Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Jin Zhiyuan took two quick steps and stood in front of the small pond. Looking at the old bloodstains, he blurted out, "After killing someone, the murderer took off the bloody clothes and shoes and hid them here before leaving!"

Gu Feiyan glanced at his ugly face and said, "After killing the man, the murderer not only took off the bloody clothes and shoes and hid them here before leaving, but also came back and took away the bloody clothes and shoes hidden here."

"Most of the time our men were guarding outside the embroidery building," Jin Zhiyuan said regretfully, "Although they patrolled the surrounding area occasionally, they would definitely slack off after a while. The murderer must have taken advantage of their slackness and returned to take the bloody clothes and shoes!"

When he saw the bloodstains stop at the two peonies, he had thought that the murderer might have taken off his bloody clothes and shoes and then climbed over the wall to leave. But he habitually thought that the murderer took the bloody clothes and shoes with him, so he didn't think too deeply about it.

In addition, there were too many traces of footsteps on the outer wall. Although they all thought that the murderer had left by climbing over the wall, they did not think deeply whether the murderer often climbed over the wall to enter and exit Jinsefang. They all subconsciously believed that those traces of footsteps were left by people in Jinsefang who sneaked in and out.

Although they arranged people to guard the embroidery building, their inertia of thinking made them all believe that the murderer would not come back.

What a wrong step, wrong step!

Jin Zhiyuan looked regretful.

"No matter when the murderer came back to get the clothes, we can infer that the murderer must have repeatedly appeared in the surrounding area to look for opportunities to take advantage of." Chen Shao said, "Instead of regretting the original mistake, it is better to quickly arrange for people to go around and ask if there is anyone who has been seen frequently appearing in the area after the crime occurred."

"I'll arrange it now!" Jin Zhiyuan was about to leave when Chen Shao stopped him. "Don't worry, wait for me to finish. The murderer killed six people in a short period of time. It seems hasty, but if you observe carefully, you will find that he made sufficient preparations before he did it. After killing Zhang Qiaoniang, he would not hide the blood-stained clothes and shoes here for no reason. Something must have happened that forced him to do this. Hiding the blood-stained clothes is like this, so taking the blood-stained clothes is the same. He can't just come here every day to check the place without doing anything, so you have to do three things now."

"First, arrange for someone to check if there were any night watchmen or other people who happened to pass by here on the night Zhang Qiaoniang got into trouble. Second, arrange for someone to visit the surrounding area to see if there were any people who stayed around here frequently after Zhang Qiaoniang got into trouble. Third, arrange for someone to visit the surrounding shops to see if anyone bought things from them after Zhang Qiaoniang got into trouble."

Jin Zhiyuan's eyes flashed with a gleam of light: "I will arrange it right away."

Chen Shao nodded, and after he walked away, he looked at the bloodstains again and said, "Let's go."

"Go to the next scene, or go back to the county government office?" Gu Feiyan asked excitedly.

"Go to the scene where Tian Gensheng had the accident." Chen Shao said.

The places where Ahfu, Tian Gensheng and Li Shunan met with their accidents were not much different, and the places where Zhang Qiaoniang, Sun Shouyi and Huiren met with their accidents were also not much different. After watching the scenes of Sun Shouyi and Zhang Qiaoniang, and then watching the scene of Tian Gensheng, it should be about the same.

If the clues they sorted out from the scene are not enough to catch the murderer, it will not be too late to search the scene of the remaining three people.

When Jin Zhiyuan saw Chen Shao was about to leave, he quickly arranged everything and quickly caught up with her. When he learned that she was going to the crime scene of Tian Gensheng, he quickly got on his horse and led the way.

Tian Gensheng was a storyteller, and the accident happened in a remote alley.

The alley is remote because a fire broke out in this area in the past. The fire not only burned down a large number of houses, but also killed more than ten people. After the fire was extinguished, they wanted to rebuild the original site, but many people swore that those innocent people who were burned to death had turned into evil spirits, and they were looking for the arsonists every night, saying that they wanted to take revenge. They said it too seriously, so they gradually moved to other places.

Over time, this place became a ruin.

It has also become a haunted place that no one dares to set foot in easily.

Tian Gensheng didn't believe in ghosts or gods, or maybe he believed that if he didn't do bad things, he wouldn't be afraid of ghosts knocking on his door. Every time he finished telling stories, he would take a shortcut back home from here.

After passing through the ruins and walking a distance of more than ten feet, you will reach his home.

It would be a long way to go back home by going around the ruins, which takes a cup of tea.

The place where he had the accident was in an alley outside the ruins.

The alley is overgrown with weeds.

There were bloodstains on the weeds.

On the ground near the east wall, next to a clump of sedge, there was a dried word "Quan".

Tian Gensheng was beaten to death.

Because he had not seen the body yet, Chen Shao was not sure whether his tongue was cut and his eyes were gouged out after death, or before death. But no matter whether it was before or after death, there was not much blood visible around. Only around the word "Quan" were there large spots of blood scattered densely.

According to previous speculations about the character "全", these blood spots and the character "全" can obviously only form two characters, one is "洤", and the other is a bronze character consisting of two drops of water and the character "全".

After Chen Shao stared at the word "all" for a while, he left the alley and asked Jin Zhiyuan, "Which direction is the Bazhenfang where Tian Gensheng told stories before the accident?"

Jin Zhiyuan pointed to a small path that stretched out diagonally not far away, "Go out from this path, after you reach Huaihua Lane, turn left, and walk another ten feet to the destination. Tian Gensheng is the best storyteller in Xitang County. He has to tell at least three stories every day, each lasting half an hour. He usually finishes his last story at about the beginning of the dog day. On the day of the accident, he came out of Bazhenfang at about the beginning of the dog day. The shopkeeper of Bazhenfang said that he was supposed to tell one more story that day, but he left early because he was not feeling well. After midnight, his family didn't see him go back, so they called a few neighbors to come along the road to look for him, and then they found out that he had an accident. Afterwards, his family went to the county government to report it to the officials. After we came here, we also searched the surrounding area, but did not see the murderer."

Feeling unwell...

Coincidence? Or intentional arrangement?

There were no signs of a fight at the scene.

This means that the murderer made Tian Gensheng lose the ability to resist with just one blow.

Chen Shao walked around the scene and confirmed that there were no signs of a fight. He then told Jin Zhiyuan, "Go ask again... Never mind. Go and invite the owner of Bazhenfang and the shop assistants who had contact with him that day to the county government office. I will ask them."

Jin Zhiyuan responded with an "OK", waved to a yamen runner, and asked him to carry out her instructions.

Chen Shao looked at him twice without saying anything. He then searched the crime scene carefully and, after making sure there were no valuable clues, he walked around the area before heading to the county government office.