An Xin bypassed the crowd and went inside. As Lu Zhu had said, the body had not been moved. It must be said that the Feng family was indeed insightful. The crime scene was extremely important, and preserving the scene was also a crucial step in solving the case.
The inner courtyard was surrounded by yamen runners. An Xin was about to rush in when she was blocked. An Xin looked around but did not see Yang Hu. Just as she was thinking about going to find Wang Baishi, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her. "I called her. Let her in."
An Xin raised an eyebrow and saw the man turn around. He was handsome and had an outstanding temperament. His eyes were full of a smile without any qualms: "I knew you would come. Hmm, the murder scene is well preserved. But between you and me, who can find the real murderer?"
An Xin stared at him for three seconds, then walked past him and went inside.
Chen Guangzhi's body was stuck upside down in the wine vat, already stiff. An Xin approached the vat and glanced inside. There were a few small stones scattered at the bottom, as if they had fallen from somewhere. There were also some locust petals, some of which were pink and looked like they had just fallen.
An Xin looked up and saw that the wine jar was against the side wall, and on the other side of the wall was a locust tree. One of its branches stretched horizontally from the other side of the wall, and it seemed that the petals in the wine jar were from this locust tree.
An Xin walked around the wine vat. The bluestone slabs were cleaned every day, so there wasn't much dust on them. An Xin took out a handkerchief and wiped the bluestone slabs, then put it under her nose and smelled it.
...
Everyone stared at An Xin strangely, and Wang Baishi rushed over and said urgently, "Why is it you again!"
An Xin seemed not to have heard him at all. Feng Yi stood to the side with his arms crossed, his gaze following An Xin's movements. When he heard Wang Baishi shout, Feng Yi smiled and said, "Sir, you'd better shut up."
Wang Baishi was still holding a grudge against An Xin for extorting a hundred taels of silver last time. Seeing An Xin now only fueled his anger. He shouted, "Young Master Feng, this was clearly an accident! That Chen Guangzhi, the notorious drunkard, just got drunk, fell into a wine vat, and drowned!" Any smart person could see that at a glance!
Feng Yi asked, "Sir, the coroner just examined the body and said when the person died?"
Wang Baishi was taken aback: "Between noon and 1-3 pm..." What's the connection?
Feng Yi said, "But according to the gambling den owner, Chen Guangzhi was found at Shen Shi (3-5 PM). Before Shen Shi, Chen Guangzhi was not here."
Wang Baishi's face suddenly stiffened, and all the words he wanted to say got stuck in his throat and he couldn't utter a sound...
The coroner was a young man with a handsome appearance and a fearless spirit. Perhaps he thought that autopsies and solving cases were men's jobs, and that women should stay at home weaving, cooking, and raising children. Naturally, he didn't take An Xin seriously and even had a skeptical attitude.
"How much did he drink?" An Xin asked, glancing at him.
The coroner said with a serious expression, "More than these things, I think you should be more concerned about how he died."
An Xin grabbed Chen Guangzhi by the neck and showed his pale, swollen face to the coroner, saying, "His face is swollen and pale with a bluish-purple tinge. His eyes are closed and his limbs are stiff as if he is having spasms or convulsions. If I'm not mistaken, there is also fluid in his lungs. All of this proves that he died by drowning at least two hours ago!"
The coroner was stunned by An Xin's string of words without punctuation, and he felt as if he were facing a pale-faced corpse...
Feng Yi's lips twitched. This woman...
"Now answer my question! How much did he drink?!" An Xin threw the body back into the wine vat with a bang and asked coldly.
The coroner subconsciously replied, "About eight ounces..."
An Xin said, "That's a good answer. For the next question, I'll only listen to the important points and not the nonsense! What caused the injury on his back?"
Feng Yi's eyes flashed.
The coroner asked in surprise, "A wound on your back? I didn't know that."
An Xin casually tore open the back of the corpse's clothes, and sure enough, there was a wound on the shoulder. The wound was small but looked very deep.
The coroner hurriedly examined the wound carefully, and after a moment he pondered, "It seems to have been stabbed by some kind of iron object..."
An Xin's lips seemed to lift slightly.
Wang Baishi wiped his sweat and said, "Young Master Feng, do you mean Chen Guangzhi was murdered? Then everyone in the gambling den is a suspect! This is bad! Many people left the gambling den after the murder, and we can't even be sure how many people were present at the time! Doesn't this become another unsolved case?!"
Feng Yi pondered for a moment. Chen Guangzhi was drowned. Since he died before Shenshi (3-5 PM), it means that he was drowned somewhere else and then brought here to be faked as an accidental death.
So, there is only one entrance to the inner courtyard, which is the main gate of the Lucky Casino. However, if you enter through the main gate, you will definitely encounter many people. If the murderer is carrying a body, it is impossible for him to go unnoticed.
Could it be that the body died here?
Feng Yi's gaze darkened, and his eyes involuntarily fell on An Xin again. The girl was staring at the locust branch as if deep in thought. Sunlight filtered through the branches and fell on her cheeks, her skin so delicate it seemed as if you could squeeze water from it.
Isn't it strange? It seems his mind becomes somewhat out of his control the moment he sees her...
Feng Yi looked at Wang Baishi and said, "Uh, right, sir, what did you just say?"
Wang Baishi: "..."
---Aside---
Sorry, ladies, it's getting late. I hate murder the most, ugh, another murder case. This time, can you guess who the murderer is?
Chapter 30: Fools Have Good Fortune
An Xin gazed at the locust tree branch. The flowers were pure white, shimmering faintly in the sunlight. The delicate fragrance of locust blossoms wafted through the air. Everything before her was harmonious and beautiful, yet there seemed to be a hint of disharmony within that harmony. What could it be?
An Xin unconsciously tugged at her handkerchief, her eyes gleaming with an inexplicable light.
Dewdrop came running breathlessly, and when she saw the corpse in the wine vat, she suddenly shuddered. Young ladies these days are getting bolder and bolder. This is a dead person! Which girl wouldn't scream when she saw it?
Dewdrop clutched her chest, secretly terrified, when she suddenly saw Anxin turn around and glance at her. Then, as if remembering something, Anxin suddenly smiled, which startled Dewdrop. Anxin then waved to her.
The dewdrop felt a pang of irritation, shrank back, and shook its head desperately.
An Xin continued to wave at her, her eyes now carrying a threatening intent.
Dewdrop then steeled herself and moved forward, saying, "Miss, please spare me." Although it was Uncle Chen, he was a dead Uncle Chen!
An Xin said, "Come here!"
With a mournful little face, Dewdrop shuffled over.
An Xin casually grabbed Chen Guangzhi's right hand, which was already white, rough and swollen from being soaked in water. When Lu Zhu suddenly saw that hand, she immediately screamed.
An Xin plugged her ears, her head aching, and said, "If you don't shut up, I'll throw you into a wine vat!"
Dewdrop's scream immediately stopped, and she looked at Anxin with teary eyes, saying aggrievedly, "This servant is scared..."
"Have you seen this before?" An Xin pointed Chen Guangzhi's fingertip at Lu Zhu. Lu Zhu felt nauseous and wanted to vomit, but An Xin's sharp gaze suppressed her. She could only try to look at the fingernail, or more specifically, the thing inside the fingernail.
Although it was damp, it was still clearly incense ash. Incense ash is actually quite common, but this kind of incense ash is rather coarse, and most of it is homemade.
Dewdrop said cautiously, "This is incense ash, made from spices and crushed wood chips. Because it was ground by myself, it's quite coarse. This kind of stuff is very common..."
An Xin pondered for a moment, then rubbed her temples and said, "Alright, I'm hungry, let's go eat!"
Dewdrop was about to cry: "Miss, I'm afraid I can't eat anymore! I'll vomit."
An Xin said, "Then just watch me eat!"
dew:"……"
Seeing An Xin about to leave as if nothing had happened, Wang Baishi couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Did you find anything?"
"No."
Wang Baishi said angrily, "We haven't found out what you were wandering around in there for!"
An Xin said, "If you give me a hundred taels of silver as a reward, I will definitely be able to find out the real culprit!"
Wang Baishi, his beard bristling and eyes wide, exclaimed, "Dream on!"
An Xin shrugged and said lazily, "Then I'm going to eat. Anyway, the Prime Minister always likes to fabricate false cases. Ah, I suddenly miss the Prime Minister so much!"
The Right Chancellor, who was far away, suddenly sneezed.
Wang Baishi's lips twitched uncontrollably as he pointed at the back of An Xin's head and stammered "you" for a long time.
Feng Yi stepped forward and grabbed An Xin, saying, "I'm hungry too. I heard there's a place in Yi'an County that serves really good saliva chicken. Let's go together."
An Xin doesn't usually have any particular hobbies when it comes to food, but she has a special fondness for Sichuan-style spicy chicken. Feng Yi's suggestion was exactly what she wanted, so she didn't object and followed Feng Yi.
Dewdrop opened her mouth wide and stammered, "Miss!"
An Xin glanced at the dewdrop.
Dewdrop lowered her voice and whispered, "Men and women shouldn't touch each other..." Miss should avoid suspicion even more now that she's been "abandoned"!
An Xin then glanced back at her hand, which was being held by Feng Yi. Being held by someone was a strange feeling; the similar temperature of their palms made An Xin feel inexplicably touched.
She was independent from a young age; even if she fell, she would just roll over and get up. Her parents rarely held her hand. After she started school, it was even more so. People might laugh if I told them, but this was truly the first time in my memory that someone had held my hand.
Aside from solving cases, An Xin is too lazy to use her brain for anything else in her life. Sometimes, even if she knows something is wrong, she is too lazy to think about it. For example, when she was in the third grade of elementary school, she suddenly encountered an uncle who was selling children on her way home from school. The uncle said that he was a friend of her father and that he was too busy with work to pick her up, so he had to come and pick her up.
It's obvious this is a lie, even without thinking, because An Xin has never been picked up by anyone; she's always traveled alone since she started school.
But the uncle said he would treat her to Sichuan-style saliva chicken, so she went with him. Later, she followed the uncle to Meiwuzhai and ordered a hundred servings of Sichuan-style saliva chicken. She happily ate for a long time, almost making the uncle vomit blood.
After finally waiting for her to finish eating, they led her to a small, dilapidated house. Inside, many children were looking at her timidly. The door was already locked. An Xin casually took a wire from her backpack and twisted it on the lock...
As An Xin rushed out with the children, she also called the police, and the man was arrested.
This time, her thoughtless act earned her unanimous praise from her parents and even made it into the evening newspaper. The relevant department also awarded her a "Little Hero" medal. Thus, Anxin summarized a truth: fools are often blessed!
Since Feng Yi was pulling her along and she felt good about it, she didn't need to think about what his intentions were. As for the idea that men and women shouldn't touch each other, in An Xin's opinion, the real rule of not touching each other was between men and men!
"How much longer do we have to walk?" I'm really looking forward to the taste of the ancient-style Sichuan-style chicken.
"Right away." Feng Yi turned around and gave An Xin a strange look. Because of Feng Lin, he thought she would be very hostile towards him, but he didn't expect that when he pulled her, she didn't resist at all. Heaven knows his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
The news of the death at the Lucky Casino had spread far and wide. After all, Shui Yue Rou's case had just ended, and now another murder had occurred. Naturally, people would connect the two events in their wildest imaginations.
Feng Yi was quite famous, known to everyone in Yi'an County. Along the way, many people greeted him, but when they saw An Xin, their eyes widened, and a lot of discussion followed. An Xin, with her sharp ears, heard everything clearly.
One person remarked, "Huh? Why is Young Master Feng with a girl? Is she his fiancée?"
One person said, "Tsk tsk, young people these days are so open-minded. Back in the day, my husband wouldn't even dare to hold his mother's hand behind her back!"
One person said, "Youth is wonderful, so exciting and carefree... Damn it! What are you doing touching my butt?!"
...
Feng Yi's cheeks were slightly burning. He felt that the small hand he was holding suddenly felt like it was on fire, but when he heard the words "fiancée," his heart was inexplicably filled with turmoil.
An Xin thought to herself, love and affection are the most complicated things. Back then, the teacher asked us to write an essay praising love, and she racked her brains to come up with 800 words, but in the end, she was judged to be off-topic!
If holding hands is related to romance, then to improve her emotional intelligence, she needs to hold hands and kiss more often. Ideally, she should discuss human nature with someone she has a good impression of, talking about people first and then sex. This would be excellent in terms of emotional intelligence.
Chapter Thirty-One: Strange and Unusual