Chapter 56: You Are the Murderer (1)

"Madam Yang."

Upon arriving in front of the Yang family's courtyard, they saw Madam Yang standing on a stool beside the small yard, tidying up the flowers and plants on a trellis. Her hands were covered in soil. Madam Yang glanced back at them and said softly, "Come in, the courtyard gate isn't locked."

They usually came and went in a hurry, but upon entering the yard, the two realized the flowers on the trellis were blooming beautifully, with a wide variety of species. Gu Yun had no interest in plants and habitually looked around, while Zhuo Qing walked over to the trellis and asked, "Did you plant all of these?"

The Yang woman moved the flowerpot straight and smiled: "Mm. I like to plant some flowers and grasses when I'm free."

"You've planted them well." Noticing that several pots of pale purple flowers on the shelf were blooming beautifully, with clusters of flowers that looked quite unique, Zhuo Qing asked, "What kind of flower is this?"

As she spoke, Zhuo Qing lightly brushed her hand over the petals.

"Careful!" Before Madam Yang's words had even faded, Zhuo Qing let out a low cry, hurriedly pulling her hand back. Her body recoiled instinctively, and she accidentally bumped into the flower shelf beside her. Fortunately, Madam Yang, who was standing nearby, caught her shoulders, preventing her from falling.

Hearing the cry, Gu Yun also rushed over, asking anxiously, "Are you alright?"

Shaking her head, Zhuo Qing replied, "I'm fine." Her finger just stung a little; she had only been startled. Looking at the delicate, dew-kissed flowers again, Zhuo Qing asked curiously, "What kind of flower is this? It actually has thorns on its petals!"

Madam Yang stepped down from the low stool and explained, "This is a type of flower from my hometown called 'Fragrant Herb.' When night falls, this flower becomes very fragrant, and the scent can repel insects and mosquitoes, so I planted some at home."

"Where are you from, Madam Yang?" Gu Yun asked out of habit. A faint trace of sorrow crossed Madam Yang's face as she replied, "I am from Lixian, Huaizhou."

Why would she feel sad when speaking of her hometown?

Lightly patting the soil off her hands, Madam Yang said softly, "Let's go inside to talk; it's too chaotic out here."

"Alright." Zhuo Qing and Madam Yang walked toward the house.

Gu Yun looked back at the flower shelf, a flash of brilliance crossing her eyes, but she only glanced at it once before following them into the house.

"Please have some tea, both of you." Madam Yang placed the tea in front of them. Before she could even set the teacups down properly, Gu Yun said in a deep voice, "Li Zhi is dead."

"What?!" Madam Yang's hand, still holding a teacup, trembled. She asked urgently, "Who killed him?"

Gu Yun raised an eyebrow slightly. She had said—"Who killed him?" It seemed she knew it was a murder!

Concealing the sharp light in her eyes, Gu Yun replied, "The authorities found the murder weapon that struck Yang Lu directly in the chest, causing his death, at Li Zhi's home. Since Li Zhi had repeatedly borrowed money from Yang Lu and owed him a large sum of silver, we suspect he killed Yang Lu to evade the debt. However, he insisted he didn't commit the murder and even claimed he had evidence proving the money was given to him voluntarily by Yang Lu. We were originally going to escort him home today to retrieve his so-called evidence, but he was poisoned to death in his cell."

Madam Yang lowered her head again. Gu Yun could not see her expression and could only continue, "We came this time to ask you if Yang Lu ever told you about any leverage Li Zhi might have had over him, or if you heard them discussing anything strange."

Madam Yang shook her head gently, still not raising her head.

Gu Yun signaled to Zhuo Qing. Zhuo Qing understood and, gently holding Madam Yang's hand, said, "Madam Yang, look at me."

Madam Yang finally raised her head. Zhuo Qing urged, "The murderer killed your husband, framed Qian Jing, and poisoned Li Zhi; you might be their next target. I hope you can cooperate with us to bring the murderer to justice. This will not only comfort your husband's spirit in heaven but also ensure your own safety."

Madam Yang seemed somewhat distracted, and it was a long time before she replied, "I would also like to help you, but he never told me these things, and they always sent me away when they talked. I really don't know."

She was lying again!

Gu Yun narrowed her eyes slightly, suddenly stood up, and said, "Very well. In that case, we won't disturb you any further."

The two left the Yang residence again, but compared to when they arrived, there seemed to be a bit more understanding in their eyes. They looked at each other and smiled, "The rest is up to Dan Yulan."

Inside the prison, on that same stone bed, Qian Jing had his legs crossed high, only instead of a blade of grass in his mouth, he was chewing on a greasy chicken leg.

Having run around all day and still having an empty stomach, Zhuo Qing couldn't help but curse under her breath when she saw the relaxed and carefree man before her: "We're exhausted, yet you're living it up!"

Sitting up straight, Qian Jing smiled roguishly, "Can't help it, who told you I'm the prisoner?"

Leaning her back against the cool stone wall, Gu Yun glanced at the sky outside, which had turned completely dark, and asked, "Haven't they come yet?" She was afraid of missing the good show over there if they were any later.

Under Zhuo Qing's fierce glare, Qian Jing ate with great relish. He shrugged and smiled indifferently, "It's not time yet; they'll appear naturally when the time comes." If they weren't the type to appear and disappear like a divine dragon, they wouldn't be the two of them. She had never seen anyone who liked being so mysterious!

Rolling her eyes, Zhuo Qing cursed; she should have eaten her fill before coming!

Gu Yun suddenly asked, "How is it? Did you find out anything?"

Zhuo Qing turned back and saw Dan Yulan walking in with a look of exhaustion. Shaking his head, Dan Yulan sighed, "All prison meals are distributed uniformly. The meals of the others were fine; only in Li Zhi's meal was poison detected."

Zhuo Qing raised an eyebrow slightly. Prison meals were distributed uniformly? Then what was Qian Jing holding, or had the prison food improved to the point where there was a chicken leg every meal?!

Throwing the finished chicken bones into a paper bag, Qian Jing complained, "Don't look at me, I asked the guard on duty to buy this. It's not that I'm complaining, but this prison food is truly not fit for humans!" It even cost him three copper coins as a running fee—highway robbery!

Dan Yulan ignored Qian Jing's complaints and continued coldly, "The guard responsible for distributing the meals has already been detained. After being interrogated for a day, he insists he is innocent and does not admit to poisoning the food. In the prison, four guards patrol regularly, and no suspicious persons were seen."

That meant the day had been wasted again. Already having no good feelings toward the officials of the Ministry of Justice, Qian Jing directly mocked, "In other words, Li Zhi died mysteriously without anyone knowing. I think the Ministry of Justice prison is the most dangerous place!"

Dan Yulan had investigated for a day without any progress, and now being mocked by Qian Jing, his face turned a frightening shade of black. Zhuo Qing coughed lightly, just about to say something to ease the atmosphere, when she stood up straight and saw two figures, one black and one red, standing directly at the prison door, looking as if they had been there for a long time.

Qian Jing and Gu Yun were both calm, as if they had long sensed their arrival, and even Dan Yulan looked unsurprised. Zhuo Qing couldn't take it and cried out, "Please, can you appear more normally next time! You scared me to death!" She had no martial arts and couldn't remain calm in the face of change, okay?!

Unfortunately, Ye Mei and Ao Tian ignored her completely. After entering the prison, they glanced at Dan Yulan without saying much.

Dan Yulan rarely had direct contact with them, but the names of these two were absolutely thunderous; the people the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of War couldn't catch were almost all brought to justice by them.

Gu Yun did not explain why Dan Yulan was here, believing they already understood. The Golden Case had far-reaching implications, and without an official leading the way, many things could not be done.

Looking at the sky, Gu Yun didn't mince words and said directly, "Everyone is here, let's talk about our respective progress. Regarding the Yang Lu case, the murder weapon has been found, and Qian Jing can basically be cleared of the murder charge. However, because Li Zhi is dead and did not admit to the murder before he died, Qian Jing is still a suspect and needs to be detained temporarily. I suspect that the murderer who killed Yang Lu and Li Zhi must be closely related to the Golden Case from three years ago, but now that both of them have died unnatural deaths, my leads have been cut off. Do you have any discoveries?"

They had already cleared Qian Jing's name? Not bad; cooperating with them to investigate the case was not a wrong decision.

Ye Mei still stood to the side without saying a word, while Ao Tian explained their three-day results with an expressionless face: "The Golden Case from that year was pursued by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of War together. There were five people who had the opportunity and ability to manipulate this case: the then-Minister of Justice Fang Youan, Vice Minister of Justice Ping Ran, Vice Minister of Personnel Qin Xin, Director of the Ministry of Personnel Huang Zhongqu, and Vice Minister of War Wu Guocheng. Three of them had contact with Yang Lu: Fang Youan, Ping Ran, and Wu Guocheng. Qu Ze, Yang Lu, and Li Zhi were all subordinates of Wu Guocheng of the Ministry of War. When Yang Lu returned to report at the time, Wu Guocheng was away, and it was Ping Ran who deployed troops to support him. As a result, when they arrived at the cave, they only saw many carriage tracks left on the ground, and the gold was already gone."

Gu Yun asked, "Where are these three people now?" They weren't dead too, were they? For some time now, she had always had a feeling, as if there were a pair of cold eyes behind her, staring at them coldly. As long as they made any progress, he would strike. This feeling was terrible!

"Because of his poor investigation, Fang Youan was transferred to Tongzhou to serve as Prefect. The following year, he resigned on the grounds of old age and infirmity, and he passed away from illness early this year. Ping Ran was also demoted and transferred to the Ministry of War to serve as a Director. Because of his outstanding performance over the past three years, he was promoted to Vice Minister of War this year. Wu Guocheng was demoted to Director for failing to supervise his subordinates and has been depressed ever since."

It sounded like there was nothing suspicious. Gu Yun continued to ask, "What is their financial situation?"

Financial situation? Everyone except Zhuo Qing was stunned. Zhuo Qing chuckled, "She means to ask if their living expenses, property, and savings exceed the scope of their salaries."

Coming back to his senses, Ao Tian continued to reply, "After Fang Youan died, the Fang family's fortunes declined, and their current life is slightly better than that of commoners. As for Ping Ran, he has always been honest and upright, and his family's conditions are not even as good as those of ordinary officials. Wu Guocheng drinks heavily all day and owes a large sum of wine debt."

Qian Jing whistled and smiled, "Meaning they are all poorer than the next."

Gu Yun sighed lightly, "One million taels of gold, packed into carriages, would require at least seven or eight. When the incident happened, people were sent to pursue them immediately, yet they found nothing—this is too strange!" It had only been three years since the incident; the person who could mastermind this case must not be stupid, and it was not impossible that they deliberately hid their wealth. But such a large amount of gold must have had a flow; it couldn't have just disappeared for no reason!

Dan Yulan remained silent, listening to their explanation and analysis. The Golden Case of that year had caused a huge stir. He had been monitoring unjust cases in various places and didn't know much about this matter, but Ao Tian, who was not an official, had managed to investigate it so thoroughly in just three days.

Gu Yun suddenly asked, "Has the specific location of that cave been found?"

Ao Tian nodded coldly.

"We need to go to the cave to inspect the scene tomorrow; perhaps we can have new discoveries." Looking at the sky outside the window for the third time, Gu Yun smiled cunningly, "For now, let's go see if the fish has taken the bait!"

What did she mean? This time it was Ao Tian and the others who were bewildered. Qian Jing vaguely felt that there would definitely be a good show tonight and shouted, "I'm going too!"

Zhuo Qing squinted at him and replied solemnly, "Please don't forget, you are a prisoner now!"

Wanting to watch a show after being full? No way!

Gu Yun couldn't help but laugh. Qian Jing had truly hit an iron plate; he didn't know that Qing was the most vengeful.

Night, everything was silent. In front of a simple tiled house, two guards stood watch outside. It was just a dilapidated house that the official had just sent people to search, and there was nothing valuable inside. They couldn't understand why they had to stand guard here! Standing guard at night was the most boring thing. The two leaned lazily against the door panel, one paying attention to the surroundings, the other closing his eyes to rest.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 57 =====