Yun Chuan’s gaze toward Shen Hanzhou shone so brightly it seemed he hadn’t just been given the cold shoulder moments ago, but fed spoonfuls of honey instead.
No wonder—after eight years as a low-ranking official, having apprehended countless petty criminals, he should have climbed much higher, his shoulders heavy with honors. Yet he remained a mere constable.
This undoubtedly had everything to do with his nature: he only knew how to work, disdaining to read the room.
Li Yan reached for a piece of Taohuasu and popped it into her mouth, leisurely listening to Shen Hanzhou’s impromptu performance.
She didn’t doubt Shen Hanzhou’s skill in the slightest. The man was full of cunning schemes, guaranteed to lead Yun Chuan astray within three sentences.
“First, the braided whip is a status symbol carried only by those with power and standing among the bandits. The presence of its marks on the corpse indicates the victim had purchased such a whip.”
Yun Chuan nodded. Li Yan chewed her Taohuasu and raised one finger.
“Second, the Moxing tattoo below the victim’s collarbone is the character for ‘violence.’ This character signifies that her crime was assault resulting in serious injury.” Shen Hanzhou extended his hand, mimicking the thickness of the victim’s wrist to show Yun Chuan. “But that girl was frail and weak, her palms bore no calluses, and she was no martial artist. How could she have violently injured someone? Taking a step back, even if she had been strong and robust a year ago, truly capable of beating someone badly… after rapid weight loss, faint white stretch marks would remain, and her skin would sag. She had neither.”
At this point, Yun Chuan seemed to grasp something. Li Yan silently raised a second finger.
“Brother Shen means that behind this case lies a case within a case?” Yun Chuan’s expression grew increasingly grave as he scanned the room. “A year ago, she was forced to take the blame for someone else’s Moxing, receiving the character for ‘violence’ on her collarbone. Now, the person she injured has returned for revenge and killed her?”
“Possibly.” Shen Hanzhou spoke earnestly, his expression as if stating a fact. “The injured party might have connections with the bandits. After dumping the body, they suddenly remembered the ‘violence’ character on the corpse. To prevent the authorities from tracing the victim’s identity back to them, they broke into the yamen overnight, intending to find the corresponding case files and destroy the evidence.”
He took a small sip of tea. “As for those three fireworks, they were likely signals. I don’t know if Constable Yun has heard, but bandits in Shudi mostly use startling explosions to convey messages. One explosion means: the thing we’re looking for is here. Two following explosions mean: there’s an ambush, reinforcements are needed.”
Incredible!
The table fell utterly silent.
This was truly masterful, so much so that Li Yan forgot to raise a third finger.
With all those twists and turns, he had actually managed to weave it together! And he made it sound so convincing. If Li Yan hadn’t been one of the parties standing on the eaves last night, she might have believed it herself.
Yun Chuan’s reaction was even greater. He abruptly stood up, a look of sudden enlightenment on his face, grabbed the longsword from the table, and made to leave. “Thank you immensely for your assistance today, Brother Shen. Once the case is solved, I will bring fine books and ink and personally visit to express my gratitude.” Profoundly enlightened, he clasped his hands respectfully. “Farewell!”
“Hey!” Li Yan rose, wanting to call him back, but the hand she extended was pressed down firmly by Shen Hanzhou.
He frowned. “Do you truly intend to help him?”
Shen Hanzhou’s expression was displeased, his gaze turning several degrees colder, exuding a palpable pressure.
Pricked by that look, Li Yan turned her head only to find Yun Chuan’s figure already gone from sight.
Only then did she sit back down: "Whether to help or not is one thing, but you… you can't mislead him like that. Constable Yun is excellent at catching people, but when it comes to solving cases, that brain of his really does fall short."
Shen Hanzhou didn't deny it: "You mean to say that hypothesis simply cannot hold."
"Exactly, there's a crucial problem here that hasn't been solved." Li Yan pointed at her own head. "The head? Why take the head? Why would the killer use a paper knife, going through all that immense trouble to take the head away?"
"A killer, risking discovery, spending so much time, just to remove that head. In such a situation, there's only one possibility that makes sense: that head absolutely had to be taken away. It was something so important that leaving it behind would immediately expose his identity and purpose. Without finding the head, without finding the primary crime scene, any hypothesis is just blind guessing."
Having said this, Li Yan looked at Shen Hanzhou's full-body aura of refined nobility, how even drinking tea seemed like putting on airs, and let out a long sigh: "Moreover, we absolutely must help him solve this case, and we have to solve it before he does."
Shen Hanzhou's tea-sipping motion paused, his expression stiffening slightly.
"They really did find something last night," Li Yan said quietly. "The case file Yu Bei copied from the prefectural office's study mentioned that when the headless female corpse fell to the ground, she was clutching a frog button in her death grip."
At this, a flicker of surprise crossed Shen Hanzhou's usually cool and detached face. His deep eyes suddenly turned cold, his thin lips parting slightly: "Is it the frog button I'm thinking of?"
Li Yan nodded: "I saw it. It's definitely that one."
The atmosphere turned solemn. Shen Hanzhou slowly set down his teacup, pinching the lid to place it on top.
He shifted his position to the other side, putting more distance between himself and Li Yan, tucking his hands into his sleeves as he said coldly: "As the ancient saying goes, do not associate with those whose fate brings calamity."
His manner was full of disdain, as if drawing a clear line between them.
Li Yan clicked her tongue: "The great calamity hasn't even arrived yet, and you're already preparing to fly away first?"
"Don't talk nonsense," Shen Hanzhou stood up. "And we haven't reached the stage of being birds in the same forest either."
"Fine." Li Yan reached out and pulled the remaining Taohuasu pastries entirely in front of herself. "Consider me blind."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Shen Hanzhou, unhurriedly, reached out and took all four remaining Taohuasu pastries into his own hand, leaving her with an empty plate. He even tossed out an extra remark: "My talent and insight are very valuable."
Without waiting for Li Yan to speak again, he left on his own.
Li Yan sat on the long bench, taking a long moment before finally setting down the empty plate in her hand.
This man clearly knew what her next move would be, yet he still jabbered on for so long.
She pressed her thumb and little fingertip together, aiming them in the direction Shen Hanzhou had left as she muttered: "Petty!"
Probably having taken Shen Hanzhou's advice, the atmosphere throughout Qingzhou city changed.
Yun Chuan led over twenty people from the prefectural office, walking from one end of the merchant street to the other, visiting every shop three times.
He was looking for shops that sold braided whips.
Li Yan sat in the round window on the second floor of the tavern's rear courtyard, watching him and the other constables bustling out of a small shop on the other side in single file. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, perfectly composed.
She and the prefectural office were engaged in a strange race.
It was only a matter of time before the authorities, following the clue of the braided whip, traced it back to Feilong Shanzhuang. And she had to get there first to ensure her own innocence.
Li Yan couldn't let anyone set their sights on Feilong Shanzhuang. Firstly, she couldn't expose Feilong Shanzhuang's identity as a bandit stronghold. This would bring shame upon her late father, who had personally implemented the new policies and propelled Dajin to its position as a leading celestial dynasty and superior nation.
Secondly, it was because of Shen Hanzhou.
She couldn’t let the government office discover that this group of clumsy bandits had not only robbed the wrong carriage but also beaten a passing capital official into amnesia and detained him in Qingzhou.
She had secretly investigated: Shen Hanzhou held a third-rank position in the court, a rank high enough to drag the entire Feilong Shanzhuang down with her into prison.
This was the real reason she couldn’t let Shen Hanzhou leave.
Her father had gone to the capital early, and later, to treat her mother’s illness, he had brought her mother there as well.
To Li Yan, the people of the mountain stronghold were her closest family.
Rather than harming everyone because of her own mistake, it was better to drag the lofty Shen Hanzhou into the mud, making him complicit!
So that when he regained his memory in the future, to cover up this period of his life, he would only hold one person accountable.