A band, or a battleground?

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "I didn't ask. You just couldn't help but say it yourself."

At this moment, the voice of a narrator could be heard in the studio:

"Please take your seats, everyone. Our recording is about to begin."

Qi Yuan stared at Ning Qianyu and blinked: "Are you ready, Miss Detective? It's too late for you to quit or change the script now."

The girl put her hands on her hips and said, "I know!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The overhead lights in the studio were dim, with only a beam of cold white spotlight shining down at an angle.

The beam of light gradually expanded until it illuminated the corpse lying on the ground.

The corpse was dressed in a bright red dress, her face was covered by a black lace veil, and her hands were folded in front of her chest.

A few steps away was a rather large velvet high-backed bed, its bedding a dark red. The bedposts were carved with intricate patterns, gleaming with a cold, eerie luster.

But there was no one in the bed; the body lay on the floor.

The first person to walk in was He Dong.

He wore a velvet tailcoat with an elaborate lace neckerchief and a ruby ​​brooch. His hands were also covered with pure white gloves.

Upon entering the scene, He Dong was shocked and exclaimed, "Isabella, my fiancée, what happened to you!"

Next to enter was Song Zhi. She was also playing a vampire, but she was wearing a nun's habit, only without the cross.

Upon seeing the corpse, Song Zhi exclaimed in shock, "What happened to Her Majesty Isabella?!"

The two men approached the body and crouched down to examine it closely.

Then Song Zhi said, "It really is Her Majesty Isabella..."

He Dong: "Oh, my dear fiancée..."

At this moment, Qi Yuan's voice rang out: "What are you two doing?"

He Dong and Song Zhi turned their heads and were a little stunned.

Qi Yuan, dressed in a black trench coat, strode over.

In situations like these, the program's freedom of expression becomes apparent.

Song Zhi whispered, "Is he really that handsome?"

He Dong: "He stole the spotlight from me, the queen's fiancé..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

184 This is not night

After He Dong, Song Zhi, and Qi Yuan, the fourth person to appear was Ning Qianyu.

Of course, in the script, it's the Queen's fiancé José, the vampire nun Sonja, the vampire knight Zieg, and the Queen's retinue Ninguti.

She was very immersed in the role.

The girl staggered in and stared at the queen's corpse and the three figures standing around it.

Then she launched into a theatrical monologue: "Oh, look, Her Majesty the Queen lies on the ground, and her most loyal knight, fiancé, and vampire monk just stand by as spectators? Heh, this palace reeks of blood and intrigue; it's time to air it out."

Ning Qianyu walked to the window and turned to pull back the heavy velvet curtains.

A beam of golden light shone precisely from the window, brushing past the three men and illuminating the Queen's bed.

He Dong hurriedly took two steps back and angrily said, "Ningguti, what are you doing? You almost killed me with sunlight!"

"A moment of sunlight won't kill a vampire like you; it will take longer to take your life."

As Ning Qianyu said this, she looked up at the curtains, lost in thought.

Song Zhi questioned, "As a member of Her Majesty's household, you have always been rebellious. Today, Her Majesty suffered a tragic fate. Was this a crime you committed?"

Ning Qianyu sneered, "That's right, I'm her worthless familiar, she turned me into a vampire. If she wanted to take my life, she only needed a thought. Do you think I could kill her?"

Qi Yuan said in a deep voice, "Ninguti is right. She doesn't have the power to kill the Queen."

He Dong: "Then who exactly committed such a crime!"

Song Zhi: "There are only the four of us in the palace. If it's not her, then it must be one of you two!"

Qi Yuan countered, "Wait, are there really only the four of us here?"

Every viewer knows that this show has at least five guests. That is, if someone makes a guest appearance like Qi Yuan did last time, there will be six guests. But in any case, there are definitely more than four.

Just then, a voiceover rang out: "You suddenly realized that under the Queen's bed, another vampire of noble status is sleeping, Her Majesty the Queen's sister, and also her double, Miss Shen Fina."

The scripts only contained plots related to themselves, so it was only after hearing the narrator's reminder that the four of them realized that Shen Yihan was playing such a role.

He Dong walked to the bedside and noticed that there were sliding rails under the bed legs, but if he were to push the large bed open, the sunlight would shine right in...

Qi Yuan said, "Miss Ningguti, please draw the curtains. We vampires cannot stand the sunlight."

Ning Qianyu snorted coldly and drew the curtains.

Qi Yuan also walked to the bedside and pushed the bed with He Dong.

The large bed slid away smoothly, revealing a coffin embedded in the ground.

Ning Qianyu opened the coffin.

Shen Yihan lay quietly inside, her hands folded in front of her chest, her eyes gently closed.

She was wearing a long red dress, and apart from not having a black veil covering her face, she looked exactly like the corpse lying on the ground. But upon closer inspection, Qi Yuan felt that this young woman's face was far more beautiful than the mannequin on the ground.

Shen Yihan suddenly opened her eyes and asked, "What are you doing? Why did you wake me up?"

Qi Yuan said in a deep voice, "Miss Shen Feina, your sister has been murdered."

"My sister? Someone actually managed to kill her?"

As Shen Yihan said this, she sat up and saw the corpse lying on the ground not far away.

"She's really dead..."

Song Zhi responsibly pushed the plot forward, questioning, "Did you do it?!"

Shen Yihan sighed: "I am her sister, but I am only her substitute. If she wanted to, she could easily subdue me. Do I have that kind of power?"

He Dong said, "The five of us are no match for her. But she's dead. Who could have done it? Just three hours ago, she was alive and well, and I even said goodnight to her."

"Good night?" Qi Yuan asked. "What time is it now?"

Everyone looked at the clock standing against the wall. The minute and hour hands pointed to 2:45.

Ning Qianyu scoffed, "You're going to say goodnight to her at noon?"

He Dong: "Goodnight is said before going to sleep. We are vampires, and our sleep schedule is the opposite of that of humans, so of course we say goodnight at noon."

Ning Qianyu: "Your family's rules are really interesting."

He Dong snorted coldly: "My family is a vampire clan that is even more ancient than Her Majesty the Queen and all of you!"

Shen Yihan had already stood up and stepped out of the coffin. But just as her back foot was about to come out, she tripped over the edge of the coffin.

Qi Yuan happened to be right next to her and reached out to support her.

Shen Yihan smiled and said, "Thank you, Knight."

Qi Yuan said expressionlessly, "No need to thank me, it's nothing."

Ning Qianyu was momentarily distracted by the impromptu interaction between the two, and even considered taking out her phone to send a message in the group chat.

He Dong said, "Let's first see how the Queen died."

So the five people surrounded the body and squatted down to examine it.

At this moment, the narration began again: "You have discovered that the Queen's cause of death was a wound to her heart. For some reason, she lost the ability to resist, and then her heart was fatally damaged. There were messy knife wounds in the area where her heart was located."

"Because she lost the ability to resist for some reason..." He Dong's expression hardened. "In other words, someone first ambushed her, rendering her unable to resist, and then someone else struck! There's more than one culprit!"

The five people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Qi Yuan knew perfectly well that his script stated that the blood containing the drug would be served at 12:30, before the Queen went to sleep.

Could it be that the Queen herself administered the drug that rendered her unable to resist?

Ning Qianyu said jokingly, "There are only five of us here, but there's more than one murderer. It seems that the real rebel isn't me, but you guys who usually pretend to be loyal and obedient."

Song Zhi immediately said, "Don't try to clear yourself. Since the Queen was incapacitated before being murdered, you can't clear your name either!"

Ning Qianyu countered, "Is there anyone here who can clear their name?"

“Me!” Shen Yihan raised her hand on the spot. “If I were the one who did it, I wouldn’t have locked myself in a coffin and moved the bed back to its original position.”

Ning Qianyu thought for a moment, walked to the coffin, and pulled out a ball of rope from inside: "Then how do you explain this?"

Shen Yihan was stunned.

Ning Qianyu straightened the tangled rope, and as she straightened it, she discovered that there were two more loops of rope around the bed legs.

He Dong suddenly realized, "This coffin has gaps. As long as we tie the rope to the bed legs, we can close the coffin and pull the bed back to its original position!"

Shen Yihan stared at Ning Qianyu, her tone genuinely surprised: "How did you react so quickly?!"

Ning Qianyu chuckled: "Child's play. I also know a way to untie the rope."

Qi Yuan said in a low voice, "She has read quite a few detective novels."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

185 What's wrong with me?

No one can clear their name, no one can produce an alibi, but there is also no evidence directly pointing to anyone. At least, not on the surface.

So what everyone needs to do next is to look for clues and evidence.

In the previous episode, Ning Qianyu unknowingly seized control of the investigation. And this time, she did the same.

"When I was pulling the curtains just now, I noticed that there was extra resistance when I pulled them up..."

As Ning Qianyu said this, she walked to the window and tugged at the curtains again. But this time, the direction of the pull was opposite to the normal direction of pulling the curtains.

Then, a small mechanism hidden under the curtain box was revealed.

The four people followed Ning Qianyu, who followed a line connected by mechanisms, out of the Queen's bedroom and into the room next door.

In the drawer of this room, they found a button connected to that wire.

All eyes were on He Dong.

According to the plot, this room belongs to the Queen's fiancé, Mr. José.

He Dong quickly defended himself, saying, "I'm getting married to the Queen soon, but there are rumors that she has another man. I tampered with the curtains to catch her in the act, which is perfectly normal, isn't it?"

Qi Yuan said, "It's not about catching her in the act, but about killing her, right? In the afternoon after the Queen falls asleep, as long as there is sunlight, and you open the curtains of that window, the sunlight can shine on her. And as long as she is asleep, she will be burned to ashes by the sunlight without her knowing... Tsk, now you're cleared of suspicion."

He Dong laughed: "Yes, then I have to admit that I did want to kill her. But if I had done it, she wouldn't have been left with a complete corpse, much less a fatal wound to the heart."

Ning Qianyu shook her head: "No, suspicion cannot be ruled out yet. Maybe you prepared two plans, one failed, and the other worked?"

He Dong: "..."

Shen Yihan asked curiously, "Why do you want to kill the Queen?"

He Dong sighed, "I originally thought this was just a normal political marriage. But when I got here, I discovered that the Queen is actually practicing forbidden arts! These forbidden arts require the blood of our vampires to enhance her power. She's already very powerful, yet she's still so greedy!"

Qi Yuan: "Did you find out she wanted to use you as a blood bag, so you wanted to kill her?"

He Dong looked around and asked, "Weren't you all used as blood bags by her?"

All four of them shook their heads.

He Dong quickly said, "You clearly discovered it, but you're afraid to admit it now!"

Song Zhi shook her head and said, "Mr. Jose, you shouldn't struggle anymore. You're the only one here who has spent the least amount of time with the Queen. We've all spent so many years with the Queen. If she wanted to use us as blood bags, we would have died long ago."

"Being a blood bag doesn't necessarily mean death. Maybe she just tied you up to suck your blood, then released you to recover, and then..." He Dong stopped mid-sentence, "Forget it, I'm the only one whose motive has been exposed now, so there's no point in saying anything. Let's keep looking for clues. I refuse to believe I'm the only one with a motive!"

When the topic of continuing the investigation came up, everyone's attention turned to Ning Qianyu again.

But Ning Qianyu was staring blankly at Qi Yuan.