There is a god in the sky

Chapter 62 Lord Xiao's Doubts 6

Fu Qingyan returned drunk.

The doctor said he was fully recovered today, so he immediately hosted a banquet, inviting the sons of high-ranking officials in Jianzhou City, and they drank to their hearts' content.

Xiao Ji didn't know how he got in touch with these people, but he had always been popular with people since he was a child.

"Hiccup... Cousin, are you still looking at case files so late?" Fu Qingyan leaned on the windowsill to look at Xiao Ji.

Xiao Ji instructed Mingyue to prepare a hangover soup, then stood up and walked to the opposite side of him.

"I don't care how you have fun in the capital, but here, you're not allowed to come back after 7 PM from now on."

Fu Qingyan was very obedient and nodded obediently.

He craned his neck and lowered his voice, saying, "Cousin, guess what I heard today? It's about you."

Xiao Ji said nonchalantly, "It's nothing more than saying that I'm rigid, fussy, and insensitive."

"No, no, no, they say that Lord Xiao has finally figured things out and now knows how to use his power to keep beautiful women by his side."

Fu Qingyan clenched his fist and waved it, "I knew they were talking about Miss Shen as soon as I heard it, so I beat up those sons of officials."

Xiao Ji frowned, feeling powerless against his troublesome cousin.

"Someone is coming."

Qingfeng, come in and obey my orders.

Xiao Ji pointed at Fu Qingyan and said, "Throw him into the pool to sober up. There's no need to make a hangover soup."

"Yes."

Fu Qingyan's eyes widened in disbelief. "Hey hey hey... cousin... have mercy..."

Xiao Ji heard a "plop" sound of water, rubbed his temples, and continued reading the case file.

He was looking at the two major cases that had recently occurred.

Whether it was the death of the bodyguard or the deaths of everyone in the Wu family, there was a subtle connection between them.

He was worried that he might have missed some details, so he repeatedly scrutinized the two cases.

The next morning, Shen Lan arrived at the yamen as promised.

As soon as I entered the backyard, I heard Young Master Fu sneezing.

She kindly asked, "Young Master Fu, have you caught a cold? Would you like me to prescribe some medicine for you?"

Upon seeing her, Fu Qingyan immediately complained about Xiao Ji's heartless behavior the previous night.

Shen Lan suddenly realized, "So the beating incident that everyone's talking about on the street was done by Young Master Fu. If I were you, I would definitely find a place to hide right now."

"Why?"

"I heard the family that got beaten up said they'll make you pay today!"

Although Fu Qingyan was arrogant from childhood to adulthood, that was in Bianjing.

Now that he only has a pageboy by his side, the probability of him getting a sack put on his head when he goes out is too high.

So when Xiao Ji was about to leave on official business, he shamelessly followed him.

Sui Feng led out a pure white foal, shorter than the other horses, and Shen Lan's gaze was immediately fixed on it.

Xiao Ji smiled and said, "This is a reward for you. It's only one year old. When you have time, have Sui Feng teach you to ride a horse."

As for today, Shen Lan still rode in a carriage, and the little white horse obediently followed beside the procession.

Shen Lan was overjoyed and would reach out to touch it every now and then.

Fu Qingyan asked sourly, "Why did you accept the gift from your cousin?"

Shen Lan chuckled inwardly; this was a reward from her superior, so it was certainly different.

Once outside the city, Shen Lan realized that her destination might be Liu Family Village, and her joy vanished instantly.

She roughly knew what case they were going to investigate today.

"Lord Xiao, please come in quickly. We have been waiting for you for a long time." The steward of the estate anxiously welcomed the government officials in.

The group headed straight for the main courtyard.

The steward, his hands trembling, struggled to unlock the door and said, "As you instructed, the main courtyard was locked after the body was discovered, and no one has been allowed to enter or leave."

As soon as the door opened, a petite girl rushed out, only to be stopped by Sui Feng.

"Who is she?" Xiao Ji asked, frowning.

The little girl's clothes were disheveled, and she looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old. Half of her face was swollen.

The steward awkwardly explained, "It's...it's the girl who served Liu Zhuangtou yesterday."

Xiao Ji snorted coldly and ordered his men to take the girl inside.

Before stepping into the room, Shen Lan asked, "Sir, am I the only coroner performing the autopsy today?"

"Yes, Coroner Wang and the others have asked for leave."

Moreover, this case shouldn't be too complicated, so Xiao Ji didn't plan to spend too much time here.

Resigned, Shen Lan walked to the bedside and looked down at the corpse on the bed.

She was examining the body in the inner room, while Xiao Ji was interrogating the young girl outside.

In fact, Shen Lan knew the whole story better than the girl.

She meticulously examined the body, had the cause of death and the time of death noted down, and then, when no one was looking, used a magnet to pull out a thin needle from the top of the deceased's head.

She slowly and methodically tidied up her toolbox, then carried it out of the inner room.

"When did you find out he was dead?" Xiao Ji asked.

"Yesterday evening at sunset."

What was he doing in the room at that time?

Xiao Ji's question made the little girl blush so deeply it seemed like her face was about to bleed.

"In the……"

Shen Lan came to her rescue and reported, "The deceased took a large amount of aphrodisiacs before intercourse. During intercourse, he was emotionally excited, which caused his heart to be overloaded, and he died suddenly in bed. This is known as 'immediate death'."

The little girl kowtowed forcefully. "My lord, it really wasn't me who killed the master, I..."

"Get up, nobody said you killed him."

Xiao Ji felt it was a sin to ask even a few more questions. This Liu Zhuangtou was so old and so absurd; he deserved to die.

Sui Feng and the others searched the house and found the aphrodisiac that Liu Zhuangtou often took.

"That old man, I wonder how many young girls he's ruined!"

Xiao Ji was frustrated, but these were things the government couldn't control.

Liu Zhuangtou was rich. As long as he didn't forcibly abduct women, the government couldn't do anything about how many girls he slept with.

When he turned his head, he saw Shen Lan applying medicine to the little girl with gentle movements, and he sighed deeply.

"Sir, we've asked everything we needed to, and there's nothing unusual. We can rule out homicide." Suiying led his men in.

Shen Lan paused, and the little girl looked up at her in fright.

She smiled reassuringly at the other person, "Does it hurt? Take this medicine home and apply it three times a day. The swelling will go down in two days."

"Thank you sister."

You're welcome. Don't be discouraged. There's still a long road ahead.

The little girl's tears streamed down her face.

She cried and asked, "Sister, will I die?" Even if she didn't kill Master Liu, he died because of her.

Shen Lan handed her a handkerchief to wipe her tears, "Did you buy this from Liu Zhuangtou?"

The little girl nodded.

She was from the next village. Liu Zhuangtou met her and gave her father ten taels of silver, so her father sent her over.

She initially thought she was there to be a maid.

Who knew... she wanted to die at the time, but when she actually saw Liu Zhuangtou die in front of her, she wanted to live instead.

Shen Lan looked at Xiao Ji questioningly.

Xiao Ji stood up, gave Sui Feng a wink, and then led his men out.

Sui Feng said to the steward of the manor, "That little girl is a witness; we need to take her back for questioning."

"Yes, yes, please go ahead, sir."

Why would the manager care about the life or death of a mere maid?