In the deceased's room, they discovered a peculiar ledger.

  At first glance, it seemed to record household expenses, but the prices were extraordinarily high. Qin Nan had been perplexed about the ledger's purpose, but now, considering their ongoing dilemma, he wondered if the ledger might hold the answers they sought.

  The ledger was currently in Jian Fan's hands.

  Qin Nan gently tugged at Jian Fan's sleeve.

  Jian Fan turned, looking somewhat puzzled.

  "The ledger," Qin Nan mouthed silently.

  Jian Fan paused, realizing that amidst the barrage of clues, they had overlooked the significance of the ledger they found earlier. He took it out and handed it to Qin Nan.

  Both Qin Nan and Jian Fan were reluctant to disclose this information to the others for the time being.

  Qin Nan quickly flipped through the ledger.

  It contained records of household expenses dating back ten years. Aside from the first entry, which seemed odd, most of the content, while slightly above the known prices of the time, could be justified considering the family’s wealth and the potential for the buyer to inflate prices for personal gain.

  However, aside from the first entry, Qin Nan found several other peculiar items.

  For instance, seven years ago, there was an expense for rice amounting to seven hundred taels; six years ago, there were two entries for rice, each costing eight hundred taels. Then, five years ago, there was another entry for rice costing one thousand taels. But four years ago, it switched to "abacus."

  In October of that year, an abacus was recorded as costing five hundred taels; in December, another abacus cost three hundred taels. The following year, another abacus...

  Rice was understandable, but an abacus? What was going on?

  Hundreds of taels for an abacus? Was it made of gold? Even so, why would they purchase abacuses so frequently? Qin Nan recalled the mystery novels and dramas he had read and watched; ledgers often concealed secrets, perhaps involving bribery. However, in this context, it couldn’t be that the deceased was bribing some high official, so...

  He suspected that the murderer was Zheng Jueming, corresponding to the identity of the accountant. The accountant and the abacus—an equation began to form in Qin Nan's mind.

  This money wasn’t for buying abacuses; they were merely a code, just like rice was a code. The subsequent expenses represented payments made by the deceased to certain individuals. Qin Nan didn’t care who the rice was for; he was curious as to why the deceased was giving them money.

  How did the accountant know the deceased's secret? Where did this knowledge come from? Why did the deceased give him this money? Did the accountant discover the deceased's secret and then threaten him?

  Given that the deceased was willing to sacrifice his descendants to resurrect someone, while taking so many innocent lives to sustain the soul of a deceased person, if anyone were to threaten him with this, Qin Nan thought, the deceased would likely have killed the accountant outright.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  So...

  The answer seemed to be emerging.

  Qin Nan abruptly closed the ledger.

  "Mu Xin, how long have you been married to the third young master?" Qin Nan suddenly asked.

  The discussion among the others halted, and they looked over with curiosity.

  Mu Xin, though puzzled, answered honestly, "Six years."

  She had already grasped the timelines during the time rewind.

  "Then when did the accountant arrive here?" Qin Nan continued.

  Mu Xin straightened slightly, realizing the significance of his question and responding more seriously, "About half a year after we got married, so roughly five years ago."

  "And when did you have a falling out with the third young master?" Qin Nan pressed on.

  Although she didn’t know why he was asking, Mu Xin recalled, "That should have been two years ago."

  Exactly.

  The first expense for an abacus was recorded four years ago.

  The accountant couldn't have immediately been connected to the deceased upon arrival; it took a year for the deceased to establish initial contact with the accountant. However, at that point, the deceased wouldn’t have fully trusted him until two more years had passed.

  Qin Nan stood up. "Mu Xin, come with me." He walked to the side.

  Mu Xin immediately stood up, sensing something.

  Everyone's gaze fell on them. Some began to piece things together, while others hesitated. Qin Weiyi relaxed, smiling, "Looks like we’ll be dealing with each other a bit longer."

  Zheng Jueming appeared anxious.

  Qin Nan handed the ledger to Mu Xin along with all his conjectures.

  Finally, he smiled at Mu Xin, "This time, truly, a pleasant collaboration."

  "A pleasant collaboration," Mu Xin replied, smiling genuinely, without her usual facade. "My new partner."

  As they returned to their seats, Xia Zheqin spoke up, "Can we vote now?"

  Mu Xin straightened her posture.

  "There are three wounds on the deceased. The first wound was inflicted by the eldest young lady, the second by the second young master using an inkstone, and the third was from the young lady, who used the dagger that had stabbed the deceased to castrate him. After doing all this, she took away the undergarments. The dagger was left at the scene but was not found in the deceased's chest. The first two points have already been mentioned by Qin Nan and Xu Tian, and the third point can be verified by Lin Junru," Mu Xin stated.

  Lin Junru didn’t understand why Mu Xin brought this up, but sensing the atmosphere, it seemed they were nearing the moment of revealing the murderer.

  She nodded, "Yes, the castration was indeed my doing."

  "The murderer of the deceased is not the eldest young lady, nor the second young master, nor the young lady, but the one who ultimately reinserted the dagger into the deceased's chest. This person also arranged the final crime scene. The Taiji diagram at the crime scene can also be linked to the resurrection technique. In the place where Feng Xian's body was kept, there were Taiji diagrams both above and below, so I can reasonably infer that the murderer must be aware of the resurrection technique."

  "My falling out with the third young master was feigned, and the child I’m carrying is indeed his. We are aware of the resurrection technique, but since the third young master is deceased and I have an alibi, the murderer cannot be either of us."

  "The eldest young master, the nephew, and the fourth young master all have alibis, leaving only three suspects: the doctor, the accountant, and the second young master."

  "Among these three," Mu Xin continued, holding up the ledger.

  "There are several strange entries in the ledger. The abacus likely refers to a person, making the accountant the most reasonable suspect. Why would the deceased give him money? And the accountant's gambling debts," Mu Xin explained.

  "Additionally, I need to clarify that the child in my womb is the third young master's, and I grew up with the accountant."

  Finally, Mu Xin suddenly laughed, saying, "The situation is quite clear. The deceased tasked the accountant with certain responsibilities but didn’t fully trust him, so he set a trap, causing the accountant to develop a gambling addiction and accrue massive debts, thus ensuring he would be under his control. After the accountant gained the deceased's full trust and learned about the resurrection technique, he originally came here for me. Upon discovering this, he quickly informed me, which is why the third young master and I pretended to have a falling out. He wanted to take me away, and after I refused, he killed the deceased. Then he took the gold from the vault, intending to escape with me, but was stopped by the third young master, leading to the latter's death."

  "The murderer is the accountant." This was the final conclusion.