Chapter 31

After Magistrate Ding finished speaking, he headed straight to a corner in the distance. As he walked, he cast a barely perceptible glance at Yun Shuang, who stood there deep in thought.

Hmph, that woman’s shamelessness clearly hasn’t reached its limits—trying to butt in on the yamen’s private meeting…

In the next moment, he heard Miss Yun suddenly ask, “May I ask, Lady Luo, have you been feeling unwell recently, or do you suffer from any lingering illnesses?”

Everyone was stunned.

Chen Hao looked at Luo Xueqing, visibly anxious. “Xueqing… are you not feeling well?”

Lianxin frowned, sounding displeased. “Our lady is perfectly healthy! Madam Yun, why would you ask something like that out of the blue?”

To say such ominous things about someone’s health for no reason, how inauspicious!

Luo Xueqing didn’t respond; her cool gaze locked steadily onto Yun Shuang.

Yun Shuang gave a faint smile. “Nothing really, just a casual question.”

With that, she suddenly turned and headed toward the staircase nearby.

Yang Yuanyi quickly called out, “Miss Yun, where are you going?”

Yun Shuang paused, glanced back with a smile and said, “I have some business to attend to downstairs. Carry on.”

Yang Yuanyi could only stand there blankly as she gracefully descended the stairs.

“You little brat, why don’t you go work for that woman instead!” Magistrate Ding finally lost all patience and gave Yang Yuanyi a hard kick.

Yang Yuanyi winced from the pain but didn’t say a word, too guilty to respond. Truthfully, he did feel that Miss Yun was more likely to crack this case. But of course, that wasn’t something he could say in front of Magistrate Ding. After all, he was a considerate man—he knew how to respect his elders and care for the young.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xiao withdrew his gaze from Yun Shuang’s departing figure. He neither followed her nor sent anyone after her. He was starting to realize that he had been used as a stepping stone by this woman.

Although he was pretty certain she wasn’t a spy from Jinmeng, her origins were still a mystery. She was strikingly skilled in investigating cases—smooth and natural, as if born for it. Technically speaking, as long as she posed no threat to Da Qi, her identity didn’t concern him. And yet he couldn’t help but pay close attention to her every move just now.

How strange. Could it be that being played by her stirred something in him?

On the other side, Magistrate Ding stomped off to the corner he had originally intended to go to, clearly irritated. He gave a sharp glare at the dazed Yang Yuanyi and said: “We’ve examined the crime scene and spoken to several suspects. Everyone, share your thoughts on this case.”

One constable spoke up: “I believe Mr. Fan is still the most suspicious. First, he has a clear motive to kill. Second, he was close to the victim and could have easily gotten close enough to murder her.”

Another constable quickly added: “I agree. But Mr. Chen is also somewhat suspicious. I wasn’t at the Luo residence yesterday, but based on what Yuanyi told me, Chen Hao was clearly furious with Mr. Fan—he even threatened to take matters into his own hands and avenge Lady Luo.”

“If Miss He hadn’t died, Mr. Fan would’ve just been kicked out of the Luo household. But if he’s convicted of murdering her, his life is completely ruined. What better revenge is there?”

The first constable then jumped in again: “But in that case… doesn’t Lady Luo have a motive too? Even if she pretended to take things lightly, the husband she loved had been lying and betraying her all along. That’s hard for any woman to accept.”

“Still, Lady Luo admitted that the handkerchief found in her and Mr. Fan’s room was planted by her—intended to lure us to Yiyuan Inn so she could expose Mr. Fan’s true nature in public.”

Magistrate Ding furrowed his brow: “If Lady Luo intended to kill, why draw us into it beforehand? If she’d set up a trap to lure Mr. Fan alone and frame him, wouldn’t that be simpler?”

“After Miss He’s death, someone would naturally report it. Why get us involved beforehand? What if we accidentally disrupted her plan?”

“Criminals usually do everything they can to avoid the authorities—hardly ever do they invite them in advance.”

“And Lady Luo appears calm and rational. Doesn’t seem like someone who would commit such an irrational act.”

Magistrate Ding’s reasoning made sense, and the group couldn’t help but frown.

Most pressing of all—regardless of who the killer might be, they were all still just speculating. There was no solid evidence yet.

Seeing that Yang Yuanyi remained completely out of it, refusing to contribute to the discussion, Magistrate Ding lost his patience again. He sharply tapped him on the forehead and barked: “Stop daydreaming! We don’t have enough leads. Those three are all suspects, yes, but we can’t rule out the possibility that someone else did it.”

“Yang Yuanyi, take Dashan downstairs to the lobby. Question the other guests.”

“I’ll stay here with San’er to thoroughly search Miss He’s room…”

Before he finished speaking, the previously lethargic Yang Yuanyi suddenly lit up. He raised his hand and excitedly waved toward the front: “Miss Yun! You’re back! Did you find something?”

Magistrate Ding: “…”

Unable to hold back, someone muttered bitterly through clenched teeth:  

“Who knows, maybe she just went to the latrine!”

Yun Shuang gave a light smile in Yang Yuanyi’s direction and calmly stepped back into the center of the crowd. Her voice was quiet but resolute: “I know who killed Miss He—and I also have the decisive piece of evidence.”

For the second time today, everyone present tasted the shock of disbelief. What did this woman just say?! Were their ears deceiving them?

Magistrate Ding couldn’t help but spin around, eyes wide: “Are you joking?!”

“Why would I joke?” she replied. Then she beckoned to Yang Yuanyi, who scampered over eagerly.

Yun Shuang leaned in and whispered something in his ear, and he immediately said: “Miss Yun, you can count on me. I’ll take care of it!”

With that, he strode purposefully into the victim’s room again.

Magistrate Ding took a deep breath, jaw clenched tight: “Miss Yun, this so-called evidence—you didn’t just send that kid to go look for it, did you?!”

“Of course not.” Yun Shuang said flatly. “That evidence is already in my hands. To be honest, even I was a little surprised when I realized who the murderer was.”

She paused, then looked toward Luo Xueqing, whose expression had darkened: “The one who killed Miss He… is you, Lady Luo.”

At first, the rest of the crowd hadn’t yet reacted, but Chen Hao burst out:  

“Impossible! There’s no way Xueqing killed that woman! Who are you, anyway?! What right do you have to investigate this case in place of the yamen?!”

“Exactly!” said Lianxin, staring at Yun Shuang in disbelief. “Miss Yun, yesterday I thought you were smart and reasonable! But what you’ve done today is outrageous! Are you worried that if Fan Youliang is confirmed as the killer, you won’t get your one-thousand taels reward? So now you’re trying to pin the crime on our lady instead?”