There is a god in the sky

Chapter 163 Jifeng Study 6

In the early hours of the morning, the Marquis of Pingyang, having received the news, also arrived.

He saw the uncollected corpse on the ground and smiled. "Your Criminal Investigation Department is quite cold-blooded in investigating cases. How can you bear to leave Lord Lai's body lying on the ground like this?"

Xiao Ji forbade anyone to touch the corpse.

Only a few people are allowed into the study; if too many people enter, some clues will inevitably be destroyed.

Xiao Ji felt dizzy and lightheaded; the aftereffects of excessive blood loss were appearing.

He had no energy for cryptic exchanges with the Marquis of Pingyang, so he went straight to the point and asked, "You shouldn't have come here, Marquis. You impeached Lord Lai, and then he was poisoned to death at home. You are also a suspect."

"What a joke! He colluded with others to sell gunpowder, and I, the Marquis, reported them, so how did I become a suspect?"

"Because Lord Lai refuses to admit your accusations."

Xiao Ji had already heard about the contents of the memorial that Vice Minister Lai had submitted today. He told the emperor that he did not know Magistrate Luo, had no connection with him, and could not possibly have conspired with him to sell gunpowder privately.

He was in charge of gunpowder, and he could have as much as he wanted, so why would he secretly steal and sell gunpowder?

Xiao Ji considered many possibilities tonight.

Lai Bin's trail was discovered by the Marquis of Pingyang. From the time he received the evidence to the time he reported it to the emperor, it only took three days.

"Is it possible that someone behind the scenes is deliberately misleading the Marquis?" Xiao Ji asked, rubbing his temples.

Marquis Pingyang was not stupid; he understood the meaning behind his words.

He laughed self-deprecatingly, "Do I look like a fool? Letting others lead me by the nose?"

“It’s been half a month since we intercepted the gunpowder, enough time for the person behind it to arrange a scapegoat,” Shen Lan reminded them.

They both assumed the other would choose to cut their losses and abandon Magistrate Luo.

But it's clear that a mere county magistrate couldn't handle such a big matter, so a high-ranking official had to step in to cover for him.

If things happen unexpectedly, they might indeed abandon a pawn like the Right Vice Minister of War.

However, it's impossible that the other side did nothing in the past two weeks except send assassins to intercept and kill them.

"What you need to do now is not to come here to see dead bodies, but to be careful to prevent the people around you from getting involved with the murderer."

Xiao Ji could not hide his sickly appearance; his handsome face was pale.

Sui Feng helped him up and said to Marquis Pingyang, "My lord, the murderer used poison and was also quite skilled in martial arts. Just now, the servants of the Lai family found a footprint in the corner of the backyard wall."

Nobody goes there normally; the footprints are most likely the murderer's.

Shen Lan recalled that she always climbed over the wall when she sneaked into Liu's mansion at night, and perhaps she had left footprints in hidden corners.

It seems we need to be more careful next time.

Marquis Pingyang was furious and felt that Xiao Ji was deliberately humiliating him.

How could a footprint be connected to the Marquis's mansion?

He turned and left, saying to Xiao Ji before he left, "Lord Xiao, everyone in the court is watching you. If you can't find the murderer, your reputation as a detective will be ruined."

Xiao Ji waved his hand, signaling the Lai family members to go into the study to tidy up.

Madam Lai fainted several times from crying, and was helped over by her eldest son.

Xiao Ji only told them about Lord Lai's cause of death and the murderer's method of committing the crime.

"The murderer came prepared. He not only knew the location of Lord Lai's study, but also observed Lord Lai's living habits. It was not a murder on impulse. I wonder who Lord Lai has offended?"

Madam Lai wiped away her tears and replied, "Master doesn't tell me about things in the yamen. He must have offended many people, but I don't know who would go to great lengths to kill him."

However, the Marquis of Pingyang's sudden accusation that he was illegally selling gunpowder is clearly an attempt to put the master to death; his intentions are despicable!

Lai Dalang said angrily, "The Marquis of Pingyang has expressed his desire to join the Ministry of War several times, but my father refused each time. I never expected that he would hold a grudge and frame my father for selling gunpowder privately!"

Xiao Ji suddenly realized that sending gunpowder to Marquis Pingyang was not a good idea.

As the saying goes, "A tall tree catches the wind," and Marquis Pingyang's high-profile actions have made him quite a few enemies.

After leaving the Lai residence, Xiao Ji parted ways with Magistrate Xu, and collapsed as soon as he got into the carriage.

"grown ups!"

Shen Lan hurriedly unbuckled his belt and took off his outer garment to check the wound.

There was blood on the bandage, and the wound had reopened. How could this be?

"Sui Feng, stop the car!" she shouted.

Sui Feng stopped the carriage, crawled inside, took a look, and then everything went black.

"What happened? Why did the adult's wound reopen? Has he not rested properly these past few days?" Shen Lan asked angrily.

Sui Feng complained helplessly, "Where is there any time to rest properly? On the first day after I woke up, people from the Zhao family came to visit, insisting on seeing the adults in person, saying that they were afraid that Miss Zhao would become a widow after marrying into the family."

Then all sorts of other things happened; even while lying in bed changing dressings, I still had to read official documents.

Shen Lan was speechless.

"You servants can't say anything, but are Master Xiao and Madam Xiao just going to let him be bullied like this?"

"Master is busy with official duties and cannot attend to this matter. Madam... Madam has repeatedly given instructions, but there are simply too many things to do."

Shen Lan snorted coldly and took out the hemostatic medicine to reapply it.

"He only has one life. He's young and can handle it, but don't push him to his death. If you ask me, this marriage with the Zhao family doesn't seem like a good idea."

Xiao Ji slowly opened his eyes and turned to meet Shen Lan's gaze.

Shen Lan was embarrassed to be talking badly about someone's fiancée behind their back.

Xiao Ji laughed, "Thank you for your concern, Miss Shen. I'm much better now."

"If you work this hard, I'm afraid I'll lose my job very soon."

Xiao Ji lay on the carriage, entrusting Shen Lan as if making his last wishes, "Jifeng Study is now yours. When I'm gone, just take care of the shop and live a good life. If it's not profitable, sell it and live off the rent."

Shen Lan couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"I'm just running the business for you, how can you just give me such a huge favor like that?"

"It's just a shop, but I heard you've run it very successfully. I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

The carriage continued on its way, first arriving at Shen Lan's residence, and only after watching her enter did it head towards the Xiao residence.

Upon arriving home, Sui Feng carried Xiao Ji through the door, where they happened to bump into Master Xiao, who was on his way to court.

Seeing his son in such a state, Master Xiao's face darkened. As he left, he instructed the gatekeeper, "No one is allowed to come and disturb the young master today!"

Feeling uneasy, he left his entourage behind to keep an eye on things, lest anyone outwardly comply but inwardly defy him.

Xiao Ji slept for most of the day before his dizziness and blurred vision subsided.

After drinking several bowls of nourishing soup, he felt full of energy.

He wanted to go to the Criminal Investigation Department to sort out Lord Lai's case, but found that he couldn't even leave his room.

Sui Feng whispered to him, "Today, the gatekeeper even stopped the Zhao family's maids from entering. You should be prepared, Master."

"What kind of mental preparation?"

"Of course, I'm mentally prepared for my future wife to be angry."

Xiao Ji didn't take it to heart, but instead instructed Sui Feng to select a few more capable people to help out at the bookstore.

"Remember, don't hire any servants who have signed contracts with the Xiao family."