An Xin glanced at An Youwei. Her father was tightly bound by the etiquette between the emperor and his subjects, but she couldn't afford to be angry with her own father. So she could only pout and look at Huang Yixuan, saying indifferently, "This commoner has been impolite. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
Huang Yixuan's embarrassed expression eased slightly. Admittedly, he had issued the edict, but he had also listened to that person's advice, and he also wanted to see how An Xin would respond.
“An Youwei disobeyed the imperial decree, and I haven’t even blamed him yet, but you’ve turned around and blamed me. Does that mean we’re even? As long as the case in Fengxian Village remains unsolved, many people will die mysteriously. Since Miss An already knows the murderer, you should tell me quickly.” Huang Yixuan coughed and spoke. The fact that someone as cold-hearted as An Xin could also have such a girlish pout made him slightly taken aback.
A thought suddenly occurred to everyone: An Youwei is incredibly bold! He reprimanded An Xin without batting an eye—he's so fierce! Looking at the Right Prime Minister, he didn't even flinch, clearly having no objection to An Xin being reprimanded. Everyone sighed even more, realizing that in this world, it all comes down to having a powerful father! Having a powerful father is more effective than having an emperor!
An Youwei was naturally unaware of the scheming thoughts in other people's minds. It should be noted that the only person he dared to reprimand inside and outside the courtyard was An Xin, and he was quite adept at using this power.
Hearing that Huang Yixuan was not blaming him, An Youwei immediately barked, "Xin'er, now that you know who the murderer is, why don't you tell me quickly?"
An Xin said calmly, "Father, I didn't say who the murderer is. I just said that the strange person people thought was the murderer actually died a month ago. That's all I have to say."
Everyone: "..."
Huang Yixuan immediately became displeased and said, "How can I be at ease if the matter of Fengxian Village is not resolved? The refugees in the suburbs are becoming increasingly uneasy. Fortunately, the Left Prime Minister was able to calm the people's hearts and relieve me of many worries."
An Xin glanced at Yan Zhen. Yan Zhen was the one who settled the refugees, but in the end, all the benefits went to Jing Lan. Well, Jing Lan is known throughout the world for his peaceful and gentle nature and his compassion for the people, so his reputation naturally soared. Yan Zhen, on the other hand, got himself into a bad reputation.
Why did the young emperor suddenly mention the Left Chancellor? Was he trying to give a warning to the Right Chancellor?
An Xin thought to herself: This little emperor isn't as simple as he seems on the surface!
An Xin said calmly, "We do have clues, but verifying them is a bit tricky."
Huang Yixuan's eyes lit up with excitement, "You mean you have a clue?" He was still just a child, and as an emperor, he didn't hide his excitement at all, which made him lose his composure.
The servants below were exchanging glances and trying to get the emperor's attention through their expressions, but Huang Yixuan just glanced at them and said, "What's wrong with you all? Did you have a seizure?"
Everyone: "..."
An Xin said calmly, "I need ten death row inmates, and no one is allowed within a radius of fifty miles. In addition, I need a large amount of seawater."
Huang Yixuan was shocked: "It's one thing to deal with death row inmates, but no one is allowed within a radius of fifty miles. Does that mean we have to leave the capital? Besides, it's eight thousand miles to the east of here, and how are we going to transport such a large amount of seawater?!"
Everyone was stunned and speechless: "Miss An, you can't just say things like that! If the Emperor leaves the capital, what if foreign enemies invade? Wouldn't our Dayi be in grave danger?"
"The sea is eight thousand miles away, but it takes several months to get there, and a round trip would probably take more than half a year! Moreover, transporting seawater is an extremely difficult process!"
"He's just a murderer, why go through all this trouble? It's absurd to waste resources and manpower, putting the entire city in danger!"
...
Discussions arose, and An Youwei's expression gradually became strained.
Just as these people said, he's just a murderer, why go through all this trouble? An Youwei couldn't help but look at An Xin and said, "Xin'er, why don't you tell me who the murderer is?"
An Xin frowned slightly. In her previous life, she would not have needed to go through any trouble, but here, even a simple matter was now as difficult as climbing to the sky!
After a long silence, An Xin slowly said, "The mastermind behind the Fengxian Village murder case is..."
Everyone looked tense, staring intently at An Xin.
Whoever the murderer is, once we identify them, how can we not catch them?
An Xin's eyes flashed, and she uttered a single word in a cool tone... Everyone present widened their eyes in shock, and even Yan Zhen suddenly raised her eyelashes, looking at An Xin in surprise.
Huang Yixuan asked incredulously, "You, what did you say?"
An Xin remained expressionless and said coldly, "More than 500 people died in Fengxian Village. The poultry died mysteriously, but everyone overlooked the living creatures other than poultry, such as birds, rats, snakes... The way each person and animal died was the same. They were not injured, they did not take poison, they just died silently. Everyone blamed this on the strange man, but the strange man died a month ago. His body was left on the top of Duanfeng Mountain, and it had long since rotted away and only bones remained."
"How did you determine that the corpse was just bones?" someone asked in shock.
An Xin said calmly, "There is a stone house halfway up Duanfeng Mountain. Inside the stone house is a pair of shoes with uneven wear. This person was born with one leg longer than the other, which also caused the shoes he wore to have different degrees of wear. The shoes of the corpse on the top of Duanfeng Mountain have the same degree of wear as the shoes in the stone house!"
"But that doesn't mean that person is definitely a weirdo!" Huang Yixuan exclaimed in surprise.
An Xin said calmly, "This is also one of my doubts. But a few days ago, when I went up the mountain, I met a man who was carrying a stone and sneaking up the mountain. When I talked to him, I found that he looked uneasy, and he was lying a lot when he talked to me. This man must have done something wrong, which is why he panicked when he suddenly saw me. After investigating, I found out that his name was Qin Shou. He had drunk with the strange man. Later, the strange man disappeared, and this man also faded from people's sight until I bumped into him. The big stone he was carrying was not solid. It was hollowed out. When I saw him, I felt strange. Such a big stone, wouldn't it be tiring for that man to carry it up the mountain? If the stone is hollowed out, it will be much lighter. It's not surprising that he carried it up the mountain!"
"Why did he hollow out the stone?" someone couldn't help but ask.
An Xin's gaze darkened: "If the strange man's body were left in Fengding, someone would inevitably discover something fishy. He used stones to transport the strange man's remains out, and then buried them casually. No matter how many years pass, no one will discover that the strange man's body is in the stones! This idea is brilliant!"
Everyone thought to themselves, "Girl, what time is it and you're still liking this post..."
"But why did he kill the monster?" What does this have to do with the deaths in Fengxian Village?
An Xin took a deep breath and said, "For money? For grudges? None of that matters. What matters is how he killed the monster! I examined the monster's body. The body was so decomposed that it was impossible to determine how the monster died, but I suspect that the monster was not injured and died mysteriously, just like the villagers of Fengxian Village!"
Everyone was shocked, and someone shouted, "How do you know the body died of natural causes if it's decomposing?"
An Xin's eyes brightened slightly, and she said coldly, "If a person is on the verge of death due to injury, there must be a process of dying struggle, so their body must be contorted. Even if it is not contorted, it must be in a tense posture. But that strange person died lying on the rock, with his whole body in a naturally relaxed state, his limbs outstretched, without any contortion. This kind of death can be either dying in one's sleep or dying strangely like the villagers of Fengxian Village. Dying in one's sleep is obviously impossible, so it can only be dying strangely like the villagers!"
Everyone gasped in astonishment. This girl was incredibly strong; they had never heard of such unpredictable reasoning before!
Huang Yixuan stared at An Xin in shock. The Feng family was known as a family of detectives, and Feng Yi was a detective genius. But why did he see something unique and unparalleled in this girl's eyes?
"You mean the person who's connected to the weirdo is the murderer?" An Youwei asked in shock.
An Xin's gaze turned colder: "In a sense, he is the murderer, but from another perspective, he is merely an accomplice! But he is just as hateful!"
"An Xin, speak slowly, I don't quite understand." Huang Yixuan stepped forward, approaching An Xin, his eyes gleaming. "What murderer? What accomplice?"
Yan Zhen raised her eyelashes slightly, glanced at Huang Yixuan, and looked at An Xin: "How much seawater do you need?"
An Xin was taken aback, not expecting that Yan Zhen would be the first to respond to her.
An Xin pondered for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. I don't have enough clues right now. To uncover the murderer's identity, we need to conduct a series of tests. But if we don't retreat to within fifty miles of Duanfeng Mountain and we don't have enough seawater, the consequences will be unimaginable. The number of dead will not be as simple as five hundred people. The area within a hundred miles of the capital may become a dead zone!"