Zhu Huaizhang: " Li Xiao, go and boil a pot of soapberry water."
Bai Yunduan quickly spoke up, "My lord, I'll send someone..."
Zhu Huaizhang bent down to examine the edge of the mat on the kang (heated brick bed), without even raising his head, "No need, let Li Xiao go..."
Bai Yunduan, feeling unimpressed, glanced at Zhou Yan but said nothing more.
Li Xiao followed the servant to the kitchen, and soon returned with a basin of soapberry water. He took out a soft-handled brush from his bag.
"Sir, let me do it."
"No need, you can just watch from the side," he said, taking the soft brush, dipping it in soapy water, and scrubbing the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) continuously.
Zhou Yan was completely bewildered. What was Zhu Huaizhang up to? Just as he was wondering, white bubbles began to appear on the once-clean edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
Immediately afterwards, wisps of dark brown, fluffy substance seeped out from the cracks along the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). When Zhu Huaizhang brushed the pillow along the edge of the kang with his soft brush, his movements suddenly stopped.
His gaze fell on the gap in the mat on the kang (a heated brick bed), and he pulled out an embroidery thread. The once bright embroidery thread had turned dark red from being soaked in blood.
Zhu Huaizhang tossed the soft brush into the wooden basin, picked up the silk thread, and turned around. "The bloodstains seeped into the wood grain and can't be washed off with water; they'll congeal when they come into contact with soapberry water. There are bloodstains seeping out from the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) and the pillows."
"Moreover, I found this on the kang mat... If Bai Yunjin really died in this room as Lord Zhou said, then he didn't die from poisoning."
Zhu Huaizhang's gaze swept across everyone's faces, and he said, word by word, "It was murder..."
Zhou Yan panicked upon hearing this. He had cleaned the crime scene three times; how could Zhu Huaizhang have found out?
Zhu Huaizhang handed the silk thread to Li Xiao, his gaze following the wall to the decorative panel on the kang (heated brick bed). "Bring a chair over."
Li Xiao turned around, lifted a chair, and placed it in front of Zhu Huaizhang. Zhu Huaizhang stood on the chair and carefully examined the floral pattern on the kang (heated brick bed). Jin Shanyao her head back.
A dense network of crisscrossing marks was visible. Following the marks downwards, their eyes met... Zhu Huaizhang was speechless. " Jin Shanyao... what are you doing?"
Jin Shanyao her head back and exclaimed in confusion, "I was watching you investigate a case. I've never seen you like this before."
Just as Zhu Huaizhang was about to get down, he saw her pointing to the decorative board on the kang (a heated brick bed), "There's still an embroidery thread over there..." Following her direction, he indeed saw an embroidery thread. Zhu Huaizhang thought to himself that her eyesight was quite good.
The embroidery thread was stuck in the seam, without any bloodstains, indicating it had been broken by force. He took the thread and got off the chair, and as soon as he stood up, Jin Shanyao came over.
There were bloodstains on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed).
A look of surprise flashed in Zhu Huaizhang's eyes. "How did you know?"
Jin Shanyao raised an eyebrow at him smugly, "You can smell it... can't you smell it? The whole courtyard reeks of blood."
Seeing the suspicion in Zhu Huaizhang's eyes, she strode to the door, pointed at the peach tree, and said, "There are three corpses here... Dig them out and I'll give you a reward."
These words shocked everyone in the room.
Bai Yunduan flew into a rage and sternly questioned Jin Shanyao, " Jin Shanyao! Wasn't killing my brother enough for you? Now you're going to make baseless accusations and slander my Bai Household for hiding a corpse?"
Seeing his reaction, Zhou Yan's head buzzed, he felt a lump in his throat, and his heart pounded wildly... He was filled with regret.
With only a year left before his transfer, he intended to use Bai Yunjin's sudden death as an excuse to seize the Meng Household's assets.
But if there really are three corpses buried under the peach tree... this game will be completely out of his control!
Zhou Yan suppressed his panic and said in a deep voice, " Jin Shanyao's suspicions against you haven't been cleared yet. Don't try to divert everyone's attention."
Jin Shanyao completely ignored the two men and whispered seductively in Zhu Huaizhang's ear, "Go... He dares to act arrogantly in Qingzhou Prefecture, why don't you dare to act arrogantly in Jing'an Prefecture... Trust me... Go."
Zhu Huaizhang stared into her eyes and asked earnestly, "Are you telling the truth?"
"Really... willing to risk everything, even pulling a general off his horse... Believe me, if you don't fight back, others will always think you're easy to bully... Go..."
The two were standing quite close. Zhu Huaizhang moved two steps to the left and instructed Li Xiao, "Dig this up..."
As soon as Li Xiao made a move, Fang Rui stepped forward and blocked his path. The constables and yamen runners around them immediately surrounded him.
Zhou Yan's eyes were sinister, and his tone was laced with threat, " Zhu Huaizhang, are you out of your mind? You are a fourth-rank prefect, not a puppet to be manipulated."
Zhu Huaizhang remained unyielding, saying, "What's the rush, Lord Zhou...? Whether there's a body or not, we'll find out by digging."
" Zhu Huaizhang... don't forget this is Jing'an Prefecture, my territory doesn't belong to you..." Before he could finish the word "you," a Dahuang ran to the peach tree and frantically dug at the soil.
In the blink of an eye, a huge hole was dug out of the ground.
While everyone was still in shock at its speed, Dahuang had already hooked a pink garment with one paw and dragged a corpse out of the hole.
A sudden, deathly silence fell over the surroundings.
Zhou Yan's vision blurred, and at that moment he wished he could turn back time so that he would never have provoked Anzhi Hall in his life.
But now it was all too late, because that stupid dog had already dug up all three corpses and placed them side by side in front of Jin Shanyao, looking like it was waiting for praise.
Jin Shanyao closer to Zhu Huaizhang again and whispered, "Three hundred taels, and I'll make sure you solve the case that very day..."
Zhu Huaizhang snapped out of his shock and stared at her blankly, his preconceived notions collapsing in disbelief.
He suppressed his shock and pressed on, " Lord Zhou, this case is no longer just a matter for your Jing'an Prefecture. Three unidentified female corpses buried in a private residence—this is a shocking case."
As the prefect of a neighboring prefecture, having witnessed the event, I have a duty to assist in the investigation. To avoid bias, I should report to the Provincial Surveillance Commission for a decision, or... have both prefectures cooperate in an on-site investigation."
Zhou Yan desperately suppressed the dizziness, countless thoughts flashing through his mind. Report it to the Provincial Surveillance Commission? No, that would be like pulling up a radish with mud attached; if it reached his superiors, he would be the one to die.
Forcibly expelling Zhu Huaizhang? That's even more unacceptable. The other party has the right to claim "witnessing a major case," and forcing their way out will only escalate the conflict and give others ammunition to criticize them.
The only way out is to keep the situation under control.
In the blink of an eye, Zhou Yan made his decision. He forced a smile and spoke in a soft, almost ingratiating tone.
" Lord Zhu is absolutely right! Such a major case certainly requires careful consideration. Let's do as Lord Zhu says, and have our two prefectures work together to conduct an on-site investigation."
"You've had a long journey, and it's getting late. Why don't you return to the inn to rest first, and we can conduct the interrogation together tomorrow?"
Zhou Yan's sinister gaze subtly swept towards Jin Shanyao.
Jin Shanyao at him... "What are you looking at... you little eyes."
Zhu Huaizhang finally let out the pent-up frustration that had been building up in his chest for days.
That feels so good!