Li Mingzhou remembered clearly that night when he rushed back to Yuzhou City from outside—he had indeed seen Li Yuan coming out of the Chang residence!

He couldn’t have been mistaken!

Moreover, at the time, in order not to be seen, he had quickly taken Li Yuan back to the Li family home.

The very next day, news spread that Chang Shiliang had died!

The circumstances were exactly the same as when Wu Lei and Liu Shuhuai died the previous two times. By logic, Li Yuan had first instructed Yu Yin to pretend to be a ghost to frighten people, and kept saying he would go kill them, so the murderer should be him!

Now what was the meaning of Yu Yin’s words?

Faced with his doubts, Yu Yin didn’t respond to him, but instead looked at Ji Yinshu and began explaining, “Because of my sister’s death, A’Yuan has always harbored resentment toward the other leaders of the Liu Gang. It was also because of my sister’s death that he became the way he is today. I, like him, want to avenge my sister. And so coincidentally, those three men would come to the Chang’an Institute to find me every time.

So I took advantage of this opportunity, wearing a human skin mask at the Appreciating Moon Hall to frighten them, then having A’Yuan go kill them. Finally, we could pass the whole affair off as vengeful spirits claiming lives. But when I learned that Chang Shiliang died during the hour of the Rat, I found it strange, because that night during the hour of the Rat, A’Yuan was with me. He didn’t leave until just after the hour of the Ox had begun—how could he have gone to the Chang residence to kill anyone?”

Ji Yinshu didn’t entirely believe what she was saying.

Instead, she asked Li Mingzhou, “What time did you see Li Yuan coming out of the Chang residence that night?”

With this question, Li Mingzhou lost his certainty. He had only been focused on rushing to the Chang residence to stop him—he hadn’t paid attention to the time at all!

Anxiously thinking about it, after quite a while, his eyes suddenly brightened.

He said with certainty, “It was during the third watch of the hour of the Ox. I remember—it was exactly then.”

Yu Yin was delighted and immediately responded, “That’s right! I still remember that when A’Yuan left my place, the first watch had just struck. From where I live to the Chang residence would take until the second watch of the hour of the Ox. In any case, Chang Shiliang died during the hour of the Rat, which means he was already dead before A’Yuan went to the Chang residence.”

Her words were emphatic!

She laid out all the time points one by one.

If this was the case, then Chang Shiliang wasn’t killed by Li Yuan.

Li Mingzhou was stunned. “Yu Yin, is everything you’re saying true?”

“I have no reason to lie. Everything I’ve said is true. A’Yuan was truly with me that night.”

The weight in Li Mingzhou’s heart finally lifted.

The person wasn’t killed by his younger brother—he no longer needed to worry or fear.

But Fang Mingsan thought for a moment and said, “This is merely your one-sided account. How can anyone find it convincing? It’s not impossible that you coordinated the timeline beforehand.”

“I’m not lying. Every word I’ve said is true.”

“Evidence?”

With this question, Yu Yin was rendered speechless!

Evidence?

The place where she lived wasn’t particularly remote, but at that hour of the Ox, there was virtually no one on the streets. Where would there be any evidence?

She tightly clutched the handkerchief in her palm, which became damp with sweat.

Biting her red lips, she said, “It was so late then, there was no one on the streets at all. Everyone around the courtyard where I live had already gone to rest—no one saw anything. Moreover, A’Yuan and I didn’t want anyone to know about our relationship, so when he came to my place, no one knew at all.”

“Oh? Then why did Li Yuan go to your place that night? How could someone who’s sometimes normal and sometimes mad go looking for you so late?”

“Because…”

She stammered, gripping the handkerchief even more tightly.

Clearly, she found it difficult to speak!

That rough fellow Constable Zhang stepped forward and raised his voice, “Miss Yu Yin, you and Li Yuan didn’t engage in any impropriety in private, did you?”

Impropriety?

“No!” She denied it sharply, her eyes reddening. “A’Yuan and I had no impropriety. It’s not what you’re saying. I know the person he’s always liked in his heart is my sister, never me. I would never force myself on him. At the end of the day, I’m just a woman of the pleasure quarters—I was destined to be unworthy of him. The only thing I can do is accompany him in my sister’s place and take care of him.”

“Then why did he come looking for you? Tell us—how can we believe you?”

She pressed her lips together and finally said, “Actually that night, I thought he would go to the Chang residence, but he came to find me instead, saying he missed my sister very much. So I kept him company and we had a few more drinks. But later he drank too much and rested at my place for a while. Once he fell asleep, he slept until the hour of the Ox. As soon as he sobered up from the alcohol, he left immediately. We didn’t do anything. I, Yu Yin, have always sold only my art, not my body, at the Chang’an Institute. I regard my chastity as my very life. When you say we engaged in impropriety, where does that even come from?”

Each word and phrase was spoken with great force!

To call her improper was even more serious than killing her.

Having stepped on Yu Yin’s landmine, Constable Zhang could only swallow hard, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and silently retreated to the side.

He swore he would never open his mouth again!

I’m uncultured, I admit it.

After finishing speaking, Yu Yin crouched down, reached out to stroke Li Yuan’s back, and tears fell.

She continued saying, “In any case, I’m not lying. A’Yuan truly didn’t kill anyone.”

The crowd fell silent.

Fang Mingsan was troubled for a moment.

He said, “But if you can’t produce evidence, this official cannot believe you.”

“But no one saw anything that night,” Yu Yin said.

Fang Mingsan sighed!

At this moment, Ji Yinshu’s gaze lingered on the three people on the ground for a long time.

She also began questioning herself—could Li Yuan not be the murderer? Were the testimonies given by Yu Yin and Li Mingzhou both true?

When she had asked herself these two questions for the fifth time—

Her brow settled with determination, and she asked, “You both mentioned the first watch of the hour of the Ox and the third watch of the hour of the Ox respectively, and you remember so clearly. Was it because you both heard the sound of the night watchman striking the hour at that time?”

“Yes.”

Both people looked up and answered in unison.

“Then that makes things easier.” Ji Yinshu turned to Fang Mingsan and said, “I’ll have to trouble Magistrate Fang once more. I’ll draw Li Yuan’s portrait shortly, and you can have someone take it to show the night watchmen who were on duty from the hour of the Rat to the hour of the Ox that night, as well as the beggars in Yuzhou City, and inquire whether anyone saw Li Yuan during the time period when Chang Shiliang died.”

Hmm?

Fang Mingsan was puzzled.

“This official can understand the night watchmen, but Mr. Ji, what are you looking for those beggars for?”

“Has Magistrate Fang never heard of the term ‘know-it-alls’?”

“I’ve heard this expression, but what connection does it have with beggars?”

“Of course there’s a connection. If we say that the historians of the Great Lin court record court affairs, official records, and all events related to history, then those beggars scattered throughout all corners of the Great Lin realm are the ‘historians’ who record every little thing, big or small, among the common people. The only difference is that they lack a writing brush!”

With this explanation, enlightenment dawned!

That’s really true!

After hearing this, Jingrong smiled with curved lips. In this world, there was actually someone who would mention historians and beggars in the same breath.

Why don’t you compare the world itself with beggars?

Jingrong slowly uttered a sentence, “The true ‘know-it-all’ should be you, Mr. Ji. There’s probably not an event throughout the Great Lin that you don’t know about. In this prince’s view, you’re even more formidable than those beggars.”

Big brother, are you praising me?

Or are you mocking me?

Can we coexist peacefully?

Ji Yinshu glanced at him and stifled a breath of frustration.

Boy, you just wait—I’ll settle the full score with you later!