Chapter 204: Life-or-death Feelings
“Dingguo Duke.” The Jingzhao Yin received Mo Qilan in the courtyard behind the Prefectural Office, which meant that this meeting was based on personal friendship, not for inquiring about the case or taking statements.
“Lord Yin.” Mo Qilan cupped his fists in return.
“Knowing that the Duke has busy affairs, this official will get straight to the point.” The Jingzhao Yin had received the report of the case early this morning, and it was a horrific case that nearly wiped out an entire family. The murderer was extremely cruel, actually burning the corpses after killing, clearly harboring deep hatred. He had been racking his brains since morning until now, with no thoughts for pleasantries.
“Lord Yin, please speak.” Mo Qilan picked up the teacup, lowered his eyelids, and took a sip of tea.
“This morning, a horse carriage that was almost completely burned was found in the outskirts of the Capital. There were several corpses on it that could no longer be identified. This official found the mark of the Duke’s Mansion on the remaining carriage wreckage, so this official wants to ask, where are the Duke’s family members now?”
Mo Qilan’s hand trembled as he held the teacup, and some tea spilled out, very conspicuous on his sky-blue robe.
He set down the teacup, raised his eyes to look at the Jingzhao Yin, and answered truthfully: “Yesterday, my wife took Zi Chen and Lan Zhi to the manor to play, and the accompanying servants went with them.”
Hearing this, the Jingzhao Yin understood what he meant and couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for him. Almost everyone in the Capital City knew that the Dingguo Duke doted excessively on his second wife and the pair of son and daughter born to the second wife, while scorning the son born to the first wife, and had repeatedly tried to change the heir. Now, the second wife and her son and daughter had all been wiped out in one go.
“Does the Duke have any thoughts on this matter?”
“Could Lord Yin let this Duke take a look at that horse carriage? Isn’t it said that the people on it were burned beyond recognition? How can it be confirmed that the dead are my wife, my son, and my young daughter?”
The Jingzhao Yin nodded knowingly. He wondered how this man could remain so calm when his wife and children were gone—turns out he won’t shed tears until he sees the coffin!
“This is naturally possible, but the brought-back carriage wreckage and the corpses on it look quite horrific. Please prepare yourself mentally, Duke.” The Jingzhao Yin suggested kindly.
“Thank you for the reminder, Lord Yin.” Mo Qilan cupped his hands.
“In that case, please follow this official, Duke!” The Jingzhao Yin sighed inwardly and led him to the small courtyard specially set up in the Prefectural Office for the coroners to work. A pile of black things was parked right in the middle of the courtyard, and there was still a smoky, charred smell in the air.
Mo Qilan was first stunned, then walked a few steps to the carriage wreckage. After just one glance, he covered his mouth and staggered to vomit under a big tree nearby. The visual impact was too strong; he simply couldn’t hold it back.
“Are you alright, Duke!” The Jingzhao Yin walked over and patted his back as he asked.
Mo Qilan nodded slightly. He hadn’t eaten anything from yesterday until now, so there was nothing to vomit, but waves of nausea in his chest made his throat spasm uncontrollably, leaving him dry heaving.
Although he knew the next words were somewhat cruel, the Jingzhao Yin still spoke: “The Duke has seen it. Can you confirm that the ones on the carriage are your Madam and young master and young lady?”
Mo Qilan: “······”
Could he say that one glance had scared him so much that he hadn’t seen anything clearly at all?
“The Duke can also have familiar servants come to identify together, to avoid any omissions.” The Jingzhao Yin racked his brains and came up with this method, which he thought would help Mo Qilan out of the awkward situation.
“No need. This Duke was just momentarily overcome with emotion earlier. I’ll take another look!” Mo Qilan stopped his good intentions. For something like this, it was still better for him to confirm personally. He could just say he was shocked by Qi Shi’s betrayal. He now felt that the servants in the mansion weren’t all that reliable either.
“Since that’s the case, then······ alright!” The Jingzhao Yin didn’t persuade further. The blow of losing all family members overnight wasn’t something everyone could bear, and it wasn’t out of line for the Dingguo Duke to want to confirm personally.
Mo Qilan steadied his mind and stepped toward the carriage wreckage again, beginning to carefully examine each charred corpse. But those people had directly poured tung oil on the corpses before setting the fire, so unless he had the Fiery Golden Eyes of Sun Wukong, identifying the corpses was next to impossible.
“How is it?” Seeing his brows furrow tighter after looking for a long time, the Jingzhao Yin asked.
Mo Qilan straightened up and shook his head. “Burned too severely. This Duke can’t tell.”
The Jingzhao Yin hadn’t held much hope anyway. He nodded and pointed to a spot on the carriage wreckage: “Duke, please look here. Is this the mark of the Duke’s Mansion?”
Mo Qilan looked in the direction he pointed and indeed saw an oval protrusion on what seemed to be the edge of the carriage compartment, engraved with the seal script character for “Ding.” It was indeed the mark of the Duke’s Mansion, so he nodded: “Correct, it is the mark of my Dingguo Duke’s Mansion.”
“After the coroners counted, there are a total of twenty-three corpses here. Does this match the number of people your Madam, young master, and young lady took with them?” the Jingzhao Yin asked again.
Mo Qilan went over in his mind the people he had seen yesterday, and his pupils suddenly contracted. Qi Shi, plus Mo Zichen, Mo Lanzhi, and the servants from several rooms, should add up to twenty-four people, but there were only twenty-three corpses here!
“This······” He hesitated whether to say it, after all, in his heart, Mo Ziyuan was the number one suspect. He feared the missing one had been caught by him and dealt with privately.
The Jingzhao Yin’s eyebrows shot up. Was there even need to hesitate? Could there be something else involved?
“This Duke has thought carefully, and yesterday the number of people who left the mansion should total twenty-four.” After thinking for a long time, Mo Qilan still decided to tell the truth. In this short time, he had already figured it out: if it wasn’t Mo Ziyuan who did it, all would be happy; if it was proven to be him, then he would step forward and say he had ordered it. He already owed this child so much; he could consider it compensation.
“The Duke means······ one person is missing?”
Mo Qilan nodded seriously. “Indeed, one is missing. But with the corpses so hard to identify, this Duke can’t tell who is missing.”
The Jingzhao Yin knew he was telling the truth, cupped his hands and said: “In any case, thank you, Duke, for your cooperation······”
Halfway through, the Jingzhao Yin suddenly straightened up, his gaze sharp as he looked at Mo Qilan.
He had felt something was off earlier, and now he realized it was the Dingguo Duke’s attitude. He was far too calm, as if that carriage full of dead people had nothing to do with him at all. This was completely different from the rumors of his deep affection for his second wife and the children she bore.
“Lord Yin, speak freely if you have something to say.” Feeling very uncomfortable under his piercing gaze, Mo Qilan rubbed his arms and said to him.
“In that case, this official won’t beat around the bush. There is indeed one question this official wants to ask the Duke.”
“Lord Yin, please speak.”
“How are the feelings between the Duke and your Madam?”
As soon as this question was asked, Mo Qilan’s face darkened instantly. Feelings? Naturally, it was a life-or-death struggle!
He took a deep breath, about to speak, when someone reported from the doorway: “My lord, His Majesty has sent someone to summon the Dingguo Duke to enter the palace. The person is waiting outside.”
