Shen Yuan had been dwelling on what she had "heard" today at the Dali Temple. She felt that it might be related to the case that had been troubling her father.
Thus, even though she knew she was bound to get a lecture, Shen Yuan still dutifully waited for her father to return home.
"Father!" As soon as Shen Yuan saw Shen Yun return, she hurried over to get on his good side. "Father, don't be in a hurry to get angry. I have something to tell you. Once I'm done, I'll beat it and stay out of your sight."
Seeing his daughter like this, Shen Yun knew there was definitely something wrong with Lin Yougui. Since the information had already come his way, he no longer needed to obsess over whether he was taking a shortcut. Lin Yougui had already been released; if there truly was a problem with him, wouldn't they have allowed a murderer to escape?
Once they reached the study, Shen Yuan asked impatiently, "Father, was that man behind Lord Xie today related to the case you've been worried about?"
Shen Yun did not answer. Instead, he asked his daughter, "What did you hear? Tell me everything, exactly as it happened."
Shen Yuan obediently recounted the words she had "heard." On her way home, she had been chanting those two sentences in her mind, not daring to miss a single word.
After listening, Shen Yun felt a sense of "as I suspected."
"Father?"
"Go back to your room first. Have dinner with your sister-in-law."
Shen Yuan was somewhat dissatisfied. "Father, you're killing the donkey once the grinding is done!"
"Are you the donkey?"
Shen Yuan left indignantly, deciding she would never bother with her father's affairs again.
After Xie Hui arrived at Linjia Village, he requested to look around the Lin house again. Lin Yougui did not object, instead allowing him to wander through the rooms.
In Lin Yougui’s mind, the fact that he had returned to Linjia Village meant the Dali Temple could do nothing to him. Furthermore, Xie Hui was young and looked every bit the noble young master; Lin Yougui simply did not believe he was capable of investigating a case.
However, in front of everyone, he maintained an air of deep sorrow. When neighbors came to offer their condolences after his return, he actually managed to cry himself into a faint twice.
Seeing this, the villagers could not help but feel sympathetic. They didn't even care that Xie Hui and two constables were still present; while Xie Hui was inside the house and out of earshot, they began grumbling about the government's incompetence, complaining that the poisoner hadn't been caught after several days.
Perhaps they were too indignant, for the villagers didn't even notice when Xie Hui appeared behind them, and they continued speaking with even more fervor.
"A bunch of unruly peasants. What do they know?" the two constables following Xie Hui muttered indignantly.
Xie Hui himself walked inside as if nothing had happened. When the villagers saw him enter, they suspected he might have overheard their words. They dared to grumble behind his back, but to his face, they all shrank back like quails, fearing they might be hauled away by an official.
"Lin Yougui, do not leave this place casually for the next few days. If there are new leads, the Dali Temple will seek you out again."
"The Lord must be joking. My wife and children are all here; where could I go? Besides, I haven't even finished arranging their funerals." As he spoke, Lin Yougui began to shed tears again, putting on a perfect display of a broken heart.
After leaving Linjia Village, Xie Hui instructed the two constables to stay behind and keep an eye on Lin Yougui. "Just take note of where he goes and what he does. Do not expose yourselves. I will send someone to relieve you tomorrow."
The next day, Shen Yun arrived at his office early and began leafing through the case files. Based on what Manman had heard the previous day and comparing it with the testimonies taken after the crime, he truly did discover a slight anomaly.
The Dali Temple was staffed by one Chief Minister and two Junior Ministers. The Chief Minister of Dali Temple was advanced in years and was on the verge of retiring from office, so the vast majority of cases were handled by the two Junior Ministers; he only needed to make the final ruling.
This case was the same. Because of its heinous nature, it had been assigned to Shen Yun and Xie Hui to investigate jointly from the start.
Xie Hui also arrived very early. He had just sat down when Shen Yun came to his door.
"Lord Xie, did you discover any leads at the Lin house yesterday?"
Speaking of discoveries, Xie Hui actually had one.
"Yesterday, I looked around the Lin house and discovered that Lin Yougui and Chen Shi did not seem to live in the same room. Furthermore, Lin Yougui occupied the main room of the house."
Xie Hui was not married, but judging from his own parents, a couple in a harmonious relationship would certainly not sleep in separate rooms so easily.
They had also inspected the crime scene after it occurred. There were clothes belonging to Chen Shi in the cabinets of the main room, so they hadn't paid it much mind at the time.
However, yesterday he discovered that many of Chen Shi’s personal undergarments were kept in a small room on the east side of the courtyard. The clothes in the main room that belonged to her were mostly heavily creased and had a musty smell, suggesting they hadn't been worn in a long time.
Shen Yun reacted quickly as well. "Are you saying their relationship was discordant?"
This happened to match Lin Yougui’s "inner thoughts." Shen Yun handed the case file in his hand to Xie Hui. "Lord Xie, take a look at this."
It was a record of an interrogation. The person was a woman from the same village as Chen Shi’s natal family, Yu Liniang.
Seeing Xie Hui reading the file, Shen Yun spoke of his own thoughts.
"This Yu Liniang is from Chenjia Village. After the case broke, we only conducted simple questioning of the villagers. When nothing was found, I overlooked them." In truth, it was only after hearing what his daughter told him that he specifically took notice of this "Li Niang."
"Did Lord Shen find something?" Xie Hui knew that unless he had a major breakthrough, Shen Yun wouldn't have brought the case file to him.
"During the questioning, when asked if Chen Shi and Lin Yougui had conflicts with anyone, Yu Liniang specifically mentioned that she had married into the village from elsewhere. After her husband died, she had little contact with the people of Chenjia Village, and therefore wasn't clear on the affairs of the Chen and Lin families.
"But when asked how the relationship between Lin Yougui and Chen Shi was, she said: 'Their relationship was quite good. I heard they never even argued or turned red in the face. Lin Yougui even accompanied Chen Shi back to her natal home every month.'"
These words seemed to have no issues on the surface; after all, many villagers in both Chenjia Village and Linjia Village had mentioned this point.
However, compared to Yu Liniang’s perfunctory and evasive attitude toward other questions, her answer to this specific question was a bit too deliberate. After all, for many of the previous questions, she had excused herself by saying she wasn't familiar or didn't know.
Shen Yun sighed. "I was only focused on Lin Yougui at the time and ignored the others."
"Doesn't this precisely prove that your suspicion was correct? Lin Yougui indeed has a problem."
Shen Yun also knew that now was not the time for sighing. The urgent priority was to find evidence.
"We must have someone watch this Yu Liniang."
An hour later, they actually managed to uncover some things.
Yu Liniang was originally from Qingzhou. Her father was a wandering doctor. Not long after he brought his wife and child to the capital, he died of illness. Afterward, his daughter, Li Niang, married into Chenjia Village on the outskirts of the city.
In the afternoon, the constable Shen Yun had sent to Chenjia Village rushed back.
"My Lord, we've found something. Yu Liniang’s neighbor said that about a month ago, her cat died. She originally thought the cat had accidentally eaten something poisonous outside and didn't think much of it, so she didn't mention it before."
"Summon Yu Liniang to the Dali Temple. Have men keep a close watch on Lin Yougui."