There is a god in the sky

Chapter 196 Who is the Murderer 3

The Wu family wanted to take their daughter's body back for burial, but Xiao Ji refused.

Although the Wu family did not accept the fact that their daughter had fallen to her death, they did not continue to make things difficult for Qixiu Workshop.

Shen Lan walked from the third floor to the first floor and found a back door. She gently pushed it, and the back door opened.

The shop assistant explained, "Miss, this door is for our shop to move goods; customers don't usually use this door."

Shen Lan went out and took a look. Behind her was a fairly wide alley, with hardly anyone passing by.

By this time, the customers in the shop had been released, leaving only the shopkeeper and his assistant dealing with the government officials.

Xiao Ji was comforting the Wu family.

"I must take your daughter's body back for a thorough examination by the coroner. If there is no other evidence, this case can only be closed as an accident."

If this person hadn't died in front of Xiao Ji today, the government wouldn't have bothered with this case at all.

Wu Chang's attitude softened considerably after learning that he was Xiao Ji.

"Lord Xiao, I will do my best to cooperate with your investigation. However, my daughter... I hope she can leave with some dignity."

"Don't worry, my coroner is also a woman, as you just met her."

Wu Chang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for your understanding, sir. My family and I will go back and wait for news."

"Ah."

The officials left.

On the way back, Magistrate Xu asked curiously, "Does Lord Xiao think there's something wrong with this case?"

"The death is suspicious and needs to be investigated further."

Magistrate Xu thought he was being nosy, but since she was an official's daughter, there was nothing wrong with being a little more careful.

It's understandable that Xiao Ji, having just returned to the capital, wants to quickly build a good reputation.

"It's getting late, so I'll head back now. We'll meet at the government office tomorrow."

"Thank you."

Xiao Ji took Shen Lan to the morgue and had the autopsy performed that very night.

Shen Lan focused her examination on the deceased's back.

There were no bruises or anything like that, but if someone pushed her downstairs, it's unlikely to leave any marks unless the force was very strong.

“Her cuffs were torn and her hands were scratched. We just saw that she fell from the third floor without any cover, so these wounds were not caused by the fall.”

"So she must have had a conflict with someone," Xiao Ji concluded.

“I have already asked the Wu family. She came out of her house at 3:30 pm, saying that she had made an appointment to go out and buy cloth.”

The Wu family was not wealthy, and they had a limited number of servants. Since the Qixiu Workshop was not far from the Wu family, they did not send anyone to follow them.

She usually went out alone, occasionally meeting up with two or three friends, and her hands were never injured before she went out.

It seems that the Wu family's parenting style was not strict, and they did not overly discipline their daughter.

"Tomorrow I will have someone thoroughly investigate her whereabouts tonight, who she met, and why she wasn't there. If she had an argument with someone, there would have been a way to make sure no one saw it."

Shen Lan nodded and summarized the examination results.

"Besides the wound on the back of her hand, her fatal injury was the one on her forehead. Her skull was shattered, and her ribs pierced her heart and lungs, causing her to bleed to death."

Then I also found a puddle of water on her lapel, which smelled a bit like tea leaves, so it must have been splashed with tea.

There was a piece of maltose stuck to her teeth; she must have eaten it just before she died.

None of her purse or jewelry was missing, and two of her fingernails were cracked. Aside from that, nothing much has been found yet.

Xiao Ji read through the transcript and then sent someone to take Shen Lan home.

It was almost dawn, so he didn't need to go home; he could just rest at the yamen (government office).

After returning home, Shen Lan was still wondering why the private room on the third floor was locked.

The private room in the shop is used for entertaining guests. There are no valuables inside. Does it need to be locked?

Of course, perhaps this is the rule of Qixiufang.

She closed her eyes and took a nap. When she woke up, she heard Xuan'er say that Sui Feng was waiting for her outside.

She hurriedly dressed and went out, asking, "Has there been a change in the case?"

Sui Feng smiled and said, "No, it was the master who sent me to tell Miss Shen that there are new leads in the case."

Early this morning, the officials had already traced the deceased's movements.

The person she had arranged to meet was Xu Zhenzhen, the second daughter of a concubine from the Zhenyuan Marquis's family. The two drank tea for about half an hour at a teahouse on the street.

"The master said that he was afraid Miss Shen would be preoccupied with the case, so he asked me to come and tell you as soon as there was any news."

Shen Lan asked in confusion, "She's actually friends with the young lady from the Zhenyuan Marquis's mansion?"

Wu Chang was just a minor official, so it wouldn't be easy for him to get in touch with the Zhenyuan Marquis's mansion.

"Yes, she also has two close friends, one is the illegitimate daughter of Minister Tong, and the other is the illegitimate daughter of the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."

"Is Miss Wu the legitimate daughter?"

"Yes, it is said that those girls are very close. They met Wu Qing by chance, and they got along well, so they added her to their circle of friends."

Did Wu Qing spend a lot of time with them?

"It hasn't been long; we only met this year."

Shen Lan knew that Xiao Ji must be having people investigate these girls right now.

The small group she joined was indeed a bit strange.

"Thank you for making this trip. Why don't you have lunch here before you leave?" Shen Lan said, preparing to cook for herself.

Sui Feng shamelessly stayed, and after finishing his meal, he even brought Xiao Ji a portion of food.

Xiao Ji had not yet eaten and was reading through page after page of the confession.

Smelling the aroma, she looked up and asked with a puzzled expression, "Where did you buy this food from?"

"Hehe, it was made by Miss Shen. I ate at her place before coming back."

Xiao Ji then realized he was hungry, put his food aside, and began to eat seriously.

He helped organize the clues, something he was already very familiar with.

As Lord Xiao once said, everyone has a different perspective on issues, and their views are sometimes very important.

Magistrate Xu arrived late, and upon entering the house and smelling the aroma of the food, he jokingly remarked to Xiao Ji, "I just saw Minister Zhao's carriage leaving; it turns out it was there to deliver food to Lord Xiao."

Xiao Ji simply retorted with two words: "No."

The Zhao family sent him an invitation—an invitation to Madam Tong's 60th birthday celebration.

As for why it wasn't the Tong family who delivered it, Xiao Ji couldn't figure it out either.

"Does Lord Xu have any unresolved cases on his hands?"

"No, the yamen has just opened, and it's just that Lord Xiao was unlucky enough to run into him."

Judge Xu was really curious about what he was eating, so he went closer and saw that it was a plate of braised pork and a plate of fish.

The fish slices were thin and translucent, and the broth poured on top smelled delicious, though I didn't know what was in it.

Xiao Ji quickly finished eating and cleaned up the dishes.

Seeing that Magistrate Xu hadn't left, he assumed that Xu wanted to discuss official business with him.

He then asked in a low voice, "Has Lord Xiao received the invitation from the Tong family?"

Xiao Ji asked curiously, "Why does Lord Xu ask this?"

Magistrate Xu came from a poor family and had little influence in Bianjing. He had worked hard for half his life to get to where he is today.

He had always wanted to find an opportunity to align himself with the Crown Prince's faction and do something in advance so that he could have a good position in the court in the future.

"Given Lord Xiao's family background, the Tong family will surely invite you. I wonder if you could show me the world?"

Xiao Ji was displeased.

He said casually, "If I'm too busy with official business, I might not go."

Magistrate Xu thought to himself: This is the confidence of a scion of a powerful family. He just threw away such a good opportunity.

Of course, it could just be a pretext for Xiao Ji's desolation.