The Young Lady was wandering leisurely in her garden with her maid.

  What seemed like a tranquil scene prompted Jian Fan to receive a notification indicating he needed to make a choice.

  Options appeared before him: deliberately throw a small stone to make the Young Lady fall, heroically save her, or take no action at all.

  Jian Fan furrowed his brow and unhesitatingly chose the latter.

  From this choice, Jian Fan surmised that his character was intended to approach the Young Lady with the aim of establishing a close relationship. While "heroically saving the damsel" was undoubtedly a more favorable option for the plot, Jian Fan's personality inclined him to avoid such theatrics.

  Since it was his choice, he decided to follow his own inclinations.

  Once he made his selection, the scene began to shift, and Jian Fan found himself back in his own room. The subsequent narrative unfolded before him in text form.

  His choice directly influenced his first encounter with the Young Lady.

  The doctor met the Young Lady during a later health check. While her health was generally good, it was peculiar that the deceased had instructed the doctor to examine her every seven days, showing great concern over even minor ailments. Although Lin Junru had mentioned that she was well-loved, the extent of this attention struck Jian Fan as odd.

  In ancient times, regular health check-ups were not uncommon, but such frequency was unusual. No one else in the household, not even the deceased, received this level of care.

  Though labeled as the resident physician, Jian Fan felt that the doctor was more like a personal physician specifically for the Young Lady.

  This arrangement led to frequent interactions between the doctor and the Young Lady. Having been sheltered by the deceased, she became somewhat naive and, after spending time with the doctor, began to view him as a gentle, thoughtful, and knowledgeable person, gradually developing feelings for him.

  Eventually, the Young Lady began to show affection towards the doctor. Initially, he resisted and even contemplated resigning, but he seemed to be swayed by her sincerity, leading to a mutual attraction.

  The text portion concluded here, marking the end of Jian Fan's time rewind.

  He began to understand the nature of the relationship between the doctor and the Young Lady.

  The doctor had ulterior motives for his approach, and Jian Fan's choice had determined whether the doctor would take the initiative or let the Young Lady take the lead in their relationship.

  Due to Jian Fan's choice, the doctor opted for a more cautious approach, subtly fostering the Young Lady's feelings in a gradual manner. He played hard to get, creating a scenario where he pretended to consider leaving, prompting the Young Lady to take action, after which he feigned being touched and seemingly accepted her feelings.

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  The doctor's intention in getting close to the Young Lady was likely linked to the deceased, but Jian Fan frowned at the thought. Wasn't this approach a bit too slow? Spending so much time on the Young Lady before attempting to connect with the deceased...

  If the target was indeed the Young Lady, what could the motivation be?

  Jian Fan couldn't figure it out at the moment. Besides that, during this time rewind, he had gained another piece of information.

  The toy dagger, the Taoist priest, and Jian Fan raised his head to pull a book titled *I Ching* from the shelf in his room.

  He realized that his quick deduction about the Tai Chi diagram on the deceased was influenced by having spotted the *I Ching* on his bookshelf earlier. Although he hadn't paid much attention to it at the time, it now seemed significant.

  Was this book truly a mere melodrama of family grievances as they all believed?

  This was worth investigating.

  With insufficient information, Jian Fan couldn't make further deductions. However, his questions were soon answered that afternoon.

  After their lunch break, an NPC informed them that they could return to the main hall to continue their investigation. Before Jian Fan could reach the main hall, Qin Nan rushed over and pulled him into a corner.

  "Any discoveries?" Jian Fan quickly guessed Qin Nan's intentions from his demeanor.

  Qin Nan looked at Jian Fan with a mix of excitement and hesitation. "I found something incredible." He paused, eyeing Jian Fan suspiciously. "You haven't already figured it out, have you?"

  Jian Fan shook his head. "I've gathered some information, but nothing shocking yet."

  "Shocking" was an apt term, and Qin Nan felt he had used it well.

  "Go ahead," Jian Fan urged. "We don't have much time; make it quick."

  "I'll try my best." Qin Nan had a lot of thoughts swirling in his mind, but given their limited time, he focused on the most critical details: "In the deceased's bedroom, there's a secret chamber containing the remains of the Young Lady's mother. The deceased intends to use his daughter or granddaughter—I'm not sure how—to resurrect the Young Lady's mother within her body!"

  Jian Fan's eyes widened.

  So that was it.

  This explained why his character needed to get close to the Young Lady and form such an intimate bond; she was the key to the entire plan! Whatever the deceased intended to do ultimately required the Young Lady's presence, making it easier to achieve his goal by getting close to her.

  "That's sick—using one's offspring to resurrect a corpse," Qin Nan lamented. "And who exactly is this deceased? How could he even attempt something like this? Is he being deceived, or does this world genuinely allow for such things?"

  "I can't say for sure if it can be done, but he doesn't seem to be deceived," Jian Fan replied.

  Qin Nan was surprised. "Do you have a lead?"

  "I didn't understand before, but now I think I have a clearer picture," Jian Fan explained, unusually proactive in providing insight. "Remember that toy dagger? It was given to me by a Taoist priest, and I intentionally approached the Young Lady."

  The Taoist priest, the Young Lady, and the deceased's desire to use the Young Lady's body as a vessel...

  Qin Nan's mouth dropped open as he suppressed an expletive, opting instead for an impressed "Incredible."

  "By the way, I suspect that the Third Young Master and Third Young Lady might have sensed the deceased's intentions, which is why they feigned a fallout and are reluctant to have the child. If that's the case, the Third Young Master's motive for murder becomes stronger. Coupled with our earlier deductions, he is likely the culprit," Qin Nan asserted.

  While the game required them to make choices, those choices appeared deceptively simple and not directly linked to the murder case. The ensuing developments would still rely on the character backgrounds in the script.

  This meant that if the Third Young Master had gone to the deceased's courtyard that day, given his character setup, the likelihood of him being the murderer would be exceedingly high.

  Jian Fan agreed with this deduction.

  "Let's go discuss this further," Jian Fan suggested.

  As they left the corner and headed toward the main hall, Mu Xin suddenly rushed out from the side, blocking their path.

  "The Third Young Master is dead," Mu Xin announced.

  Dead?

  Both Jian Fan and Qin Nan were taken aback.