Homicide

Time flew by quickly once everyone focused on what they had to do.

Two days passed before everyone gathered again.

Song Caitang wasted no time. She held a hand warmer and had barely seated herself comfortably when she started with her autopsy results, “Lv Mingyue suffered fractures all over her body, the worst one being her spine. Her internal organs were all ruptured and bleeding, her skull was damaged and every wound found on her occurred just before she died and none after. Lv Mingyue definitely died from falling from a high place.”

Qi Yan knew Song Caitang well enough to know that based on her expression, there was more to come. “But…?”

“But… I found pretty high end wine and meat in her stomach, as well as some knock-out drugs.”

Qi Yan put a hand over his mouth in shock. “Knock-out drugs? So, she became dizzy after getting drugged and killed herself?!”

Zhao Zhi tapped his knuckles against the table and glared at Qi Yan. “Shush.”

Song Caitang wrapped her long, slim fingers around the hand warmer and looked at Qi Yan with a raised eyebrow. “There is another possibility.”

Qi Yan clamped his hand over his mouth even harder. His eyes widened and he even started to stammer, “Y-you m-m-mean…”

Lv Mingyue had been drugged, carried up, then thrown down?

“When I cut her body open, Coroner Zhou was beside me to help. When I cut her stomach open, I smelled something odd, but I didn’t know what it was. It was the extremely experienced Coroner Zhou who was able to tell me that this was a knock-out drug that is very high in quality, available in very small quantities, sold very expensively and requires a lot of ingredients. Those without enough money and influence won’t be able to get their hands on this.”

Song Caitang’s voice was slow and crisp, like pearls falling on a jade plate. “The victim’s abdomen and shoulders have some shallow marks, like she had been held tightly or something.”

For most people, if they were fully awake and aware of what they were doing, they wouldn’t hug themselves so hard that they would bruise themselves. But if that person wasn’t conscious, they might hold themselves in a bad position or hold themselves for too long, which would leave such traces behind.

The victim had fallen from a high place, so she suffered a lot of scratch wounds when she landed. The marks Song Caitang found weren’t very obvious, but if you took the time to differentiate the wounds, you would notice the difference.

Song Caitang and Coroner Zhou had checked several times and came to the same conclusion.

Zhao Zhi nodded, then began to share his findings. “The handwriting on the letter has been confirmed to be Lv Mingyue’s, but the ink traces look like this wasn’t just written, but prepared days ago. The paper is a problem too. The Lvs spoil their daughter a lot, so they even custom make the paper she uses. This paper is made from the pulp of a pear tree and is commonly known as sweet fragrance paper. It’s not very well made paper, so most educated people don’t like using it. Most families find it too expensive for its quality as well, so it’s not sold on the open market. Only the Lv buy this paper just for Lv Mingyue.”

In other words, you couldn’t find this paper anywhere else. Only Lv Mingyue had it.

Song Caitang recalled, “Everything in Lv Mingyue’s room is accounted for, so when she went missing and I went to look at her room, I watched the maid count every item in the room. She didn’t report any paper missing.”

Lv Mingyue had left very suddenly, so she only took what she figured she would need. She didn’t take any writing paper with her.

This was paper that you couldn’t buy from the shops and Lv Mingyue did not bring any along. How did it end up at the scene of the crime?

“We’ve also found where Lv Mingyue was staying during this time. It’s just outside the temple, this small, empty residence. No paper was found inside, it’s fairly clean and neat too. It seems she didn’t intend to stay there for too long.” Zhao Zhi went on, “As for whether she showed any signs of possibly wanting to commit suicide, she didn’t show any. She had become nervous, paranoid and panicky, but she never joked about committing suicide, arranged for what will happen after her death, give away her prized possessions or even talk about it.”

He suspected that Lv Mingyue only intended to escape for whatever reason, but had not intended to die.

Zhao Zhi’s eyes shone brightly against his thick eyebrows. “Also, I’ve already confirmed with Mr. and Mrs. Lv that Lv Mingyue is not their biological daughter and that Lv Mingyue knew. But they were still able to live together harmoniously. The couple have always doted on her and made sure that she never got bullied. They did everything they could to bring her up like she was the daughter of an aristocrat, so she had no feuds with anybody. Also, they have no idea who Lv Mingyue’s biological parents are.”

Song Caitang rotated the hand warmer and narrowed her eyes. “There must be some other reason why they would treat her like she’s a god then.”

Of course, not every adoptive parent was abusive or distant from their adopted children. Most of them were kind and upright people. Once they had accepted the child, they would take responsibility for the child, including teaching and disciplining the child properly. It was impossible to find parents who would indulge the child 100% of the time and allow them to do absolutely anything they wanted.

Qi Yan slapped his thigh hard. “Tangtang is truly a genius! You’re right! There’s a good reason!”

He was the one who helped Zhao Zhi investigate this part.

After all, he was an expert at gathering juicy gossip!

“This Lv couple only have one son. Shortly after giving birth to this son, Madam Liu fell very ill and could not have children anymore after that, but the couple really wanted a daughter because they felt that having a son and daughter would make them feel more complete. But they didn’t want a child from a poor family, and no wealthy family would give their children away, so they left this matter alone. Until 18 years ago…”

“Someone gave them a baby girl. She was adorable and her swaddling clothes and blanket were intricately designed, so she was definitely from a pretty well-to-do family. The couple was pleasantly surprised. But after they decided to take the child in, they realized something amiss. Within a few days, they received a huge sum of money and a letter. The letter said that this money was for the daughter and told them to bring her up well. If they did not do their job well, they would be killed.”

Qi Yan rested one foot over his other knee and said quietly, “The bills were officially issued by the government, and so were the pieces of silver. That’s normal money for people like us, and it wasn’t even that much. But for a small-time merchant like the Lvs, this was alarming. The couple immediately made sure they treated the girl like a god. She was very sheltered and a little dense.”

The person who had given them the money had to be either Lv Mingyue’s biological father or mother.

Based on experience, it was probably the mother.

After all, all women knew which baby was theirs, since they were the ones who actually gave birth to the baby. But some men just slept around and had no idea how many children they had out there.

“And then? No further clues?” Song Caitang stared at Qi Yan. “Exactly who was Lv Mingyue? Did the person who gave them the money appear again? The couple didn’t try to find out at all?”

Qi Yan shook his head. “The other party was very secretive and only came once. The Lvs are a very timid couple who dare not challenge authority and dared not try to investigate. They were also afraid of gossip and afraid that her true identity might bring them trouble, so they moved house more than once and even changed her name before.”

So the Lvs had completely no idea who in the world Lv Mingyue’s biological parents were and didn’t even dare to think about it. They just lived from day to day and only thought about making sure she married well.

“The Lvs don’t know, but… someone else does.”

Song Caitang touched the design on the hand warmer and whispered to Zhao Zhi, “Any news from Mrs. Ji?”

Madam Gu should have straightened her thoughts out by now.

“Before you got here, someone came to tell me that Madam Gu wants to meet you.” Zhao Zhi looked at her, “I’ve given instructions to get everything ready, so you can go and see her now.”

Song Caitang fluttered her eyes and her lips curled into an especially sweet smile.

What a wonderful coincidence! She got exactly what she wanted when she needed it and she felt that she had been pretty lucky so far. She could definitely wrap up this case smoothly!

She got up immediately. “Let’s go then.”

“Wait!” Qi Yan remembered something and pulled a small item out from his pocket. “When I went to Lv Mingyue’s home with Brother Zhi, I happened to look through Lv Mingyue’s dowry and found something that’s a little more unique, so I kept it. It might come in useful!”

Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang turned to stare at Qi Yan at the same time, but with different looks in their eyes.

Zhao Zhi was frowning. When did you steal something? And I didn’t even know about it! Your hands really need to be taught a good lesson!

Song Caitang’s eyes lit up, however. Good job! You’re really good at this!

“That works too. I could get Mrs. Ji to see if she recognizes it.”

When Song Caitang wasn’t around, Qi Yan would listen to everything Zhao Zhi said. But when Song Caitang was around, then Zhao Zhi could only take second place. He didn’t care if Zhao Zhi was happy or not. He only cared if his Tangtang was happy!

So, when Song Caitang validated his actions, he immediately straightened up and folded his hands behind his back with a smug smile on his face. Who cared about Brother Zhi? Who was that even?!

Zhao Zhi really felt like punching Qi Yan in the face.

The three of them left for the jail where Madam Gu was with different expressions on their faces and thoughts in their hearts.

The case was still under investigation and Madam Gu remained a suspect, so even though Zhao Zhi was the official in charge of the case, he couldn’t just release Madam Gu like that. But he could arrange for her to be transferred to a warm and comfortable room.

When Madam Gu was transferred to that warm and comfortable room and she saw the three of them, she looked slightly surprised.

Song Caitang knew that she was surprised by the presence of Qi Yan.

“I have to be honest with you, Mrs. Ji. Mr. Qi has been helping with the investigation so far, so I’m afraid he has to be involved in this matter too.”

Madam Gu raised her right hand to stop Song Caitang from going on. “Just like how you can’t contain fire in a paper bag, even the best kept secrets will be exposed someday. I knew this day would come sooner or later, so I’m prepared to face it. You don’t have to apologize, Miss Song.”

As long as the authorities continued investigating this case, her secret would be exposed one day. She was already grateful that Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang had handled this matter with care and made sure that it was kept within a small group.

Besides, Song Caitang could have chosen not to tell her about Qi Yan’s involvement. As long as Qi Yan didn’t turn up, she would never have known that Qi Yan knew about this too.

Song Caitang had proved to be someone sincere and truthful. She had not hidden anything from her and had given her due respect too.

Madam Gu looked deeply at Song Caitang, observing her long brows, her clear eyes, her long neck, her slim and fair hands. This girl was very pretty.

She was pretty and had a good heart. What a rarity.

No wonder Old Madam Li liked this girl so much.

Qi Yan patted his chest and promised Madam Gu, “Mrs. Ji, don’t worry, I will not go around and tell anybody about these things. If I hear of any rumors that might affect you, I will think of a way to dispel them.”

They both lived in Bianliang and hailed from influential families, so Madam Gu did know who Qi Yan was. While she had not interacted with him much because their age and circles were different, she had heard a lot about Qi Yan and knew about his capabilities.

She did not turn him down and smiled brightly at him. “I have to thank you in advance then.”

“You’re welcome!” Qi Yan pointed to an empty chair at the table. “Please take a seat.”

Once they were all seated, the atmosphere clearly became tense again.

The prison was dim, cold, and silent. Only the fire in the burner burned brightly and gave off an occasional cracking sound. That was the only tiny source of warmth here.

“Miss Song, your guess was right.”

After a long silence, Madam Gu finally started speaking. Her voice was a little low and quiet.

She was a decisive person, so if she hadn’t come to a decision yet, she wouldn’t allow anyone else to even figure anything out. But once she had decided, she would not hesitate further, even if this was the most painful and shameful thing she had experienced in her life.

“Eighteen years ago, I was kidnapped and… I gave birth to a daughter.”

Once she said that, the room seemed to become even quieter.

“I was barely 14 and was not engaged to anyone yet. My family could not accept this child and did not care about what I thought. I played dead, I styled my hair like a married woman – none of my protests worked or had any effect. I could only watch as my family sent her away.”

Song Caitang rolled her sleeves back slightly to pick up the teapot, poured out some hot tea and pushed it into Madam Gu’s hands.

This was not a past that anybody would be proud to talk about. No matter how strong Madam Gu was, it would be hard for her to speak about this without any emotions. Her gaze was lowered and her lips were pale. She instinctively took the cup from Song Caitang and forgot to even say thank you.

Qi Yan glanced at Zhao Zhi. The two men felt a little awkward.

Making a woman revisit her old wounds was not a pleasant thing at all.