Mysterious Lotus Casebook

Chapter 3: Watering Flowers

The next day, when Zongzheng Mingzhu woke up from his confused state of sleep, he found Li Lianhua’s bed empty.

It turned out that Li Lianhua was watering the flowers in the garden outside the door with a ladle made of an old gourd. He was watering them very carefully, tenderly touching the stems and leaves of the flowers every so often. He seemed to be in quite a good mood.  

Three people were standing in the garden, watching Li Lianhua with various expressions on their faces.

One was Yu Hongzhu, the other was Yu Qiushuang’s friend, Yun Jiao, and the other was Yu Palace’s housemaid, Zhou Fu.

Yu Hongzhu’s face was red with anger, Yun Jiao’s eyes were shiny with tears, and Zhou Fu’s face was full of worry and anxiety. 

Zongzheng Mingzhu got up and washed his face, and when he made his way into the garden, he learned that Li Lianhua had told Yu Hongzhu the cause of Qiushuang’s death.

This was why Yu Hongzhu was furious. Her own daughter was killed, and the murderer had the guts to pretend to be a ghost to deceive her — If she didn’t hunt down and kill the murderer herself, she would give up her family name! 

Yun Jiao was terrified when she heard the news, while Zhou Fu was skeptical. After Li Lianhua had finished talking about why Qiushuang didn’t seem to be killed by a ghost, he had asked Zhou Fu very seriously where the gourd ladle was, and then to everyone’s surprise, went to water the flowers in high spirits.

Zongzheng Mingzhu stood looking over the white jade railing of the Yu Palace Garden. He spotted Li Lianhua’s calm figure in the flowers, and he stared for a long time, sighing.

He had been thinking the entire night before he managed to sort out his thoughts on the matter.

He had come to the conclusion that there were seven unexplained things about the Ghost in the Blue Window incident: 

First, why did the murderer kill Qiushuang in that way? 

Second, how had Qiushuang’s body ended up in Cheng Yunhe’s cargo box?

Third, who was behind the ghost illusion in the window?  

Fourth, what was the source of the ghostly song outside the window?

Fifth, how did the person behind everything go from Xiaomian Inn and get into Yu City? 

Sixth, why did the murderer decide to kill such a sweet and innocent girl as Qiushuang? 

And seventh, why was the murderer pretending to be a ghost, of all things?

Zongzheng Mingzhu could only answer two of these seven questions, but the man he had been counting on to provide him with more answers was now busy watering flowers. 

Just when he was getting more and more confused, Li Lianhua suddenly turned around holding the gourd ladle, and smiled softly. 

“The sun has risen, shouldn’t Master Yu Mulan be up by now?” 

Then he turned to Yu Hongzhu and said politely, “I’m afraid I am not skilled enough. Although Miss Yu can’t be cured, if you would just allow me to speak to your husband and do my best for you and your family, I promise you that my efforts will not be in vain. Will you trust me, Madam Yu?”

As he spoke these words, Zongzheng Mingzhu was sure that even ten thousand people would find it difficult to refuse. Not to mention that deep down, Yu Hongzhu was anxious for Li Lianhua to meet her husband, so she nodded her head repeatedly. 

Yun Jiao wiped away her tears, and said in a low voice, “Then I’ll go back to my room to rest.” 

“Yes, go ahead Miss Yun. Take care of yourself,” Li Lianhua said softly.