novelraw Chapter 137 : Ninth Young Miss Reminds Me of My Junior Sister
Chapter 137 : Ninth Young Miss Reminds Me of My Junior Sister
137: Ninth Young Miss Reminds Me of My Junior Sister
"Where did Little Songzi encounter the murderer?"
Sun Muqing frowned slightly for a moment before asking, a note of puzzlement in his voice.
Qin Wan did not speak. She suddenly stopped walking.
The moment she stopped, the large group following behind her also halted. Qin Wan narrowed her eyes, her voice cold and solemn.
"It was right here."
Qin Wan stood on a covered corridor. Directly ahead of her was the latrine Old Dong had mentioned earlier. To her west was a central courtyard, and opposite the courtyard was another covered corridor leading elsewhere. Qin Wan looked around her. "There's only one reason Little Songzi would leave his room in the middle of the night: he needed to use the latrine."
As she spoke, she took another two steps forward. This time, she didn't proceed directly into the central courtyard. Instead, she walked to the intersection where the two corridors met. She looked towards the corridor opposite. "Just as he was nearing the latrine, he saw the murderer."
Qin Wan's voice was grave, sending a chill down the spines of everyone listening. It was as if they had all become Little Songzi, stumbling upon that heartless killer. Song Li, who had been following at the very back of the group, spoke up. "What makes you say that?! You claim he went wherever you say he went?"
Qin Wan narrowed her eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, there should be a passageway at the end of that corridor opposite, leading directly to the courtyard where the incident occurred. Little Songzi saw the figure of the murderer, found him sneaking around, and followed. The murderer, realizing he was being followed, would naturally choose to head towards a more secluded place. He went towards the back eaves gutter behind the courtyard, but he likely didn't expect Little Songzi to keep following."
Old Dong frowned. "How does Ninth Young Miss know there's a passageway there? Have you been here before?"
Qin Wan shook her head. "I haven't. But only this explanation makes sense. Snow had already fallen the night Little Songzi died. If he had stepped out of his room and walked in the snow, his shoe soles would have been wet. Yet, his soles were dry."
Qin Wan continued forward, taking a turn to reach the opposite covered corridor. Following it, sure enough, before long, a somewhat dim passageway appeared before her. This passage was sandwiched between two rows of main rooms, the eaves above touching and blocking the wind and snow, which was why it remained dry. Qin Wan led everyone through the passage and, as expected, arrived at one side of the courtyard where the crime occurred. Keeping close to the foundation steps of the courtyard wall, she rounded a corner and came around to the foot of the back eaves gutter from another direction.
Little Songzi's body lay there on the ground, cold and stiff.
Sun Muqing's eyes immediately widened with surprise and delight. The route Qin Wan had taken was one even he hadn't considered, yet it had indeed led to the scene. "Ninth Young Miss… you… you're even more impressive than my Junior Sister!"
Hearing this, Qin Wan felt a bitter laugh inside. Back in her days at Medicine King Valley, she had only occasionally discussed investigative matters with Sun Muqing; she had never actually reasoned through a case in front of him. Now, solving a real-life case naturally seemed far more impressive than their previous theoretical discussions. Qin Wan's heart settled slightly, and she offered Sun Muqing a faint curve of her lips.
Song Li raised his eyebrows. "Fine… even if what Miss Qin says is right, then who is the murderer?"
Qin Wan’s eyes narrowed. "Earlier, Constable Song said Little Songzi didn't struggle when he died. But that's not actually true. Judging from the wounds on Little Songzi's body, it's highly likely that the knife was taken from Little Songzi’s own hand by the murderer."
"The murderer was acting suspiciously in the estate late at night. Little Songzi grew wary. The knife he had was most likely taken from the storage room. We saw earlier that the place where Little Songzi discovered the murderer is extremely close to the storage room."
As soon as she finished, Old Dong immediately added, "That storage room is indeed where the servants living nearby store their work tools. Utensils used by the kitchen are also kept there. Sometimes after finishing work and sharpening his knife, Little Songzi would put it away there. And that storage room usually isn't locked."
Qin Wan nodded. "There are scratch marks and bruises left on Little Songzi's right wrist, indicating the attacker grabbed him very hard. At the same time, there's a bruise on the left side of his face, as if he'd been struck. I suspect the murderer seized Little Songzi's knife-wielding right hand while striking with his own right hand. Then the knife was wrested away, and Little Songzi lost his life."
"One thing is certain: the murderer is a man, a man filled with immense hatred. It's even possible he didn't hate Little Songzi specifically; it was just that Little Songzi discovered him, which led to the brutal killing."
Song Li raised an eyebrow. "How can you be sure he didn't hate Little Songzi?!"
Qin Wan narrowed her eyes for a moment. "Simply because this wasn't premeditated murder. It was a coincidence. If it hadn't been Little Songzi who went out to relieve himself that night, but someone else, then that other person would likely be dead."
Song Li's lips twitched several times. He wanted to argue but couldn't find the words. The others who heard Qin Wan's explanation found it not only highly logical, but she had even detailed Little Songzi's likely route, his encounter with the murderer, and the scene of their struggle. Compared to Song Li's simple deduction, Qin Wan's account was clearly far more credible.
"Ninth Young Miss, if that's the case, then who is the murderer? And what was his purpose?"
At Old Dong's eager question, Qin Wan also fell into thought. She pondered for a moment before asking, "Uncle Dong, the place I mentioned where Little Songzi encountered the murderer, that corridor, what is it near?"
Old Dong tilted his head in thought. "If you keep going straight from there, you reach the medicine storage. Past the medicine storage is the Benevolent Heart Courtyard where the young master lives."
A slight shadow fell over Qin Wan's eyes. "Could the murderer's target have been the Benevolent Heart Courtyard?"
Old Dong looked surprised. "You mean… the murderer wanted to sneak into the Benevolent Heart Courtyard?"
Qin Wan pressed her lips together, not yet speaking, when Old Dong continued, "That's impossible. All the servants in this manor are good-natured and mild-tempered. Even if someone harbored ill intent, they wouldn't think of harming the young master! These servants, whenever anyone has a headache or fever, it's the young master himself who treats them, and they can take medicine freely. No one would bear murderous intent towards the young master."
Hearing this, Qin Wan sighed inwardly. There was some truth to what Old Dong said. Moreover, Qin Wan ultimately didn't understand the personalities and backgrounds of everyone in the manor. For now, she could only take Old Dong's word as a baseline.
Qin Wan extended her hand. "Uncle Dong, take a look at this. Has anyone in the manor worn clothing like this?"
In Qin Wan's palm lay the scrap of cotton cloth. Old Dong took it and examined it carefully, then shook his head. "The quality of this cotton cloth isn't very good. The winter clothes the young master has made for the servants are of better material than this."
A faint frown touched Qin Wan's eyes. "Then perhaps… it wasn't someone from the manor?"
"Couldn't it be that the person changed clothes when he went out to do evil at night?"
Song Li suddenly piped up again. He was rather displeased that Qin Wan had become the center of attention. His words were merely an attempt to steal some of the spotlight, but he hadn't expected Qin Wan to actually nod upon hearing them. "That is possible."
Song Li's eyes widened slightly. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
Qin Wan looked at the cloth scrap in Old Dong's hand. "Uncle Dong, this came from clothing the murderer was wearing. It is the most direct piece of evidence. I don't know the personnel affairs of the estate. How to verify this item will be up to Constable Song and you to arrange."
By saying this, Qin Wan was implying whether or not to search everyone's clothing. With no other evidence, this was the most direct method. Old Dong nodded. "Thank you, Ninth Young Miss. Even for Little Songzi's sake, we must investigate this."
Hearing this, Song Li snorted softly. "Still comes down to a search…"
Before his words fully left his mouth, Song Li felt a cool gaze sweep over him. He stiffened his spine and turned to look, meeting Qin Yan's eyes fixed on him. A chill ran down Song Li's neck. He hurriedly suppressed the anger showing on his face, becoming much more respectful towards Qin Wan. Qin Wan, in turn, glanced at Little Songzi's body. "Let's have him encoffined first."
The body had already lain there for two days. Yet the team Song Li brought were a bunch of incompetents. Those like Little Lizi, who had been close to Little Songzi, had long been unable to bear the sight. Now that Qin Wan spoke, Old Dong also breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Thank you truly, Ninth Young Miss."
Qin Wan nodded and made a sound of acknowledgement. For now, she had said all she could think of. There was nothing more she could do at the moment. After all, this was a case where heavy snow had covered many traces. It was impossible to pinpoint the murderer based on the body alone. Qin Wan took two steps back, frowning as she thought over her earlier deductions. Why would the murderer have been loitering there in the middle of the night?
Was his target originally one of the male servants among the lower ranks?
Qin Wan shook her head. That possibility seemed too small. The servants' quarters were close together. If he intended to kill, wouldn't it be easier to wait for a servant to be alone while out working during the day? Qin Wan still leaned towards the idea that the murderer's target might have been somewhere in that vicinity. And that area happened to be relatively close to the Benevolent Heart Courtyard. But who in this manor would dare to harbor murderous intent towards Sun Haoyue?
Or perhaps, the murderer wasn't out to kill that night?
But if not to kill, then why the brutal murder of Little Songzi?
That kind of cruel hatred… who was it truly directed towards?
"Ninth Sister, it's alright for now. Let's go back first."
Qin Yan's voice pulled Qin Wan's thoughts back. She returned to herself, meeting Qin Yan's somewhat profound gaze. Qin Wan's heart tightened slightly. She knew her current actions would undoubtedly make Qin Yan view her in a new light. Qin Wan met Qin Yan's gaze for a moment, her expression resolute, steady, unwavering. She didn't want to show off through solving cases, but if it could make Qin Yan think more highly of her, that seemed beneficial. After all, what she wanted to do couldn't be accomplished by being quiet, weak, and easily bullied.
"Alright. Let's go back and wait for news from Uncle Dong…"
Qin Wan nodded. Qin Shuang, who had been silent the whole time, walked up to Qin Wan's side. Her eyes shone as she looked at Qin Wan. "Heavens, how did you do that? I even used to think you were slow-witted. What you just did truly left me in awe…"
Qin Shuang's admiration was completely unguarded. Hearing it, Qin Wan couldn't help a wry smile. Being praised as clever by Qin Shuang didn't seem like something to be overly happy about. "I just thought of it. Everything has cause and effect. What we see now is the result. Reasoning backwards from it, we naturally discover some clues."
"Ninth Young Miss!" Sun Muqing exclaimed softly, striding forward to catch up. "Who told you that phrase you just said?"
Qin Wan turned to look at Sun Muqing, her heart tightening slightly. "I just thought of it myself. Why?"
Sun Muqing studied Qin Wan deeply for a moment, a bitter smile on his lips. "What a coincidence. My Junior Sister once said those exact same words." After a pause, he added meaningfully, "I don't know why, but I always feel Ninth Young Miss reminds me a bit of my Junior Sister…"