The four men were brought to the main hall of the Court of Judicial Review. When they saw that everyone inside was an official, they immediately became intimidated.

They dared not clamor anymore!

Gamblers meeting officials—they cowered.

A guard reported, “Your Highness, they’ve been blocking the entrance of Wenlai Pavilion, saying they want to find Zhao Zhiwen to repay his debts.”

The four men shrank back, not daring to speak, heads lowered, even less daring to meet the officials’ eyes.

All their earlier arrogance outside Wenlai Pavilion was gone!

Jingrong’s sharp gaze swept over the four men, examining them as he asked, “You… what relationship do you have with Zhao Zhiwen?”

“…”

They stammered hesitantly!

“Zhao Zhiwen is already dead. At this time, you keep shouting for him to repay debts. Are you fabricating things? Or do you have ulterior motives?”

“We’re not fabricating!” One of them quickly pulled out an IOU. “This is in black and white—he, Zhao Zhiwen, owes our gambling house a full twenty thousand taels of silver. He promised to repay it today, but now he’s dead. This is twenty thousand taels of silver! Debts must be repaid—it’s only natural. He’s dead, but his family is still here, so this silver must be repaid.” The plump man among them shed his earlier timid appearance and spoke with righteous indignation.

Indeed, repaying debts is only natural.

What he said made sense!

On that IOU, it was indeed written in black and white, clear as day, that Zhao Zhiwen owed a certain gambling house twenty thousand taels of silver, with the repayment date being today.

However—

Minister Yu questioned, “How could he owe you so much money?”

“What’s strange about a gambler owing this much money? Over time, he’s owed our gambling house a hundred thousand taels. Each time after writing an IOU, he’d wait until the third day to repay, saying something about having a benefactor behind him—as long as he asked, that person would give him money. We also know he’s the president of the Qiyang Commerce Association, so he must have money. That’s why we always gave him two days’ extension. But this time, he actually died. These twenty thousand taels are not a small sum—they must be repaid.”

Ji Yunshu caught the key words.

A benefactor behind him?

Was it the same person as the “fool” behind him that the women from Spring-Full Tower mentioned earlier?

If so, who was that person? Why did they always cover his debts?

Ji Yunshu immediately asked, “Then do you know who exactly the person behind him repaying his debts is?”

The man with a full beard said, “Don’t know. We only care about money.”

“Then last night, did he go to your gambling house?”

The men shook their heads. “He didn’t come.”

He didn’t go to Spring-Full Tower, nor to the gambling house. Then where did he go after leaving through the back door of Wenlai Pavilion?

A knot formed in her heart once again.

Jingrong returned the IOU to those men and informed them, “Before the case is closed, you’d all better behave yourselves. No more disturbances, or you’ll all be thrown in prison.”

“But our silver…”

Jingrong’s hawk-like eyes narrowed.

The men trembled and slunk away dejectedly.

Minister Yu said, “Could it be that after Zhao Zhiwen went out, before he even reached the gambling house or Spring-Full Tower, he was already killed?”

“Impossible.” Ji Yunshu denied it. “According to what Liu Zhinan and Luo Mingyang said, Zhao Zhiwen left Wenlai Pavilion during the Hour of the Dog, but he died at the Hour of the Rat. From the Hour of the Dog to the Hour of the Rat, even crawling he could have reached the gambling house or Spring-Full Tower. But during that time, where exactly was he?”

Minister Yu understood and quickly said, “Then this official will immediately send people to investigate.”

Thus, based on the time period from the Hour of the Dog to the Hour of the Rat, people from the Court of Judicial Review and the Capital Magistrate’s Office questioned everyone starting from Wenlai Pavilion, through all the streets and alleys, but no one had seen Zhao Zhiwen.

Not even his shadow.

Since no one had, then where exactly did he go?

“The killer acted without anyone knowing—how exactly did they murder him?” Jing Zhaoyin and quite a few officials were frantic.

Everyone’s hearts were in turmoil.

Ji Yunshu frowned slightly. “The killer can disguise themselves. Of course killing someone would be simple.”

“Then isn’t this like finding a needle in a haystack? We still haven’t seen the killer’s true appearance. If they disguised themselves and left the city, what do we do? Are we just supposed to wait like this?”

Yes!

They could only wait!

Currently, there were only two days left until the Commerce Festival.

Therefore—

Jingrong could only give orders: “On the day of the Commerce Festival, the capital will be packed with people. We have very few clues about the killer and absolutely cannot run around like headless flies. What’s urgent now is to increase security, ensuring that no more murders occur on the day of the Commerce Festival. Entry and exit through the city gates must be carefully inspected. Those leaving the city must be verified before being allowed to pass. As long as the killer remains in the capital, we will bring them to justice.”

“Yes.”

The day before the Commerce Festival.

The capital had already begun to bustle with activity. Streets and alleys started hanging lanterns and decorations, arranging displays.

The court also sealed information about the three murder cases in the shortest time possible, and those in the know were all “reminded” to prevent more people from learning about it and causing unnecessary panic.

Prince Rong’s Manor.

Ji Yunshu had been troubled all day. This was her first time encountering murder cases where she could only sit and wait. Moreover, even the clues about the killer were vague and ambiguous—she had completely lost direction. The killer was like a shadow—traceless, intangible. Clearly knowing of their existence, yet unable to grasp them no matter what.

Her heart was anxious, worried, and confused.

She sat in the room, supporting her forehead, staring intently at the three masks taken from the victims’ faces on the table.

Ox-Ghost.

Horse-Ghost.

Snake-Ghost.

Each one more terrifying than the last.

Zhulan brought in a basin of water. Seeing her lost in thought and silent, and noticing those three masks on the table, she asked tremulously, “Miss Ji, what are you thinking about?”

She snapped back to attention and said, “Nothing.”

The maid stood in place, opened her mouth as if wanting to ask something, then moved with small steps, carrying the basin of water to Ji Yunshu’s side.

Hmm?

“What is it?”

Zhulan swallowed and asked in a small voice, “Miss Ji, do you think… the killer… will kill again?”

Her tone clearly carried fear.

But Ji Yunshu couldn’t be certain.

“Go do your work first.”

“Oh.” Zhulan responded dully, her heart still somewhat uneasy. Turning around to place the basin in her hands on the washstand, unexpectedly she was distracted and one foot caught on the leg of a nearby table.

“Thud!”

Both person and basin tumbled to the ground.

The wooden basin crashed to the floor, water splashing out everywhere.

At the same time, an Ox-Ghost mask that had been placed on the table fell down due to the table shaking, landing right in the wooden basin that still held half its water.

Seeing this, Ji Yunshu quickly helped Zhulan up.

She asked with concern, “What happened? Are you alright?”

The upper half of Zhulan’s body was soaked—she looked like a drowned rat.

She rubbed her knees, on the verge of tears. “Thank you, Miss Ji. I… I’m fine.”

Only then did Ji Yunshu fish the Ox-Ghost mask out of the water basin.

The mask was already wet, dripping with water, continuously dropping.

“It’s all my fault, Miss Ji. I… I didn’t mean to.” Zhulan panicked.

“It’s alright!”

Ji Yunshu held the mask and shook it a few times, then took a handkerchief to wipe the water off it clean.

Wiping and wiping…