“I do,” Su Yunkai said slowly. “It’s all too coincidental, so there has always been a cloud of doubt in my heart. The suspect didn’t kill anyone before, but when we started investigating the stolen goods in the tree, there was a murder. That was clearly for the purpose of chasing us away. Still, the treasure has already been transferred, so it’s not necessary for the people who store the things to commit murder. This means that we have somehow crossed the bottom line of the murderer.”
“Was it the owner of the stolen goods? The mysterious patron?”
“Not necessarily. As I said before, the stolen goods were very important to the patron, but as they were stolen goods, the patron couldn’t simply take them back. There’s nothing wrong with stolen goods reappearing. However, a homicide case would be more complicated and serious. The government is required to trace it until the end. Since the transfer of stolen goods should be secretive, why would the patron make matters worse by complicating the case with homicide?”
Ming Yue felt that she was still thinking too simply. After he said this, she straightened out her thinking. “That is to say, the patron is not the murderer. Nor are the people who are moving the treasure chest. The murderer’s purpose is also not to protect the treasure chest. Then, what is their purpose?” She felt a headache coming on. “It’s over. After we analyze this, there’s another case.”
There was a case in a case in a case. Ming Yue felt that this kind of brain-taxing matter should be left to Su Yunkai. The more she thought about it, the messier it became.
Su Yunkai also couldn’t understand the murderer’s purpose. What was the person hiding?
He already ordered the yamen officers to look for the place where Chang De was killed, which should be near the banyan tree. Since he was hung on the tree soon after being killed and before the blood congealed, the murder site must be nearby. He suspected that there would be a report soon.
Sure enough, before they reached the entrance of the village, an officer reported that they had found the place.
*
The place where Chang De met his demise was no different from what Ming Yue had surmised. It was a wasteland without cultivation. Before, it was used as a place for making porcelain. Now, there were stones scattered all around and bloodstains that couldn’t be ignored.
The officers found it by following the blood trail from the banyan tree. The wound had been in the throat, so there was a lot of blood flowing. It hadn’t been obvious at night, but the murderer’s cruelty was evident.
Ming Yue walked along the bloodstains and found a bloody puddle. Looking further ahead, there was no trace of blood. It seemed that this was indeed the place where Chang De was captured and killed. Perhaps because he struggled, the stones on the ground were arched into a pit. The general marks of friction coincided with the injuries on Chang De’s back.
“Uncle Chang was killed here.”
Su Yunkai looked around at the surroundings. The weeds around here were very high. If he hadn’t pushed aside the bushes in advance, he would’ve thought there was no way to enter. When he went to the half-collapsed cave where porcelain was once made, he saw that the stone wall was slightly worn. There was a thread of silk caught on the wall, which matched Chang De’s clothing. “This should be the place where Uncle Chang was tied up.”
Mingyue also went to have a look. After twisting the silk thread, she saw a piece of clothing the size of a fingernail hanging on it. She sniffed it gently and said, “Uncle Chang liked to drink when he had the chance. He often smelled like wine, similar to the scent on this fabric fragment. What’s strange is that Uncle Chang was dragged here and no one even noticed. It wasn’t dark yet at that time, right?”
Su Yunkai examined the surroundings carefully. After a while, he said, “Uncle Chang was not dragged in. He came in by himself.” He pointed to a small puddle in a half-broken porcelain piece in the distance. “It hasn’t been raining these days. This place is a wasteland, so no one comes here. Unlike the area we just walked through, where there was farmland on both sides and water pits scattered around, this place is different.”
Ming Yue was waiting for him to go on but noticed that he had paused. Unexpectedly, Lord Xu added, “My lord is saying that the coachman wanted to find a place to use the restroom and it ended up being here.”
“Ah…” This was a circle full of adult men. She had not yet married and she felt a little embarrassed. “So it was like that.”
Su Yunkai moved past the subject and said, “The murderer probably wasn’t waiting here to ambush Uncle Chang. After all, this action of Uncle Chang’s was unpredictable, so he might have been followed.”
This caught everyone’s attention.
“Why did it have to be the lord’s coachman?” Lord Xu asked in confusion.
“Because the perpetrator’s purpose was to stop me from pursuing this matter, although I don’t know what he is trying to hide. Ming Yue and I have always been together. Qin Fang is always in the An residence. Bai Shui has also always been with the other yamen officers. Only Chang De has been alone, so he was the easiest to kidnap.”
Lord Xu understood it, but there was still one thing he didn’t understand. “Why did my lord send people to follow Sun He? I’m not familiar with the other two, but Sun He is quite knowledgeable and intelligent. Moreover, he’s a linsheng, a scholar who lives on government grants, from my county. What caused my lord’s suspicion?”
Not every scholar could become a linsheng. Only those who passed the exam and had superior knowledge could do so. They could go to the county yamen to get some money and food every month. It was a measure taken by the imperial court to facilitate the studies of Confucian scholars. The knowledgeable and studious were likely to pass the provincial examination in the future, and they would receive scholarly honors. Therefore, all county officials who were not muddleheaded would want to have good relationships with their linsheng. Once the linsheng became officials, as they could be considered the students of the county officials, the linsheng would bring honor to the county officials. It might even help the officials in terms of politics.
Su Yunkai said, “I suspect that he and the nursery rhyme… Wait, linsheng? Sun He is a linsheng?”
His tone of his voice was suddenly different and his face solemn. Lord Xu was nervous, unsure if he had said something wrong. “Yes, linsheng.”
Su Yunkai frowned and asked, “I recall that when we went to the county yamen to investigate cases, there happened to be a group of linsheng coming to the yamen to collect money and food.”
Lord Xu nodded, “Yes, Sun He was there, but he was about to leave at that time. They all stepped to the side to see you off. Sun He must have recognized you. After you left, he asked me who you were. He has a good brain and recognizes people well. “
After he spoke, he saw the handsome scholar’s face carry a light sneer. Lord Xu did not dare say more.
Ming Yue knew what he was thinking. Sun He clearly recognized them that day but pretended not to know them.
Moreover…moreover, Sun He, Zhu Ankang and An Dexing were good friends. It was very likely that Zhu Ankang and An Dexing had known their identities for a long time via Sun He.
“My lord.” From afar, someone called. It was Bai Shui. She stepped over the grass, went straight to Su Yunkai, and whispered in his ear. This one sentence enabled Su Yunkai’s messy thoughts to find an outlet. He started to draw silk from the cocoon.
Speaking again, he was calmer. “Lord Xu, find two yamen officers who can handle affairs reliably.”
There was one thing he couldn’t figure out. As long as he found out what he needed to know in the end, he could solve all his doubts.
He decided to go back and think about it again. There must be something he had neglected. He just lacked that one last thing. Before he even took two steps forward, Ming Yue’s footsteps slowed. Su Yunkai looked back at her and saw her bending over to touch her shoes. He went over and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know what it is, but something’s poking my foot.” She touched the area but didn’t find any stones. She frowned. After thinking about it, she grabbed his arm with one hand and stood on one foot so she could peer at the sole of her left foot. On the sole of the shoe, she had been pricked by some pieces of ceramic. “No wonder it hurts so much, it actually pierced through.”
This was Su Yunkai’s third time looking at these shoes. This time, they had been pricked by broken pieces and appeared even more raggedy. Su Yunkai stood in place like a pine cypress, letting her stabilize herself as she shook her shoes clean. A moment later, she looked up suspiciously. “You walked around like me. How come you’re all right?”
Looking at his sole, Su Yunkai understood. “My sole is thick and most debris can’t be felt. Moreover, the uneven ground is even more difficult to feel.”
Ming Yue thought this was reasonable. After expending a considerable amount of effort cleaning everything up, she finally felt comfortable. “I’ll change into shoes with thicker soles next time.”
Su Yunkai looked at her shoes again. It was indeed time to change them.
*
Back in the village, Yang Jing had been waiting for a long time. Once he spotted them from afar, he ran over. Su Yunkai looked at him and asked, “What is it?”
Yang Jing said, “My lord, it is an injustice that our escort agency got involved in this matter. Half of our escort agency’s staff has already left. If we stay for a few days longer, it’s estimated that I can’t even afford to pay their salaries this month. Can you allow us to leave first?”
“I hope the chief escort will understand that there is a homicide case and that everyone is a suspect. No one can leave until the case is solved.”
Yang Jing hesitated for a moment before saying, “My son’s wound has broken out. There is no doctor in the village. I’m afraid the wound will spread and harm his muscles and bones. I must make this request.”
Su Yunkai understood why he was in a hurry to leave. “I was able to invite a doctor outside when I got poisoned. He is still in the village; you can have him take a look.”
Yang Jing did not have the means to leave. A doctor who could cure a lord’s illness definitely had merit, so Yang Jing could only agree. “I will bring that doctor over right now.”
Su Yunkai asked the officers to go and invite the doctor. When Su Yunkai and Ming Yue went into the yard, they headed towards the well to draw water and wash their hands.
Su Yunkai saw Ming Yue standing there in confusion, not knowing what she was thinking about. After thinking for a while, Ming Yue frowned and said, “Using basic logic, the wound on Yang An’s hand should’ve mended by now, even if it was serious, since he received the wound so long ago. How did it suddenly split open again? Did he run too much last night?”
The two mumbled sentences served the same purpose as two buckets of clear well water being poured over Su Yunkai’s head. The rope in Su Yunkai’s hand quietly fell away and the bucket of water sank with a “bang” back into the well, causing ripples to spread.
“Ming Yue, did he hurt his arm?”
Ming Yue, who was always sensitive regarding the topic of wounds, replied, “Yes.”
Su Yunkai said thoughtfully, “Let the officers go and call over the bodyguards from the Bafang Escort Agency secretly. Everyone except Yang An.”
Ming Yue frowned, not sure why he wanted to interrogate them. The officers didn’t know either, but they went immediately after receiving an order. They didn’t think too much into it, unlike Ming Yue.
.
A Hint of Spring 
Is Yang An the killer? Thanks for the chapter!
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