A piece of Japanese incense

"In two days, I'll push it back." My cousin responded indifferently.

"Oh? The imperial decree can also be delayed?"

"You may not know that I have an uncle named Zhong who raised me since I was a child. Four of his neighbors were killed overnight, and their only granddaughter disappeared. Uncle Zhong was heartbroken and reported the case to the authorities. However, three months later, the case remains unsolved and the little granddaughter has not been found. Now that I have passed the imperial examination, Uncle Zhong has asked me for help, hoping that I can clear their family's grievances. When I met His Majesty, I mentioned this matter. His Majesty was furious when he heard it, and ordered me to assist Lord Xin, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, to investigate the case in depth."

"There are other things like this!"

"That's true, so I came here today to ask for something."

"Brother, please don't hesitate to speak up if you have anything to say."

"I am not familiar with this imperial city, nor am I proficient in medical skills. The only one who can help me investigate this case is you, An Nian."

"Me? I also..."

Seeing this, I immediately raised my hand to recommend myself: "I can! I can! I know medical skills and can help you with the autopsy! Although I am not familiar with the roads, I am familiar with Yuzhu and Yutuan! They often buy delicious food for me all over the imperial city!"

"Ah He! Stop making trouble." Yu Nian pressed down my raised hand.

"Really! I can help you! Uncle, give me a chance!"

The uncle cleared his throat and said softly, "I don't mind. It's good to have more helpers, but you are a lady from a wealthy family..."

"As long as my uncle agrees to take me out, I don't mind!" I shook off Yu Nian's control and waited expectantly for my uncle's reply.

"Ah He! You are still under house arrest!" Yu Nian reminded.

"Just say... you want to take me... to do good deeds! Yes! That's a good reason, right?"

"No! You forgot your childhood..."

"I'm grown up! I have judgment and won't be kidnapped!" I put my hands on my hips and pouted.

"Okay! Let's set off!" My cousin made the final decision.

"Where are we going?" Yu Nian and I asked together.

"At the victim's home."

We arrived at the door of Uncle Zhong's restaurant and Uncle Zhong greeted us warmly.

"Little girl, you're here to eat again! Do you like the food I cook too?"

Upon hearing this, my cousin said, "Uncle Zhong, they are my helpers in investigating the Huang family case."

Uncle Zhong smiled and nodded, with admiration in his eyes: "Young people are really formidable! Come in and talk! Let's go inside and have a chat!"

Yu Nian politely bowed and said in return, "Thank you for the compliment, old man."

We walked into the restaurant, Uncle Zhong closed the door, bolted it, handed us some tea, asked us to wait, and went into the kitchen.

Yu Nian carefully looked at the layout of the restaurant. I took a sip of tea and leaned comfortably against the wall.

"When have you been here before?" Yu Nian asked.

"Yes, my uncle brought me here the day you had the fight."

Yu Nian stopped talking, and Uncle Zhong quickly brought a few plates of exquisite pastries, melon seeds, and fruits and placed them on the table.

"Uncle Zhong, are you a god? You can create so many delicious foods in an instant!" My eyes lit up.

"Hahaha! These are just some random thoughts I came up with on a daily basis. Come and try it, little girl, and see how it tastes!"

I picked up a piece of golden and tempting pastry and put it in my mouth. It tasted sweet and dense, and the soft and sticky pumpkin puree melted on the tip of my tongue: "Uncle Zhong! You shouldn't open a restaurant in this secluded place! Your cooking skills are so good that even the chef of Wei Ding Xuan has to respect you as the Grandmaster!"

"Hahahaha! You little girl really know how to talk!" Uncle Zhong smiled happily.

"Uncle Zhong, please tell us about the Huang family case in detail." My cousin said in a steady tone.

"Oh! Yes! That's what happened! Mr. Huang next door loves to drink. Every other day, he would send his granddaughter to my restaurant to buy the fried peanuts I made. Three months ago, there was a period of four or five days when he didn't come to patronize. I thought maybe he was tired of eating peanuts, so I braised a pot of edamame and sent it to them so that they could taste it. But when I knocked on the door, there was no answer. The old lady of the Liu family just went out and told me not to knock, saying that Mr. Huang's son hadn't been to the blacksmith shop for several days, so the whole family must be out. So I went back to my little restaurant."

"Then what? How did you discover the abnormality?" I listened with gusto while eating the peanuts peeled by Yu Nian.

"After a few days, there was still no movement in his house. The guests who came to eat at my house kept saying there was a bad smell. I actually smelled it, but my meat and vegetables were all washed clean, so there was no way they could stink! So I looked for the source of the smell."

"You just thought of the Huang family?" I said first.

"How clever! At first, I really couldn't smell anything bad, until the dog of Old Li's family on the east end kept barking at the door of Old Huang's house every time it passed by his house. Then we all felt that something was wrong. It had been half a month, and we hadn't heard them say anything about visiting relatives. We discussed it together and found two young men to climb over the roof of my house to their house. This scared the two guys so much that they shouted for us to call the police!"

"Where are those two people now?" I asked quickly.

"One of them was so frightened that he moved out with his family overnight. Another panicked and fell off the roof, breaking his leg. He did not take the imperial examination and is still staying at home."

"So this is a locked-room murder?" I stated my point of view with great interest.

"I guess so... But they all died in the courtyard. When the government officials broke down the gate, I only saw Old Huang and his son lying at the gate. His wife and daughter-in-law were in the middle of the courtyard. There was blood all over the floor, and his daughter-in-law had a hemp rope wrapped around her neck."

"Was he strangled to death? Why is there blood?"

"We didn't look closely. The government took the man away and sealed the place. After that, it was as if nothing had happened. We went to the government office to ask, but they kept saying: they are still investigating. Alas! Poor little granddaughter, she was getting married! Now we don't know whether she is dead or alive."

"Did she hide in the home of the man she was talking to?"

"We don't know. He has a lot of relatives. They always come to visit during festivals. When something happened to his family, no one took care of the funeral. So we neighbors contributed some money and burned some paper money in front of his house."

"Is his family rich? Why do people always come and go?"

"When Old Huang was young, he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. When he went to the city to take the provincial examination, he met his wife. His father-in-law bought a house for them here. Since he failed the imperial examination, he took over his father-in-law's ironwork shop. His son is not like him, who is big and strong. He has been able to help him in the ironwork shop since he was young. Now, he and his wife make hemp ropes every day and sell them. They are not short of money, right?"

“So, the people who visited them might be their former poor relatives from the countryside. It is also possible that a tragedy might have occurred due to a dispute over money.

"Hey! You little girl, your analysis is really good!" Uncle Zhong said approvingly.