"No one can get in, so if I go in and sit for a while, no one will know. I've thought of something that I can only confirm by going into that room. Brother, this concerns finding the real culprit, so please help me out."
Shanzi was in a dilemma and said, "We really can't go in there. I can't lose my job just to help a girl. How about I take you for a walk around the guest rooms in the backyard? Maybe that will help you remember."
Ju Mu'er thought for a moment and said, "I'm just going for a walk in the backyard. I can manage on my own. Little Brother, you don't need to come with me. That way, if anything happens, it won't be a burden to you."
Shanzi scratched his head and didn't insist: "Then the girl should be careful."
Shanzi left. Ju Mu'er sat for a while longer, then picked up her bamboo cane and slowly made her way to the backyard. She knew the way here, and she walked very slowly; the yard was quiet.
She slowly went upstairs, walked through the corridor, and then stopped in front of room number six.
She stood there for a while, but heard no sound. She reached out, touched the door, and gently pushed it; the door was unlocked. Ju Mu'er stood at the door for a moment, then went inside, turned around, and closed the door.
Ju Mu'er sat in the room waiting. After a while, someone knocked on the door. Ju Mu'er's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't move. Then she heard someone outside the door say softly, "Miss Ju, it's me."
Ju Mu'er composed herself, walked to the door, and opened it.
It was Shanzi who came in. As soon as he entered, he quickly closed the door and said anxiously, "Miss, didn't I say we were just going to walk around in the courtyard? How did you sneak in here by yourself? What if someone sees you?"
"I just walked here and came across the door. I pushed the door open and found it wasn't locked, so I came in."
Upon hearing this, Shanzi sighed, "Miss, you'd better leave quickly. No one is allowed in this house right now. You mustn't let anyone see you. What if the officials blame you?"
Ju Mu'er nodded: "What you say is right, little brother. I've thought it through, and I'll leave now."
Shanzi asked, "What came to mind?"
“I have already thought of a way to identify the murderer. I will go and report to the magistrate now. Tomorrow, I will gather everyone in this inn and identify them one by one. I am sure I will be able to find the real culprit.”
"Are you confident, young lady?"
“Absolutely foolproof.” Ju Mu’er nodded: “Although the murderer didn’t speak that day, he left a very important clue. It’s all my fault for being scared and losing my mind, which caused me to overlook it. Sure enough, I was able to figure everything out once I got here.”
Shanzi said, "Congratulations, young lady, you've been cleared of suspicion. Let's leave here first, lest someone see us."
Ju Mu'er smiled and agreed. Shanzi opened the door a crack, peeked out to check the activity outside, then turned to Ju Mu'er and said, "It's lunchtime now, and there's no one outside. I'll go out first, and you can stay a little longer before going out too."
Ju Mu'er nodded, and heard the door open and close again; Shanzi had gone out.
Ju Mu'er sat still, and the room was very quiet. After waiting for a while, she suddenly heard Long Er's voice say, "You'd better not touch a single hair on her head, otherwise, whichever hand you touch her with, I will chop off that hand."
21. Capture the real culprit; two people in love.
Even though she was mentally prepared, the sudden noise still made Ju Mu'er tremble. She instinctively raised her voice and called out, "Second Master!"
A warm, large hand immediately grasped hers, and Ju Mu'er felt at ease. This time, her voice was softer, but she still called out, "Second Master."
Long Er emerged from behind the screen, took her hand, and responded when she called out, "It's me, don't panic."
The original plan was for Ju Mu'er to act according to circumstances, stay in the hall for a while to get the murderer's attention, and then she would try to create an opportunity for the murderer to approach her and make his move when no one was paying attention.
The two locations were the house where the crime took place and the narrow alley behind the inn. However, because other unforeseen circumstances might occur, spies and officials dressed in plain clothes were arranged to lie in wait at the entrance, the main hall, and the backyard of the inn.
There was originally a constable stationed in this room to guard it, so that if anything went wrong, the constable could come to its aid. Therefore, when Ju Mu'er first heard Long Er's voice, she was both surprised and delighted. In her heart, Long Er was more reassuring than any constable.
"He opened and closed the door but didn't go out, right?" Ju Mu'er asked Long Er.
“Yes.” Long Er raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife as he shot towards Shan Zi.
"How does he plan to kill me?"
"He's holding a handkerchief; maybe he wants to smother you."
"This would indeed prevent me from calling for help and kill me."
Shanzi, standing nearby, was so frightened his legs went weak, and his heart was pounding in his chest. He really did intend to smother Ju Mu'er when she wasn't looking, then throw her out the window to make it look like she had fallen to her death. In the end, the prefect might think she committed suicide out of fear of punishment, or that she jumped because she couldn't bear the suffering in prison and was forced to her death. If that were the case, the prefect would hastily close the case to avoid giving others cause for gossip.
He felt this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No one had seen it, and the blind woman hadn't recognized him. He had to act while everything could still be salvaged.
Hearing her say she wanted to go to that room, he quietly went upstairs and unlocked the door before she moved. He then observed the blind woman as she felt her way upstairs. He saw that she had accurately found room number six, which strengthened his resolve to kill her.
He waited a while, finding a moment when no one was around, and came up to make his move. No one knew anyone was in the house, so this place couldn't be better. But she had locked the door, and any noise he made might startle her and make her scream, so he knocked on the door, spoke first, and then pretended to go out. He couldn't use a knife; in broad daylight, it would be difficult to deal with the blood on his body, so he had to suffocate her.
Unexpectedly, just as he finished tightening his cloth and approached her, Master Long appeared out of nowhere.
If it were just a minor official, Shanzi might have fought back, but it was Master Long Er, and he dared not make a move. He knew Master Long Er could really chop off his hand, and he even wondered if even if Master Long Er finished him off, the officials still wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
Shanzi was terrified, but when he saw that Master Long had come out, he ignored him, and the blind girl ignored him as well. The two of them started chatting on their own.
Shanzi gritted his teeth and turned to run towards the door. As soon as he opened it, two steel knives were thrust at his neck. The guards outside easily subdued Shanzi.
The officials escorted the man into the house. Qiu Ruoming came in, took a chair, and sat down with an air of composure and majesty. Seeing that there was no way to escape, Shanzi knelt down on the ground with a thud.
"My lord," Ju Mu'er called out, "may I touch his hand?"
Touching again? Long Er was displeased and frowned, glaring at Shanzi.
Qiu Ruoming readily agreed, but Ju Mu'er stood up, unsure which way to go. The noisy crowd that had just rushed in made it difficult for her to pinpoint the exact location of the hill.
An official approached to lead the way for Ju Mu'er, but Ju Mu'er didn't see him. She had already reached out her hand towards Long Er and called out in a soft, pleading voice, "Second Master."
Long Er watched and thought it was Ju Mu'er's way of showing that she depended on him; she didn't want anyone else but him. Overjoyed, he forgot all about the annoying fact that he was helping his future wife touch another man's hand and directly reached out and took hers.
Long Er's large hands fit Ju Mu'er's slender hands perfectly. Although he was pleased, his face remained stern. He helped her up and led her to Shanzi.
The official took Shanzi's hand and handed it to her. Ju Mu'er touched it carefully for a long time, until Long Er's brows furrowed tightly. Just as he was about to pull her away, Ju Mu'er let go. This time, she finally said, "It's him."
Shanzi trembled violently and dared not utter a word. Ju Mu'er took two steps back, pointed in Shanzi's direction, and shouted, "My lord, it's him!"
Her face lit up as she spoke, showing great joy and excitement. Long Er couldn't help but pull her close. She grabbed his hand and exclaimed happily, "Second Master, it's him! We caught him! It's him!"
The rest was much simpler. Qiu Ruoming struck while the iron was hot and immediately began the interrogation. Shanzi was completely defenseless and confessed everything in one go.
It turned out that Shanzi owed a lot of gambling debts and was threatened and coerced by the casino people. He was afraid of dying, so he bought a dagger for self-defense. But he still had to pay back the money. He was worried about what to do when he met Zhu Fu.
That day, Zhu Fu walked into the inn with a gloomy face and drank quite a bit of wine without saying a word. Shanzi tried to persuade him to stop, but Zhu Fu got angry and pulled out his money bag, saying, "I have money, I can afford to drink." When Shanzi saw the large silver ingot, he was immediately blinded by greed and suddenly felt that this was an opportunity.
He served Zhu Fu a lot of wine, making him completely drunk, and then advised him that he had drunk too much and should rest at the inn. Zhu Fu mumbled an agreement, saying he didn't want to go home and see that woman, so Shanzi smoothly escorted Zhu Fu to his room.
Zhu Fu had fallen asleep, but he was still clutching the money bag. Shanzi didn't know how drunk he was, so he didn't dare to do anything rash. He planned to wait until Zhu Fu was sound asleep before stealing the money bag.
Shanzi returned to the main hall to continue his work, but in his mind he began to plot, thinking that this matter must not be discovered by anyone. So when Dahu returned with the guests upstairs, he poured him a glass of water with a small amount of sleeping potion added to it. It was given to him by the casino's employees, who said they often used it; it could make people drowsy and sleepy without rendering them unconscious, and it would be used without leaving any trace.
So Da Hu quickly fell asleep, and Shan Zi secretly went to extinguish the lanterns on the veranda. He had also prepared a peddler's uniform for delivering sesame oil. Back then, sesame oil vendors would take off their clothes to work while carrying goods, and then leave in a hurry, forgetting to take them. Shan Zi thought that if he changed his clothes, even if someone saw him moving around, they wouldn't think it was the shop assistant.
Just as he was about to change his clothes, the guest named Liang Ping came looking for him, saying he was hungry and that the lanterns in the corridor had gone out. While pondering what to do, Shanzi led Liang Ping into the kitchen. There was some food in the kitchen, and Liang Ping, starving, immediately began to eat. Suddenly, Shanzi had an idea. He told Liang Ping to eat first while he went to the storeroom to find a lantern. Liang Ping agreed, but Shanzi used this opportunity to quickly change his clothes and sneak into Zhu Fu's room.
Shanzi quickly found the money bag in the dark, but unexpectedly Zhu Fu woke up at this time. Shanzi was so frightened that he pulled out a dagger, but Zhu Fu rushed out of the room and shouted for help.
As everyone knows, Ju Mu'er passed by, and Shanzi discovered that she was truly blind and couldn't see anything. Suddenly, a plan came to him. Thinking himself clever, he staged a scene where Zhu Fu was entangled with a woman and accidentally stabbed to death by her. He then put a small piece of silver into his money pouch and placed it back on the bedside table to conceal his murderous intent to steal money.
Then he took off his blood-stained clothes, changed his shoes, took a new lantern, and went back to find Liang Ping, all without anyone noticing. He led Liang Ping back to the guest room, thinking that he would take this man with him to discover the crime scene, so that no one would suspect him.
Unexpectedly, when he arrived, he saw Lü Sixian there. This made Shanzi feel even more that heaven was on his side. Afterwards, he burned his blood-stained clothes and shoes, leaving no clues whatsoever. He thought he was safe, but unexpectedly, the officials began searching for a man of medium build with a scar on the back of his hand. Fortunately, no one suspected him; as a laborer, he always had a cloth draped over his hand, so no one noticed his hand, and he managed to get away with it. He was initially puzzled by this, but it turned out that the blind girl he hadn't killed could identify the murderer…
The truth came to light, and Qiu Ruoming caught the real culprit. He ordered the constables and yamen runners to take Shanzi back to the government office. He also agreed to Long Er's request and released Manager Lü upon returning.
Ju Mu'er was overjoyed, a smile constantly on her face. Long Er led her out of the inn, walking slowly towards the carriage at her pace.
She kept laughing and laughing. The wind blew, blowing her hair aside to reveal her round, jade-like earlobes. Long Er looked at them and couldn't help but pinch them, asking, "So happy?"
Ju Mu'er flinched as he was pinched. He was her fiancé, so she felt it wasn't appropriate to reprimand him for his physical advances. However, she was in a very good mood, so she nodded and replied, "Happy."
"What are you so happy about?"
“Several things,” Ju Mu’er said, pointing to them one by one. “Manager Lü’s innocence has been cleared, the real culprit has been brought to justice, and Boss Zhu can rest in peace knowing this in the afterlife. Also, I can finally stop going out.”
She stopped there, and Long Er was taken aback. Where was he?
"If I protect you, are you happy?" Anyway, he has to be a part of everything that makes her happy.
"I'm delighted." Ju Mu'er readily agreed.
"So, what do you want to say to me?"
"Hmm..." Ju Mu'er hesitated. Saying "Thank you, Second Master" felt a bit awkward, while saying "Second Master is so kind" felt a bit nauseating. So, she decided to ask a question instead. "Second Master, did you climb in through the window?"
Long Er was taken aback; she was saying things he hadn't expected again. What did she mean by "climbing through the window"? The word "climb" sounded so pathetic; he had clearly entered through the window in a very "heroic and dashing" manner.
Are the windows closed?
It was closed. Long Er thought for a moment, wondering how he had so "casually" opened the window back then.
"Actually, when I was a kid, I heard people say that thieves would pry open windows on upper floors to sneak in, but I never understood how they could withstand the force. Did they crouch down and pry it open?"
Arching, lying down... Doesn't she have any more elegant words?
Long Er's face was contorted with rage. What exactly was his fiancée thinking when she imagined him "handsome and composed" entering through the window to protect her? Long Er decided that this question was no longer worth pondering.
"Second Master, are you still there?" No one answered, so Ju Mu'er stopped, turned around and asked.
"I'm here." Long Er turned her around impatiently. He was right next to her. What was she looking back for?
"Oh." Ju Mu'er quickly smiled ingratiatingly, and Long Er pinched her earlobe to vent his resentment.
Ju Mu'er shrank back slightly, then reached out to hold his hand, saying in a soft voice, "Second Master, I'm so happy that you're protecting me in that room."
Long Er choked for a moment. This girl, this girl! Was she just saying something carelessly or on purpose?
She wouldn't speak when he wanted to, and when he thought she wouldn't speak, she would sweet-talk him.
She did it on purpose!
Long Er gripped her hand tightly. This cunning girl, she must have done it on purpose.
22. Rumors spread that someone wanted to propose marriage.
Long Er originally planned to have the coachman take Ju Mu'er home while he personally went to pick up Manager Lü from prison. He instructed the coachman and spoke with Ju Mu'er, telling her to take good care of her injuries after returning home, and that he would visit her again when he had time the next day.
Ju Mu'er nodded in agreement and obediently sat in the carriage, waiting to depart. Long Er took a few steps back, turned around, and went to fetch his horse.
As he walked, he couldn't help but turn back to look at her. She sat steadily in the carriage, holding her bamboo cane, her expression serene, seemingly peaceful yet joyful. Long Er suddenly felt that she was somewhat distant from him; she didn't seem to be sitting in his carriage, but rather in a solemn and sacred hall, burning incense and playing the zither, detached from the world.
The driver went to the back of the carriage and closed the door. Ju Mu'er disappeared from Long Er's sight.
Long Er turned around and quickly walked to the horse's side, saying to Li Ke, who was waiting nearby, "Go back to the manor and find Steward Tie. Have Steward Tie lead people to pick up Manager Lü, take him home and settle him in. Buy some things for his family to get rid of bad luck. Also, arrange the New Year's gifts."
"Isn't Second Master going?"
"I have other things to do first, and I'll go see him later. Please pass on my message." After saying this, Long Er turned and walked towards the carriage, calling to the driver to wait.
Li Ke scratched his head. "Something I need to do?"
He watched as Long Er opened the carriage door, saw Ju Mu'er's surprised expression, saw Long Er jump onto the carriage and say a few words to Ju Mu'er, and then the carriage door closed, and he could see nothing more.
The carriage clattered along, and Li Ke finally understood. Oh, so that's what it was for!
I wonder if Manager Lü would be sad if he knew that he ranked behind a young lady in his master's heart? Or does Miss Ju know that she has already surpassed Manager Lü in his master's heart?