit up from the coffin.
The woman wore the concubine’s favorite dress from when she was still alive. Even though Qiu Yue couldn’t see her face from the disheveled hair, how could she not recognize who it was, as her personal maid?
“I’ve died such a miserable death…” The woman slowly crawled out of the coffin, then walked toward Qiu Yue step by step.