Seeing Qin Nan's speechless expression, Mu Xin couldn't help but smile slightly.

  "Let's talk as we walk," she said.

  Qin Nan and Jian Fan had no objections.

  "The Third Young Lady and the accountant grew up together, but her true love has always been the Third Young Master. However, the accountant doesn’t see it that way. He believes his childhood sweetheart was taken from him, so after the Third Young Lady married into the family, he immediately came here to become the accountant, trying to secretly contact her and persuade her to elope," Mu Xin explained, her tone laced with disbelief.

  Despite being so ordinary, the accountant seemed to possess an unusual confidence.

  "The Third Young Lady and the Third Young Master did indeed pretend to fall out, but I’m not entirely sure why. It must have something to do with the child. Their act of feigning a quarrel only intensified the accountant’s feelings..." Mu Xin's expression turned complex.

  These were the pieces of information she had gathered not long ago.

  Not only was the accountant confident, but Mu Xin had also witnessed scenes where he had been overly familiar with the Third Young Lady. Even though she disliked him, she refrained from exposing his actions out of consideration for their childhood bond.

  "So, there’s a grudge between the Third Young Master and the accountant because of the Third Young Lady," Qin Nan summarized.

  Jian Fan looked over at her. "Do you suspect Zheng Jueming?"

  "Yes, the most likely suspect is already dead. Next in line would be Zheng Jueming. The accountant has a motive to kill the Third Young Master, but why would he kill the head of the family? And how did he know about the Taiji diagram?" Qin Nan pondered.

  "Let’s check it out first," Jian Fan replied, unable to provide an answer.

  Mu Xin frowned slightly. "Taiji diagram?"

  They had yet to uncover the mystery of the Taiji diagram beneath the corpse and the tattoo on the back. However, from Qin Nan and Jian Fan's conversation, it seemed they were beginning to piece things together.

  Qin Nan glanced at Mu Xin. "There’s a secret room in the deceased’s house."

  Secret room?

  Mu Xin was taken aback.

  "Not just that; there’s also a dead body hidden inside," Qin Nan continued.

  Mu Xin froze in place, and after a moment, she continued walking, asking, "Do you know who it is?"

  "I do. It's the eldest young lady's mother," Qin Nan replied without hesitation.

  Since Mu Xin had shared information with them, Qin Nan felt no need to withhold his findings. He was confident that what he had experienced would significantly impact the development of the story.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Qin Nan felt lucky to have drawn a character that seemed crucial to the plot.

  Mu Xin’s mind was racing with questions, but Qin Nan couldn’t clarify everything right away. As they discussed, they arrived back at the deceased's courtyard.

  Upon entering the courtyard again, Qin Nan understood why the Second Young Master had stopped.

  On the wall hung a painting.

  Qin Nan stepped forward, removed the painting, and began tapping around the area, just as he had seen earlier. Before long, the wall shifted aside, revealing a hidden passage.

  Jian Fan took a candle from the table, lit it, and led the way inside.

  "You go in the middle," Qin Nan offered gallantly.

  Mu Xin naturally accepted.

  Once Mu Xin was in place, Qin Nan took up the rear.

  The three quickly reached the secret room.

  This was Qin Nan’s second visit, and he was prepared. He remained calm and even seemed eager to introduce the scene to the others: "Above and below the coffin are Taiji diagrams; the red part beneath the diagram is likely blood."

  As Qin Nan spoke, both Jian Fan and Mu Xin instinctively looked in the direction he indicated.

  Jian Fan, known for his stoic demeanor, merely twitched his lips slightly at the sight, while Mu Xin, despite her usual pretense, was visibly pale at the shocking scene.

  "What does he want to do?" Mu Xin asked.

  Qin Nan stepped closer and pointed to the person in the coffin. "To resurrect her."

  Mu Xin’s eyes widened.

  Clearly, she was struggling to adapt to the changing nature of the murder mystery.

  Qin Nan’s perspective was shaped by the characters in the script, so he couldn’t move freely in the secret room. Now, he needed to observe carefully.

  After answering Mu Xin, Qin Nan shifted his gaze to the corpse in the coffin, with Jian Fan following suit.

  During the time rewind, Qin Nan had seen a faceless corpse, but now he was looking at a female corpse that resembled Lin Junru quite closely.

  The corpse was dressed in a red wedding gown, her hair intricately styled, and her face adorned with elaborate makeup, indicating that the deceased had been treated with great care. However, she looked quite young, and recalling Lin Junru’s earlier introduction, it was clear she had never seen her mother. This implied that her mother had likely met with misfortune shortly after the eldest young lady was born.

  This suggested that the corpse had been preserved for over a decade.

  "I’m curious how this corpse has been preserved," Qin Nan remarked.

  There was no decay, no odor. If the Second Young Master hadn’t checked for signs of life and hadn’t been lying in the coffin, one might think it was merely a sleeping bride.

  Jian Fan didn’t respond to Qin Nan’s comment but instead focused on the large Taiji diagram beneath their feet.

  "Where do you think the mothers of the young masters and young ladies have gone?" Jian Fan suddenly asked.

  Qin Nan paused.

  The eldest young lady's mother and the deceased were childhood sweethearts; the Second Young Master’s mother was the deceased's legitimate wife. Although both had passed away, they still had a traceable presence. But what about the others? Where were the Third Young Master, Fourth Young Master, and Second Young Lady’s mothers?

  Qin Nan glanced at the flowing red liquid, swallowing hard. "You’re not suggesting that this is all their blood, are you?" he asked, pointing at the liquid.

  "Given the current developments, that’s highly likely."

  Qin Nan: "…"

  "I don’t know whether to call this person infatuated or deranged," Qin Nan managed to steady himself, tearing his gaze away from the ominous liquid.

  "Let’s check the coffin," Jian Fan suggested again.

  Qin Nan agreed.

  To inspect the coffin, they would have to move the corpse.

  Qin Nan and Jian Fan worked together to lift the corpse out of the coffin. However, as they did so, the seemingly fresh and intact body began to disintegrate before their eyes, rapidly transforming into a skeleton.

  They had initially lifted the corpse by the head and feet, but the skeleton couldn’t support itself and collapsed to the ground, along with the jewelry that had adorned the corpse.

  "What the hell?" Qin Nan stared in disbelief at the scene before him.

  Jian Fan’s gaze had already shifted back to the coffin.