Chang Yiyan’s appearance caused a reversal in the entire situation.

And her words plunged everyone into silence.

But if this was the case, didn’t that mean the leads had been severed again?

With Chang Yiyan’s testimony, plus Li Mingzhou’s own account, in the end, Fang Mingsan had no choice but to order their release.

Naturally, Miss Yu Yin had to be released!

Ji Yunshu personally made a trip to the prison cells.

When Yu Yin learned she was to be released, she asked strangely, “Why am I suddenly being released?”

Did she actually want to continue staying there?

Ji Yunshu replied, “It’s not sudden. Your male confidant Li Mingzhou testified on your behalf.”

“Mingzhou?” She was shocked and instinctively covered her bracelet.

Ji Yunshu caught this squarely. “You don’t need to hide it anymore. We already know everything, otherwise we wouldn’t be releasing you.”

Her heart tightened. “How did you find Mingzhou?”

Mingzhou this, Mingzhou that!

Fortunately, Ji Yunshu was patient enough and explained, “He went up the mountain in the middle of the night to dig up Chang Shiliang’s grave. He was arrested and brought back to the yamen for trial, where he revealed the truth.”

“Went to dig up a grave?”

She nodded!

“He said it was to retrieve the thumb ring that Chang Shiliang had taken from him.”

Yu Yin seemed both enlightened and confused as she lowered her head, saying nothing more.

However, Ji Yunshu carefully studied her expression and committed it all to memory.

By the time the two left the prison, the sky was gradually brightening.

After Yu Yin left, Ji Yunshu also returned to the yamen. After napping briefly in her room, she went to find Muruo.

Muruo was drinking wine in the courtyard, leisurely and carefree.

When she arrived—

“Wasn’t Master Ji conducting an all-night trial? Aren’t you going to rest at all?”

A woman of iron!

Give her some credit!

She got straight to the point.

“Have you figured out what that stain on the clothing was?”

“No.”

“You couldn’t figure it out?”

“That’s not it.” He replied.

Ji Yunshu was puzzled. “Then what’s going on? Today is already the third day. If we can’t figure it out…”

“Why the rush? Don’t we still have two days?”

Indeed, as the saying goes, when the shit isn’t in your own asshole, of course you’re not anxious!

Ji Yunshu wiped away sweat, her face helpless.

Muruo leisurely pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to her, saying as he did so, “The stain on the clothing had a type of medicinal herb on it, and that herb happens to be one I recognize, called False Daisy. It stops bleeding, reduces swelling, relieves summer heat, and…”

“Get to the point.”

“Ink.”

“Hm?”

Muruo shrugged and took another sip of wine. “You told me to get to the point. I did.”

Hey, hey, hey, big brother, could you please take this seriously?

This way it’s very hard for us to continue playing, okay?

Ji Yunshu had no choice but to raise her hand. “Fine, then take your time.”

So Muruo squinted his eyes and began to speak.

“False Daisy is actually the most common of all medicinal herbs. Basically every household can afford to buy it, and if they can’t afford it, they can go up the mountain to gather it. It’s everywhere anyway, but it generally grows beside rocks, so to gather it is actually quite difficult.” His voice grew weaker as he spoke, the hand holding the wine flask slowly sliding down from his body, his head tilting to one side as he continued, “However, I looked at the stain on Master Chang’s body, and actually, it was a blot of ink. The ink contained False Daisy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because False Daisy isn’t just a medicine—it can also be used to set ink. Generally, people who understand calligraphy and painting will add this substance to their ink, and experts in the calligraphy and painting business who sell ink all use False Daisy.”

An ink stain?

Ink containing False Daisy?

Muruo stretched lazily. “That’s all I know. You figure out the rest yourself.”

He went back to his room to sleep.

Ji Yunshu pondered on the spot for a long while, then went to find Jingrong to tell him about this matter, wanting him to send people quietly to both the Chang residence and Li Mingzhou’s residence to see if there was any ink containing False Daisy.

But after last night’s trip up the mountain to arrest Li Mingzhou and the trial session, Jingrong was still lying in bed resting.

After listening to Ji Yunshu’s words, he turned over and said, “This prince’s men aren’t made of iron. These past few days, including the journey here, they’ve been exhausted too. Wait until they’ve rested well, then they’ll go.”

“This matter is urgent!”

“But this prince wants to sleep.”

His tone carried a lazy, rogue-like quality. He turned on his side to ask her, “Why not find Fang Mingsan and have him take people to the Chang residence?”

Ji Yunshu’s face showed concern as she stood by the bed. “I’m worried that stain is the key to solving the case, so if Magistrate Fang takes people to search the Chang residence and the murderer gets wind of it, they’ll definitely destroy the evidence. That’s also why I didn’t mention the ink stain on the clothing in front of Magistrate Fang.”

“Then how are you so certain that ink stain is related to the murderer?”

“Have you forgotten? Miss Chang said that day in the mourning hall that Master Chang was most afraid of dirt. If that ink stain got on Master Chang’s clothes before he was killed, there’s no reason he wouldn’t have washed it clean. That’s why I have suspicions. First, either there was ink containing False Daisy in his room originally, and he accidentally got it on himself when the murderer knocked him unconscious. If the Chang family doesn’t have that kind of ink, then there’s a second possibility—that the murderer left it during the process of committing the crime.”

Jingrong smiled without concealment. “Would someone carry ink on their person?”

“There are all kinds of strange people in this world! If so, think about it—a person who would carry ink on their person must be quite an unusual person. The scope would narrow, and investigating would become somewhat easier.”

Alright!

Jingrong found it strange. “Then why are you investigating Li Mingzhou?”

So many questions!

Ji Yunshu said patiently, “Although Li Mingzhou explained the circumstances clearly, and with Chang Yiyan’s testimony, he appears to have cleared his name on the surface, he definitely still hasn’t explained something clearly. Not just that he hasn’t explained it clearly—it’s possible he hasn’t said a single word about it. So even if he didn’t kill them, he might know something. As for saying Yu Yin pretended to be a ghost to frighten people just to avoid being bullied, that explanation is too far-fetched. This entire case is like being in deep water—you can clearly see everything, yet it’s as if covered by fog. It’s too strange.”

This was the first time she found a case bizarre!

After listening, Jingrong’s eyes darkened, but he turned over again and said, “This prince understands your meaning, but no matter how urgent the case is, people need to catch their breath. In one hour, I’ll find someone to investigate.”

Indeed, even if you’re hanging yourself, you need to catch your breath first!

Ji Yunshu didn’t want to make things difficult for his guards either.

Just as she was about to leave, Jingrong grabbed her arm and pulled forcefully. The blanket lifted, and he firmly embraced her.

For a moment, she was startled!

When her body nestled against that solid chest, she finally reacted and pushed with her hands.

“What are you doing? There are people outside.”

“What’s there to fear? They’re all our own people.”

“You… let me go first.”

“Won’t let go.” The strength in his arms increased by several degrees, his lips pressed against her earlobe. “Are you really so impatient? Can’t you even beg this prince properly? If you begged once more, this prince would send people to investigate. Troublemaker, where did that tenacity of yours to fight to the bitter end usually go?”

You’re the one fighting to the bitter end!

She folded her arms across her chest. “Didn’t you say they needed to rest? I was just following your wishes.”

“When did you become so obedient?”

“Stop fooling around. Let me go first. If others see, they’ll say you and I… have a relationship like cut sleeves.”

Her face couldn’t help but flush red!

Jingrong’s enchanting eyes lifted. “Above was Emperor Ai’s devotion to Dong Xian, below is my Jingrong’s devotion to Shu. If this spreads widely, it will surely be a fine tale.”

Uh!

The corners of Ji Yunshu’s mouth twitched!

Please, you’re not Emperor Ai of Han, and I’m not Dong Xian, okay?

At this moment, a figure appeared on the inner side of the door frame. Several silver ingots in their hand clattered and rolled to the floor!

A pair of large eyes glistened with tears, staring at the two people on the bed.