Chapter 241: Another Murder Case
Boss Zhan made a gesture to see the guests off when a steward-dressed person walked in. “Master, people from the Prefectural Yamen have arrived.”
Boss Zhan’s anger stalled as he took a deep breath before saying, “Invite them in.”
The steward acknowledged the order and left. Shang Wan and the other three exchanged a glance.
Hua Niangzi: Government people have come. Should we leave?
Niangzi Lou: No, let’s watch the excitement.
Niangzi Shu: Don’t watch every bit of excitement.
Shang Wan: Don’t leave yet. We’ll act according to the situation later.
The four women showed no intention of taking leave. Boss Zhan seemed to have forgotten about it as well, sitting in the armchair rubbing his hands nonstop and staring blankly at the ground.
Boss Yang stood by with hands down, and from his expression, he was also lost in thought.
Shang Wan found this master-servant pair quite interesting. With constables at the door, they were all staring blankly together?
Not long after, the steward led in three constables wearing red official uniforms.
Upon seeing the person walking at the front clearly, Shang Wan raised an eyebrow inwardly.
The visitor turned out to be Shen Qi.
Shen Qi also spotted Shang Wan, and his steps involuntarily paused.
Why was this ancestor here?
Her heroic figure yesterday carrying the headless corpse was still fresh in his memory.
That wide-eyed head had rolled gurgling to his feet, becoming his nightmare last night.
It was only because the weather was cold and the blood had frozen that he didn’t have to imagine seeing a blood-soaked ghost.
“Lady Shang.” Shen Qi subconsciously greeted Shang Wan.
Everyone else looked over in surprise. Shang Wan knew this constable?
Shang Wan nodded to Shen Qi without saying more.
Boss Zhan looked at Shang Wan suspiciously, unable to help suspecting if she was sent by the government to probe.
However, the current situation left no room for overthinking.
Shen Qi had come to take him to the Prefectural Yamen for questioning, and Boss Yang was going too.
With everyone taken away, business talks naturally couldn’t continue.
Shang Wan and her group left by carriage.
In the carriage, Niangzi Lou nudged Shang Wan’s arm and asked curiously, “You know the Prefectural Yamen’s constable?”
“Only a few encounters.”
Seeing Shang Wan had no intention of saying more, Niangzi Lou didn’t continue asking.
“From the current situation, I’m afraid we’ll have to stay in the Prefectural City a few more days.” Hua Niangzi leaned her head on Niangzi Shu’s shoulder, looking a bit wilted.
Niangzi Shu raised her hand and lightly patted her cheek. “How do you have no patience at all? It’s just staying a few more days. Treat it as coming to the Prefectural City to play.”
“I’m just worried we won’t close the deal in the end.” Hua Niangzi turned to look at Shang Wan. “Wanwan, do you think we can buy the merchant caravan?”
“I think…” Shang Wan raised her eyes. “We need to go see the merchant caravan.”
·
The merchant caravan was in a special situation now, so Boss Zhan had specially rented a large courtyard for its people to rest.
Soldiers were now guarding the large courtyard gate, not allowing outsiders in or out. Even people inside needed inspection to come out.
“Can’t get in.” Niangzi Lou ran back and said to the three waiting in the carriage. “The back door also has soldiers guarding it, not allowing outsiders in or out. Can’t even stand at the doorway to look.”
“I also asked around the neighbors. The soldiers came yesterday evening, there was a big commotion at night, and it only quieted down this morning.”
“I’ll go.” Shang Wan handed Yuan Yuan to Hua Niangzi. “Good girl, play with your Aunt Hua for a bit. Mother will be back soon.”
“Hey, how are you going to get in…” Before Niangzi Shu could finish, Shang Wan had slipped out of the carriage and vanished in a blink.
Niangzi Lou opened her mouth wide in surprise. “Goodness, can she fly?”
She only knew Shang Wan knew martial arts, but no one told her her skills were this good.
Hua Niangzi lowered her head and stared big eyes with the little girl in her arms.
The little girl was unhappily pouting because Mother didn’t take her to play, puffing up like a pufferfish in anger.
While they were in various moods, Shang Wan had already entered the large courtyard.
Soldiers were patrolling inside the large courtyard too, probably to prevent another murder.
The room where Shang Wan was hiding seemed to be specially for storing weapons. Everywhere she looked were knives or daggers, plus two red tassel spears, with swords kept in boxes.
Shang Wan checked them one by one and found nothing special.
She was about to open the door to go out and look around when she heard a sharp scream: “There’s a dead body!”
Everyone rushed toward the direction of the scream. Shang Wan listened to the footsteps, waiting until outside was clear before following stealthily.
The large courtyard had limited rooms, and with many in the merchant caravan, everyone except Boss Yang slept in big dormitories.
This time, the dead one was the merchant caravan’s cook, hanged from the beam.
Perhaps because the government had intervened, the killer didn’t bother disguising it. From the marks on the corpse’s neck, the cook had been strangled before being hung on the beam.
The corpse was still warm, so it must have been discovered right after death.
In this situation, the killer was either mixed in with the panicked crowd or hiding somewhere in the large courtyard.
“Who discovered the corpse?”
“Me.” A skinny short boy raised his hand.
The soldiers stared at him. With that small frame, he couldn’t possibly move the fat cook, let alone hang him from the beam.
“Did you see any suspicious person?”
“N-no.” The short boy shook his head, nervously clutching his clothes, stammering in fear.
“What did you come here for?”
The short boy pointed to the overturned wooden basin on the ground. “To fetch hot water for a foot soak.”
It was cold outside, and soaking feet when idle was indeed comfortable.
The soldier glanced at the wooden basin and scanned the crowd. “Before the incident, who else came to this room?”
Everyone shook their heads, clearly not wanting to invite trouble at this time.
Seeing this, the soldier’s expression hardened, and he barked, “Confess honestly! If there’s any concealment, all will be treated as the killer!”
At these words, the panicked crowd looked at each other, and a few hands went up sporadically.
The soldiers brought those people out and gathered them on the other side.
“Anyone else? If you don’t step forward now and it’s found out later, hmph!”
A heavy hmph brought out two more people.
In the end, seven people had come to this room: two cargo handlers, four guards, one shop assistant, and the earlier short one was the shop assistant.
The leading soldier locked these seven together, sent people to guard them strictly, dispatched others to report to the Prefect, and also had people search the entire large courtyard in case the killer was still hiding inside.
Shang Wan hid in the dark, carefully observing everyone’s expressions, and found nothing unusual.
She closed her eyes and listened intently, taking in all the conversations in the large courtyard.
Amid the noisy voices, she suddenly caught an unusual movement.
She abruptly opened her eyes and flashed toward a certain place.
·
“It’s been a whole hour. Why hasn’t she come back?” Niangzi Lou anxiously peered out of the carriage, worried Shang Wan would be discovered.
“Come back.” Niangzi Shu pulled her to sit down. “With you poking your head out like that, if someone grabs you as a thief, I won’t save you.”
Niangzi Lou frowned. “At a time like this, you still have the mood to joke?”
“Put your heart at ease. Shopkeeper Shang won’t have trouble.”
Though she hadn’t interacted much with Shang Wan, Niangzi Shu felt she understood her temperament somewhat.
She thought Shang Wan wouldn’t do anything without certainty. If she hadn’t returned for so long, she must have made some discovery.
