This case was deeply involved and had caused panic among the common people. It was listed as a major case by the prefectural yamen. Any case files related to it were carefully locked in the cabinets in the warehouse.
Song Yihuan followed Gu Yunzheng into the warehouse of the prefectural yamen. The rows of shelves made the light in the room very dim, and the strong smell of ink assailed their nostrils.
Song Yihuan's eyes swept over the scrolls and books on the cabinets one by one, her eyes full of solemnity.
"Yihuan, what you want to see is here," Gu Yunzheng said to Song Yihuan, standing in front of a cabinet with a lamp in his hand.
Retracting her gaze, Song Yihuan stepped forward and nodded to Gu Yunzheng. "Thank you, Lord Gu."
Hearing her address, Gu Yunzheng felt a pang of bitterness in his chest. She could call Ji Lingchuan 'Brother Ling', but she called him 'Lord Gu'. The difference in address was so obvious.
"No one is around here. It's okay for you to call me Brother Gu as you used to," he said.
Worried that she would reject him again like before, he added, "Although we are not fated to be husband and wife, it should be okay for us to be sworn siblings, right? Yihuan, having one more friend in the capital city means one more person to take care of you, doesn't it?"
Song Yihuan was quite helpless. Since Gu Yunzheng had said so, it would be really ungrateful of her to refuse again.
Moreover, she had approached him at first to use him to get rid of the Marquis Mansion, and then she had rejected his feelings so mercilessly. She still felt a bit guilty in her heart.
"I'll call you Brother Gu then," she said.
This address was no different from what she called Ji Lingchuan. Gu Yunzheng felt much more comfortable in his heart.
Gu Yunzheng stopped talking, and Song Yihuan lowered her head and carefully flipped through the case files. After a while, she found the key point.
"Brother Gu, come here," she called. Gu Yunzheng stepped forward and stood beside her, looking at the case file in her hand. Her fair and slender fingers on the paper made Gu Yunzheng dazed for a moment.
"These five victims all had a habit before their deaths. Look, they would go to the City God's Temple to donate incense money and offer prayers on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month," she said.
Gu Yunzheng frowned and said, "Half of the women in the city go to the City God's Temple to pray. This is not a suspicious point. And we went to the City God's Temple at that time and didn't see a dwarf there. Moreover, we checked all the old ditches yesterday and didn't find anything related to the City God's Temple."
Song Yihuan also frowned and thought to herself, could it be that she was wrong?
The case file in her hand was taken away by Gu Yunzheng. "That's enough. You've helped us a lot. As long as we catch that person tonight, you can rest assured. Don't be so hard on yourself," he said.
Song Yihuan had no choice but to give up.
Just as she was about to follow Gu Yunzheng out, her eyes swept over the case files on one side. Suddenly, she remembered the matter that she and Qi Lei had been secretly investigating. Her heart skipped a beat, and she stopped walking. She called out,
"Brother Gu, there's something I'd like you to help me with."
Gu Yunzheng was not afraid of her bothering him. He was just afraid that she would really draw a clear line with him. He looked at her tenderly with his head down and said, "If you need any help, just ask. As long as I can do it, I will definitely help you."
"I suspect that my stepmother's death that year was not an accident. But you know my situation in the Marquis Mansion. I want to investigate but don't know where to start. Brother Gu, if you come across a woman who is eight or nine months pregnant but suddenly gives birth prematurely and the child is born with a heart disease when handling a case in the future, please tell me," Song Yihuan said.
Gu Yunzheng's expression gradually became solemn as Song Yihuan spoke. After she finished, he said seriously, "Don't worry, I'll remember. If I come across such a case, I'll tell you immediately."
As soon as Song Yihuan's figure appeared in the main hall, Ji Lingchuan immediately looked at her.
The others also noticed her figure one after another. The chief clerk couldn't wait to ask, "Miss Rou, have you found anything?"
Song Yihuan hesitated. She had indeed found a suspicious point, but Gu Yunzheng had rejected it. So she didn't know if she should say what she was thinking. She knew that there were many people in the prefectural yamen waiting to see her make a fool of herself.
Ji Lingchuan said, "Just say what you think. Don't have any concerns."
Song Yihuan thought for a while and finally told the suspicious point she had just noticed. Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, the chief clerk said in a sarcastic tone, "I thought Miss Rou had great abilities and could find a suspicious point that we didn't notice. It turns out that's all there is to it."
The next moment, a steady, majestic and cold voice sounded:
"You can't find useful clues, which doesn't mean there's no problem with that place. If you're really that capable, why did you miss such a crucial piece of evidence as the old ditch, which allowed the murderer to go unpunished, kill two more innocent women, and even provoke the prefectural yamen?"
The people in the prefectural yamen turned red and then pale at his words. Gu Yunzheng also remained silent without refuting.
Although he didn't like Ji Lingchuan, the high - ranking and powerful heir of the marquis, he had to admit that Ji Lingchuan was right. Moreover...
He glanced at Song Yihuan.
Although the light veil of the veil hat covered her face, he could feel that Song Yihuan was completely attracted to Ji Lingchuan at this moment, just because he had protected her again.
After all, which woman could resist such treatment?
Ignoring the people present, Ji Lingchuan said to Song Yihuan, "Go on. If there is indeed something strange about the City God's Temple, what should we do?"
Song Yihuan was stunned for a moment and quietly clenched the corner of her sleeve. Her heart trembled slightly.
He... actually believed her? And wanted her to continue talking about what she was thinking?
Ji Lingchuan was a general of the Black Armored Army. Did he really not have a solution? But he was willing to give this opportunity to her, a humble concubine's daughter from the Marquis Mansion, and didn't suppress her because of the previous disputes and misunderstandings between them.
Song Yihuan took a deep breath and said, "I think we need to change our arrest strategy."
"You're really talking lightly..." The chief clerk's thick eyebrows shot up, and just as he was about to refute, Gu Yunzheng couldn't bear it anymore and interrupted him coldly:
"Chief Clerk Feng, the heir hasn't said a word yet. Why do you keep jumping out to pick faults? This makes me suspect that it was you who opened the door that day and let the murderer into the prefectural yamen to act wildly on Lord Ye's head!"
"Lord Gu, don't make unfounded accusations!" the chief clerk retorted anxiously.
Gu Yunzheng said with a straight face, "Then shut your mouth."
The room fell silent again. Song Yihuan continued, "The murderer has killed five people in a row. Then, to prove his ability, he killed two more people, which made the whole city impose a curfew because of him. He must be extremely proud. No matter what, he will kill another person tonight. But if we wait for him to show up and then take action, it will be too passive. If he really succeeds, it will be a great loss."
"I have a way here that can not only take the initiative but also successfully capture him and bring him to justice."
Ji Lingchuan was very satisfied. "What's the method? Tell us."