The room fell silent for a mont before Long Yue spoke, "It seems that person was silenced before they could talk. But I’m really curious, since they wanted to silence them, why didn’t they dispose of the body? Doesn’t this leave evidence for others?"
Wasn’t this behavior a bit foolish?
"Perhaps the enemy left clues on purpose, just to mislead us!"
Li Qingmu analyzed calmly.
The real enemy would never leave such a big mistake as evidence, so this is the only possibility!
And many people could easily fall into this trap.
Imdiately, everyone nodded.
"Let’s go, we need to check out what’s happening at Jingzhao Mansion!"
Jingzhao Mansion.
Zhao ngran looked at a corpse on the ground and asked the forensic doctor beside him, "Have you noticed anything?"
"Reporting to you, sir, the person was directly slashed across the throat with a sharp weapon from the front, leading to asphyxiation. Moreover, the technique was very professional. Look, the cut is extrely neat, just like a line, with no sign of any hand tremor."
The forensic doctor bent down, reaching out to show the wound to Zhao ngran.
Zhao ngran rubbed his eyebrows, saying, "This should be a revenge killing. The silver notes were still on him, so it wasn’t for robbery. In that case, the case can be closed, though finding the murderer might be difficult!"
It’s really hard to find the killer based solely on a corpse and a wound, especially with no eyewitnesses nearby at the ti.
"Check whether this person offended anyone recently? Look into his family’s situation, quickly go!"
Zhao ngran waved a hand, and soone stepped out from behind him.
However, just a short ti later, they returned.
Zhao ngran was puzzled, "What’s wrong?"
"Sir, Mr. Li and Lady Jiao have arrived!"
This Lady Jiao had previously helped Zhao ngran find the murderer of his son, allowing him to be laid to rest. Upon hearing this, Zhao ngran said, "Let’s go welco them!"
Zhao ngran, accompanied by several subordinates, went out to greet them, "Mr. Li, it’s an honor to have you visit. May I know how I can assist you?"
"I heard there was a case here and wanted to see the deceased."
Hmm? Zhao ngran was taken aback.
This seems a bit inappropriate. I’m handling a case here, and you are the Imperial Censor, responsible for impeaching and supervising officials. Are you here to impeach ?
That thought flashed by quickly, and Zhao ngran shook it off. If Li Qingmu wanted to impeach him, there’s no need for such hassle, so it must really be sothing important.
He imdiately led them inside.
A corpse lay on a stretcher in the hall, not yet covered by a white cloth. The deceased’s eyes were open, pupils dilated, and the expression on the face was terrifying due to asphyxiation, scaring Ning Xiang, who had co along, into a scream.
Li Qingmu turned to block Long Yue’s view, "Do you want to step outside?"
It’s not good for her to see such a grueso sight.
But Long Yue simply shook her head, "I am not afraid of these things!"
Li Qingmu was taken aback—after all, Long Yue could fight in battles, so how could this kind of thing scare her?
Li Qingmu walked over to the corpse, glancing at it, he confird the forensic doctor’s conclusion but then his gaze fell on the corpse’s hand.
The dead typically have clenched fists, so people generally don’t look at their hands, yet Li Qingmu instinctively took a glance.
With just a glance, he noticed sothing seed to be hidden in the fingers.
"A shao, co over and help open his hand!"
Cao Xiao was a bit reluctant but complied.
As they pried open the tight fist, a small amount of powder fell from his fingers.
Duanmu Nan stepped forward to inspect, nodding, "That’s the kind of incense, the toxic incense!"
"What kind of incense?"
Zhao ngran was bewildered, thinking this was just an ordinary murder case. Why did poison co into play now? His head was buzzing. If murder involved poisoning, then things just got complicated.
It was frustrating for him. In recent years, everything had been harmonious, and there were only small cases here and there. Why have problems kept cropping up these past two years?
While Zhao ngran was feeling frustrated, Li Qingmu had already pried open the other hand of the deceased, and a small round bead fell from the palm.
The small bead had a silver chain, obviously ant to be worn. The sphere emitted a purple glow, as if stars inside were twinkling, incredibly beautiful—a veritable priceless treasure!
It’s laughable that such a treasure would be in the hands of a small vendor!
"This item..." Li Qingmu took the bead, looking at Zhao ngran, "Lord Zhao, with your extensive knowledge, do you recognize the origin of this bead?"
"This..."
Zhao ngran’s scalp went numb seeing the bead; he knew sothing big was happening, indeed sothing big!
Although he didn’t know why Li Qingmu was investigating this matter, his instinct as an official told him it wasn’t simple.
"This bead was a gift from the Emperor to Princess Consort Zhen. Princess Consort Zhen treats it as a treasure and wears it during every grand feast."
"Princess Consort Zhen?"
Li Qingmu squinted his eyes; earlier, Long Yue had ntioned that during her visit to Xiangguo Temple, the Seventh Prince’s concubine, Lady Xiang, tried to curry favor with her and said she would gift her the incense from Beibing i.
And here, the scattered powder was indeed Beibing i!
In this way, all signs point to the Seventh Prince, Qi Junchen, intending to harm Yue’er!
But isn’t this ridiculous? Harming Yue’er, causing a rift with Li Qingmu, how would it benefit him? Not at all!
The adversary only intends to exploit Li Qingmu’s potential grief over his wife’s death to irrationally target Qi Junchen.
All of this, however, was uncovered before it could unfold!
"This case... could be problematic!"
Zhao ngran felt a headache.
"Not a problem; just handle it as a normal murder case. As for this bead, it needs to be returned to its rightful owner!"
Li Qingmu put the bead away, Zhao ngran thought about stopping him, but reconsidered and decided not to. The fact that the Princess Consort’s item ended up in the hands of a lowly vendor would certainly cause a substantial commotion once it reached the court. Li Qingmu taking it away was actually a relief for him.
"By the way, Lord Zhao, was the corpse found near Xiangman Garden?"
"No, it was discovered by the river hundreds of miles away. A civilian witnessed a shadow lurking and chose not to disturb it. After the shadow left, they went to check and found the body lying by the riverbank. Later, we searched around and found bloodstains in that alley."
"I understand, sir. We’ll handle this matter, and I’d appreciate it if you could keep it quiet."
Zhao ngran was taken aback, "Why?"
"Because the person the mastermind wanted to harm is my wife. This is a personal matter, and we’ll handle it ourselves."
Instantly, a weight was lifted from Zhao ngran’s heart.
They were attempting to harm Lady Jiao? In that case, indeed, it should be handled by Li Qingmu himself, allowing Zhao ngran to extricate himself.
Zhao ngran felt his mindset was not very noble and awkwardly smiled at Li Qingmu, "In that case, I’ll leave it to you, Mr. Li. If you need any help from later, just send soone to tell , and I’ll certainly assist!"
"Alright, thank you!"
Leaving Jingzhao Mansion, upon returning to the General Mansion, Li Qingmu went directly to find Qi Junchen.
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