Chapter 109: Unraveling the Mystery

Unraveling the Mystery

Nie Jinxuan could never have imagined that while the two ponds in the Zi Feng Lin looked so similar given their surroundings, they were actually worlds apart! One was a hot spring, while the other was a cold pool!

And as for herself?! When she performed the autopsy, she hadn't even asked a single question before jumping to a conclusion... Suddenly, as soon as Nie Jinxuan thought of this, she felt so annoyed she wanted to bang her head against a wall!

At this moment, hearing Nie Jinxuan mutter to herself that she was "wrong," Yin Fengzhan, who was standing beside her, couldn't help but knit his brows.

"What is going on? What is wrong?"

Yin Fengzhan asked coldly. Upon hearing this, Nie Jinxuan finally snapped out of her frustration and stood up.

"Calculating the time of death has a great deal to do with the ambient temperature! Simply put, the higher the temperature, the faster a corpse decomposes; conversely, the slower it is. It's the same principle as how food spoils easily in summer but can be kept for a long time in winter!"

"Just now, I assumed the Bi Chi was a hot spring, so I concluded that Consort Tong's time of death should have been later than originally estimated—that is, the day before her body was discovered. But given the current situation, the water in the Bi Chi is much colder than the actual ambient temperature. Calculating it this way, Consort Tong's true time of death should be more than three days ago!"

"More than three days?"

Hearing Nie Jinxuan's explanation, Yin Fengzhan furrowed his sword-like brows again. Nie Jinxuan nodded firmly.

"Yes! More than three days. Although the exact time requires further investigation, it is likely around five days!"

Nie Jinxuan stated her final conclusion. Hearing this, Yin Fengzhan's eyes flashed instantly.

"Five days? Are you certain?!"

"Yes, I am certain, provided that this is indeed the location where Consort Tong's body was discovered!"

She looked up at Yin Fengzhan and said this in a low voice. Then, Nie Jinxuan began to walk along the bank of the Bi Chi... Seeing this, Yin Fengzhan pondered for a moment before silently following her.

Having made a fatal error in the autopsy, Nie Jinxuan felt immense self-reproach. Therefore, at this very moment, she was even more earnest and meticulous in surveying everything before her!

Consort Tong was discovered at the Bi Chi. This meant that when Consort Tong was murdered, it was very likely that clues were left around the Bi Chi! Of course, it could not yet be confirmed that this was the primary crime scene, but the Bi Chi was always sparsely populated. Therefore, even if the killer had murdered Consort Tong elsewhere and then dumped the body at the Bi Chi, they would still have left some traces!

Nie Jinxuan believed that people leave shadows when they pass, and geese leave tracks. Therefore, as long as something had happened, it would eventually leave something behind!

Nie Jinxuan surveyed the area earnestly, her tightly furrowed brows conveying an indescribable gravity. Meanwhile, Yin Fengzhan, following behind her, simply watched her silently, his deep eyes revealing not a hint of emotion.

Time passed, and Nie Jinxuan searched the surroundings of the Bi Chi bit by bit, but she found nothing... Just then, Yin Fengzhan, who was behind her, suddenly spoke.

"Over there, there is a problem!"

Yin Fengzhan's voice was as cold and low as ever. Hearing this, Nie Jinxuan was stunned for a moment. She turned around abruptly and saw Yin Fengzhan, who was standing behind her, pointing to the side.

Seeing this, Nie Jinxuan hurriedly looked in the direction Yin Fengzhan was pointing and frowned slightly.

It turned out that not far from Nie Jinxuan and Yin Fengzhan, there was a small patch of open ground. The area was surrounded by lush grass, with large pieces of bluestone piled to the side, backed by several tall and flourishing purple maple trees...

At first glance, it looked ordinary. But Nie Jinxuan still walked over, narrowed her eyes slightly, and carefully walked across the open ground again...

"There are traces of people having stepped here, but that doesn't prove it was the killer! And besides..."

Speaking in a low voice to Yin Fengzhan behind her, Nie Jinxuan suddenly stopped mid-sentence, her feet coming to a halt, and then she bent down and squatted directly.

"There are bloodstains here!"

After searching for a long time, Nie Jinxuan had finally found a clue! After further examination, Nie Jinxuan finally made her final judgment.

"The bloodstains are in a splatter pattern, not a dripping one, which strongly suggests that this is likely the primary crime scene. When Consort Tong was discovered, her body had suffered damage in multiple places, but the surroundings are so clean now, which means the killer was well-prepared before the murder and cleaned up the scene after killing and dumping the body. Just from this point alone, the killer is a calm and meticulous person!"

"Therefore, based on the clues obtained before and after, it can be deduced that on the night Consort Tong was murdered, the killer first prepared here and then used a ruse to lure Consort Tong out. Once Consort Tong arrived, the killer suddenly appeared from behind and struck the back of her head, causing her death. Then, the killer used methods like chest-beating and neck-strangling to damage Consort Tong's body, finally disfiguring her, and then dumped the body into the Bi Chi..."

After briefly stating her deduction, Nie Jinxuan looked up at Yin Fengzhan beside her.

"And based on your initial deduction that Consort Tong walked out of her room on her own, it is very likely that the killer used the same method used to lure my second sister out of her room—that is, leaving a note to lure Consort Tong out to be murdered! But we forgot one point at the time: because we were convinced that Consort Tong died three days ago, we assumed the killer first tried to lure my second sister out, but because my second sister ran into the Crown Prince, the killer failed. Therefore, it was only two days later that the killer lured Consort Tong out and murdered her..."

"In other words, according to the previous deduction, the killer was not killing indiscriminately! To put it more simply, if my second sister hadn't run into the Crown Prince and had been murdered, then the incident with Consort Tong wouldn't have happened later."

"But the situation has changed! Consort Tong's time of death was two days earlier, which means Consort Tong's true time of death was the same time my second sister was lured out! This way, it can be said with certainty that the killer was not killing indiscriminately, but had selected the target from the very beginning—that is, Consort Tong!"

From indiscriminate killing to a specific target, this was clearly an important breakthrough. After all, once the killer had a purpose, one could find a breakthrough point from the victim, unlike before when there was no idea where to start!

So, thinking of this, Nie Jinxuan frowned slightly before continuing.

"Therefore, if we deduce it this way, there are two possibilities for the killer's identity. One is that the killer is a master in the inner palace who was resentful of Consort Tong because she was favored or for some other reason, and thus murdered her! The other is that the killer had some deep personal grudge against Consort Tong that outsiders didn't know about, which is why they took this opportunity to strike..."

She lowered her eyes as she spoke her thoughts, but before Nie Jinxuan could finish, Yin Fengzhan, who had been silent, suddenly interrupted her.

"It cannot be someone from the inner palace!"

Yin Fengzhan said it with certainty. Hearing this, Nie Jinxuan was stunned.

"Why?"

Although Nie Jinxuan herself felt that the possibility of the killer being from the inner palace was not high, she was still surprised by why Yin Fengzhan was so certain. Then she heard Yin Fengzhan say:

"People in the inner palace would not act at Zuixiashanzhuang!"

Yin Fengzhan's answer was simple. But upon hearing this, Nie Jinxuan understood immediately!

Yes, Yin Fengzhan was right! If the killer were from the inner palace, they could have acted in the inner palace; why go to the trouble of planning everything at Zuixiashanzhuang to commit murder?! After all, committing murder in the inner palace would involve countless tricks, and if the plan were well-conceived, it could be done flawlessly! And it wouldn't have provoked such great rage from Emperor Shuncheng.

They could even have taken the opportunity to incite conflict in the inner palace while the killer remained at large! So, why take the risk at Zuixiashanzhuang?!

Thus, the only remaining possibility for the killer's identity was a personal grudge! But what kind of personal grudge could lead to such a vicious act, where even after Consort Tong was dead, they still used so many methods to damage her body, disfigure her, and dump her in the pool?!

Furthermore, the killer was calm, meticulous, and even very cunning! Otherwise, they wouldn't have lured Nie Jinhui out at the same time they murdered Consort Tong to create a diversion...

Nie Jinxuan felt a sense of terror regarding the killer's mind. But then, thinking of Nie Jinhui, Nie Jinxuan couldn't help but be stunned, and a flash of inspiration struck her.

"Right, Yin Fengzhan, you said the killer lured my second sister out to create a diversion, because that would make people think the victim could be anyone. But now that we can be sure the killer's goal was Consort Tong from the start, then think about it: why would the killer choose my second sister and not someone else?!"

Nie Jinxuan said in a low voice, and as she spoke, her eyes flashed.

"Or could it be that on that night, the killer didn't just write to my second sister, but others also received notes... for example, His Highness the Crown Prince?!"

Nie Jinxuan's voice was as soft as could be. Hearing this, Yin Fengzhan also pursed his thin lips, but then Nie Jinxuan frowned and changed the subject.

"However, now is not the time to talk about this. In any case, let's go find the Emperor to explain the situation, and then have the Emperor release Bi Yao first—that is what's important!"

Muttering to herself, Nie Jinxuan turned to walk back. But the moment she turned, she was grabbed by Yin Fengzhan.

"No need, Bi Yao is dead!"