Qin Wan fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking, “Aunt, where in the garden are there small pebbles?”
After this unexpected question, Lu Youxin thought for a moment and replied, “They’re in almost every flower bed.”
Qin Wan tilted her head in thought. “But right now the flower beds are covered in layers of snow. Even if someone fell to the ground, they might not leave marks on their body. Is there anywhere that has small pebbles but with very thin snow cover, or no snow at all?”
Lu Youxin looked toward Granny Huang, who said, “This servant vaguely remembers that the flower beds near Mei Garden are all covered by corridors and pavilions. The ground there is paved with pebbles, and usually doesn’t have much snow—”
Qin Wan nodded and explained, “The old wounds on his shoulders and back were left by Bai Feng yesterday, while the new injuries were inflicted at the time of death. The new wounds are narrow and deep, completely different from the old injuries. Such wounds are typically caused by sharp, hard objects—I suspect something like pebbles.”
Both Granny Deng and Granny Huang’s eyes brightened, their gazes toward Qin Wan now filled with reverence.
Qin Wan glanced outside and said, “Tomorrow I’ll find an opportunity to look at Mei Garden. Going there now would draw too much attention.”
Though it was late and most people were asleep, Mei Garden was a scenic spot—going there at this hour would be extremely suspicious if anyone saw it.
Lu Youxin nodded, “Then I’ll escort you back now.”
The corpse examination was complete, though they couldn’t perform an autopsy. This was all the information they could gather for now.
Qin Wan looked toward the doorway again before walking over.
The door bolt lay broken on the ground, with few marks elsewhere. Standing at the doorway, Qin Wan looked left and right before suddenly turning her attention to the window lattice nearest to the door. This window was tightly shut, with no obvious holes in the paper, but Qin Wan didn’t take this lightly. She stood at the window and examined it carefully for a long while. Suddenly, she discovered an extremely small hole in the lower left corner, barely the size of a needle tip. In such dim evening light, if not for Qin Wan’s attentiveness, it would have been impossible to notice.
Qin Wan stood there thinking for a moment, her eyes lighting up slightly before she turned and said, “Aunt, let’s go.”
Lu Youxin didn’t know exactly what Qin Wan had been looking at. Seeing Qin Wan remove her protective gloves and put her cloak back on, she led her outside. As soon as they stepped out, the cold wind was particularly biting. Qin Wan shivered slightly in the cold breeze, and as they walked, she asked, “Lu Jingcheng is fourth in the clan’s hierarchy? If Aunt were to choose an heir one day, would you select him?”
Lu Youxin smiled at the question but shook her head, “Yes, he’s fourth in line, but even if I were to choose, I wouldn’t pick him.”
Seeing Qin Wan watching her, and since those present were all trustworthy, Lu Youxin continued, “Jingcheng is the only son of the Second Branch. With just this one child, his parents spoiled him terribly. Compared to him, Jingyun from the Fourth Branch and Jinghe from the Fifth Branch are much better.”
Qin Wan pondered for a moment, “Then does Aunt truly plan to choose an heir from among your nephews?”
Lu Youxin shook her head, “I don’t have such plans for now, but the Lu family will need a new head eventually. I want to use these years while my health is still good to observe. If none of these candidates are suitable, we can consider children from other clan branches. The main thing is to choose someone capable of bearing such responsibility.”
Qin Wan thought of how Lu Youxin had remained unmarried her whole life and felt sympathy, but as the younger generation, she naturally couldn’t ask why Lu Youxin never married.
Qin Wan nodded, “Now that the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Branches are here—leaving aside the Second Branch—which of the other branches does Aunt think might be responsible? Aunt needn’t determine who the murderer is, just share how the families usually get along, since Lu Jingcheng was murdered.”
Lu Youxin’s expression grew solemn as she began, “Including the First Branch, the Lu family has five branches, with countless extended family members. The First Branch need not be mentioned—even if they don’t truly respect us, they must maintain appearances. After the First Branch comes the Second Branch, which controls significant family assets and thus speaks with considerable authority, though these assets belong to the public fund. The Third and Fourth Branches are in similar situations and have been closest over the years. The Third Branch’s eldest son Jingxiu, though not as unruly as Jingcheng, has an impulsive and rash temperament. He enjoys socializing with friends, whether nobility or martial artists, spending his days either practicing archery and horsemanship or drinking with companions. In my eyes, he’s not particularly capable. As for Jingyun, he lacks Jingxiu’s impetuousness and hot-headedness, and he does enjoy reading, though he’s not especially clever. Having grown up following Jingxiu, he follows whatever Jingxiu says and hasn’t developed much. Just look—he hasn’t returned tonight because he’s out drinking with Jingxiu.”
Pausing briefly, Lu Youxin spoke about the Fifth Branch, “Among all the branches, the Fifth Branch originated from a concubine, and over the years their descendants have been quite few, never producing many outstanding individuals. In Fifth Brother’s generation, there’s only Jinghe. Fifth Brother is physically weak and doesn’t excel at competition, while Fifth Sister-in-law comes from a humble background and has a gentle nature. Their family was bullied terribly in previous years, almost being pushed out of the ancestral home. But Fifth Brother is kindhearted and often helps other struggling clan children—I’ve seen it all. That’s why five years ago, I gave them a mining business to manage. Though Fifth Brother isn’t particularly skilled, he’s diligent. This recent accident wasn’t his responsibility, otherwise, with over twenty lives lost, I wouldn’t have protected him so strongly. Two main supervisors from the mine were arrested, while two others escaped, so the exact cause of the accident remains unclear. As for Qinghe, this child is physically weak like his father. In their earlier years when the Fifth Branch was struggling, he started his education late and fell behind in his studies. Fortunately, he’s hardworking, though now he’s neither particularly accomplished nor completely without merit. Because his father is ill, he spends most of his time caring for him.”
Qin Wan narrowed her eyes. Lu Jingcheng’s midnight excursion was unlikely to have been to meet any of the elders, and while the possibility of meeting with his brothers seemed low, there were no other women in the compound. If he was meeting a female servant, there would have been no need to sneak out at night—he could have simply summoned her to his courtyard.
Following this logic, meeting his brothers seemed the most likely possibility.
Though they couldn’t perform an autopsy, Lu Jingcheng was most likely suffocated. The struggle marks on his body wasn’t extensive, and even though he had been injured the day before, it wouldn’t have been so easy for an ordinary person to kill Lu Jingcheng so efficiently.
Among his three brothers, only Lu Jingxiu was skilled in martial arts.
Qin Wan frowned and asked, “Is there any connection between the Third and Second Branches? Whether grudges or business cooperation?”
Lu Youxin, hearing this and realizing Qin Wan suspected Lu Jingxiu, quickly said, “There shouldn’t be any—”
Before Lu Youxin could finish, Granny Huang suddenly interjected, “Young Miss, there are some, but which grudge does Princess refer to?”
Qin Wan replied, “Regardless of severity, please tell me what you know.”
Granny Huang then said, “This servant knows of one incident from last year at the ancestral home. At that time, the Fourth Young Master took a fancy to a maid serving the Fifth Young Master. The maid was the young daughter of Fifth Young Master’s wet nurse, and fairly pretty. Fourth Young Master took liberties with the young maid, and when Fifth Young Master found out, he went to confront him and left a scar on Fourth Young Master’s face. Young Miss was in Huzhou discussing business then, so you wouldn’t know.”
Qin Wan frowned, “Their relationship must have been very poor after that?”
Granny Huang nodded, “Indeed. When the Fourth Young Master and Fifth Young Master meet, they look down their noses at each other and won’t speak unless necessary. Fourth Young Master harbors deep resentment toward Fifth Young Master but dares not do anything because Fifth Young Master is skilled in martial arts. He can only scheme behind his back, though this servant doesn’t know exactly what methods he’s used.”
Qin Wan acknowledged softly and asked, “What about the Fourth and Fifth Branches? Do they have any connection with Fourth Young Master?”
Lu Youxin sighed, “Naturally not. The Fourth Branch is close to the Third Branch and relies on them considerably. They’re very respectful toward the Second Branch in daily life, and the Fifth Branch even more so. Previously, Jingcheng often bullied the two younger ones, though this improved somewhat as he grew older.”
Granny Huang added, “That’s right, that’s right. Fifth Young Master even stood up for Sixth Young Master once, almost beating Fourth Young Master.”
Listening to this, Qin Wan increasingly felt that Lu Jingxiu and Lu Jingcheng had the greatest animosity. She asked, “When did the two who left the manor depart?”
Granny Huang, responsible for questioning the servants thoroughly, quickly replied, “This servant asked the servants from Lanxiang Court, who said both young masters left before daybreak, probably around halfway through the Mao hour. Fifth Young Master has many friends, with quite a few in Jianzhou City. This time they went to meet friends!”
Leaving so early… if they had just murdered leaving the manor, it wasn’t impossible.
Qin Wan then said, “I don’t know when they’ll return tomorrow. When they do, Aunt, please summon them to the hall for questioning. Please notify me beforehand—I’d like to observe their reactions to Aunt’s questioning from behind a screen.”
Lu Youxin smiled at this, “They’ll return afternoon tomorrow. I’ll have someone invite you over then.”
Though she said this, Lu Youxin felt that when it came to reading people’s expressions and behavior, she was the true expert. Qin Wan was still too young—even if she was clever at solving cases, reading people wasn’t so simple. Thinking this, Lu Youxin said nothing more and escorted Qin Wan to Handan Pavilion before leaving.
Upon entering her room, Qin Wan first washed up, carefully washing her hands several times with scented soap before lying down. Though it was already late, with the howling wind and snow outside growing stronger, Qin Wan lay with closed eyes but light sleep. This case wasn’t as complex as previous ones, but unfortunately, they couldn’t perform an autopsy. Additionally, her current status made it inconvenient to investigate personally, adding another obstacle. On the positive side, the suspects were limited, and she already had a primary suspect.
Lu Jingxiu… hot-tempered and impulsive, skilled in martial arts—if he and Lu Jingcheng had quarreled and he killed in anger, it would have been quite easy.
Thinking this, Qin Wan suddenly frowned—
No, her thinking was wrong… They still didn’t know why Lu Jingcheng had snuck out at night, but it certainly couldn’t have been to meet Lu Jingxiu, as they were the bitterest of enemies. She also remembered the locations of the various courtyards Lu Youxin had mentioned today—Lu Jingxiu’s quarters were quite far from Lu Jingcheng’s Qingsong Court, making it unlikely they would have encountered each other. At that hour, Lu Jingxiu should have been sound asleep, preparing for his early departure the next day.
Qin Wan frowned, her primary suspect now seeming less likely. Unless she could find other evidence, the logic didn’t add up.
As for the other two, Jingyun and Jinghe, she hadn’t yet discovered any clues.
If it wasn’t any of these people, surely it couldn’t have been a servant from the garden…
Qin Wan’s consciousness grew fuzzy, without reaching any conclusions, and she drifted off to sleep amid these scattered thoughts.
Early the next morning, Qin Wan went to Mei Garden, a lakeside scenic spot. Having encountered Lu Jingcheng there previously, Qin Wan was very careful this time, sending Bai Feng to check the garden before going there with her attendants.
Upon reaching Mei Garden, she found it just as Granny Huang had described, with many covered walkways and pavilions, and only a thin layer of snow on the pebble paths.
Qin Wan walked onto the crossroads. Her soft boots made the path somewhat uncomfortable to walk on, but now this slight pain helped her recall the wounds on Lu Jingcheng’s body. She examined the shapes of the pebbles on the ground while walking, and after about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, she suddenly stopped beside a bamboo grove.
This spot was in the center of the plum garden, with a bamboo grove next to an octagonal pavilion. Snow had accumulated heavily on the pavilion and bamboo tips, but near the bamboo grove, the snow layer was thinner. Qin Wan walked to the grove and immediately noticed several protruding pebbles. Looking more carefully, she saw what appeared to be dark red stains on those pebbles.