Snow falls and the wind blows

Chapter 99

Seeing everyone's gaze turn to her, Duan Chen hesitated for a moment before cautiously replying, "From what you and Lord Zhou said before, Miss Lu's boudoir seemed to be in a mess, with bloodstains running from the bed all the way to the windowsill. Furthermore, since that young lady was the first victim, I think the murderer, in their first act, might have been somewhat disorganized and may have made some mistakes." Of course, everything would only be confirmed after everyone examined the scene together the next day.

Zhan Yun nodded in agreement: "That's true. The other two crime scenes were clearly very tidy. For example, the guest room showed no signs of being disturbed anywhere..."

"Duan Chen, don't be so polite!" Zhou Qianbo interrupted Zhan Yun with a smile, then shamelessly defended her son, "There are no outsiders here, so how about calling him Yiran!"

The Seventh Prince smiled knowingly, glancing sideways at Zhou Jixiang, thinking to himself that if it came down to shamelessness, none of the people present could beat him!

Zhou Yufei felt a little uncomfortable after his father's words, so he quickly picked up the teacup beside him and handed it to him, saying, "Dad, have some tea!"

Zhou Qianbo caught a glimpse of Zhao Rui's teasing glance, then looked at her son's pathetic state as he held his teacup and kept winking at her. She couldn't help but feel a surge of anger: "What tea! Can't you see it's almost dinner time?!" She mentally berated him, thinking, "That good-for-nothing brat! Who am I doing all this for, trying to get close to that young girl? Doesn't he know to be a little more assertive and marry her? He's usually so smooth-talking and flirtatious, but when it comes to serious matters, he suddenly becomes so earnest..."

Duan Chen was sipping his tea when he heard Zhou Qianbo's words and paused slightly, his hand holding the teacup still. Zhao Ting's eyes turned cold as he glanced at Zhou Yufei, the message being clear: quickly put an end to your manic father! It's been half a month, and this is still going on!

Zhou Yufei wore a pained expression—"I didn't want to either! But the old man is so stubborn, what can I do..."

As soon as Zhou Qianbo spoke, she realized something was amiss, and quickly smiled apologetically at Duan Chen: "I meant I'm getting old and can't drink too much tea. Duan Chen, please drink as much as you like, hehe..."

Zhan Yun was also left speechless by the old man's antics. She turned her face and glanced at Duan Chen with a faint smile, while secretly praying that the case would be solved soon. Otherwise, staying in the capital would drive everyone crazy!

Xiao Changqing was happily munching on a pickled plum, thinking to himself that it was really quite satisfying to see Zhou Yufei's face turn slightly pale, Zhao Ting's eyes turn icy cold, Zhan Yun's face show hidden worry, and those two old guys scheming against others while getting themselves humiliated!

He picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip with relish, then gave Zuo Xin a wink—following Xiao Duan is so much fun! Jinghu is so remote, don't rush back!

Zuo Xin sighed, thinking to himself, "At this age, how can he still be so playful! I'm destined to be a workaholic, always serving him like a king, and sometimes I can't even keep up with him..."

Zhou Yufei caught her breath and forced a smile as she looked at Duan Chen: "No problem, I'll come find you first thing tomorrow morning, and we'll go together. I already told the Lu family when I went there with Zhao Ting today that they're not allowed to clean that room anymore, and no one is allowed to enter it."

Duan Chen nodded, then turned to Xiao Changqing and Zuo Xin: "Senior, Hall Master Zuo, was there any sign that the room you went to had been searched? Is anything missing?"

Xiao Changqing and Zuo Xin exchanged a glance and shook their heads together: "The house isn't big, and there aren't many things there. Besides, there's nothing of value!"

Zuo Xin added from the side, "That room was clearly rarely used; there was just a bed, a table, and a chair. There was a box against the wall with a few clothes inside. Overall, the room was very clean and tidy."

Duan Chen recalled Zhan Yun putting that roll of paper into his sleeve earlier, so he turned to look at him and asked, "Did you find something when you put those papers away?"

Zhan Yun took something out of his sleeve, then shook his head with a slight smile: "Not really. I just feel... it's a pity to waste such a talented person..."

Duan Chen took the paper and read a few pages. The characters were in Yan style, written very elegantly. Upon further examination of the contents, she found that most of the writings were the scholar's opinions on current court affairs. She wasn't very knowledgeable about this subject, but she could tell that the scholar seemed to have his own set of views on many things. The writing was fluent and quite magnanimous. After reading for a while, she handed it back to Zhan Yun.

The Seventh Prince seemed somewhat interested, staring at the stack of papers in Zhan Yun's hand.

Zhan Yun, who was always good at reading people's expressions, got up and handed over the paper.

The Seventh Prince read a few pages, his expression growing increasingly serious. He pursed his thin lips, and after a long while, he looked up and sighed, "Indeed a talented person! What a pity, what a pity..." Then he turned to Zhan Yun, "What is this person's name, and why did he not pass the imperial examinations?"

Zhan Yun then explained the reason in a gentle voice, and continued, "I saw that there were about a foot of similar papers in that box. Perhaps we can use them for further reference after this case is solved."

The Seventh Prince nodded in agreement: "Try to contact his family, and it would be best to send them some silver. It is a great loss to the court that such a talented person has failed to serve our Great Song Dynasty..."

Duan Chen's brows furrowed slightly. Zhao Ting, who was watching closely, asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Have you thought of something?"

Duan Chen lowered her eyes and shook her head slightly. She felt that something was not quite right, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it...

"The meal is ready, come and eat." The princess stood by the door with a smile, then walked towards Duan Chen with light, quick steps: "I specially asked the cook to make your favorite vinegar fish, and also made some mung bean soup..."

Duan Chen smiled slightly and rose to greet her. She always felt a strange sense of closeness towards the princess. Perhaps it was because she knew that the princess had known her since childhood and had a deep friendship over the years, and that the princess had silently offered sacrifices after the death of her family... Duan Chen was always deeply grateful for everything the princess had done for the Jiang family.

Zhao Tinggang had just stood up when the Seventh Prince called out to him, "Zhengping, come here for a moment."

Zhan Yun noticed that the Seventh Prince was looking at Duan Chen's back with a meaningful gaze, and his brows furrowed slightly as he pondered something...

Author's Note: There will be an update tomorrow at 9 AM!

========================This is a dividing line explaining the case, ╭(╯^╰)╮===================

Regarding the Jiang family's massacre:

Please pay attention to what Duan Chen says at the tomb in Chapter 5 of Case 5, "Yu Liu Mountain - White Sandalwood Hairpin".

And in the first case, the psychological descriptions of Duan Chen and Jiang Cheng at the wonton stall the day after they drank together.

There are two time periods involved. One is ten years ago, when the entire Jiang family was executed.

The second one was seven years ago, three years after the case was filed, when the emperor had already "issued an edict to the world".

This cleared the Jiang family's name, which allowed the Seventh Prince and Zhou Qianbo to openly begin searching for Jiang Xueluo's whereabouts.

Therefore, there's no need to dwell on solving the massacre case from back then, because the case has already been solved.

That's why Duan Chen said she couldn't take revenge. It wasn't just because the instigator was the current emperor.

Moreover, because the other party killed someone first and then declared that they had killed the wrong person, she, a commoner, really couldn't do anything.

================Regarding the previous case, I'll summarize it for everyone in the author's notes tomorrow.============

The group was created with the help of Huan Yue, number 36026976. The password is any character name from the story, (*^__^*)~ Feel free to join if you're interested! We're also recruiting two administrators, ╭(╯3╰)╮

I'll be starting a new novel in mid-next month, but due to various considerations, I'll start with the historical novel first. The male protagonist will be mentioned in the next chapter.

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Chapter Five: Bloodstains • The Seeds of Calamity Buried Deep...

The next day, Duan Chen and his group went to the boudoir of the Lu family's young lady and investigated carefully. Miss Lu's personal maid was also summoned for questioning.

Last night, Duan Chen carefully sorted through the clues he had gathered and found the stolen red coral earrings rather strange. Therefore, upon entering the room, he immediately went to the dressing mirror to examine them. The jewelry box was made of fine ebony, with silver-plated corners. Opening it, he was overwhelmed by the dazzling array of jewelry inside—gold, silver, and jade pieces were countless. He closed the lid and turned the box over to examine it again, but found not a single drop of blood.

Seeing that her brows were slightly furrowed, Zhan Yun guessed that she was looking for clues left behind by the murderer, so he called the maid over: "Have you cleaned this jewelry box before?"

The room was filled with men, each with a distinct air about them and dressed in fine clothes. The young maidservant looked somewhat timid and nodded gently: "Miss loved to play with this jewelry box when she was alive... After the accident that day, I saw bloodstains on the outside of the box, so I wiped them off..."

Duan Chen glanced at her sideways and put down the ebony box: "Do you remember where the bloodstains were on the box?"

The little maid bit her lip and nodded, reaching out her small hand to gently touch the edge of the box lid: "Here, there are two blurry fingerprints... and then, the jewelry inside, many of them are stained with blood."

Duan Chen looked up and met the eyes of the crowd. Zhou Yufei raised an eyebrow and said, "Judging from this, the murderer seemed to have quite a bit of leisure time back then!"