People speak of “three visits to the thatched cottage,” but today Ji Yunshu and Jingrong made three visits to the straw shelter.

Because the beggar had eaten his fill, he was completely satisfied and had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the ground.

Jingrong directly used his hand to flip open the straw mat covering him.

Cold suddenly attacked!

The beggar hugged his arms, shivering and trembling, and sat up with a face full of fury. Just as he was about to unleash a torrent of curses, he saw Jingrong and immediately broke into smiles.

Grinning from ear to ear.

Then he asked, “Officer, is there something good to eat again? Is it meat buns? Or meat pancakes?”

As he asked, he even licked his tongue.

Looking greedy.

His eyes shining.

Jingrong glared at him.

This person was truly greedy!

He said, “Yes, of course, and plenty of it.”

Speaking, he took out an ingot of silver from his waist and tossed it up and down in his hand a few times.

The beggar stared at it, restraining his impulse to snatch the silver.

“Officer, this silver…” Is it for me?

Before the last few words could be asked—

Jingrong interrupted, saying, “As long as you’re willing to cooperate properly, this silver will naturally be yours.”

“Good, you ask. As long as I know it, I’ll definitely tell you everything.” The beggar’s eyeballs still stared intently at that ingot of silver.

Could be described as “salivating.”

Jingrong gripped the silver in his palm, then glanced at Ji Yunshu.

Signaling her to ask.

Ji Yunshu stepped forward and asked seriously, “You must answer honestly.”

The beggar swore, “Of course!”

“Good, then I’ll ask you again. You’re certain you saw Du Mubai come out?”

The beggar nodded.

“That person was truly him?”

“This…”

“Actually, you didn’t see his face at all, did you?” Ji Yunshu asked.

This question left the beggar completely bewildered.

He recalled the scene from that time, slowly going through it in his mind, then said, “I… it seems I didn’t see clearly. It was already very late that day, I… I didn’t see clearly.”

He said weakly.

Ji Yunshu said, “Then think carefully about the situation at that time.”

“At that time…” The beggar scratched his head, then lightly patted it a few times, trying hard to recall, piecing together the images from that time bit by bit, then said, “That evening, when Du Mubai walked out, the sky was already very dark. He walked rather hurriedly. I was lying down at the time, so indeed… I didn’t see his face! But the clothes he wore were exactly the same as the clothes he wore going in—this is absolutely not wrong. However… he seemed to have had a change of character.”

“Change of character? What do you mean?”

“Earlier when he went in, he kicked over my bowl and cursed at me a few times, but when he came out, he tossed me a few coins. This was too strange, but at the time I didn’t think much about it. Having money, I was naturally overjoyed—the earlier matter was naturally written off.” The beggar had a righteous appearance.

Ji Yunshu asked, “And aside from that?”

“No… nothing else.”

“Think carefully again.”

“Really nothing else!” The beggar said uncertainly, then suddenly exclaimed, “Right… I remember now. When he passed by me, I saw he seemed to have changed his shoes.”

“Shoes?”

“Different from the pair of shoes he wore going in.”

Ji Yunshu pondered, then asked, “You said he walked hurriedly, so at that time he also wasn’t limping, correct?”

“Right, not limping.”

Ji Yunshu smiled. “Just as I suspected.”

The beggar didn’t understand.

Ji Yunshu asked again, “Do you remember how tall the Du Mubai who came out from inside was?”

“About five chi two or three cun, about the same as me.”

Du Mubai’s height—but through testing the hanging rope, the killer should be five chi seven cun.

So the person who came out should be Du Mubai.

However, Ji Yunshu didn’t think so.

Her expression was grave.

Then she silently walked away.

Jingrong tossed the ingot of silver in his hand to the beggar.

The beggar clutched the silver, smiling so broadly his eyes nearly disappeared.

The two walked on the street.

Jingrong asked, “Where to?”

“The Scholarly Residence.”

When they arrived at the Scholarly Residence, the same gate attendant from before was still standing at the entrance.

Seeing them arrive, he quickly came forward.

He asked, “Two officers, you’re…”

“Do you still remember the situation when Du Mubai returned the night he was killed?” Ji Yunshu asked directly.

The gate attendant was stunned for a moment before nodding. “I remember.”

“Tell me the details.”

The gate attendant said, “At that time when Du Mubai came, there was nothing unusual. I even called out to him once, but he didn’t respond at the time. He was also walking very quickly, so I…”

“Wait, you said he walked very quickly.”

“Right.”

“So he wasn’t limping at all.”

“It seems… yes! This was also strange. When he went out in the morning, he was clearly still limping.”

“Do you still remember what shoes he was wearing at that time?”

“Shoes—the same ones he wore when he left.”

“How tall was he?”

“Du Mubai? Five chi three cun.”

“I’m asking about when he returned.”

“The same!”

The gate attendant didn’t quite understand why Ji Yunshu was asking these strange questions.

After finishing the questions, Ji Yunshu and Jingrong exchanged a glance.

They had it!

On the road, Jingrong said, “Du Mubai was clearly lame, but when he left that alley and returned to the Scholarly Residence, he was completely normal. How could a person with such a foot injury recover so quickly in one day?”

Ji Yunshu directly drew a conclusion, saying, “So he wasn’t Du Mubai—he was the killer!”

“But don’t forget, both the beggar and the gate attendant said the killer was five chi three cun, but through testing, the killer should be about the same height as Bai Yin—five chi seven cun is correct.”

“Perhaps I’ve overlooked something?” She said again, “But no matter what I’ve overlooked, based on the hanging rope, Du Mubai definitely didn’t commit suicide. It’s just… if the killer was the same height as Du Mubai, why would he tie such a high hanging rope?”

The two suddenly said in unison, “To create confusion!”

Ji Yunshu said, “The killer wanted people to think he was five chi seven cun tall! In fact, he had prepared two contingency plans from the start. If Du Mubai’s death went undiscovered, then everyone would determine he committed suicide, and the killer could remain safe and sound! But if someone discovered at the time that Du Mubai was actually killed by someone, the authorities would definitely keep obsessing over the killer’s height. I must say, the killer is a very clever person. And there’s a second point—the beggar at the entrance. Once anyone discovered something wrong with the hanging rope, they would become suspicious and then investigate Du Mubai’s movements. Naturally they would investigate that beggar. Then all his actions would have the beggar as a witness for him. And he was very lucky—both his contingency plans weren’t needed, because everyone thought it was suicide!”

“But… if the person who came out of the alley and the person who entered the Scholarly Residence were the same person, the beggar clearly said Du Mubai went in alone. Then where did the killer enter from? And why change shoes twice!”

“If you want to know the answer, I can tell you now. However, we need to notify Young Master Cheng first.”