Miss Truth
Chapter 156 - 100: Two Tufts of Hair

Chapter 156: Chapter 100: Two Tufts of Hair

The Government Official quickly brought up the found bundle. It was a brown coarse cloth wrap, looking like the sack commonly used by traveling monks, and the official carried it with ease, indicative that its weight was not proportional to its size.

Liu Pinrang ordered the Government Official to place the cloth wrap under the shed, and everyone gathered around. Ran Yan initially didn’t want to meddle, but ultimately, she couldn’t suppress her curiosity about the case and joined the crowd.

"Open it and take a look!" Liu Pinrang said.

The Government Official squatted down and began to untie the straps, and everyone held their breath, for the contents of the bundle might provide them with ample clues.

Ran Yan watched the package without even blinking.

As the bundle was unwrapped, the contents came as a surprise to everyone—on top of the brown coarse cloth lay a large bunch of jade orchid flowers, still dotted with dew!

Ran Yan’s pupils suddenly constricted, "Where was this bundle found?"

The Government Official, vaguely aware of Ran Yan’s affairs, replied, "Just now, Inspector Liu instructed us to search the pine forest and mossy areas, and we found a pine forest about four miles to the south. There was a dilapidated temple in the pine forest, likely long abandoned, with moss-covered stairs. We found this cloth wrap on the stairs of the broken temple."

Ye Jiaoying, flowers adorning her hair, her beauty rivaling jade, her fragrance permeating the air. This was the gentle and elegant jade orchid.

What did the jade orchid have to do with this person’s death? Could this bunch of flowers have come from the large patch of jade orchid flowers behind Yingmei Temple?

"There are two locks of hair!" Yu Bohao moved aside the jade orchid flowers and discovered two bunches of black hair beneath, slightly wet from the rain. One bunch was tied with red silk, and the other with blue, contrasting beautifully against the pure white jade orchid flowers, looking exceptionally enchanting and beautiful.

In the past, "to join in wedlock" was said, and sometimes a strand of hair was exchanged to pledge love. Could this cloth wrap belong to the deceased? But why would there be two locks of hair with the bouquet?

And these flowers had clearly been picked no more than a day and night ago. What exactly did this bundle of items have to do with the corpse...

Thinking this, Ran Yan no longer wanted to stay and, after telling Liu Pinrang the location of the jade orchid flowerbed, she took Wan Lu and Ge Lan back to Yingmei Temple.

Xingniang sat absentmindedly sewing clothes in the corridor. Seeing Ran Yan return, she did not greet her with the usual warm smile, but instead respectfully bowed and retreated back to her side room with the clothes.

Ran Yan watched her somewhat stooped outline and felt extremely helpless. She knew Xingniang did not approve of her involvement with autopsy, but what could be done? In comparison to her medical skills, she was more proficient at autopsy. It was a habit formed over a long time, and changing it immediately was truly difficult.

After seeing Ran Yan enter her room, Ge Lan walked up to the gallery, put away her umbrella, and took paper and ink to Xingniang’s room.

As she opened the door, Ge Lan saw Xingniang hastily wiping her eyes. Relieved to see that it was Ge Lan, she said, "You’re still frail, why not rest?"

Ge Lan sat cross-legged across from her, laid out the paper, picked up the pen, and wrote: You resent the Wife for entering the profession of a Forensic Doctor.

Xingniang sighed and said, "Alas, the Wife has finally recovered from illness, and the hard days seemed to have ended. Yet, from somewhere, she learned this skill. I thought seeking shelter at Yingmei Temple would be good for her, but instead, it’s made her even wilder."

As Xingniang spoke, her heart grew heavier, and looking at Ge Lan, she said, "Wife is already a sixteen-year-old girl. Delaying another year and a half because of this matter isn’t a problem—being older for marriage is no big deal. But with her lack of restraint and the worsening reputation, which noble family would be willing to marry her?"

Suddenly, Ge Lan lowered her eyes, concealing the haze in them, and continued writing with her hand: Trust the Wife. She is no longer as timid and naive as before. She knows what she’s doing.

Ge Lan thought of the calm and composed demeanor Ran Yan had that morning when she was preparing for the autopsy, as well as the serious and respectful attitude. All of it was deeply moving. Although she turned her back later on, she hadn’t missed a single word spoken by Ran Yan. This woman was indeed not the same as their Wife...

"The Wife of the past was like gentle water, perhaps weak but surely liked by many young men. Now she’s become cold, without any trace of warmth or softness, and with such a reputation, alas!" Xingniang sighed heavily.

Ran Yan’s hand, raised to knock on the door, froze mid-air and then dropped. She gestured for Wan Lu, who was about to speak, to remain silent, and they quietly retreated.

Inside the room, Ge Lan wrote on the paper: The Wife of the past could invoke pity, but alas, in the inner quarters women scheme against each other. How long can you and I protect her?