An oversight

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Just as the three of them were exchanging idle remarks, a knock came from the entrance to the Painting Studio.

Wang Lin hurriedly stood up. "Xiaolin, clean up quickly. I'll get the door."

"Whoosh!"

Lin Ke turned to look and found that Butcher Zhang had already fled. There was no need to guess-he had definitely gone back to his own courtyard!

He shook his head helplessly, looked at the bone fragments scattered over the floor, and found a broom to sweep them up.

Wang Lin turned to open the door. "Remember to wipe the grease off your mouth before you come out."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The knocking came again, and she called toward the shop, "Coming!"

Lin Ke swiftly swept up the scraps on the floor, then returned to the shop as well.

Once inside, he found that Jingang had arrived. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he sat down and sank into thought, holding a teacup.

Shopkeeper Tong, the Tea Shop Father and Son, the matchmaker, Butcher Zhang, and the others arrived one after another.

They had all come because of the case.

Butcher Zhang also came back in from outside, as though the bear-paw feast had never happened.

This was Zhang Fei threading a needle-finesse beneath a rough exterior.

Once everyone had arrived, they sat together and racked their brains, but could not think of any breakthrough.

Their only lead was the three people who had died alongside the Little Golden Crow Prince.

Now they only had to wait for those three people's identities to be confirmed.

While everyone waited, footsteps came from outside the door.

Sure enough!

Li Hanlin-Lord Li!

Li Hanlin's expression was perfectly calm, revealing nothing whatsoever.

Upon entering, he first bowed to Jingang. "Your Highness Jin, I had to investigate those three people's backgrounds, so I arrived late. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Jingang waved a hand. "No matter. Please speak freely, Lord Li."

"All right." Li Hanlin nodded, found a chair, and sat down. "First, I must thank Lin Ke for helping us solve a corruption case. Without your portraits, it would have been difficult for us to uncover so much information."

Lin Ke said, "It was no trouble at all."

"Now, let me tell you about those three." Li Hanlin cleared his throat and gave a measured account of what he had discovered. "All three belonged to the Revenue Department..."

As Li Hanlin explained, understanding gradually dawned on everyone's faces.

It turned out that the three were officials and rank-and-file soldiers of the Revenue Department. Mei Mingzi, the short, skinny clerk, and Zhang San, the tall soldier on duty, had conspired to steal grain from the granary and transport it away.

But the fat man, Lu Renjia, had discovered their activities, which had led to the three gathering at the Tongfu Grand Restaurant.

Before their meeting, however, Mei Mingzi had secretly sought someone out and paid a hefty sum to have a poison concocted. Then the murders had happened.

There were no sweeping twists, no tangled complications. It was straightforward from beginning to end, a crime following a single thread.

There was a motive, a method, and evidence.

It was an utterly ordinary case caused by an uneven division of the spoils!

"That's all?" Lin Ke's furrowed brow gradually relaxed.

"That's all." Li Hanlin nodded.

Li Hanlin looked at Lin Ke with a broad smile. "I really must thank you, Lin Ke. You've helped me solve so many cases in just three days that I don't even know how to thank you!"

"No thanks needed. It was only right." Lin Ke was smiling now, without any trace of his earlier agonized deliberation.

I guessed right!

Jinganglang's death really did have little to do with those three.

Jinganglang's case and theirs were entirely separate!

That had been his impression and judgment when the incident occurred, and now it had been confirmed.

Then where exactly was the breakthrough?!

In front of everyone, Lin Ke took out the tree diagram he had prepared earlier. "Please help me look through this again and see whether I've missed anything."

Everyone gathered around at his words.

They studied the paper for a while, exchanging blank looks, but in the end, they only felt that it was already extremely thorough. They could not spot any omissions.

Where, exactly, was the problem...? Lin Ke suddenly stood up.

His gaze shifted upward.

He looked at the arrows following the Little Golden Crow Prince at the top of the tree diagram.

Then he looked at the terms "Profit-Seeking," "revenge," "love or lust," and the rest.

He had fallen into a mental trap.

He had subconsciously assumed that the Little Golden Crow Prince, Jinganglang, had been "killed"—that it was "homicide."

But what if it was "not homicide," if he had "not been killed"?

He turned to Wang Lin.

Now he only needed to confirm one thing: whether some other expert he could not see had acted at the time!

Lin Ke walked over to Wang Lin. "Master, there's something I want to confirm with you! Let's talk in the rear courtyard!"

Wang Lin nodded.

Then the two went to the rear courtyard.

Lin Ke asked, "Master, can they hear us talking?"

Wang Lin shook her head.

Lin Ke asked directly, "Master, when you were chopping up the bear paws, were there any other experts near the Tongfu Grand Restaurant?"

Wang Lin shook her head. "I didn't sense any. Only that flash of fire when the Little Golden Crow Prince died had an exceptionally powerful aura."

"Right. Let's go back." Having received his answer, Lin Ke hurried back inside.

Wang Lin remained in the courtyard, narrowing her eyes at Lin Ke's retreating back as she murmured, "What if there was an expert even I couldn't detect...?"

Of course, Wang Lin did not know that Lin Ke had considered that possibility too.

He had already returned to the Painting Studio. After looking around at everyone, his gaze finally settled on the tree diagram, and he sank into thought.

Beneath the Golden Crow Prince were terms such as "Profit-Seeking," "revenge," and "love or lust," with individual connected nodes below them.

Previously, he had kept looking downward, observing and thinking, checking for missing points and anything he had failed to consider.

And the result?

By constantly looking down, he had overlooked what lay above!

At the top, whether it was Profit-Seeking or revenge, love or lust, everything stemmed from one shared term...

Homicide!

And Lin Ke had subconsciously treated the Little Golden Crow Prince's death as a homicide.

But death could have many causes.

The causes of death included natural death, being killed, suicide...

They could also be divided into two broad categories: homicide and non-homicide!

If this was not a homicide, that would explain why even such a detailed tree diagram had failed to reveal any clues or connections...

At that thought, Lin Ke took out his brush and paper and drew another branch at the very top of the tree diagram.

On the left was homicide, with branches extending downward.

On the right was non-homicide, including natural decline, accidental death, and suicide.

First, he ruled out natural decline. Golden crows lived long lives, and as the Little Golden Crow Prince, Jinganglang had been in excellent health. Natural decline was out of the question.

That left suicide and accidental death.

Suicide would have been an entirely conscious act, a case of him being unable to see a way forward, with interference from others ruled out.

The Little Golden Crow Prince had been in the Confucian Scholar Realm. He presumably would not have committed suicide.

Then had it been an accidental death?

"Accidental death?" Jingang read the term aloud, his expression solemn.

The others had also gathered around the tree diagram and noticed what it suggested.

None of them were fools. Lin Ke had drawn it so clearly that they naturally understood.

Could the Little Golden Crow Prince, Jinganglang, very well have died by accident?