As I emerged from my cell, the watchman outside was ringing a gong to signal the time; it was already past two in the morning.
Yu Hanjiang told everyone to go back and rest, and he and Xiao Lou also went back to their rooms.
After a long day, they finally returned home. The maid Pinger had been waiting for them and brought them two basins of hot water, which they then used to wash up. Before going to bed, Xiao Lou took out the topical ointment that Liu Qiao had prepared and had Yu Hanjiang take off his outer clothes so she could apply the ointment to the wound on his back.
Although the toxins from the wound had been completely eliminated, the hideous, terrifying scar that ran across the man's strong back still pained Xiao Lou every time he saw it.
He dipped his fingertip in the medicine and gently applied it to the wound, asking softly, "Does it still hurt?"
The burning wound felt incredibly soothed by the cool ointment, especially with Xiao Lou's long, soft fingers gently stroking his back and carefully applying the medicine. Yu Hanjiang felt completely relaxed, as if his fur had been stroked.
Even though the wound still hurts, my heart is warm.
He whispered, "It doesn't hurt anymore, thank you for your hard work, madam."
Xiao Lou blushed slightly: "There are no outsiders here, you don't need to call me that."
Yu Hanjiang said seriously, "It would be difficult to explain if Pinger heard this."
Xiao Lou didn't fuss over these details. She carefully changed his dressing and bandaged his wound before they went to sleep together.
Yu Hanjiang only realized he liked Xiao Lou two days ago. Sleeping in the same bed with Xiao Lou made him feel uneasy, and he remained in a "statue" position, not daring to move, for fear of accidentally touching Xiao Lou.
Seeing him sleeping on his back, Xiao Lou immediately said, "Your injury is on your back, so don't sleep lying flat on your back. It will put pressure on the wound and make it harder to heal."
Yu Hanjiang obediently hummed in agreement, turned to face Xiao Lou, and slept.
Xiao Lou could feel his gaze on her face. It was a quiet night, and being watched so closely made Xiao Lou's heart pound. She tried to distract herself by talking about the case: "You just said that the killer is still uncertain. Do you think Lin Shaobo is not the killer?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "If it's him, this case is too simple. Liu Qiao witnessed the Fourth Miss and Lin Shaobo on a date, and the Eldest Miss also mentioned their affair in her letter to Ninth Princess. In addition, the Fourth Miss personally confirmed that the two met in secret and were caught by the Eldest Sister. Lin Shaobo has a motive for murder and the time to commit the crime. The clues are very clear... But upon closer examination, we can find many things that are not right."
Xiao Lou listened attentively: "What's wrong?"
Yu Hanjiang analyzed in a low voice: "First of all, where did Lin Shaobo get the poison? We searched Miss Si's room, and none of the medicinal herbs that Liu Qiao mentioned that could cause poisoning had been touched, proving that the poison was not prepared by Miss Si. If Miss Si and Lin Shaobo had worked together to commit the crime, and had planned it in advance and prepared the poison beforehand, that doesn't make sense. If they had planned it in advance, they wouldn't have met today and aroused suspicion."
Xiao Lou nodded in agreement: "I think so too. The source of the poison is neither the Fourth Miss nor Young Master Lin. Therefore, these two people who seem to be the most suspicious do not actually have the tools to commit the crime. We still haven't found the poison. The maid said that the Eldest Miss did not eat in the room. I suspect that the Eldest Miss was poisoned in front of her in the courtyard."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Yes, you examined the body. There were no signs of struggle before she died, so she obviously did not resist when she ate the poisoned food. The person who could make her eat poisoned food in front of her must be someone the young lady knows, otherwise she wouldn't have eaten what the other person gave her."
Yu Hanjiang paused, then continued, "Also, after we arrived in Jiangzhou, we were attacked, and assassins appeared on the Prince's birthday as well. I don't think this assassin organization is a distraction from the case, but..."
It's directly related to the case.
Thinking back to the map I got from the study in Kyoto, why is there a world with four countries: Qi State, Chu State, Yan State, and Zhao State? If it were just a simple domestic power struggle and murder case, wouldn't one Qi State suffice?
Such a complex background is certainly not just for decoration.
Xiao Lou's eyes suddenly lit up: "Could it be that the young lady's death had nothing to do with a crime of passion, but that she accidentally witnessed something she shouldn't have known in the Prince's mansion and was silenced?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Very likely."
He paused, then suddenly said, "Do you remember a detail Qu Wanyue mentioned— that Ninth Princess is the Former Emperor's youngest daughter? Last night, when Ninth Princess met Eighth Prince, she called him ' Brother Emperor'?"
After thinking about it carefully, Xiao Lou immediately realized: "That's right, His Majesty calls the Prince 'Imperial Uncle,' and Ninth Princess calls him 'Imperial Brother,' which means His Majesty is Ninth Princess's nephew, and Ninth Princess is the Former Emperor's youngest daughter. So, His Majesty and Former Emperor are not actually father and son, but grandfather and grandson?"
Yu Hanjiang deduced from this point that things were not simple.
In Secret Room World, often the most obvious clues can be distractions. Conversely, some easily overlooked details might be the real clues— the Ninth Princess gossiping about the harem intrigues to Qu Wanyue, and the hierarchy among the Ninth Princess, Eighth Prince, Former Emperor, and the Emperor himself, might be hinting at something.
The throne is usually passed down to the son. Why did the Former Emperor pass it on to his grandson instead of his Eighth Prince?
Yu Hanjiang has met His Majesty. The one on the dragon throne is very young, only around 20 years old. Eighth Prince is over 40 years old. Even if Eighth Prince is indifferent to politics and not fit to be emperor, does the Former Emperor not have any other sons?
The princess is the ninth in line, which means there were seven princes and princesses before the Eighth Prince. Who were they?
Thinking of all this, Xiao Lou suddenly said, "In history, there was a coup in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Di, the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, overthrew the regime of his nephew Zhu Yunwen under the banner of 'purging the court of corrupt officials.' Zhu Yuanzhang initially made his eldest son Zhu Biao the crown prince, but unfortunately the crown prince died young, so he let his grandson Zhu Yunwen inherit the throne. His son Zhu Di was dissatisfied and launched a coup after Zhu Yunwen took power, and became emperor himself, the Yongle Emperor."
Hearing Xiao Lou say this, Yu Hanjiang suddenly understood!
The coup d'état during the Ming Dynasty is quite famous in history. Zhu Yuanzhang bypassed his son and appointed his grandson as his successor. Zhu Di staged a coup and usurped the throne, eventually taking control of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yunwen's whereabouts remain unknown, becoming a historical mystery.
Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, "Zhu Yuanzhang also skipped over other princes and directly established his grandson as the heir, which is somewhat similar to the current situation in Qi State. The current emperor is so young, and the Eighth Prince is extremely cunning. Could it be that he wanted to launch a coup, join forces with Zhao State to rebel, and that when the Zhao State's envoy was plotting with him at the Prince's residence, the eldest daughter accidentally witnessed it, and he killed his daughter to silence her?"
If this speculation is true, it could connect many clues.
Zhao State happened to have some people visiting today. Second Miss said it was a gift from the Zhao State prince to his future father-in-law, and that he had sent someone from the Ministry of Rites to discuss some wedding details. Long Sen said the Zhao State envoy had visited the palace but left without attending the banquet.
If the Zhao State envoy enters the palace in the afternoon to plot something with the prince, and happens to be seen by the young lady who is out for a walk, it is quite possible that the prince would find a way to kill his daughter to silence her.
Moreover, Eighth Prince's attitude today was indeed a bit strange; he took the initiative to let Yu Hanjiang investigate the case and was very cooperative.
Perhaps the assassins who killed Yu Hanjiang were sent by him, and the assassins who tried to kill him were just putting on an act. When the assassins suddenly lunged at him, the prince was not flustered at all and acted too calmly... as if he had expected it.
If his nephew becomes emperor, can he, as the imperial uncle, really be content?
Yu Hanjiang recalled that when he talked to the prince about His Majesty, the prince only cared about His Majesty's daily life and did not ask about any court affairs. He seemed to be a leisurely prince who did not care about politics... But what if he was biding his time?
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged a glance, both feeling that the possibility of Eighth Prince plotting a rebellion and killing his daughter was much higher than the possibility of Lin Shaobo or Fourth Miss murdering their eldest sister after their affair was exposed.
***
The next day, Yu Hanjiang went straight to the yamen (government office) after waking up. He had given orders the previous night to apprehend the suspect, Lin Shaobo, throughout the city. However, a whole night passed, and there was still no news about Lin Shaobo.
He went to the Lin family to investigate. Father Lin said that he was originally going to attend the Prince's birthday banquet yesterday, but the Lin family had something to do and couldn't leave, so they sent Lin Shaobo as their representative to offer their congratulations.
Father Lin asked in bewilderment, "My son didn't come home all night. I sent someone to the Prince's Mansion early this morning to look for him, but the Prince's Mansion said he had already left. Now you've come to ask me about his whereabouts. I don't know where he went either. What's going on?"
Just then, Madam Lin hurried over and whispered in his ear, "When I went out today, I heard from the neighbors that last night, the eldest daughter of the Prince's mansion hanged herself!"
Father Lin's eyes widened: "What?"
All the guests present heard Qi Yiyao's suicide, and the news spread extremely quickly. It was only a matter of time before the Lin family found out. However, the rumors outside were all that "the young lady committed suicide," and the fact that she was "murdered" was currently only known to Yu Hanjiang and a few others, as well as the people in the Prince's mansion. The Prince had ordered everyone to keep their mouths shut, and no one dared to speak out.
Father Lin realized that the young lady might have hanged herself because of her son's provocation, and angrily slammed his fist on the table: "Where is Shao Bo?! Tell the servants to go look for him right now! That beast might have sneaked off to a brothel again. Search for him! Turn every brothel in Jiangzhou City upside down until you find him!"
Madam Lin retreated tremblingly, and the Lin family was in complete chaos early in the morning.
After leaving the Lin residence, Yu Hanjiang's brows furrowed more and more.
He also suspected that Lin Shaobo might be hiding in a brothel, so last night he ordered the constables of Prefect of Jiangzhou to conduct a thorough search of brothels, including Tianxiang Tower, Baihua Tower, Fengya Pavilion, and Zuixian Tower...
The officials searched every brothel in Jiangzhou, but still couldn't find any trace of Lin Shaobo.
He was a rich young man who didn't possess any Lightness Skill. Even if he escaped by scaling the wall in the backyard of the palace, he couldn't possibly disappear without a trace.
With a growing sense of foreboding, Yu Hanjiang called Xiao Lou and strode quickly to the entrance of the Prince's Mansion.
Long Sen, who was guarding the gate, saw them and let them through immediately.
The other guards weren't surprised to see Lord Yu working on a case with his wife. After all, they had all witnessed Lord Yu and his wife working together on a case last night—the wife who could perform autopsies was no ordinary woman.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou entered the palace, and Prince Eighth immediately came out to greet them.
So much had happened at yesterday's banquet, and even the usually dashing prince looked somewhat haggard. He asked in a hoarse voice, "Lord Yu, are there any leads regarding the murder of Miss Eldest?"
Yu Hanjiang said calmly, "The most suspicious person about the young lady's death is her fiancé, Lin Shaobo. However, I have searched almost the entire city of Jiangzhou but have not found any trace of Lin Shaobo. I have a bold guess— Lin Shaobo is still in the Prince's mansion."
The prince looked on in disbelief: "The Prince's mansion? I had my guards search the entire mansion last night, but I didn't see Young Master Lin."
Yu Hanjiang carefully considered the layout of the Prince's Mansion—it was impossible for people to hide in the front yard, but the back yard, with its artificial hills, woods, and lakes, would be difficult to spot if someone were hiding there at night, especially the lotus pond near the artificial hills, which was almost the size of a football field.
Yu Hanjiang suddenly said, "Let's go check the pond!"
The prince was slightly taken aback, then quickly followed in Lord Shangyu's footsteps.
Just as the group arrived at the pond, a scream rang out from not far away: "Ah—!"
Yu Hanjiang rushed over and saw two maids, their faces pale and trembling, pointing to something floating in the pond not far away. They said, "There's a person floating in the pond!" "It looks like a corpse!"
The prince's expression changed: "Quickly, pull it up!"
Several guards immediately rushed forward to retrieve the body, and after a few moments, they hurriedly pulled it up and placed it on the shore.
After soaking in the pond overnight, the corpse was already bloated and distended. Its facial features were distorted from being submerged, and its skin was dehydrated and wrinkled. People around it were so disgusted that they turned away to vomit.
Xiao Lou remained calm as he walked to the body, squatted down, and examined it closely.
The body was that of an adult male, dressed in dark blue clothes, with a blue headband tied in his messy hair, and an emerald ring on his finger...
Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "It's Lin Shaobo."