The Killer's Cleansing Manual

After about a cup of tea, Jin Hong finally finished reading it and looked up at Lin Shanjuan apologetically.

Lin Shan felt tired and frowned, "No?"

Jin Hong nodded awkwardly, "I looked through it, but I didn't see the name. How about the three of us split up and look again?"

Lin Shanjuan glanced at the stack of papers, not caring about his dizziness. The three of them divided into three groups and searched carefully again, but still found nothing.

Not right.

Wang Xing came to Beijing originally to take the exam, but now all signs indicate that he did not come to take the exam at all. Why is that?

Lin Shanjuan was concentrating on thinking, his eyes fixed on the file without any focus.

Jin Hong did not make any noise to disturb them. He and Qi Zhen searched again and confirmed that Wang Xing was not there.

Qi Zhen sighed and looked at Lin Shanjuan, "Sir, there really isn't one. He didn't come to take the exam."

Lin Shanjuan stared at the file and suddenly asked Jin Hong.

"Master Jin, can I take these articles with me?"

Jin Hong looked troubled, "This...I'm afraid it requires the consent of His Majesty."

Lin Shanjuan said firmly, "I must take these away. Not only that, I also hope that Master Jin will keep it secret and make a fake copy for you to keep."

Jin Hong looked at her in confusion, "Why is that?"

Lin Shanjuan smiled mysteriously, and without caring whether Jin Hongtong agreed or not, he asked Qi Zhen to put these away and hide them in his arms.

"Don't worry, Master Jin. I will explain this matter to the Emperor. Please, Master Jin, quickly forge some similar articles and place them here. Also... there's no need to hide why I came to you today. The more people who know, the better."

Jin Hong seemed to understand something and agreed readily.

"Secretary Lin and I both serve His Majesty, so naturally I trust Secretary Lin. So, please take it, and I'll give you the fake one."

Lin Shanjuan said a few polite words of thanks before putting the test paper away and leaving Jin Hong's residence with Qi Zhen.

The two of them sneaked back to the Qingzhengsi like thieves, picked out a pile of test papers, and finally hid in the room where old cases were kept.

Qi Zhen struggled for a long time before finally asking, "Boss, what are we going to do with these things?"

Lin Shanjuan carefully reviewed his thoughts. The absence of a third person here made it a good place to sort out the case. He immediately detailed his guesses and inferences:

"Wang Xing lives in the remote town of Quxian. Judging from his attire, one can tell his family must be struggling financially, most likely farmers with only a few acres of land. Such families typically produce only one scholar like him in several generations. He's well-versed in the classics, and surely he wouldn't want to spend his life toiling in the fields. That's why he's determined to take the imperial examinations and change his fate, right?"

Qi Zhen said without hesitation: "Yes!"

"Okay, so now we know he may have taken the exam once before but failed. The journey from his home to the capital was expensive, and it wasn't easy, but he's here again! He must have studied hard for another three years to think he'd give it another try, right?"

Qi Zhen was a little confused: "Boss...how do you know he took the exam once?"

Lin Shanjuan: "He arrived in Beijing just two weeks before the imperial examination, and he had no money left. This proves that he planned very carefully."

"This half month is enough for him to review and familiarize himself with the environment, and he also happened to bring just enough money. Compared to him, Xu Feng was kicked out by the three people because he didn't bring enough money. They are from the same hometown. If Wang Xing had extra money, wouldn't he help him for one night?"

Qi Zhen suddenly realized: "In other words, Xu Feng has no experience, so he doesn't have enough money. But Wang Xing has experience, so everything is planned just right!"

Lin Shanjuan nodded and continued his speculation:

"But! Now we know he didn't take the exam. Imagine a man who was so desperate to change his fate through the imperial examination, but didn't take it, and instead, after the results were announced, he got drunk and took his anger out on others, and finally committed suicide by taking poison. Tell me, why did that happen?"

Qi Zhen's thoughts became clearer, and it seemed that something was about to come out.

"He...he shouldn't not go. He would definitely go. Could it be that due to some other factors, he changed his mind and didn't go?"

Lin Shanjuan smiled faintly, raised a finger and shook it, "He couldn't possibly not want to participate, because even if he was given a lot of money, it wouldn't be as real as being an official himself. He has studied for so many years, he wouldn't be unable to understand this principle. So the reasons why he didn't go are, first, 'he didn't dare', and second, 'he couldn't'!"

Qi Zhen had some doubts. "He's worked so hard for so long, what's there to be afraid of? Besides, he's persevered through this long journey, so nothing can scare him. And if he can't, that's even more ridiculous. He's a grown man with healthy hands and feet, so why can't he go..."

Qi Zhen was halfway through questioning when a sudden light bulb went off in his head!

"Sir, you're saying! Someone... doesn't want him to go, so... he can't?"

Lin Shanjuan looked at him with a smile, "Not bad, not too stupid. So one of his four fellow townsmen must be an insider. Because these three people understand his talents best, they are also the ones closest to him and have the best chance of taking action."

Qi Zhen nodded thoughtfully, "So... you brought these papers back, firstly, to compare them with the handwriting in the final letter, and secondly, to check the contents of the red papers written by others?"

Lin Shanjuan nodded with satisfaction: "If the handwriting of this last letter can match that of one of them, then we won't have to search for a needle in a haystack in the capital."

She originally wanted to compare Wang Xing's handwriting, but now that Wang Xing didn't take the exam, the handwriting she had to compare was naturally the murderer's!

No one would be afraid of a person who has no knowledge at all. The reason why this person killed Wang Xing was probably because he felt that Wang Xing was a threat to himself, so he wanted to kill him.

Qi Zhen sighed, "We're all from the same hometown, and the results of the exam haven't even been announced yet. How could he have the heart to do this? What if he kills someone and they don't pass? What then? Wouldn't it be a waste of their life?"

Lin Shanjuan was stunned, but Qi Zhen's words actually lit up her thoughts -

Qi Zhen was right. Those people were not fools. Killing someone under the emperor's feet was no small matter. They were all candidates for the imperial examination. If there was any flaw in this matter, they would be sentenced to death if it was discovered.

Then why did he still do it? Wasn't the reason for killing just because he was afraid of Wang Xing's talent?

But what other reason could there be besides this?