Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 39: Painting the Face of the Dead

"No need! I can handle it myself!"

Murong Huan suddenly said something that surprised Ah Shu and the other Jinwu Guards.

"General Qiu, if I were the murderer, would I be so stupid as to stay here and wait for you to catch me after killing someone?"

"And these two people fell from the building and hanged themselves. How could General Qiu rush here so quickly?"

Qiu Shenji's expression changed slightly, and he sneered, "The Jinwu Guards are responsible for protecting the Divine Capital. Someone just reported the case to me, so I was able to arrive here in such a timely manner. Don't try to make excuses!"

"Who reported the crime? Someone foresaw it and reported it before it even happened. Isn't that person even more suspicious?"

"I advise General Qiu to immediately surround this restaurant. The real murderer is probably still among the guests here. If the real murderer escapes, it will truly prove that General Qiu is harboring the murderer and attempting to frame me!"

"you--"

Qiu Shenji frowned and was about to yell, but then a clear voice came over and said, "General Qiu, what happened here?"

Ah Shu couldn't help but feel pleasantly surprised when she heard the voice. When she looked up, she saw Xiao Muchen, a man with white hair and an extraordinary temperament, walking towards her.

"It's the white-haired young man! No, it's Xiao Zhongcheng!" Ah Shu waved hurriedly, "Xiao Zhongcheng, Ah Huan and I just happened to be passing by this restaurant. Suddenly, someone fell from the sky and almost hit us. Fortunately, Ah Huan pulled me out of the way in time, otherwise, we would have become two corpses now."

"Ah Huan saw someone falling, so he brought me to this restaurant to take a look. I didn't expect to see this terrifying scene as soon as I opened the door..."

"Then, before we could even leave, General Qiu arrived with the Jinwu Guards and immediately accused us of being the murderers. How could such a coincidence happen? This was clearly a deliberate attempt to frame Ah Huan and me!"

Xiao Muchen said, "Yes, this does sound like a premeditated frame-up. It seems the murderer is deliberately targeting this young Lord Huan!"

"General Qiu, if the murderer is so easy to catch, then what are the Dali Temple and our Censorate doing? Cases still require evidence. Once the evidence is solid, it won't be too late to determine who the murderer is!"

After saying this, he turned to Xuan Yu beside him and said, "Notify the Dali Temple immediately. They are better at examining the scene and conducting an autopsy!"

The latter sentence was naturally said to Qiu Shenji.

Xiao Muchen continued to speak gently and smile, but Murong Huan had already noticed that Qiu Shenji's expression had suddenly tensed up. He even secretly clenched his fists before forcing out an unpleasant smile and saying, "Of course!"

"However, I still want to remind Xiao Zhongcheng that although Xiao Zhongcheng is a favorite of the Saint, he must also consider the Saint's bottom line. The Saint will not tolerate you for anything!"

"Thank you, General Qiu, for the reminder!"

Xiao Muchen smiled and asked Xuan Yu, "Has Wuling Yue arrived yet? Before the murderer gets far, arrest everyone who was in the restaurant at the time of the crime and interrogate them one by one!"

"Not a single one of the Jinwu Guards brought by General Qiu can escape!"

"Here!"

Xuan Yu took the order and left, and Qiu Shenji's face changed again.

"What do you mean? Could it be that you still suspect that it was me, the Jinwu Guards, who killed him?"

"That's not the case. I'm just worried that the murderer will pretend to be one of your Jinwu Guards and escape. After all, at this moment, the only people who are not suspected by General Qiu are your Jinwu Guards. And often, the most unnoticed people are the most likely murderers. General Qiu, don't you agree?"

"You, that's nonsense! How can you investigate a case like that?" Qiu Shenji was furious. He seemed to have thought of something and sneered, "Then how did you happen to appear here?"

This shifted the suspicion onto Xiao Muchen.

Xiao Muchen smiled and said, "I have an appointment with this young Lord Huan, so I followed him all the way here. Isn't that strange?"

Before Qiu Shenji could reply, he took another step forward and looked at the man with a disfigured face hanging in the room. He said, "The murderer scratched his face beyond recognition. It seems he doesn't want us to find out the identity of the deceased. This also includes the deceased downstairs. His face is facing the ground, and I think his original appearance is no longer recognizable now."

After saying this, he turned to Murong Huan and asked, "Can you draw the original appearance of this deceased person?"

"Ha, what a joke, she looks like this now. If no one who has seen her describes her, who can draw the original appearance of this deceased person?" Qiu Shenji sneered.

Xiao Muchen said, "That's not necessarily true. She can draw Bai Gu's appearance when he was alive. Why not let her try?"

Qiu Shenji's face darkened again.

At this time, Murong Huan indeed replied, "I can!" Then Xiao Muchen shouted to the waiters who were huddled together in the restaurant, "Shopkeeper, bring me some pens, ink, paper, and inkstone!"

"Here! Here!"

A middle-aged man came out timidly, and hurriedly found a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from under the counter. He ran to Xiao Muchen and said respectfully, "Sir, here are the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone!"

Xiao Muchen gestured for him to give the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to Murong Huan, then turned to the shopkeeper who was smiling flatteringly.

"Are you the shopkeeper here?"

"Yes Yes!"

"Shopkeeper, you're so generous! Someone committed a crime in the restaurant and murdered someone, and you were completely unaware of it. Didn't you hear even a single sound? Or is this restaurant a shady place?"

The shopkeeper's legs went weak and he fell to his knees with a thud.

"Your Excellency is wronged. Our restaurant's business is indeed not very good, so we came up with this puppet show to entertain our guests. This is how we attracted a lot of spectators. But this is not a shady shop. Please be clear-headed!"

"Who is the guest who booked this room? The shopkeeper should know, right?"

The middle-aged man thought about it carefully, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he replied, "It was a very tall and burly man. He came to reserve this private room at 1:15 PM today, gave me a silver ingot, and refused to let me change it. He told me that no one was allowed to enter this private room today, and then he left. At 1:15 PM, he brought another man with him. They were both wearing loose black cloaks and hats that covered their faces, so people couldn't see their faces. After they entered here, they had a few side dishes brought in, and then told me not to bother with them anymore, so I asked the waiters in the store to busy themselves with greeting other customers.

But from beginning to end, we didn't see the two women go in, nor did we see them come out!"

Although the face of the corpse hanging in the room could not be seen clearly, judging from its figure and dress, it was obviously a woman.

"So, this isn't the original scene of the deceased's death. The two deceased were secretly moved here, and then someone fabricated the crime scene to make it look like one fell from a building and the other hanged."

"Since you said you didn't see those two men come out, then where did they go?"

As soon as Xiao Muchen finished asking, Murong Huan continued, "I have a way to find out where they went."

"Is your painting finished?" Xiao Muchen asked.

Murong Huan nodded and handed the portrait to Xiao Muchen. The shopkeeper glanced over and suddenly pointed at the person in the portrait and exclaimed, "How could it be her?"

"Who is she?" Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan asked in unison.

The shopkeeper, having just recovered from his shock, showed a hint of sadness in his eyes: "This girl is the daughter of a merchant, named Xie Zi'e. In her early years, she and her father came to the divine capital Luoyang to do business. We met once. She had just come of age at that time. She was very generous and good at making friends with heroes. She spoke about the ways of business with great knowledge, and even I couldn't help but admire her. Later, I heard that she married a chivalrous man in the martial arts world and has been hiding her identity since then. But just a month ago, I saw this girl again, but she looked very sad, not as generous and optimistic as before. I asked her about her father and husband, but she refused to mention it. She only said that she wanted to revive the family business. How could it be..."

After saying this, he seemed unwilling to believe it and asked Murong Huan, "Young Master, is there anything wrong with your painting?"

"I have never seen this girl before."

Murong Huan's answer made the shopkeeper's face turn pale instantly, and his expression changed from fear to pity.

At this time, Xuan Yu came to report: "Wuling Yue has already detained everyone in this restaurant and is interrogating them one by one. In addition, Lu Shaoqing from the Dali Temple has also arrived!"

As Xuan Yu finished speaking, Lu Ling and a group of detectives had already rushed to the corridor. Seeing the body hanging in the room, Lu Shiyilang also shouted in shock: "Who did this? How could they treat a woman so cruelly? Put her down now!"

The detectives entered the room upon being ordered, two of them took down the hanging body, and the others began to search the scene.

Coroner Xin Wei began the autopsy.

"Lu Shaoqing, there are footprints on the ground. Judging by their size, they should be those of two men. But strangely, there are no footprints of the deceased. The body downstairs must have been thrown from this window, but there are no footprints left on the windowsill."

Lu Ling nodded and looked at Xin Wei, who then heard Xin Wei say, "This woman must have died at 3:30 am today. She has many wounds on her body, which suggests she had been in a fight. I'll need to perform an autopsy to determine the true cause of death, but what is certain is that she was hanged after her death."

Lu Ling nodded again: "Then take it back for inspection!"

Just as he was about to leave, Xiao Muchen suddenly said, "Wait!" He then turned to Murong Huan and said, "You just said you had a way to find out where those two men went?"

　Yesterday I was very grateful to book friends 20220401214307429, Zizhuha and other relatives for their monthly tickets, and thanked relatives such as Lose Weight in Dreams and Foqianchen Pianpian for their votes and support. Thank you Yanzhihu 1 and Huohuohuyi for your continued support. I wish you all good luck in the Year of the Snake and all your wishes come true.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)