That meant the person who wrote on his behalf was Shang Zhuo?

This case was becoming increasingly complex!

“This letter was written by Shang Zhuo?” Teacher Yu still hadn’t recovered his senses. “That’s impossible.”

He didn’t believe it!

Although Shang Zhuo’s copying skills were exceptional, he couldn’t possibly copy Guo He’s handwriting and write such a letter.

What would be the purpose?

Ji Yinshu turned back from the painting and began to explain, “It’s understandable that Teacher doesn’t believe it, but the person who can imitate someone else’s handwriting so realistically—in this entire academy, it could only be him.”

“Based solely on this?”

“Not entirely. Teacher may not know that characters written by a person with their left hand are completely different from those written with their right hand. Even if someone imitates another person’s handwriting so realistically, there will still be flaws. And this flaw isn’t about how similar the imitation is, but rather lies in a person’s habits.”

Hm?

“Teacher can compare the character ‘return’ in the letter Guo He left behind, then look at the character ‘return’ in his practice writing book to see what differences there are between the two characters.”

After speaking!

Teacher Yu began to examine them.

Comparing the “return” character on the letter with the “return” character in the practice writing, when the two characters were placed together, there didn’t seem to be any difference. Whether looking at the brush strokes or the weight of the writing, they both came from the same person’s hand. If one really had to find even the slightest difference, it would be the size of the two characters. But this was completely understandable—after all, the paper was different, the position was different, so naturally the size of the characters written would also be different.

He squinted and stared for a long time, but just couldn’t see any difference.

So he raised the two items in his hands. “This ‘return’ character has nothing abnormal about it. It’s indeed from Guo He’s hand. I couldn’t be mistaken. I know everyone’s handwriting clearly.”

It couldn’t be wrong!

It definitely couldn’t be wrong!

He firmly believed in his own judgment.

Ji Yinshu’s eyes deepened again. “Yes, those two characters indeed show no apparent differences. But Teacher, please look again at what’s different beside those two ‘return’ characters?”

It was like giving an exam question!

One asking, one answering.

One like a student, one like a teacher.

Teacher Yu continued to look at those two characters as she had instructed.

Only then did he notice in alarm!

He raised his gaze. “One ‘return’ has a dot beside it, while the other doesn’t.”

Ji Yinshu said, “Exactly! It’s this dot.”

This dot!

What was different about it?

“What does this prove?” Teacher Yu asked.

“As I mentioned earlier, no matter how good a person’s copying skills are, no matter how lifelike the copied calligraphy and paintings are, they cannot change a person’s writing habits, especially someone who habitually uses their left hand to write. In this world, only a very small number of people who use their left hand to write the character ‘return’ will habitually add a light dot beside it. This is a subconscious action that occurs unintentionally and cannot be changed. A friend of mine is also accustomed to writing with his left hand, and when he writes the character ‘return,’ he also adds a dot beside it. Of course, Teacher can say this is a coincidence or suspect that I’m speaking nonsense. However, this is fact.”

The friend she mentioned was naturally Wei Yi!

And these words did not gain Teacher Yu’s complete trust.

Of course, these words were not baseless, nor were they fabricated by her.

In modern times, due to a case, she had been transferred to assist the police in solving it. During that time, she encountered a case involving left-handed writing. The murderer had forged the deceased’s handwriting and written a suicide note. Eventually, through handwriting analysis and comparison with a “return” character on the letter, they determined that the letter was not written by the deceased. Combined with conclusions researched by numerous linguistic scholars, all proving that a very small number of left-handed people would add a dot beside the “return” character, they followed the left-handed clue. With the police’s continued efforts over several days, they quickly identified the target, and the case was finally solved.

It turned out that the murderer was indeed left-handed!

However, at this moment, discussing these matters with Teacher Yu was undoubtedly like engaging in armchair strategizing!

He was a scholar who understood all the principles of classical literature, but might not necessarily understand modern academic principles.

And even if he believed Ji Yinshu’s words, he might not necessarily accept them in his heart.

Ji Yinshu said directly, “I know Teacher has doubts in his heart, but every word I’ve spoken is true. Moreover, Shang Zhuo’s ‘Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ painting also proves this point of mine.”

Hm?

The “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” painting?

“Teacher should know that beneath that painting are inscribed two lines of poetry: ‘Birds return not to the forest, paying homage to the phoenix on different branches.’ Within them is also this character ‘return,’ and beside the character is also such a dot.”

Was there?

Teacher Yu recalled in his mind—although that painting had always hung in his study, his focus had been on the painting itself. He knew and had appreciated those two lines of poetry, but hadn’t carefully examined the changes and flow of those characters. Now, naturally, he couldn’t remember anything.

“If that letter was truly written by him on behalf of another, then…” Could the murderer be Shang Zhuo?

Teacher Yu didn’t dare to think further.

But Ji Yinshu said, “The one who wrote the letter isn’t necessarily the murderer. The reason I’m investigating the letter so thoroughly isn’t to find the murderer.”

“Then why?”

“I want to know what exactly went wrong with the time of Guo He’s death? Why is it that the evidence I clearly found—regarding the East Chestnut Pearl and the blood on the wine bottle—became completely invalid because Lin Shu had an alibi on the 13th?”

So that was it!

As long as Guo He’s time of death could be pushed to before the 13th, then the evidence she found would all become actual proof one by one.

However—

Teacher Yu said, “But if this letter wasn’t written by Shang Zhuo, wouldn’t that mean…”

At this moment—

“That letter was indeed written by me.”

Following the voice, they saw that Shang Zhuo had somehow appeared at the doorway!

His eyes were calm, even carrying a fearless composure as he stepped through the door.

While saying, “This letter was written by me using my left hand to imitate Guo He’s handwriting. The inscribed poem on that ‘Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ painting was also written by me with my left hand. And I am indeed accustomed to using my left hand, but in front of others I always write with my right hand. So no one knows about this habit of mine.”

Too honest!

Too candid!

His tone was even extremely calm.

As if he were narrating something completely unrelated to him.

Ji Yinshu had already guessed this, so she wasn’t shocked by his words.

And Teacher Yu, being quite elderly to begin with, upon hearing Shang Zhuo’s words, couldn’t catch his breath for a moment and choked.

He extended his trembling hand. “It seems Master Ji was indeed correct. But why did you write that letter? Could it be… did you kill him?”

Utterly disappointed!