Who in the world does not know you?

Chapter 21 Later

Ning Qi was an official from the local government office in Ningzhou Prefecture. He had been investigating the death of the courtesan in the Rouge Pavilion for days. Now that the case was about to be solved and the murderer had even been brought to light, he naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass.

But now that Ye Zi is in Yun Luobai's hands, as the elder brother, he can't just get up and take Ye Zi back to the yamen without considering the difference between the monk and the Buddha.

Although he was just an ordinary constable in the yamen, Ning Qi never did anything to bend the law for personal gain.

Now that things had come to this, he couldn't help but frown and look at Yun Luobai, letting out a soft sigh with a rare hint of reproach.

"Second brother, why didn't you say she was the murderer sooner?"

"When did I say she was the murderer...?"

Yun Luobai shook his head helplessly. Sometimes he really didn't know if Ning Qi was genuinely simple-minded or just pretending.

"Didn't you just say...?"

"Brother, if Mu Li really did bully Ye Zi in every way, Ye Zi would have already decided to kill her. That day, when Ye Zi entered Mu Li's boudoir, she found her unconscious but still alive. If you were Ye Zi, what would you choose to do?"

"Of course, we'll turn the tables and strangle Mu Li to death again..."

Ning Qi stretched out his hands and suddenly understood what Yun Luobai meant.

If the person who strangled Mu Li and the person who stabbed Mu Li to death with the jade hairpin are two different people, then the second person wouldn't need to deliberately change the method of killing to arouse suspicion...

"That doesn't make sense either... If the person who choked Mu Li unconscious and the person who stabbed her to death with that jade hairpin are the same person, then he could have just choked her to death directly. Why waste his energy?"

Ning Qi looked bewildered. He felt that his thoughts were perfectly normal and there was nothing wrong with them.

Qingchuan picked up the wine pot, poured himself a glass of wine, and then took a small sip.

He did not interrupt about the case, even though he was dressed in white because he had just been in the General's Mansion to hold a funeral for Mu Li.

"Third brother, aren't you right?"

Seeing that Ning Qi had shifted the focus to himself, Qing Chuan glanced at Yun Luobai, a slight smile playing on his lips, and spoke leisurely.

"Big brother, what this guy means is that if he could strangle her in one go, he wouldn't choose a second way to kill her. It's because the murderer thought he had strangled Mu Li to death, but in reality she just passed out."

"then?"

"That's right. If the murderer wanted to kill Mu Li, he could have just strangled her to death. He probably didn't notice after strangling her, and only found out later."

"later?"

Ning Qi kept turning his head to look at Yun Luobai and Qingchuan beside him. Yun Luobai's gaze was fixed on Qingchuan's handsome face. For a moment, his expression showed a hint of surprise, but he quickly returned to normal.

"Brother, the most likely explanation for what Qingchuan said about 'later' is that the killer returned. The killer thought he had strangled Mu Li to death, but in reality, she had only fainted. After returning, the killer discovered this and used the jade hairpin in her hair to stab her to death. If that's the case, then there's something very interesting involved: why couldn't the killer strangle Mu Li to death again, but instead used the jade hairpin that Qingchuan gave her to stab her to death?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because that jade hairpin was a gift from Qingchuan, the eldest son of the General's Mansion. It was not only very valuable but also deeply loved by Mu Li, otherwise she wouldn't have worn it in her hair. The murderer deliberately used this jade hairpin to stab Mu Li to death, which is very likely the reason."

"Second brother, you mean the jade hairpin was a gift from the third brother, which is why the murderer used it to stab Mu Li to death? Did he have a grudge against the third brother?"

"..."

Yun Luobai reached up to rub his forehead and sighed helplessly.

Although Ning Qi didn't quite understand, Ye Zi, who was a woman beside him, quickly grasped the meaning behind Yun Luobai's words.

"What Young Master Yun means is that the murderer must have been jealous of Mu Li's feelings for Young Master Qing, which is why he became jealous and used the jade hairpin that Young Master Qing gave him to kill Mu Li."

"I see……"

Ning Qi rubbed his chin with his palm and nodded as if he understood.

Yun Luobai carefully observed Ning Qi's emotional changes and felt that this guy really seemed to be missing a screw in his head, not faking it.

"Then why would this murderer have the audacity to return after killing someone? Shouldn't someone in a situation like this be too guilty to leave and run as far away as possible?"

Ye Zi tilted her head slightly, then extended her snow-white index finger to touch her chin, as if she had truly blended into the atmosphere of the three brothers around her.

"Perhaps he left something in Mu Li's room. If it's discovered, wouldn't his murder be exposed?"

Yun Luobai nodded gently, a smile on his face. His gaze inadvertently drifted to Ye Zi beside him, whose intelligence and liveliness perfectly matched the image of a young girl in the prime of her life.

"If what he dropped was ordinary, then there was no need for him to deliberately return to Mu Li's room and increase the risk. After all, judging from the traces of a ladder outside Mu Li's window, the murderer used a ladder to go back and forth to Mu Li's room. If he were discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"Based on this, we can infer that Mu Li knew the murderer and that their relationship was quite close. After all, if a strange man did such a thing, the thugs in the Rouge Pavilion would not have given him a good beating. In addition, this person's identity must be special compared to ordinary people. The items he accidentally left in Mu Li's room could easily identify him, which is why he took this risk and returned. It was at this time that he discovered that Mu Li was not dead."

"His intention to kill Mu Li might have been impulsive, otherwise he wouldn't have so hastily strangled her but failed to save her life. Perhaps when he returned and found Mu Li still alive, he felt a moment of relief, but upon seeing the jade hairpin in Mu Li's hair, he could no longer suppress the murderous intent driven by jealousy..."

Yun Luobai calmly recounted his conjectures to Ning Qi beside him, as if he had been present at the scene of the crime.

Ning Qi looked dazed, and after listening to Yun Luobai's story, he belatedly nodded.

"Second brother, if what you say is true, since the murderer has already taken the item that could identify him left at the scene, and he didn't leave through the main entrance of Rouge Pavilion that day, how can the authorities trace the murderer's identity based on the clues they currently have?"

"The investigation into the guests who appeared at the Rouge Pavilion on the day of the incident can be put on hold for now. The focus should be on investigating who Mu Li associated with before her death. As the most famous courtesan, most of the people she could have come into contact with were probably high-ranking officials and nobles. From this group, we can further select people with special status but who are not extremely wealthy. This should narrow down the scope of the murderer."

"I can understand your special status, but why insist on finding someone relatively poor?"

"The wealthy people in Ningzhou Prefecture all knew the identity of Qingchuan, the eldest son of the General's Mansion. The richer and more powerful they were, the less likely they were to hold a grudge against him over a so-called courtesan. The murderer used that precious 'Two Hearts' jade hairpin to stab Mu Li to death, not because he resented the prominent Qingchuan, but because he resented Mu Li's greed for wealth. It's likely that Mu Li had told him beforehand that this jade hairpin was extremely valuable, which is why the murderer used it as a weapon..."

As he finished speaking, Yun Luobai's tone became increasingly soft.

He felt he shouldn't get involved in these trivial matters; it would only make him feel like he was wasting his time.