Chapter 47: A Doctor Who Can't Investigate Isn't a Good Assassin

After watching Yang Hanlu finish arranging her subordinates, Jiang Yunzhou then asked:

"What's going on?"

"When the steward reported the case in the early morning, he said he heard movement in the courtyard; when he came over, he saw a person leaving the courtyard, and when he entered the house to investigate, he found Qin Gui already dead."

Yang Hanlu finished speaking, then turned her head to look at the white-clad woman who had attracted the attention of almost all the men in the courtyard.

"Who is this?"

"She's a friend of mine from the jianghu, surnamed Zhen, versed in dealing with demons and ghosts; I invited her over to help."

Yang Hanlu raised her blade and nodded, saying:

"Thank you!"

Zhen Qing also nodded in return, but at the same time, the seductive voice in Yang Hanlu's mind warned:

"Stay away from her; this guy makes me feel uncomfortable."

Yang Hanlu also felt a bit more curious about the woman before her, wondering who she could be to make even the thing inside her feel uncomfortable.

Zhen Qing looked at Jiang Yunzhou, who was crouched on the ground seriously examining the corpse, and thought, 'This guy actually takes his work seriously.'

Jiang Yunzhou picked up the silver ingot on the corpse and asked:

"Chief Yang, could this old silver ingot be......"

"Exactly, it's the official silver from the silver carriage robbery case years ago."

Jiang Yunzhou glanced at the lavishly decorated main hall and said:

"It seems our guess was correct; that case indeed has hidden motives—the silver probably wasn't hidden by those bandits, and it might truly be the vengeful spirit or descendant of Chief Qiu Feng seeking revenge."

"I think so too. Do you see any clues on the corpse?"

"Besides the method of silencing the victim—no longer stuffing stones but tearing the throat—everything else is the same as the previous two corpses."

"So there's nothing to be found on the body."

Jiang Yunzhou curled the corner of his mouth and shook his head, saying:

"No, precisely because they're the same, the discovery is significant. Could you please have that steward come over?"

Soon, two subordinates from the South Pacification Office brought the steward, who still looked frightened, into the main hall.

"Sir, could you please describe in detail what happened here in the early morning?"

The old steward's face remained grim; he took a sip of water to calm himself and said:

"In the early morning, I heard movement in the master's courtyard, so I got up to check; it sounded like tables and chairs overturning, and at first I thought the master had brought another woman back from the Red Sleeve Pavilion."

"But the noise was unusually loud, so I thought thieves had come; when I entered the courtyard, I saw a gray figure dash across the corridor and flee the courtyard, and by the time I rushed into the main hall to investigate, the master had already been killed here."

Jiang Yunzhou nodded and said:

"You don't live in the same courtyard as Qin Gui, do you?"

"The master lives in the rear courtyard, and he usually doesn't allow servants to come there."

"You just mentioned the Red Sleeve Pavilion; does Qin Gui often bring women back from there?"

"Since the master is still single, he often goes there for leisure, and occasionally brings women back."

"Do you know which woman from the Red Sleeve Pavilion the master is on good terms with?"

"Well... I really don't know; the women he brings back seem different each time."

I never expected Qin Gui, who seemed righteous and upright yesterday, to be playing around so wildly in private.

"Can you roughly recall what that gray figure looked like?"

"Sure! Since thieves have troubled our house before, I make a point of noting such intruders to report to the authorities."

At that moment, a subordinate from the South Pacification Office also handed over a sketch drawn according to the steward's clues.

The drawing is simple, only outlining the clothing style; it looks like a constable's uniform, yet the attire seems somewhat familiar.

An older officer responsible for coordination from the North Pacification Office exclaimed in surprise:

"This is! This is the uniform formerly worn by the Chief of the North Pacification Office! It was later changed to what we wear now."

The others, hearing this, also began to whisper among themselves:

"Isn't that the uniform Chief Qiu Feng used to wear?!"

"Holy shit! It's really a vengeful ghost seeking revenge!"

"Who knows? Even Chief Qin, who was so capable, got killed."

Jiang Yunzhou, however, paid no attention to the surrounding chatter and continued asking:

"Was you the only one who entered the courtyard at that time? Did the departing black shadow notice you?"

"Because I wasn't sure what was happening with the master over there, I didn't dare call anyone else; as for that person, he probably noticed me, and in the darkness I felt he turned his head to glance at me."

"Alright, then I'll ask one last question: please recall, when you heard the commotion inside from outside the courtyard, was it just the sound of overturning furniture and fighting, with no cries for help or other noises from your master, right?"

"Yes, I can confirm that."

"Alright, thank you; you may go rest now."

Zou Zhen nodded and said:

"This time it seems we can conclude that the deceased Qiu Feng or his descendants have come for revenge."

Jiang Yunzhou stroked his chin, thinking, and then denied:

"In my view, it doesn't really seem like that."

"Why? Isn't it quite obvious?"

Upon hearing this, the Pacification Office officers who had just been whispering that it was a vengeful ghost or a descendant's revenge fell silent, wanting to hear Jiang Yunzhou's opinion.

"It's precisely because it's too obvious, especially since the killer happened to wear clothing similar to Qiu Feng's. Whether it's Qiu Feng's descendants coming for revenge or his resurrected corpse, there's no need to wear the old uniform—wouldn't that just attract more attention? Even if people saw him, they wouldn't silence him."

Yang Hanlu agreed, saying:

"Exactly, this point is indeed suspicious! So there's still a possibility that the killer is covering his tracks."

Jiang Yunzhou walked toward Qin Gui's corpse and said:

「Correct, this is the point. The murderer hid a crucial piece of information in this room. Look, Qin Gui's corpse, like the two coroners from yesterday, lost the ability to resist and call for help, then was stabbed in the feet, and then was killed by being sliced apart by the Thousand-Blade Cross Slash.

Even the blood on the ground was the same—only the blood from the feet was spatter-type, while blood elsewhere on the body clearly seeped out slowly. In other words, this Flag Officer Qin was also tortured to death。」

Other flag officers wondered:

「Isn't it exactly the same as those two coroners? What's the problem? 」

Zhen Qing, who had been silent all along, understood and nodded:

「It's a matter of time! According to the steward's testimony, the murderer shouldn't have had time to slowly kill Qin Gui. 」

Everyone present also came to realize, and at the same time it was the first time they heard this masked heroine speak; her voice was rather ethereal, making people involuntarily imagine the face behind the white gauze.

Jiang Yunzhou nodded and laughed:

「It's still a tacit understanding between me and Heroine Zhen! 」

Then Zhen Qing gave him a white eye.

Zou Zhen patted his head and analyzed:

「If the steward isn't lying, then that means by the time he heard the commotion, Qin Gui should already have been tortured to death, and what he heard should have been the noise of the murderer's struggle. 」

「Not bad. 」

「But why is that? It's just to wake the steward so he sees the murderer wearing Qiu Feng's clothes, leading us to seek revenge against Qiu Feng's descendants? 」

The other flag officers, upon understanding, also began to chime in with their opinions.

「Could it be that Lord Qin left some clue of the murderer on the furniture, so the murderer pretended to fight and smashed the furniture here? 」

「You're crazy! Why not just burn the furniture after I'm done? Besides, how do you know it isn't a false clue left by the murderer? 」

「Or could it be that the room is hiding some evidence, and the murderer destroyed these pieces of furniture while searching? 」

「No, wouldn't a silent search allow for even more time? 」

Jiang Yunzhou lightly coughed to remind them:

「What you say also makes sense; trying to reconstruct or look for clues isn't impossible, but I think that Qin Gui leaving clues or there being some evidence in the room are just suppositions. We'd better focus only on the murderer's act of destroying the furniture inside the room to reason backward. If the murderer hadn't destroyed the furniture, what would we be seeing? 」

Everything inside the room is basically tidy, and Qin Gui was killed in this spot. If that were the case, based on everyone's usual investigative experience, what conclusion could be drawn? 」

Upon hearing this, everyone again chimed in, but this time they reached a conclusion:

「In other words, there are no signs of a struggle in the room, and this expert Lord Qin was just taken out. 」

「Moreover, when facing the murderer, Lord Qin was only wearing his nightclothes and didn't even call for help. 」

「An acquaintance! It's very likely the murderer was someone they knew! 」