Chapter 166 - Beacon in Troubled Times 16. (2/2)

This person’s mouth might be broken but his heart was still very good.

The evils of money worked just as well in ancient times.

Ye Qi inwardly sighed. Money was good. He went to prison but wasn’t the same as others!

***

At the same time, the prince’s mansion.

After questioning all the people in the prince’s mansion, Xiao Lou compiled the transcripts and followed Yu Hanjiang to collect clues from the deceased’s residence.

They found many copied scriptures in the eldest young lady’s room and some waste paper in the basket. They were sc.r.a.ps from when she wrote to the Ninth Princess. It was obvious that when she was writing the letter, she felt very contradictory and didn’t think about the content of the letter. Instead, she changed her words as she wrote.

The handwriting on the sc.r.a.p paper was the same as the handwriting of the letter given to Yu Hanjiang by the Ninth Princess. The content of one page of a sc.r.a.p paper was similar to the final letter but there were a few words that had been mistakenly written. The eldest young lady should’ve rewritten it again for a complete version.

The evidence proved that the letter the Ninth Princess gave to Yu Hanjiang was indeed written by the eldest young lady.

In addition, there was a brand new dress in the room that was neatly placed to one side. This should be the new clothing that Mrs Yun had prepared for her daughter at the time in order to attend the prince’s banquet. However, the eldest young lady didn’t change into it and was still wearing the plain, white clothing.

Unfortunately, the most important evidence wasn’t found.

Where was the poison that the eldest young lady had consumed before she died?

Was it a snack, a meal or her tea?

In ancient times, food couldn’t be tested in a laboratory. Generally, silver needles were used for poison testing. Xiao Lou picked up the snacks on the table and tested for poison using the silver needles. He found there were no toxins in the several servings of pastry or in the tea.

He asked the personal attendant who served the eldest young lady and she said that the eldest young lady went out at shens.h.i.+ (3-5pm) and didn’t let anyone follow. The eldest young lady never came back afterward and she hadn’t eaten in the room before going out.

The shens.h.i.+ time, this was around 16 o’clock.

The time of the eldest young lady’s death was around 18 o’clock. No one knew what she had seen or encountered after going on.

Yu Hanjiang also took Xiao Lou, Mo Xuemin and Long Sen to search Miss Qi Yiwei’s residence.

Unexpectedly, the herbs that Liu Qiao said she brought were still here and the paper bag containing the herbs hadn’t even been unsealed. It seemed that the fourth young lady hadn’t used these herbs to make poison?

Nothing particularly important was found at the residences of the second and third young ladies.

By the time the search of the prince’s mansion was finished, it was almost early in the morning. The entire prince’s mansion was blocked and the ladies gathered in the hall with different expressions. Yu Hanjiang searched everything and asked what he wanted to ask. It wasn’t easy to continue disturbing them so he said goodbye to the prince.

The prince personally escorted them to the door, telling them to solve the case as soon as possible. Yu Hanjiang promised that he would try his best.

Long Sen and Qu Wanyue stayed at the prince’s mansion while Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou and Mo Xuemin returned to the prefectural magistrate’s residence.

Shao Qingge and Liu Qiao were waiting for them there. Once they saw that the trio had returned, Shao Qingge immediately stepped forward and asked, “How about it? Did you get any clues about the murderer?” As a Hearts room slag, he was used to lying down in the Hearts room and winning. Based on his understanding of Xiao and Yu, the two of them came back so late because they turned the prince’s mansion upside down.

However, the thing that surprised Shao Qingge was that Yu Hanjiang’s face wasn’t confident and was filled with a hint of confusion. Yu Hanjiang frowned and replied, “There are many clues and it is very messy. At present, we can’t lock onto the murderer.”

The listening Mo Xuemin couldn’t help interjecting, “Isn’t the murderer Lin Shaobo who ran away?”

Liu Qiao was also curious. “Didn’t Lin Shaobo and the fourth young lady conspire to do it?”

Based on the a.n.a.lysis at the prince’s mansion just now, wasn’t Lin Shaobo the most suspicious?

Yu Hanjiang whispered, “It isn’t that simple. The fourth young lady’s medicine isn’t missing and we can’t find the poison anywhere. Thus, we can’t easily draw conclusions.”

He looked at his teammates before taking them to the cell to see Ye Qi.

Ye Qi was in a cell alone. The little boy was sleeping under a quilt, a white ear exposed as his entire body was curled up in a ball like a small, alert animal.

Xiao Lou saw the quilt covering him and couldn’t help wondering, “Where did the quilt come from?”

Shao Qingge smiled. “I had someone prepare it. I can’t let Miss Ye sleep on messy hay.”

Xiao Lou saw Ye Qi shrink into a ball and couldn’t help expressing distress. “This time, we really wronged him. The ground of the cell is wet and cold and it is currently autumn. It must be very uncomfortable to sleep on the ground like this.”

Ye Qi was pa.s.sively lying down and woke up to see everyone. He immediately ran over and asked, “You came back. How is the case?”

Yu Hanjiang told him, “The case is complicated. The two cases should be related but we haven’t found a contact point yet. Shao Qingge told us that you know what the a.s.sa.s.sin called Xue Yan looks like. Can you draw her?”

Ye Qi carefully thought about it. “I haven’t studied art and I can’t draw her. However, I specifically remember her eyes and eyebrows. If I see her again then I can definitely recognize her.”

The other side was wearing a veil and her face, eyebrows and eyes were difficult to distinguish. It seemed that only Ye Qi could recognize the person.

Yu Hanjiang told him, “It is late so you rest first. If there are any clues then I will have Shao QIngge notify you. Before the case is solved, I can’t let anyone in the Fragrant Sky House so I will have to wrong you. Stay in the dungeon first and we will investigate the case as soon as possible.”

Ye Qi nodded and smiled brightly. “It doesn’t matter. I can sleep anywhere.”

Shao Qingge thought of Xiao Lou saying the ground was wet and cold and he told Ye Qi, “The quilt is very big. You can lay on half of it and cover yourself with the other half so that the ground won’t be cold. I will have them bring in a brazier for you later so you don’t get cold.”

Ye Qi joked, “Thank you, gold master father.”

Shao Qingge smiled. “Your welcome, this is what a financial baker should do.”

Shao Qingge was really able to handle matters. He secretly gave the bailiff in charge of the prisoners silver coins and a brazier was soon brought to Ye Qi’s room. Compared to the other cells where the girls were starving and frozen, Ye Qi enjoyed the treatment of a VIP cell.

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