Veiled in Suspicion

"Then I shall not impose any longer."

Seeing that Zeng Anmin was fully absorbed in the case files, Xu Yunfeng wore a strange smile.

He lightly stroked the two wisps of beard at the corners of his mouth, then took his leave.

Zeng Anmin watched Xu Yunfeng's retreating back thoughtfully.

His old man's arrangement for him to become the Left Clerk of the Xuanjing Division was by no means an idle move.

"Jin Taiping, the Shen Family..."

Zeng Anmin cast a calm glance at the case file, and understanding slowly dawned on him.

This case was inextricably tied to Prince Jiang's Estate!

It was highly likely that some unspeakable secret of Prince Jiang's Estate was hidden within!

What secret could it be?

Zeng Anmin's interest was piqued.

He slowly lowered his head to examine the file in his hands, his gaze flickering with contemplation as he remained silent.

All the details of the case were recorded in the file.

"The current head of the Shen Family was Shen Liu. Forty-one years of age, he died of consumption fifteen days before the incident."

The file contained a detailed record of Shen Liu. In his youth, he had been fond of fighting and violence. Only after taking over the lineage's business had he settled down, traveling north and south with the family fleet and making a name for himself.

The crux of the case was this:

When the entire Shen Family was holding Shen Liu's funeral.

His widow, Madam Shen, was murdered while keeping vigil for him before the hall.

"A quarter past the hour of the Tiger, nephew Shen Jun entered the hall drunk, intending to keep vigil with his uncle. Three quarters past the hour of the Tiger, he fled out in panic."

Nephew referred to a brother's son.

"A quarter past the hour of the Rabbit, servants outside entered the hall. Widow Madam Liu Shen had died of suffocation. There were finger marks on her neck, and she was clutching Shen Congjun's jade pendant."

"On the following day at the hour of the Dragon, the Red-robed Guards of the Xuanjing Division captured nephew Shen Jun at the Jiaofang Division."

"After entering the Imperial Prison, Shen Jun steadfastly refused to admit to murdering his aunt for three days, and thus the case had been delayed."

At first glance, it was a clear and straightforward case file.

It not only detailed Madam Liu Shen's condition at death, but also listed every person's testimony with exceptional clarity.

Yet in Zeng Anmin's eyes, not a single word could withstand close scrutiny.

He raised his head, gazing out the window as he murmured:

"What was Shen Jun's motive for murdering his aunt?!"

That was an extremely important question.

Everything in the entire file had been recorded clearly, yet this motive had been conspicuously left unstated.

And beyond that, there was another critical question.

After killing his aunt, Shen Jun's first thought had not been to flee, but to go to the Jiaofang Division?

What, was it fashionable these days to visit prostitutes after murder?

Bullshit.

Zeng Anmin's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.

The Shen Family shipping business occupied an extremely important economic position in Two Rivers Prefecture.

And after Shen Liu's death, Shen Jun was Golden Taiping Shipping's sole heir.

If this case was not handled properly...

Zeng Anmin slowly lifted his head, his eyes deep and shadowed.

Then the things it entangled would be far too numerous.

However, as Zeng Anmin looked at the case file crammed with tiny writing, the corner of his mouth rose slightly.

He already knew how to solve the case.

Inside the Imperial Prison.

Zeng Anmin's expression was as dark as water as he looked at the "criminal" before him, whose face was deathly pale as he lay amid the straw, neither clearly dead nor alive.

The man wore a grimy black prison uniform, and a heavy stench wafted from his body.

He lay motionless atop the straw.

Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still alive.

This man was Shen Jun.

It was obvious that he had suffered no shortage of torture.

There was no falsehood in the saying that entering the Xuanjing Division's Imperial Prison meant losing half one's life.

Zeng Anmin merely cast a calm glance at the bailiffs beside him.

Though young, he possessed Vast Righteous Qi. Every gesture he made already carried considerable authority.

"Release him!"

"Yes."

Two Red-robed Guards respectfully opened the cell door, then dragged the young man from the ground as if tossing out a corpse.

"Bang!"

The young man was thrown to the floor. His body moved with the momentum, limp and boneless throughout.

Only then did Zeng Anmin clearly see his face.

His eyes were vacant, his entire body was bloodied and filthy, and his face was numb.

"Shen Jun!"

Zeng Anmin lowered his head and spoke to him in a deep, even voice:

"I am the newly appointed Left Clerk. I intend to reopen your case of murdering your aunt. You must confess truthfully, without concealing even the slightest thing!"

His voice was full and forceful, carrying the bearing of an upright magistrate.

Upon hearing him, Shen Jun, lying on the floor, froze at first. Then he laboriously turned his eyes toward Zeng Anmin beside him.

Zeng Anmin's face was tranquil as he met his gaze.

In Shen Jun's eyes, he saw emotions of great complexity.

Numbness, tenacity, stubbornness...

"I've already said everything there is to say. My conduct is upright and my conscience clear. I didn't kill my aunt."

Shen Jun had already said those words more times than he could count.

But every official who came to interrogate him would, as a matter of course, use the instruments of torture on him once more.

He had long since grown accustomed to it.

"Mm."

Zeng Anmin's face remained expressionless. Sitting in the chair the officials had brought him, he lightly turned the jade thumb ring he had swiped from his old man around his thumb. After a long while, he asked in a deep voice:

"What I wish to ask is this: that night in the Spirit Hall, was your aunt the only one there?"

Shen Jun's heart sank at those words, and his face was filled with bitterness.

Every official who came to question him began with this very question.

"Yes."

Shen Jun answered smoothly.

"What happened in the Spirit Hall?"

"Why did your jade pendant end up in her hand?"

Zeng Anmin had only read through the case file once and did not yet have a thorough understanding of the case. Now, he wanted to extract further information from Shen Jun.

Of course, Shen Jun was a suspect, so his words could not be wholly trusted.

"I..."

Shen Jun pressed his lips together. "My uncle had no heirs. Since childhood, he had treated me as his own son, and I was deeply attached to him. When I heard that he had died of illness, I grieved for several days. That day, I hid in my room and drank alone to drown my sorrows."

As he spoke of this, his expression became extraordinarily complicated.

"After I entered the Spirit Hall, my aunt, she..."

"She actually tried to seduce me while I was drunk, intending to commit such shameful acts in the Spirit Hall!!"

Zeng Anmin could hear the intense hatred in Shen Jun's voice.

This... there was actually something this explosive in the world??

That was the Spirit Hall!

Even the island nation's industry had developed so far, yet it still had not produced this kind of subject matter!

If there were hope of traveling back, then perhaps he...

Ahem, he was getting off topic!

Zeng Anmin continued to look at Shen Jun with a solemn expression.

"My uncle had always treated her exceedingly well. Who could have imagined that she... My uncle's coffin was still there!!"

Whenever Shen Jun thought of it, his face flushed red with rage.

"I left in anger. Perhaps I left too hastily, and she snatched my jade pendant into her hand... After leaving the Spirit Hall, I went to the Jiaofang Division..."

The corner of Zeng Anmin's mouth twitched.

This fellow was quite the man.

But judging from his tone, no matter how one looked at it, it sounded like his aunt had seduced him in the Spirit Hall, and then, in a fit of furious madness, he had strangled her to death...

No wonder he was covered in so much blood and filth. Who wouldn't suspect him?

Still, luckily for him, he had met Zeng Anmin.

"So, in other words, your aunt died after you left?"

"Mm."

Seeing the smile curling onto Zeng Anmin's lips, Shen Jun felt somewhat uneasy.

"Good."

Zeng Anmin slowly stood, looking him in the face with an amused smile.

"Then tell me, after leaving the Spirit Hall and going to the Jiaofang Division, which lady did you seek out?"

"Courtesan Shiyi."

Shen Jun answered without hesitation.

"An Shiyi..."

The most renowned courtesan of Two Rivers Prefecture's Jiaofang Division.

Zeng Anmin pondered for a moment, then slowly rose. "Dachun!"

"Young Master!"

"Come. Accompany me to the Jiaofang Division!"

"Right away!"