Zhang Yan and the other man were filled with confusion. "Miss Liu, what have you discovered?"
Liu Rumei's eyes were tinged with a smile. "We've all been wrong!"
"What do you mean by 'wrong'?" Xiao Heyuan looked utterly bewildered.
Liu Rumei placed Mudan's hand in front of the two men and pointed at the fingernail polish on Mudan's hand. "Look, Mudan was the top courtesan in the Flower Tower. Naturally, the fingernail polish should be evenly applied to look good. But the polish at the tips of her fingers has faded significantly. Perhaps the murderer didn't put the wushi powder in the food!"
Zhang Yan was slightly startled. "Miss Liu, do you mean that the murderer put the wushi powder in the fingernail polish Mudan used?"
Liu Rumei nodded with a smile. "This is just a conjecture of mine. We still need to verify it."
After saying that, she carefully scraped off the fingernail polish from Mudan's nails and handed it to Zhang Yan.
Zhang Yan quickly put it in his bosom. "I'll go to the pharmacy right away!"
By putting the wushi powder in the fingernail polish and having it stain the nails, the powder could be ingested into the body without anyone noticing.
Xiao Heyuan stroked his chin, deep in thought. "This person is quite clever. In that case, we just need to find the person who painted Mudan's nails!"
Liu Rumei also nodded. "That's right."
Soon, Zhang Yan rushed back and nodded at the two of them. "There is indeed a large amount of wushi powder in this fingernail polish!"
No wonder Mudan went crazy and tried to kill herself without anyone noticing!
Upon hearing this, the two were instantly overjoyed and quickly told Xue Zhan about it.
Xue Zhan frowned. "Mudan was extremely fond of braised pig's trotters and would eat a plate every day. It seems that she accidentally ingested the wushi powder in this way. That turtle slave was really just a decoy!"
The real murderer was indeed still in the Flower Tower.
Mo Litian's eyes flashed a cold glint. Frowning, he said, "I sent people to secretly investigate the Flower Tower, but there's no sign of those people."
Xue Zhan snorted. "If it were that easy to find them, it wouldn't be the Flower Tower. This matter must be related to the Flower Tower! Maybe Mudan was silenced because she knew this!"
Liu Rumei nodded. "It's indeed possible. Since the real murderer is still in the Flower Tower, we mustn't tip him off. Otherwise, I'm afraid someone else will end up like Mudan."
Xue Zhan nodded, a faint smile curling up his lips. "In the crucial moment, it's still up to me to step in!"
Seeing this, Mo Litian couldn't help but chuckle. Just as he was about to tease a few words, a yamen runner rushed in. Out of breath, he said, "My lord, something's wrong. Miss Yanhong, Miss Yanhong is dead!"
Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. Liu Rumei immediately dashed towards Yanhong's room.
They saw Yanhong with her limbs tied to the head of the bed. She was naked, her body covered in bruises as she lay on the bed. Her eyes were filled with fear, and her facial expression looked rather eerie.
Seeing this scene, Mo Litian's face darkened instantly. He roared at the two guards at the door, "What's going on?"
The two knelt on the ground respectfully and said nervously, "Your Highness, Miss Yanhong was in an unstable mood before and was throwing things in the room. We checked on her a few times and then didn't pay attention anymore. Soon, it got quiet in the room. We just thought she was tired. Who would have thought..."
Who would have thought that when they opened the door, she was already dead!
Liu Rumei was examining the body and said indifferently, "The story of the boy who cried wolf."
Mo Litian looked a bit puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"It's about a shepherd boy who repeatedly deceived the farmers by saying that the wolf was coming. When the wolf really came, the farmers no longer believed him, and many of his sheep were killed by the wolf." That's exactly what happened to them today.
This was exactly how Yanhong died. Before this, Yanhong made a commotion. The two guards at the door kept going to check but found nothing wrong. After several times, they naturally thought it was just something Yanhong did and ignored it. Zhao San took advantage of this to kill Yanhong.
Mo Litian was extremely angry. Yanhong might have known the whereabouts of those missing girls, but now...
Xue Zhan's face was also full of anger. "This is a provocation!"
Breaking into the yamen to commit murder openly was nothing but a provocation!
"Just like Li Yin before, she died of a broken neck. It should be that Zhao San tied Yanhong's limbs and neck with a rope and violated her. These marks were left when Yanhong struggled. The broken neck bone should have been snapped by Zhao San before he left. The time of death was no more than an hour ago!"
Mo Litian's elegant voice also took on a bit of coldness. "That means the murderer sneaked into the yamen after we left and killed Yanhong!"
Liu Rumei nodded. "That's right."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a piece of torn cloth in Yanhong's hand. Yanhong was holding it tightly. With Xiao Heyuan's help, Liu Rumei managed to take it out. Looking at the gray torn cloth, Liu Rumei handed it to Xue Zhan. "This should be from the murderer's body."
Xue Zhan gritted his teeth and immediately turned around to leave. "Come with me! I don't believe I can't catch this person. Search the yamen again!"
The yamen runners at the door were also extremely angry. How could someone commit murder right under their noses!
"Yes."
Liu Rumei and the other two untied Yanhong's limbs and then looked around.
Fortunately, they found a small mark on the window. Liu Rumei immediately said to Zhang Yan and the other man, "Come and take a look. What is this yellow stuff?"
Xiao Heyuan stepped forward, dipped his finger in some of it, and sniffed it. "It's dye!"
"Here's some too!"
The two looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhang Yan squatting in a hidden place behind the door. In front of him was also some dye the same as that on the window.
Mo Litian, Liu Rumei and the others quickly stepped forward.
Looking at the messy dye, a terrible thought flashed through Liu Rumei's mind. She stepped forward and stood in that position. Moving along the place stained with the yellow dye, she gritted her teeth. "He might have been in this room a long time ago. The noise Yanhong made must have been because he came!"
Mo Litian also asked the two guards, "When did you first notice the noise inside? Did Miss Yanhong do anything strange when you went in to check?"
The two looked at each other, their hearts trembling. They quickly said, "It was about an hour ago, not long after you left. Miss Yanhong suddenly started throwing things!"
"When we opened the door, Miss Yanhong even threw things at us!" Now it seemed that Yanhong did this because that person was also standing by the door.
Liu Rumei couldn't help but shudder. "If that's the case, this person must have sneaked into the yamen before we left! The death of that girl in the inn might also be..."