Yan Wanqing stumbled back into the courtyard, shed the bloody clothes clinging to her body, and plunged headfirst into the pool, the huge splash startling Yan Lingzhen, who had been dozing on the bed.
She had seen fireworks on the mountain, much to her surprise, which was why she and her fifth sister, Yan Hongzhao, had sped back home.
By the time they had returned, the fireworks had ended.
Exhausted, Yan Lingzhen hadn't found her elder sister in the house and had simply decided to doze off on the couch.
The sound of the huge splash now woke her with a start.
Driven by a physician's sensitivity to blood, she came to full alert instantly.
"Elder sister?" Yan Lingzhen slid off the bed onto the floor, lit the candle in the room, and called out tentatively.
My dear fifth sister...