The coroner and the concubine doctor pursue the murderer in the Dali Temple

It's Southern Xinjiang again! Chu Yunxi sorted out the clues she heard today. Bougainvillea and green cherry are from Southern Xinjiang, and so are Aconitum carmichaelii. Could it be that the murderer is really from Southern Xinjiang?

"Li Shaoqing, have you asked the family members whether the victims have been to southern Xinjiang, or know anyone from southern Xinjiang?"

"We've already asked around. The deceased were all ladies from wealthy families. They usually never left their houses. They've never been to the capital, let alone southern Xinjiang. As for knowing anyone from southern Xinjiang, their families said they've never heard of them."

Chu Yunxi thought for a moment and said to Li Jinghong, "Li Shaoqing, please write down the names and addresses of the other six victims. I want to meet their families and learn more about the situation."

Li Jinghong immediately sat down to write. Over the past few days, he had memorized the information of these victims thoroughly.

Chu Yunxi took the list and looked at it. The six victims were: Ma Xiyan, the legitimate daughter of Mr. Ma in the south city, Liu Wantong, the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Rites' family, Dou Anyu, the legitimate daughter of Mr. Dou who ran a silver shop in the west city, Lai Yanru, the legitimate daughter of Mr. Lai, the Dianbo of the Hanlin Academy, Xin Gurou, the illegitimate daughter of the owner of Baochuntang pharmacy, and Du Lianyun, the youngest illegitimate daughter of Mr. Du in the west city.

Including Wei Zhishan from Wei Xiang's family, there were a total of seven victims.

Chu Yunxi said to Xiao Mubei: "Please, Your Majesty, accompany me to visit these families today."

"Okay." Xiao Mubei had no objection.

Bai Yu went out with the two of them and served as their coachman. The three of them first went to Mr. Ma's home in the south of the city.

Ma Xiyan was the first woman to be killed. She was killed twenty days ago. Now her body has been buried, but the Ma family is still shrouded in gloom.

Bai Yu knocked on the door and explained his purpose. Mr. Ma and Mrs. Ma soon came out to greet them. Mr. Ma was a sturdy man in his early fifties, with half of his hair white. Mrs. Ma looked younger, about thirty years old. She was not wearing any makeup, her face was haggard, and her eyes were red and swollen. It was obvious that the departure of her daughter was a great blow to her.

When Mr. Ma saw Xiao Mubei, he immediately stepped forward to pay his respects. Xiao Mubei hurriedly stopped him. Mr. Ma said, "Your Majesty, has there been any progress in my daughter's case? Has the murderer been caught?"

Xiao Mubei said: "Not yet. I came here today just to learn more from Mr. Ma and Madam Ma."

"Okay, whatever Your Majesty wants to know, we will tell you everything we know."

Mr. Ma brought them to the front hall. Xiao Mubei and Chu Yunxi sat at the top. The maid served tea. Xiao Mubei introduced Chu Yunxi to Mr. Ma and his wife. "This is my princess. She is also the coroner of our Dali Temple. She has helped me solve many major cases. Today, the princess will question you. You two just need to answer truthfully."

Mr. and Mrs. Ma hurriedly asked, "Princess, please ask."

Chu Yunxi nodded and said, "Madam Ma, may I ask where Miss Ma went and who she met in the half month before the incident? Do you know? If you don't know, you can also ask Miss Ma's personal maid to come and answer."

Madam Ma and Mr. Ma looked at each other, and Mr. Ma said, "Come here, ask Chunlan to come over and answer the question."

After a while, a girl who looked quite clever came in and knelt on the ground as soon as she came in, "Master, Madam."

She didn't know Xiao Mubei and Chu Yunxi, so she only called Mr. Ma and Mrs. Ma. Mr. Ma said, "Why don't you go and see the prince and princess quickly?"

When Chunlan heard that the person sitting at the top was a prince or princess, although she didn't know which prince it was, she immediately leaned down and said, "Chunlan greets the prince and princess."

Chu Yunxi said: "Your name is Chunlan, right? Get up and answer."

Chunlan stood up tremblingly, lowering her head and not daring to look at Chu Yunxi and Xiao Mubei.

Chu Yunxi looked Chunlan up and down before asking, "Are you Miss Ma's personal maid?"

Chunlan replied, "Yes, Princess. I usually follow our young lady. She takes me with her wherever she goes."

"Okay, then think carefully about where your young lady went and who she met in the half month before she was murdered?"

Chunlan thought about it carefully, "The young lady rarely went out on weekdays and stayed at home most of the time. In the half month before she was killed, she went out once, which was to watch the lanterns during the Lantern Festival."

Chu Yunxi then remembered that the Chinese New Year had just passed more than a month ago. The capital usually displays lanterns during the Lantern Festival. Unfortunately, she was busy with the case in Jumu Village at that time and completely forgot about the Lantern Festival.

"Did you meet anyone when you were watching the lanterns?"

Chunlan frowned and recalled carefully, "My lady and I went out at about twilight that day. It was already dark. We went to Zhuque Street, which was very lively and crowded. There were many beautiful lanterns on the roadside. My lady seldom goes out, so she was very excited that day. She ran here and there and looked around. There were too many people. Sometimes I could not find my lady, but after a while I would see her waving at me from a distance."

Chunlan said this, she mustered up the courage to look up at Xiao Mubei and Chu Yunxi, and seeing that they were listening attentively, she felt relieved a little and continued, "We walked around for almost an hour, and the young lady felt very tired, so we went to sit on the steps by the river to rest. The young lady said she wanted to eat candied haws, so I went to buy it for her. I was gone for about a quarter of an hour, because there were so many people. When I came back, I saw the young lady holding a beautiful rabbit lantern in her hand. I asked the young lady where it came from, and she smiled and said that someone gave it to her. I didn't ask much, and accompanied the young lady back. Who knew that a few days later, the young lady..."

As Chunlan spoke, tears began to fall again, and Mrs. Ma also wiped her tears.

Chu Yunxi asked, "When you went back from buying the candied haws, didn't you see anyone else around your young lady?"

Chunlan shook her head, "There's no one around the young lady, or she's alone, so there's just one more lantern."

"and after?"

"After that? The young lady never went out again."

"Did anything seem wrong with your young lady in the following days?"

"Something's wrong?" Chunlan thought about it carefully. "Oh, there is. Does it count if I often stare at the lamp in a daze?"

"Okay, is there anything else? Like smiling foolishly by yourself, or suddenly looking shy." Chu Yunxi coaxed.

"Yes, sometimes the young lady would suddenly laugh. I asked her if she had any happy news, but she wouldn't tell me. She just asked me if I believed in something... love at first sight?"

Chu Yunxi nodded and asked some other questions, confirming that Ma Xiyan had gone out that one time within half a month before she was murdered. It seemed that the person who sent her the lantern was highly suspicious.