diymy Chapter 8 involves the Rongguo Mansion.
Chapter 8 involves the Rongguo Mansion.
The post station in the north of the capital city.
Half an hour ago, Jia Huan arrived here with two strongmen, Li Shun and Wang Ren.
Accompanying them were several coroners and the hound Lightning.
At this moment, Li Shun and Wang Ren had already sealed off the scene, and the coroners had completed the preliminary autopsy of Zhang Cheng's body.
When the autopsy results were handed to Jia Huan, he stared at them intently and took a deep breath.
"Zhang Cheng had no marks of resistance on his body; the only fatal wound was a single slap to the forehead."
"So, he must have been instantly subdued by a master and killed with a single palm strike. It seems the killer's martial arts skills were extraordinary."
"The palm print on the forehead is poisoned. This poison is very similar to the modus operandi of the Blood Shadow Cult, a heretical sect in the martial arts world, which is documented in the archives of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Therefore, there is a high probability that the murderer is a high-ranking member of the Blood Shadow Cult."
"But there is another possibility: the real killer is someone else. The real killer used a method that imitated the Blood Shadow Cult to frame the Blood Shadow Cult," Jia Huan thought to himself.
Afterwards, Jia Huan pondered the information from the autopsy while carefully searching the inn.
The murderer killed the people swiftly and quickly, so it was impossible for him to leave many traces in the inn.
But not leaving too many traces does not mean there are no traces at all.
After a careful search, Jia Huan still discovered a clue.
"There were slight footprints on the windowsill of the inn, and a faint smell lingered around the footprints."
"This smell is somewhat like exotic spices, and somewhat like inferior medicinal herbs. I can't quite put my finger on it, but one thing is certain: this scent is definitely not something that items from an inn could emit."
"Lightning, take a good sniff of this scent and write it down," Jia Huan said.
Woof! Woof!
After barking twice, the white-faced yellow dog began to sniff carefully with its nose.
It quickly memorized this unique flavor.
"The lingering scent of the killer is indeed a clue to solving the case, but it's far from enough."
"What other clues can we find in this inn?" Jia Huan wondered to himself.
He currently has very few leads on this case, only two in total.
First, the perpetrator is suspected to be a high-ranking member of the Blood Shadow Cult.
Secondly, the peculiar smell lingering on the windowsill is very likely left by the murderer.
This few clues are far from enough to help Jia Huan solve the case, so he has to come up with something else.
Just as Jia Huan was deep in thought, Li Shun suddenly turned around and gave him a reminder.
"Lord Jia, I've been working for Lord Zhang for quite some years now, and as far as I know, he has a little habit of making hidden pockets in the sleeves of his clothes."
"I would occasionally slip notes into the hidden pockets on my sleeves, and the information on those notes was usually important," Li Shun said.
After Li Shun finished speaking, Wang Ren, who was standing to the side, also said:
"I remember now, Lord Zhang does indeed have this habit."
Upon hearing this, Jia Huan was first taken aback, then his face lit up with ecstatic joy.
A third important clue might be on its way!
"You've done a great job! If there really is important information in Lord Zhang's sleeve pocket, then I will recommend you two for commendation after this case is solved!" Jia Huan said.
"Then thank you very much, Lord Jia!"
Then, Jia Huan quickly walked to Zhang Cheng's body and began to grope his sleeves.
Li Shun and Wang Ren turned around and continued to cordon off the scene.
A short while later, Jia Huan found the hidden pocket on Zhang Cheng's sleeve and discovered half a burned piece of paper inside.
The remaining writing on the note was very blurry, and only three words could be made out.
But these three words, when they fell into Jia Huan's eyes, stirred up a storm in his heart.
"Rongguo Mansion, silver and money, western suburbs businesses."
"This matter actually involves the Rongguo Mansion? And it's related to their money, so it's highly likely that Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng are involved, since they're the ones managing the Rongguo Mansion's business and finances!"
"I never thought that my investigation would lead me to my own family. It seems I need to go see Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng immediately," Jia Huan said, making up his mind.
Afterwards, Jia Huan instructed Li Shun and Wang Ren to continue sealing off the scene, while he himself rushed to the Rongguo Mansion, heading straight for Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng's residence.
……
At this moment, Jia Lian was in a good mood and was strolling around the Jia mansion with a lewd smile on his lips.
He was a very lustful man, and one Wang Xifeng could not satisfy him.
So at this moment, Jia Lian is thinking about which girl he should seduce next.
However, just as Jia Lian's lewd smile grew increasingly lewd, a voice rang out.
"Second Brother Lian, I have something I'd like to ask you and your wife. I hope you can cooperate."
Upon hearing this, Jia Lian turned around and saw Jia Huan, who was dressed in a black robe and holding a waist knife.
"Brother Huan? I heard you recently joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard and became a guard. You're here in this uniform now, could it be that you've encountered some difficulties while investigating a case and need my help?" Jia Lian said with a smile.
Jia Huan nodded.
He urgently needs to obtain relevant clues about the case from Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng.
Jia Huan made no attempt to hide anything and directly revealed his purpose for coming.
"Recently, a junior officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard died, which has enraged the higher-ups, who have ordered the case to be solved as soon as possible."
"While I was investigating the case, I stumbled upon a connection that seemed to be related to the Rongguo Mansion's business."
"As far as I know, most of the Rongguo Mansion's businesses are managed by my second brother and sister-in-law, so I had no choice but to ask my second brother about this matter."
"Second Brother Lian, have you had any dealings with the businesses in the western suburbs recently?" Jia Huan asked.
Upon hearing Jia Huan's words, Jia Lian's heart skipped a beat.
He was well aware of how serious the crime of killing a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was, even if it was just a minor officer.
So when Jia Lian heard Jia Huan say that the Rongguo Mansion's business was involved in the case of killing the Imperial Guards, he panicked instantly and subconsciously wanted to deny it.
"Brother Huan, even if you gave me ten thousand lives, I wouldn't dare kill a member of the Imperial Guard! That's a crime punishable by the confiscation of your property and the extermination of your entire family!"
"As for the businesses in the western suburbs, I haven't done business with them at all during this period of time," Jia Lian said tremblingly.
Upon hearing this, Jia Huan sighed and then took out a cyan token.
The token bears the four large characters "Beizhen Fusi".
"Second Brother Lian, you must see this carefully. This is a token given to me by a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Seeing this token is like seeing him in person."
"Are you sure you want to lie to a commander of the Imperial Guard?" Jia Huan said coldly.
hiss! ! !
The moment Jia Lian saw the cyan token, he immediately gasped.
He knew this matter could no longer be hidden.
If you conceal it, you will offend a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!
The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was able to mobilize a large number of investigative forces to thoroughly investigate Jia Lian.
Can Jia Lian withstand scrutiny?
Of course it can't withstand it!
If they really investigate him thoroughly, he'll most likely end up in prison.
Therefore, Jia Lian would never dare to offend a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.