Chapter 98: You Look Haggard Too

Wu Shanqiu saw it too and zoomed in on one of the fan-created photos: Hong Mei, wearing a red dress, was pierced by rose thorns through her skin, lying in a pool of blood.

This was undoubtedly identical to the crime scene where Hong Mei died.

The appearance of this photo gave these fans' boring behavior a different meaning. In the middle of the night, Liu Tong and Wu Shanqiu re-examined those malicious Photoshopped images and indeed made further discoveries. In one of the photos, Hong Mei, dressed as Xian Yao, had her chest pierced by a bamboo pole and was hanging in mid-air. The scene was identical to the state of Lan Die's death, except the face had been changed from Hong Mei to Lan Die.

Early the next morning, several people arrived at the police station looking extremely sleepy.

Only Zhong Kui remained full of energy; she bought three cups of coffee and handed them to Liu Tong, Qi Fei, and Wu Shanqiu.

"Oh, Xiao Kui, how did you know we worked overtime until so late last night?" Wu Shanqiu, whenever she was happy, would hook her arm through Zhong Kui's, leaning against her like a little cat.

"When Qi Fei and I left, I saw that you and Liu Tong were both still there, which means you left later than us. Calculating the time, I knew you two hadn't slept for many hours."

Wu Shanqiu caught the main point and immediately said, "You left with Brother Fei last night?" Then, looking at Qi Fei's deep dark circles, her soul of gossip ignited. "Does that mean you went home together yesterday?"

Qi Fei immediately defended himself: "Don't talk nonsense, we just had a late-night snack together."

"Then, why do you look so haggard?" Liu Tong asked leisurely from the side. As expected, the captain's question had more lethality.

Qi Fei's dark circles deepened: "What haggard? I had a nightmare last night and didn't sleep well. What are you guys thinking?"

Liu Tong shrugged: "I'm just concerned about my subordinate. What are *you* thinking?"

"Liu Tong, you look pretty haggard too," Zhong Kui said out of the blue, turning the tables on Liu Tong.

Liu Tong saw things were going south and immediately changed the subject: "How about we exchange our findings from last night first?" As he said this, he patted Wu Shanqiu on the shoulder. "Xiao Qiu, hurry up and tell your Brother Fei!"

Wu Shanqiu immediately got into the zone. Talking about the investigation of this case, although her face was tired, her spirit was high. She recounted the whole process vividly, and of course, mentioned those two eerie photos.

"Did you say you found that screenwriter named Liu Yi to bring him in for questioning?" Qi Fei said immediately.

"He's already here. Let's get to work," Wu Shanqiu said.

In the interrogation room, Liu Yi kept grabbing his curly hair, his small eyes darting around from time to time; he looked very uneasy.

The door opened, and Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu appeared before him.

"Screenwriter Liu, we meet again," Qi Fei said.

"If there's something, you could have just said it over the phone. Why call me here? It makes me feel like I've done something wrong," Liu Yi complained.

"We asked the crew. On the night Hong Mei died, because you were the screenwriter, you didn't go to the set after submitting your draft. Where were you from 12:00 that night until the early hours of the next morning?" Qi Fei didn't respond to Liu Yi's complaint and asked straight to the point.

Liu Yi became even more panicked upon hearing this: "What, what do you mean? Does this mean you suspect I killed Hong Mei?"

"Answer the question first."

"Where could I go? I was sleeping at home. I don't have to stay on set all the time while they're filming. The last time you went over and I was there, it was because of this Hong Mei business, and I was temporarily called in to put out the fire!" Liu Yi appeared somewhat agitated.

"Is there anyone who can verify that you were sleeping at home?"

"How am I supposed to verify that? I'm single." When Liu Yi said the last three words, he turned his head to the side, clearly unwilling to bring up the matter.

"We discovered that you publicly expressed your dissatisfaction with the character Xian Yao online, and even hoped she would disappear in the sequel. Now, two actresses who played Xian Yao have died in a row. The plot can finally proceed according to your wishes," Qi Fei said, watching Liu Yi with cold eyes.

Liu Yi exploded the moment he heard this: "Are you kidding me, Officer? You called me here early in the morning just for this reason? I was just discussing the plot! I can still tell the difference between plot and reality!"

Facing Liu Yi's strong dissatisfaction, Qi Fei began reading some of his comments: "If I had known earlier that the character Xian Yao would make some people dislike Zhongli Yingqian, I should have let her die during the Shenlong Rebellion. That way, there wouldn't have been so many romantic plotlines with San Lang.

The character Xian Yao is simply not enough to support an independent story in the sequel. I advise those hot-headed fans not to be unreasonable. If you push me too far, I'll have her die at the very beginning."

As Qi Fei read, Liu Yi's complexion changed noticeably.

"Do you need me to keep reading?" Qi Fei asked.

Liu Yi's eyes darted away: "I said that was all just discussing the plot..."

"Then what about these?" Qi Fei threw some fan comments and the Photoshopped photos in front of Liu Yi. "These people, incited by you, cursed Hong Mei to die. Some even wrote complete assassination plans. And this."

Qi Fei threw the photo that "predicted" Hong Mei's death scene in front of Liu Yi: "We now suspect that among these people, there are those who don't just want to keep these vicious harms at the verbal stage."

Liu Yi was speechless and hung his head in frustration: "*Divine Strategy of the Tang Dynasty* is a script I created with my heart and blood. I love every character, but just like with children, I always have characters I favor. However, when this show became popular, I realized that what the audience liked and what I had envisioned were so different."

"You didn't approve of everyone's love for the character Xian Yao, and consequently developed hostility toward the actresses who played her, planning and inciting the murders of Hong Mei and Lan Die, didn't you!" Qi Fei said.

"No! I didn't! You're talking nonsense!" Liu Yi gave a triple denial. "It was because of Hong Mei that I disapproved of the character Xian Yao being the most popular! Every actor related to this show should be popular, but Hong Mei cannot!" He didn't even care about increasing his own suspicion, eyes wide and almost roaring. The way he spoke was the embodiment of a Hong Mei hater on the internet.

"Why?"

"Because... because..." Liu Yi's lips trembled, his fists clenched tight. "When I was writing this script, I already had the ideal candidate for this character. Hong Mei used unscrupulous means to steal this role and hurt the person I loved most..."

Once these words were out, Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu looked at each other, unable to help but think of the past incident mentioned by the paparazzi Wang Defa: how Hong Mei colluded with the director's ex-wife to frame Lan Die as a mistress, causing her to lose the opportunity to be the lead.

"The ideal candidate you're talking about is Lan Die?" Wu Shanqiu asked immediately. ===== CHAPTER 99 =====