NOVPUB71: Chapter 45 Shilang Yunsheng (Additional Update)
71: Chapter 45 Shilang Yunsheng (Additional Update)
Yu Bohao took Ran Yan to a tearoom near the side hall, but Ran Yan felt the fresh air outside was good and chose not to enter.
Standing quietly in the corridor for a while, Yu Bohao suddenly asked, “You once said Judge Yang lived for a while after being struck by the needle.
Is it possible he left behind some evidence during that time?”
Ran Yan glanced at him and slowly said, “When the brain suffers a fatal injury, one basically loses the ability to move.
To say he was alive is to say that only his body was still living; that time was simply the irreversible ebbing of life.”
Ran Yan looked up at the night sky of the Great Tang, and thinking of her own time travel, she couldn’t help adding another sentence, “However, there are exceptions to everything.
Judge Yu may want to check the crime scene.”
Yu Bohao nodded.
“I still have some official duties to attend to.
Should Seventeen Miss have any needs, she can send a Government Official to summon me.”
“Please do as you see fit.” Ran Yan gave a slight nod and then continued to admire the night sky.
The stars twinkled brilliantly, and a ribbon-like Milky Way could be clearly seen streaking across the sky.
Ran Yan hadn’t looked up at the stars for a long time.
For an extended period, her world had been filled with human flesh and blood under the stark light of an operation lamp, an endless cycle of work that consisted of nothing but autopsies.
She tried to use this to grind away the fear and hate in her heart, but in every nightmare, she could still see her friend’s final struggles.
As a forensic doctor, every scar on a corpse told her of the horrendous circumstances at the time of death.
She could imagine every resistance her friend had made and the violations and violence that had been inflicted upon her.
These scenes replayed in her dreams as if they were real, and yet she was powerless to stop them.
After standing quietly for a long time, people began to trickle out from the side hall.
Ran Meiyu looked pale as she followed behind Ran Wen, evidently having been released without charges.
Ran Wen saw Ran Yan’s figure and changed direction to walk toward her.
Accompanying him were Ran Meiyu and two other elegantly dressed men.
“Ayan.” Ran Wen’s voice sounded somewhat weary.
Ran Yan stepped down from the porch and slightly bowed to him, “Father.”
“Are you truly Seventeen Miss?” A middle-aged man beside him asked in surprise, “You were a frail and unrecognizable girl two years ago, and now you’ve grown into such beauty!
They say a girl changes at eighteen, and indeed it’s true!”
Ran Yan looked at the man; he was dressed in an extremely lavish, dark brown brocade robe with a hat on his head and a jade pendant hanging from his waist—a portly gentleman with a refined demeanor, who bore a slight resemblance to Ran Wen.
He was likely some uncle, but she had no recollection of such a person in her memory.
“Haha, Ayan doesn’t recognize Third Uncle anymore?
It’s understandable; two years ago, your Third Uncle was as dashing as your father, but I’ve put on some weight in recent years,” the portly man laughed.
Third Uncle?
Ran Yan immediately matched the name with the person, Ran Wen’s half-brother, Ran Pingyu.
Ran Pingyu was especially business-savvy, the richest man in Suzhou, yet he resided in Chang’an.
He held a certain stature within the clan because he undertook all of the Ran family’s expenses.
In Ran Yan’s memories, he was the only person in the Ran Clan who truly cared for her.
“Third Uncle.” Ran Yan said, her voice warmed slightly.
Ran Pingyu moved closer to meticulously look at Ran Yan a few times, laughing heartily, “I’m always away on business, and as soon as I returned, I heard you were sent to recuperate on a farm, making me wonder if there was some hidden story.
Now that I see you well, I’m reassured.”
Ran Pingyu was a cunning man; if he truly believed there was nothing amiss, he would not have carelessly made a comment that could upset his elder brother.
His words with ulterior motives made Ran Wen’s expression darken.
Ran Yan averted her eyes; at this point, she wondered if it was the cleverness of Lady Gao or if the original Ran Yan was simply too weak!
Looking at Ran Pingyu’s affectionate smile, she sighed inwardly—the original Ran Yan had long since passed away.
Ran Wen had no fondness for his half-brother.
What was so great about contributing some money?
The clan elders actually looked at him with favor!
Were the merchants of Chang’an not still merchants?
Just as lowly and greedy!
If it hadn’t been for their father depleting the family wealth just to marry a concubine from the Zheng Family of Xingyang, there wouldn’t have been an opportunity for him to ingratiate himself!
Suppressing his roiling anger, Ran Wen spoke indifferently, “Let’s go.”
The Ran Clan of yesteryear had declined, possessing nothing but wealth.
The old clan head had managed with difficulty to climb his way into a marriage with the Zheng Family of Xingyang.
Money could be earned back, but once a clan’s reputation was tarnished, it was much more challenging to restore it a hundredfold!
However, this was a truth that the shortsighted Ran Wen would never understand.
The group left the Government Office in silence.
A young man in luxurious attire who came with Ran Pingyu leaned towards Ran Yan and whispered, “Ayan, do you still remember Shilang?”
