There is a god in the sky

Chapter 170 The Dance Competition Scandal 5

Qingman is dead.

He died in the Bixiao Tower.

The first person to discover the body was her personal maid.

"I waited for a long time for the young lady to come out. I thought she was hiding inside crying because she didn't win the championship. But no matter how I knocked, no one answered, so I broke down the door and went in."

Who knew...who knew my daughter was hanging from the eaves, and when I pulled her down, she was already dead..."

The maid wailed and knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Please, esteemed gentlemen, do justice for my daughter!"

Today's dance competition is a grand event hosted by the Princess, who has not only invited noble ladies from various households but also many court officials to feast their eyes on the spectacle.

Who would have thought that a perfectly good competition would end with a death?

"What bad luck!" Young Master Lu turned and left.

The princess covered her nose and gave a wink to the female official beside her, who immediately ordered the maid to be dragged away.

The maidservant stretched out her hand and cried out, "Your Highness... please, for the sake of His Highness the Crown Prince, do justice for my young lady!"

"Wait!" the eldest princess said.

She sat upright in the chair, her brows and eyes sharp, and asked in a deep voice, "Is she one of the Crown Prince's people?"

Everyone outside says that Qingman is protected by the Crown Prince, so no one has been able to get close to her since she was put up for business.

Moreover, the Crown Prince gifted Qingman a gold-embroidered robe, which was priceless.

If he didn't genuinely like her, why would the Crown Prince be so attentive to a dancer?

The maid hesitated, but finally bit her lip and nodded, saying, "Yes, the Crown Prince is fond of my young lady!"

The princess had a half-smile on her face, beckoned the female official over, and whispered something in her ear.

After the female official left, the princess asked, "Who did you say you suspected was the murderer?"

The maidservant immediately answered loudly, "It's Lin Miaoniang! It must be her!"

"Oh? Where's the evidence?"

"I have no evidence, but it must be her. She must have known about last night's...the cause of the fire last night, which is why she killed my young lady!"

Last night, a flower boat caught fire, and Miao Niang fell into the water but was rescued. Today, she performed a dance on stage depicting an orphan girl's struggle for survival.

It was just a dance, yet it brought tears to the eyes of the audience.

Therefore, they won the championship almost without any suspense.

Miao Niang was still wearing that thin, dark red dress, shivering in the cold wind.

She slowly knelt down. "Your Highness, Miao Niang was drugged by villains last night. While trying to escape their assassination attempt, she jumped into the water and almost lost her life."

Thanks to the kind people who rescued her and brought Miao Niang to Bixiao Tower to participate in the competition, otherwise Miao Niang would definitely not be able to stand on the stage today.

Miao Niang still doesn't know who the murderer is, so how could she have killed someone?

"And this place is full of distinguished guests, including Her Highness the Princess. How could Miao Niang possibly dare to kill someone?"

She was so frail that she could hardly bear the weight of her clothes, and every move she made exuded a delicate charm.

Southern women are like water; let alone murder, no one would believe that she would even hit someone.

"You're lying!" the maid pointed at her and said, "About half an hour ago, you clearly saw Miss Qingman alone and even had an argument with her. You killed her in revenge!"

Miao Niang's eyes immediately reddened.

"I have met Qingman, but the argument was not because of what happened last night. It was because Miss Qingman was unhappy with my winning the championship and made some insulting remarks that I had to defend myself."

"But the strip of cloth that strangled my daughter was yours, wasn't it?"

Miao Niang looked at her in horror, then touched her own palm.

The long strip of cloth that had been wrapped around her hand was gone.

The eldest princess was impatient to listen to their argument.

"Alright, if it's a murder, just report it to the authorities."

Just then, the wife of the Minister of Justice was sitting nearby. She chimed in, "It is right to report this to the authorities. Magistrate Xu of the Judicial Commission is very skilled at solving cases."

"Oh, why doesn't Madam Zhao introduce her son-in-law, Lord Xiao? Are you afraid we'll try to steal him from you?"

The ladies let out all sorts of laughter, some genuine and some feigned.

What does the death of a dancer have to do with them? They're not as interesting as the son-in-law of the Minister of Justice.

The eldest princess had met Xiao Ji once and heard her son mention him several times, so she instructed, "Then go and invite Lord Xiao to come and investigate the case."

A life of quiet toil is destined for hardship.

Shen Lan muttered to herself.

Of course, as Xiao Ji's coroner, she also had a life of hard work.

However, she really had to go to Bixiao Tower, otherwise if Miaoniang was truly wronged, she would have to break her out of prison again.

Shen Lan followed Xiao Ji through the door carrying her suitcase. Everywhere they went, they saw ladies and young women in fine clothes.

She kept her head down, and could feel their gazes following Xiao Ji.

"The most handsome scholar in the imperial examination back then almost got selected as the third-ranked scholar by the emperor because of his face."

"It's such a pity that he wasted so many years of his life because of that Zhao family member."

"Who told them to act first? The Xiao family is truly a kind family; they didn't break off the engagement even after all this."

Upon arriving at the flower hall, a wonderful fragrance filled the air.

Shen Lan was not qualified to enter and stood outside the door to wait, while Xiao Ji went in to pay his respects to the Princess.

She heard the eldest princess say a few words of praise for Xiao Ji, and she also heard someone jokingly asking when Xiao Ji would get married.

It turns out that Madam Zhao was also inside.

Shen Lan raised her head slightly and found the person being teased among the group of young women.

Zhao Xuan, the daughter of the Minister of Justice, was nineteen years old. She wore a lake-blue stand-up collar jacket, a white pleated skirt embroidered with red irises, and her hair was styled in a flying bun. Her makeup was exquisite.

But perhaps because of shyness, she didn't look at Xiao Ji, and her face didn't show much emotion.

Xiao Ji greeted them and then withdrew without exchanging pleasantries with any acquaintances.

Shen Lan thought to herself: How many of these people are relatives of the Xiao family?

I wonder if Madam Xiao is sitting inside.

Xiao Ji came out and said softly to Shen Lan, "Let's go, let's go to the crime scene first."

Bixiao Tower is full of distinguished guests today. The second and third floors are full of guards, and only the first floor is a room for the dancers to rest.

There were guards outside Qingman's house, and the body lay flat on the ground.

The young maid was brought over and described the scene she saw upon entering the room.

Xiao Ji looked up at the rope that had been used to hang the man; it was a thin strip of white cloth.

He reached out and tugged at it, shaking his head and saying, "You can't hang someone with this strip of cloth."

Shen Lan immediately recognized it as the strip of cloth she had used to bandage Miao Niang's hand wound.

She crouched down, lifted the deceased's chin to examine the neck, and said, "There are two ligature marks, one thick and one thin. The thick one was made after the person was hung up, and the other one is very thin, like..."

Shen Lan looked around, got up and searched the room, finally untying a thin rope from the window.

She compared the thin rope to the mark, and they fit perfectly.

"The left window is missing a curtain cord, which should be the same as this one, and it was also the murder weapon used to strangle the victim."

Xiao Ji walked over and opened the window. Outside was a courtyard planted with many rare and exotic plants.

"So, this room is the primary crime scene."

Shen Lan nodded, "The deceased has been dead for less than an hour, and the body is not yet completely stiff."

That's true; in a place with so many people, a dead body would definitely be discovered very quickly.

Moreover, at this time, the competition had ended, and the event should have ended by now.