Hands?

Everyone waited dryly for her to explain.

But Ji Yunshu was in no hurry to respond immediately. Instead, she walked to that tightly closed window and pushed it open.

In an instant, light from outside shone through, bringing a wave of heat and a breath of life, dispelling some of the gloomy atmosphere in the entire room.

In the window crevice, the fine grains of sand she had seen that day still remained!

With her back to everyone, she said, “Some evidence has actually already been placed before us, mysteriously.”

Her voice was light and low, yet it reached everyone’s ears.

After speaking, she turned around, knitting her brows, a trace of confusion flowing in her eyes as she continued, “That day on the street when I saw Jiao Shiniang, her hands were clearly very beautiful. But the deceased’s hands were rough with calluses, even with protruding knuckles. Those were two completely different pairs of hands. Even if the faces looked the same, it cannot be denied that they were fundamentally two different people!”

“Two people?” The Minister of Justice looked utterly confused, clicking his tongue twice and saying, “The more I listen, the more confused I get.”

Chief Justice Yu continued, “Don’t say just you—I’m confused too. What hands? What two people?”

“Lord Ji, please explain more clearly.”

“Then let me explain it all from the beginning.” Ji Yunshu said, “Let’s talk about the murderer first. If Jiao Shiniang truly had no twin sisters, then we can preliminarily determine that the murderer is roughly someone skilled in disguise. He or she may have some kind of grudge against the deceased, and this grudge is purposeful. Otherwise, he or she wouldn’t have killed the person outside the city at the hour of the rat on the 13th, then painstakingly transported her to the capital and brazenly displayed the corpse in the inn. Isn’t this walking into a trap? However, as for why the murderer would do this, that can only be set aside for now, because I don’t know either.”

As soon as she finished, Jing Zhaoyin quickly said, “If what you’re saying is true, then Jiao Shiniang was already dead, and then someone impersonated her and entered the capital. But if that’s the case, where was Jiao Shiniang’s corpse hidden at that time? In such hot weather, the corpse would have already rotted. Lord Liu from the Ministry of War said they were only transporting goods and had no ice at all. How could they refrigerate the corpse?”

A string of questions.

Yes!

How to refrigerate the corpse?

If there really had been ice blocks in the goods, they would have melted long ago on the journey.

How could it not have been discovered?

Ji Yunshu said to him seriously, word by word, “That’s because we all overlooked a very important piece of evidence at the time.”

“What evidence?”

“Water!” she said. “According to the clues reported by the city magistrates at the gate, when Jiao Shiniang entered the capital, they discovered some water flowing out from the goods. But at the time, no one paid attention to it. It wasn’t until I confirmed the deceased’s time of death that I connected everything. The cause and effect now all have basis.”

“What basis?”

“The box!”

Everyone: “…”

Ji Yunshu’s gaze looked toward the large box in the room that was pressed beneath several small boxes.

She ordered several guards: “Pull that large box out.”

“Yes.”

The guards followed the order, exerting themselves to lift the small boxes on top and pull out the large box.

“Why is it so light?” someone remarked.

Ji Yunshu: “Open it!”

Several guards directly employed a very crude method, using the tip of a sword to hook the lock and pry it open.

Simple and brutal.

With a “clang!”

The box opened.

Who would have known—

The large box that should have been filled with spices was completely empty.

Not a ghost’s shadow!

No, there was still a small box inside!

A small box of the same design.

Jing Zhaoyin exclaimed in shock, “This… what’s going on? Shouldn’t it be full of spices inside? How did it become a small box? Could there be a thief?”

Your brain has short-circuited!

Ji Yunshu’s head was covered in metaphorical black lines.

She looked at everyone’s uncomprehending expressions and said, “The contents inside weren’t stolen—they simply never existed.”

“Never existed? Why?”

She pinched those few grains of sand from the windowsill to her fingertips and began explaining: “That day, I distinctly felt that this large box had a different temperature from the other boxes—it was colder. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but now connecting everything, it’s clear.” After a slight pause, she continued, “After killing Jiao Shiniang, the murderer skinned her face, changed her into clean clothes, wrapped the corpse in cloth, then took a small box and placed it inside this large box. The murderer filled the bottom and the gap between the two boxes with sand, then poured in water. Finally, the corpse was placed inside. After locking the box, it was done without anyone knowing. Sand mixed with water is like ice—the entire box interior became like a small ice cellar. The corpse was refrigerated inside, delaying the time of death. This method is the same as the ice containers you use now (can be searched online).”

She continued: “The murderer used the written authorization from Xing Xiyang to enter the capital directly without having goods inspected. Unfortunately, these boxes weren’t made of quality wood, so the water mixed in the sand seeped out from the coffin when entering the capital, spilling all over the ground. Then, after they arrived at the inn and settled in, the murderer waited until the first quarter of the hour of the boar to move the corpse out of the box. By sheer coincidence, a worker going to the outhouse saw it, which led to the so-called tale of identical shadows. The murderer then cleaned all the sand from the box piece by piece and scattered it out from the windowsill. It just so happened to be seen by a little girl living behind the inn who thought it was sand rain and was extremely delighted. After handling all this, the murderer placed the ox demon mask on Jiao Shiniang’s face, then used wax oil to bind her hands together. Finally, he or she fled. However, whether all this was the murderer creating a smokescreen or had some other purpose—that remains unknown!”

Everyone listened in fascination.

Following along as she spoke, images formed in their minds.

Jingrong lazily stood at the doorway, leaning sideways against the door frame, looking at Ji Yunshu with the gaze of a devoted fan.

Every time this woman solves a case, she’s so damn impressive!

Truly my woman!

How proud he felt inside!

Suddenly someone asked, “Then… who is the murderer?”

Ji Yunshu was silent for a moment and shook her head. “Unknown.”

These three words seemed to pull the entire case back into the abyss.

She said, “But what can be confirmed is that the Jiao Shiniang who entered the capital that day was fake. For the murderer to escape from the window without being discovered, he or she must naturally be someone with agile skills. Perhaps right now, he or she is still in the capital. Otherwise, he or she wouldn’t have gone through such elaborate efforts.”

The Minister of Justice said, “Then this official will immediately order the city gates sealed.”

“Wait!” Jingrong finally spoke up. He maintained tightly knitted brows and said, “The Commerce Festival is about to arrive—it’s when the common people come and go most frequently. Sealing the city gates will definitely cause certain impacts. Moreover, this matter is also not suitable to spread throughout the capital, lest it cause panic among the people.”

“Then…”