Qi Yue watched as he walked directly to her side and sat down across from her, unable to help but be stunned.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Chang Yuncheng said.
“Then…” she smiled, also sitting down, “you’re probably not used to it yet, having another person in the room.”
“Yes, I’m not used to it,” Chang Yuncheng said, glancing at her.
Qi Yue smiled and said nothing, placing a bookmark in her book and closing it.
“I’m not used to it either, and I’m thinking of solutions. You think about it too, and we can discuss it…” she said thoughtfully.
Perhaps because of the quiet night, the man before her seemed to have a different aura than usual.
Calm, peaceful… peaceful?
Qi Yue couldn’t help but smile. Using this word to describe Chang Yuncheng was truly remarkable.
“What is this?” Chang Yuncheng didn’t respond to her words but suddenly asked.
Qi Yue looked up to see Chang Yuncheng picking up her quill pen, examining it with some curiosity.
“It’s for writing,” Qi Yue said.
Chang Yuncheng was even more curious.
“For writing?” he said, raising his hand to write on the paper on the table.
“Hey, this is for my notes,” Qi Yue said quickly.
Chang Yuncheng had already written on that paper.
The atmosphere became slightly awkward.
“Sorry,” Chang Yuncheng suddenly said.
“It’s fine, I can still write on it… uh… what did you say?” Qi Yue said casually with a smile, then halfway through realized what Chang Yuncheng had said. She stared wide-eyed at the man before her. The candlelight wasn’t very bright, but this face certainly hadn’t changed ownership.
Chang Yuncheng’s ears grew hot under her gaze, and he darkened his expression, throwing the quill pen aside.
Qi Yue looked at him and smiled.
“It’s fine,” she said again.
Chang Yuncheng turned his head to focus on the book.
“Don’t you already know everything? Why are you still reading this?” he asked again.
“Learning is endless, and I really don’t know much,” Qi Yue smiled, while frowning slightly as she looked at the man.
He… was he chatting with her?
“If I’m disturbing you, I’ll stop reading now. You…” she said with a smile, gesturing with her hand.
“Mother and Aunt have a good relationship. You should visit there more often. It’s good, and Mother would be happy too,” Chang Yuncheng said, his gaze remaining on the book.
Actually, whether Madam Xie was happy or not had nothing to do with her.
“Oh, alright,” Qi Yue nodded with a smile.
The two fell into silence.
“It’s getting late…” Qi Yue began, clasping her hands.
Chang Yuncheng also spoke, interrupting her.
“How did you discover that girl’s cause of death was unusual…” he said, then looked embarrassed as soon as the words left his mouth.
Late at night, what kind of topic was this…
Qi Yue was also somewhat stunned but quickly regained her composure.
“I’m a physician, so I’m very familiar with the human body. Besides, there’s a saying that corpses never lie—they’ll tell you everything,” she said with a smile.
Something learned in anatomy class, and having encountered forensic experts in daily life, she had some understanding of these matters.
Chang Yuncheng looked at her and smiled.
“That coroner said the same thing,” he said.
Qi Yue was somewhat surprised and became interested.
“Really?” she leaned forward, “I keep forgetting to ask—what did the coroner say was the cause of A’Jin’s death?”
After all, it wasn’t something glorious. Only Marquis Dingxi and a few others knew the detailed results of the coroner’s examination that day. People like Qi Yue only needed to know that A’Jin had been murdered.
Chang Yuncheng couldn’t help but glance at the flickering candle flame. The north wind was howling against the window lattice, and here they were in the middle of the night discussing such a topic…
However, seeing that woman show genuine interest for the first time in days…
“He said she died of suffocation from being stepped on the throat,” he said.
“Stepped on?” Qi Yue asked with some realization.
Chang Yuncheng demonstrated the motion briefly.
“Like this. While controlling her struggles during the beating, someone took advantage of the chaos to press their foot against her throat,” he said.
Qi Yue made a sound of understanding.