When the book-traveling little detective meets the two-faced prince

Seeing the wrinkled book in He Yu's hand, Hong Mingxu's face darkened immediately after he realized it was a storybook. He scolded him, "Going to the island to hunt down the criminal is so urgent and dangerous, and you actually brought such a useless book to the island. Do you think military regulations are a joke?"

He Yu knew he was wrong, and his heart was filled with great fear, so he could hardly hold the notebook in his hand.

With a "crash", the book fell to the ground and the pages scattered.

On the open pages of a book.

The details of the crime are horrifying and uncomfortable.

"It's... I'm stupid. Please punish me, General!"

He Yu knelt on the ground, his body shaking like a sieve, and apologized in fear.

"This is such a frivolous act, a disregard for military rules, he deserves to be severely punished according to military law. Come, drag him out of the door and behead him on the spot!"

Hong Mingxu's voice was as cold as ice, leaving no room for maneuver.

Everyone present was startled, and the atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point. He Yu's already bad complexion became even paler, and his body was shaking even more violently.

Although Hong Mingxu issued the order, no one took action and the soldiers standing by all lowered their heads.

"Why, are they all deaf?"

Hong Mingxu looked extremely displeased and shouted loudly, but still no one was willing to step forward.

"Okay, since you guys won't move, let me do it!"

Lin Lezhi understood that military orders were as heavy as mountains, but the situation was unclear now and he should not let a loyal soldier lose his life because of a book.

Lin Lezhi was just about to stand up and say something for He Yu when Meng Dafeng, who was kneeling beside He Yu, suddenly shouted "General" under pressure.

The voice of "General" sounded particularly loud in the quiet earthen temple, revealing a sense of determination, which made Cheng Su, who was standing aside with a calm look and silent, look at him sideways.

Seeing Cheng Su's gaze, Meng Dafeng immediately knelt on the ground and spoke for He Yu, "General, He Yu was wrong to bring the books to the island privately, but the crime is not punishable by death. He Yu has been led by me since the day he entered the military camp. It was because I did not set a good example that caused the mistake today. If you must punish someone, please punish me!"

"No, General, this is my fault alone. It has nothing to do with Brother Meng. Please punish me."

Seeing the two of them blaming each other, Cheng Su, who always had a solemn expression, felt a slight touch in his eyes.

"You have disregarded military rules and offended the general. Fine, I will punish you according to military law and let you accompany me on the road to the underworld."

As he spoke, Hong Mingxu prepared to draw his sword and step forward. Just as he was about to grasp the hilt, Cheng Su reached out and stopped him.

Seeing this, Hong Mingxu knew that Cheng Su was moved by sympathy, and hurriedly clasped his fists and said, "General, if this matter is not severely punished, more people will treat military regulations as a joke in the future."

Cheng Su did not look at Hong Mingxu, and said in a calm voice: "I know the merits and demerits, and I will settle everything after returning to the barracks."

Cheng Su put the matter aside with a simple sentence, and then glanced at He Yu, who was kneeling on the ground with a pale face and trembling, and said coldly: "Why would you be so scared by a book?"

"This... this book..."

Seeing that He Yu couldn't speak clearly due to fear, Cheng Su frowned and said unhappily, "Stand up and speak properly!"

"Yes...General."

He Yu raised his head and said truthfully, "This book was written by Wuyouke who suddenly appeared three months ago. Half a month before I followed the general here, I asked someone to calm the book in Pinghai. I didn't finish reading it until yesterday by the lake."

"What do these things you said have to do with your abnormal behavior?"

Under Cheng Su's thoughtful gaze, He Yu took the book in front of him with trembling hands, turned to the fourth case in the book, and pushed the book to the front.

Because of his standing position, Lin Lezhi couldn't see what was written on the page that He Yu was turning.

Luo Zhifeng, who was closer to He Yu, read out loud after seeing the words above: "The resentful couple killed someone."

Upon hearing this, Lin Lezhi's eyes suddenly widened, and then his expression darkened.

Cheng Su also noticed something slightly wrong with the word "grudge couple". His eyes narrowed slightly and he repeated in a deep voice: "grudge couple?"

"Yes, General. The fourth case in the book, the murder of a resentful couple, is very similar to what happened after we landed on the island and the Huaifeng Village case. The book also mentions a second village, and the location where the deceased was found and the cause of death are exactly the same."

"what?!"

Immediately, Cheng Su's eyes became more solemn, full of disbelief, his brows knitted together, and he stared at the open book on the ground, as if he wanted to stare a hole in the book.

"How is this possible? I also know Wuyouke. Many people have been reading his book recently. The book was just published, but the case has been going on for more than ten years. How could the case be written exactly the same? Could it be... Could it be..." Zhou Yuanliang had a terrible thought and said in panic, "Wuyouke is related to the case back then. Everything on the island was done by him. Or... Or is Lord Chang Wuyouke?"

"This is nonsense. This book..."

Listening to the discussions of Zhou Yuanliang and the people around him, Guan Ziheng couldn't bear to open his mouth to refute immediately. Lin Lezhi hurriedly pulled Guan Ziheng's sleeve secretly, and then walked in front of He Yu.

After seeing that it was indeed written on the page of the book that "a resentful couple murdered someone", Lin Lezhi adjusted his thoughts for a moment and said, "If County Magistrate Chang is Wuyouke, since he chose to confess his guilt and commit suicide, why didn't he mention it in the letter?"

Then, Lin Lezhi asked Cheng Su for instructions: "General, I also happened to have read Wuyouke's "Four Strange Cases". I wonder if you can let me take a look?"

Cheng Su looked solemn and said nothing, just nodded.

After picking up the book, Lin Lezhi roughly flipped through the fourth case, then looked at the seal of the book and the paper of the pages.

"The fourth case in this book was not written by Wuyouke. The original fourth case was 'murder by a vengeful spirit', not 'murder by a vengeful spouse'."

Hong Mingxu said with doubt in his eyes: "Except He Yu and you, no one else has read this book. How can you prove that what you said is true?"

Hearing this, Lin Lezhi showed everyone the sealed part of the book spine and said calmly, "The holes formed by the sealed parts of the first three cases are obviously larger than the last case, which shows that the 'Murder by a Grudge' case was replaced later."

Lin Lezhi paused, then his slender and bony fingers gently touched the words on the book, and said with reasoning: "Moreover, the writing style, font and paper of this fourth case do not match the first three cases. This book has just been published, but the paper of the fourth case is a little dark yellow, which means it has been stored for some time, which also means that the fourth case was replaced later."

After that, Lin Lezhi looked at He Yu and asked, "When did you get this book? Did you give it to anyone else?"

"I got this book from the inn the day before the Lantern Festival. Since then, I have kept it in my arms except when I took it out to read it. I have never given it to anyone else. On that day..." He Yu looked to the side and pointed to identify it, "This young man brought it in."

Everyone looked in the direction He Yu pointed.

The person He Yu was referring to was no one else.

It’s Guan Ziheng.