Chapter 82: Unexpected Discovery (2)

Suddenly being named, Cheng Hang coughed lightly to suppress his laughter, quickly raised his head, and replied seriously: "There are two biggest questions now that I haven't figured out. In all the victims' rooms, the doors and windows were tightly closed. After the murderer killed someone, how did he leave? Could it be that he can fly or burrow into the ground? Also, we haven't figured out the murderer's killing method. How did he manage to make the victims not struggle at all and watch the murderer remove their hearts!?"

Lou Xiyan's brows furrowed slightly. This case was indeed tricky. It had been a month, and Dan Yulan still hadn't figured out the murderer's killing method. He was afraid the one-month deadline was in jeopardy.

Lv Jin continued: "After investigation, we found that the three victims have several things in common. First, they all ordered clothes from Qiansi Pavilion Embroidery Workshop recently; second, during this period, they all learned the zither from Su Mufeng; third, sandalwood incense was lit in their rooms."

They suspected Su Mufeng! Zhuo Qing and Lou Xiyan looked at each other. Lou Xiyan smiled low: "Minister Dan, we met Su Mufeng on the road just now and had a very interesting discovery."

"What?" He was also a little curious about what Lou Xiyan would call an interesting discovery.

"He faints whenever he sees blood."

Cheng Hang called out in a low voice: "There's such a thing?" Faints at the sight of blood? What kind of strange illness was this?!

Zhuo Qing smiled low and explained: "This is normal. Most girls have some blood phobia, but it's relatively mild. The probability of men having blood phobia is relatively small, but it's not impossible. He is clearly the more serious type."

"Is it possible that he is faking blood phobia?" Lv Jin had indeed heard of people being afraid of blood, but it just happened that when they felt he was a suspect, they were bumped into by the Prime Minister and the others, and he happened to have blood phobia?

Zhuo Qing shook her head and replied in a deep voice: "The possibility is not high. His face was pale and his limbs were cold just now; it didn't look like he was pretending. And according to the Su family servants, Su Mufeng's blood phobia is a problem he has had since he was a child."

Since he was a child?! In that case, either the Su family was lying, or it had already been proven that Su Mufeng couldn't be the murderer. It seemed that the breakthrough they had finally found was declared a failure!

Early morning

Zhuo Qing and Lou Xiyan were having breakfast in the flower hall when Mo Bai's cold voice sounded outside the door: "Master, a government yamen runner is asking to see you."

"Invite him in." It had been several days, and Dan Yulan hadn't had any new news. Could it be that he had made a discovery?!

"Greetings, Prime Minister Lou, Madam." The person who came in was Cheng Hang, his young face undisguisedly full of sorrow.

Zhuo Qing and Lou Xiyan looked at each other. This expression on Cheng Hang's face couldn't be good news. Sure enough, before they could ask, Cheng Hang had already said in a low voice: "Another case happened last night. The Minister asked me to invite the Prime Minister and Madam to go over."

It was already the fourth innocent woman who had been murdered. Zhuo Qing narrowed her eyes: "What is the identity of the victim?"

"The second daughter of Vice Minister of Justice Wu Zhigang's mansion."

This time, the murderer actually came directly for the Ministry of Justice, and every time he acted, it was clean and neat. Could it be that the murderer wasn't one person, but an organization? Was the goal aimed at the celebration?! Lou Xiyan fell into deep thought.

Zhuo Qing said in a low voice: "Let's go, let's go over first and talk."

The three of them hurried out of the Prime Minister's mansion. Just as Zhuo Qing was about to board the carriage, a series of hoofbeats came from far to near, rushing over at high speed. In the morning light, two tall, pure black horses rushed toward them. The horses were moving too fast, so they only saw a tall figure on one horse, and there seemed to be no one on the other horse.

Lou Xiyan held Zhuo Qing's hand and retreated to the front of the Prime Minister's mansion. Mo Bai and Cheng Hang had already stepped forward in defense.

Soon the horses had rushed to the front of the Prime Minister's mansion, almost hitting the carriage parked in front of the mansion. The horses neighed and stopped, and two figures, one tall and one short, dismounted nimbly.

Seeing the visitors clearly, Mo Bai retreated coldly to the side, while Cheng Hang stared blankly at the cute girl in front of him. The petite woman in black tight clothes stood beside the horse, making her look even more fragile. Her hair, tied high, revealed her beautiful face. Although half of her face was ruined by a knife scar, it didn't diminish her cuteness at all; instead, it made people feel even more pity for her.

Meeting the woman's eyes, Cheng Hang was stunned again. He didn't expect such a cute girl to have such cold eyes, her eyes bloodshot, looking exhausted. The woman walked directly past him toward the Prime Minister's wife. And behind her was—General Su Ling?

Gu Yun walked toward her expressionlessly, looking exhausted. Zhuo Qing greeted her and smiled: "You're finally back." Today was the morning of the ninth day, and Yun's appearance was within her expectations. Looking at her cold eyes and icy expression, Zhuo Qing guessed that Yun must not have slept well these past few days. Her physical state was truly different from ordinary people. The more exhausted ordinary people were, the more scattered and weak their spirits were, but she was even more sharp and keen. She didn't know what kind of structure she was made of!

Su Ling actually came back too, which was beyond her expectations. Zhuo Qing raised her eyes to look, but couldn't help coughing lightly to cover her laughter: "General Su? Are you alright?" Su Ling was probably also not sleeping for several days and nights. He looked much more disheveled than Gu Yun. His black clothes were wrinkled, and his deep eyes were now bloodshot. Several days of galloping made his wild hair even more messily tied behind him. His already cold and hard features looked like a bronze statue at this time. Compared to the unruly and uninhibited way she first saw him, Su Ling was now exuding enough cold air to freeze people to death.

Su Ling's icy eyes swept over her without answering. Zhuo Qing had already guessed it and didn't mind.

"What case? How is the situation now?" Gu Yun's hoarse voice made Zhuo Qing frown slightly. She must be exhausted on this journey. Lifting the curtain of the carriage, Zhuo Qing said in a low voice: "We are just about to go to the crime scene, let's talk while we go on the carriage."

"Good." Gu Yun stepped onto the carriage nimbly, and Zhuo Qing followed. From beginning to end, Gu Yun didn't even look at Su Ling, as if they hadn't come together at all.

Su Ling's face became even stiffer and colder, but Cheng Hang was slow to react, smiling foolishly on the side: "General Su, I didn't expect you to return to the capital too. I have always admired the prestige of the Su family army, and..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Ling had already mounted his horse coolly and chased after the direction the carriage was leaving. Cheng Hang stood there awkwardly. Lou Xiyan stepped forward, patted his shoulder, and smiled: "Let's go, General Su might be—too tired."

"That's right." General Su looked indeed very tired. Cheng Hang asked curiously: "Prime Minister Lou, who is that girl?"

Lou Xiyan mounted the black horse left by Qing Mo and smiled: "She is the person you sent a pigeon message to invite." Looking at the black shadow following closely behind the carriage, Lou Xiyan raised his lips with a smile that was not a smile. General Su's "misogyny" seemed to have signs of improvement. The Qing family women were indeed all extraordinary.

"Qing Mo?!" Cheng Hang finally thought of such a person, but counting the time, it was only the morning of the ninth day. How did they come back?

Wu Mansion

Cheng Hang rushed into Miss Wu's boudoir panting, anxiously: "Minister, Prime Minister Lou and Madam have been invited, and Miss Qing Mo and General Su have also returned." He rushed and finally caught up with them. The speed of these two Qing ladies was really fast!

Dan Yulan looked at him coldly. What was wrong with this kid Cheng Hang, being so hairy and restless today.

Before he could scold him, the figures of Lou Xiyan and Zhuo Qing had already appeared at the door. Dan Yulan cupped his hands slightly: "Prime Minister Lou, Madam."

Before entering the door, a rich smell of blood was already permeating the air. Zhuo Qing just nodded slightly to say hello, and then asked in a deep voice: "Where is the victim?"

"Still on the bed." He didn't expect them to come so quickly; they had only just arrived not long ago.

Zhuo Qing nodded and hurried into the inner room.

"Minister Dan." A hoarse female voice sounded behind Lou Xiyan.

Lou Xiyan turned slightly, and Dan Yulan saw the woman in black standing behind him.

It was really Qing Mo. A flash of surprise flashed in Dan Yulan's eyes. It was only the ninth day, and she appeared as Qing Ling said. This woman was indeed amazing. Hiding the strange color in his eyes, Dan Yulan cupped his hands slightly and said: "Miss Qing, I'm sorry for making you rush back so urgently."

Waving his hand gently, Gu Yun didn't exchange pleasantries with him and replied coldly: "Minister Dan, no need to be polite. I already know the basic situation. I'll look at the crime scene first, and we'll discuss the specific situation later."

After speaking, she stepped into the room, but she didn't rush into the inner room. Instead, she looked around in the middle hall outside the screen, not knowing what she was looking at.

Lou Xiyan stood quietly by the door, not entering. Beside him was the silent Su Ling. Dan Yulan frowned slightly: "Isn't General Su clearing out the rebels?" Why was it so lively today?

"Cleared out." Throwing out a few words cold enough to freeze people to death, Su Ling's black eyes stared coldly at the woman in the middle hall. No, she wasn't a woman at all! These past few days, he almost couldn't keep up with her. How could there be such a woman?!

Cleared out?! Dan Yulan was stunned. If he cleared it out, why didn't he go back to the palace to report, and why did he come here?

Su Ling's face was gloomy, and Lou Xiyan was full of interest. Naturally, he wouldn't be stupid enough to ask now. Dan Yulan turned and walked into the middle hall. Gu Yun was half-squatting by the door, her fingertips gently groping the broken wooden door latch, and asked in a low voice: "Who was the first to discover the crime scene?"

"Miss Wu Xu's personal maid, Fei Er." But the strange thing was that unlike other maids who discovered the victims, she didn't accompany her in the room last night, but came to call the young lady to get up in the morning. She called for a long time and couldn't get in, so she had to find someone to break the door, only to discover the victim.

Putting down the door bolt, Gu Yun asked: "Where is she?"

"Scared fainted, hasn't woken up yet." This was normal. The inner room was almost full of blood, and the victim's death was strange. Not to mention women, even men would have many people who couldn't stand it.

Gu Yun's eyes suddenly fixed on the teacup on the wooden table. Walking up, Gu Yun picked up one of the teacups and sniffed it. Her hand paused, and she opened the teapot, shook the liquid inside, and a cold light flashed in her eyes.

Cheng Hang stood on the side puzzled and asked: "Is there a problem with the tea? I just checked it, no problem." It wasn't suspicious to put a pot of tea in the room, right?

Gu Yun didn't say a word, just handed him two empty cups. Cheng Hang took them, looked at her, and suspiciously picked up the cups and sniffed them lightly. After smelling them, Cheng Hang's eyes widened, and he picked up other cups and sniffed them carefully. After a while, Cheng Hang stared at Gu Yun in astonishment. How, how, how, how did she see that these ordinary cups had problems? And with so many cups, how could she know that these two cups had problems?!

Cheng Hang carefully put the two cups into a cloth bag and immediately followed Gu Yun closely.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 83 =====