Hearing this, Zhu Yan’s eyes instantly widened. He was indeed a clever man, seeing through her intentions at a glance.
“Unsolicited kindness is either villainy or thievery,” Shen Du saw through Zhu Yan’s thoughts and continued, “With your little schemes, you think you can pull tricks in front of me?”
“Of course not,” Zhu Yan hurriedly defended herself. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you. I was just afraid you wouldn’t agree if you knew.”
“Knowing I wouldn’t agree, yet still doing wrong knowingly. Doesn’t that deserve punishment?”
“Yes, yes, yes. You’re right about everything,” Zhu Yan quickly apologized with a smile. “But I’ve already been punished. Please calm down. I even personally cooked for you. Just forgive me this once, considering all my hard work.”
Shen Du narrowed his eyes, silently observing the woman before him. When this woman pleaded, she truly had a unique charm.
“Have you organized all those case files?” Shen Du inquired further, but Zhu Yan shook her head repeatedly.
“No, there’s so much material. It would take me forever to organize it all, so…”
“Once it’s organized, this matter will be over,” Shen Du said coldly, showing no leniency.
He left Zhu Yan standing there, frozen, as he got up and left.
Zhu Yan was completely stunned. All her preparations had been in vain…
Fine, she’d organize them. She didn’t believe organizing some cases could work her to death!
Zhu Yan buried herself in Shen Du’s study, even sleeping there overnight.
When Shen Du spoke to her, she was indifferent.
When a woman’s stubborn temper flares up, she might crash into the south wall and still not turn back.
However, while Zhu Yan was angrily organizing the materials, she discovered an old case that deeply surprised her.
This case occurred five years ago. According to the records, the coroner’s autopsy report matched the criminal’s description perfectly.
There was a large, burned moth tattoo on the victim’s back, and the criminal had the same tattoo on their hand.
This seemed to be the killer’s signature.
At that time, the killer had murdered over fifty women, using brutal methods that terrified the public.
Families with daughters all shut their doors and didn’t go out, until finally, the killer was brought to justice. However, the jailers received a notice saying that on the wall of the cell holding the killer, Chen Huoe, a line of bloody text appeared: “All laugh at the moth rushing into the flame, not knowing they are mayflies, born in the morning and dying in the evening, not entering reincarnation. The moth passes through fire without dying and is reborn through reincarnation.” In the corner, a cat of unknown origin had its fur shaved off, with a large fire moth tattooed on its back.
As the memory resurfaced, Zhu Yan also had some recollection. She too had experienced that period of not going out and had various speculations about the killer.
But what she didn’t expect was that the killer turned out to be a hunchbacked woman. The fact that such a seemingly disabled woman had murdered over fifty people showed a level of ruthlessness that angered everyone, truly proving the saying that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover!
Looking at such detailed case files today, Zhu Yan frowned, suddenly reminded of Madam Tang’s case.
At nightfall, Shen Du returned to the study to check on Zhu Yan.
By this time, Zhu Yan had finished organizing all the materials. He had thought she would be indifferent towards him, but unexpectedly, Zhu Yan took the initiative to speak.
“Do you remember that case from five years ago?”
“Which one?”
“The one where the hunchbacked woman killed over fifty people.”
Hearing Zhu Yan inquire about this case, Shen Du’s brow furrowed slightly. “Yes, at that time, this case was the talk of Chang’an, causing widespread panic. Even after so long, thinking about it still sends chills down one’s spine.”
“Don’t you think this case is somewhat similar to Madam Tang’s case?” Zhu Yan quickly asked.
But Shen Du shook his head, “Whether in terms of motive or method, the two cases have nothing in common.”
“But…”
“If we set aside the specifics of the cases,” Shen Du interrupted before Zhu Yan could finish, then continued, “neither case could have been accomplished by a single person.”
Shen Du’s words reminded Zhu Yan, and indeed, it was so.
Whether it was the “Buddha Swallowing Sins” or the previous hunchbacked woman’s murder case, the methods were not only cruel but also required strength beyond what one person could possess.
This meant that to complete these two cases, there must have been either an accomplice or a group involved.
Thinking of this, a trace of fear arose in Zhu Yan’s heart.
Although both cases had been closed and the killers were caught, the killers were merely scapegoats.
Or perhaps these killers were just a drop in the ocean of a larger organization.
Throwing out a scapegoat had absolutely no impact on such a large team.
With such a massive dark force manipulating things from the shadows, why did Shen Du, as the Grand Commandant of the Imperial Guard, remain indifferent?
“Since you know about this, why don’t you investigate thoroughly?” Zhu Yan questioned.
Shen Du let out a cold snort, showing complete disinterest, “It’s none of my business.”
“…” Zhu Yan was speechless.
Indeed, it wasn’t his concern, but he was after all a government official. How could he say such an outrageous thing?
“Now that you’ve finished organizing the files, come over here and grind some ink. I need to write something.”
With these words, Shen Du walked to his desk and began to arrange paper and inkstone.
Seeing Zhu Yan standing there motionless, Shen Du reminded her again, “What’s wrong? Do you think the amount of files this time wasn’t enough? Want to organize them again?”
Hearing this, Zhu Yan completely yielded, quickly coming to Shen Du’s side to grind ink.
She kept muttering, “This kind of thing could be done by servants or Jinglin. Why insist on using me? I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
Shen Du gave her a cold look. The woman’s face was full of unwilling submission, which was quite interesting.
The more she thought about it, the angrier Zhu Yan became, and her ink-grinding speed increased.
Shen Du paid no attention and began to pick up his brush to write. But just then, with a “bang,” Zhu Yan accidentally pushed the inkstone to the ground. The black ink spilled everywhere, splattering on both their clothes.
…
Zhu Yan was stunned. She didn’t mean to do it.
Shen Du looked at the overturned inkstone on the ground, then cast a meaningful glance at Zhu Yan. “Are you trying to rebel?”
“No, no, no.” Zhu Yan waved her hands frantically, her eyes full of helplessness. “I didn’t mean to, I…”
“Do you know how expensive this inkstone is?”
Without waiting for Zhu Yan’s explanation, Shen Du coldly questioned, “Even if we sold you, it wouldn’t be enough to compensate. And there’s my clothes too.”
Zhu Yan was on the verge of tears. In desperation, she crouched down to pick up the inkstone.
But before she could crouch down, a large hand grabbed her wrist. “Let the servants clean it up.”
This sudden gentleness made Zhu Yan pause. Was he not angry anymore? The inkstone was very expensive, and so were his clothes.
“If you’re tired, go rest first. You don’t need to attend to this anymore.”
Shen Du said this without even looking at Zhu Yan. She timidly retreated.
Shen Du was acting strange today. He didn’t get angry about things he should have been angry about, leaving Zhu Yan very confused.