“Liu Zongyuan,” Pan Chi said seriously. “He was a tenant in the neighbor’s house of the deceased Li Kaixiang. He moved away after the incident. I found it suspicious and investigated, discovering some clues in his former residence that are related to the victim.”
“Is this true?” Mo Qianzhi, in his urgency, questioned the validity of Pan Chi’s information.
Pan Chi was confused and even a bit annoyed. He had brought the news in good faith, only to have its truthfulness doubted.
Realizing his mistake, Mo Qianzhi quickly apologized to Pan Chi, “Forgive me, Young Master Pan. I didn’t mean to doubt your information. I’ve had some wine and wasn’t thinking clearly. Please excuse my thoughtlessness.”
Hearing this explanation, Pan Chi decided not to pursue the matter further. He waved his hand, “It’s fine. I know Lord Mo is just anxious. I won’t take it to heart.”
Relieved, Mo Qianzhi thanked Pan Chi and then turned to address the others, “Since there’s new progress in the case, let’s end today’s banquet here. We’ll gather again another time.”
He then bowed to Shen Du, “Grand Secretary, I sincerely apologize. Due to this sudden development, I cannot linger at the banquet. Please forgive me.”
“The case is important. There’s no need for Lord Mo to feel guilty,” Shen Du graciously accepted the apology. Then, an idea struck him, and he said to Mo Qianzhi,
“Lord Mo, when Young Master Pan noticed something amiss and began investigating, the suspect had already left in a hurry, without even removing evidence. This suggests he left recently. It’s late now, but there’s still some distance to the city gates. To be safe, Lord Mo might consider issuing an order to close the city gates and intensify the search. We might still intercept this person.”
Mo Qianzhi nodded repeatedly, finding Shen Du’s suggestion very useful.
After quickly issuing the order to close the city gates, he led his subordinates, guided by Pan Chi, to Liu Zongyuan’s home.
The commotion in the dead of night woke the neighbors. Officials searching a civilian’s home in the middle of the night surely meant something significant had happened.
Curious onlookers began to gather at the door, pointing and discussing.
To everyone’s surprise, when they arrived at Liu Zongyuan’s home, it was empty.
It was as if someone, realizing something was wrong, had returned specifically to clean up the scene.
“Could it be that he noticed Pan Chi investigating him, so after Pan Chi left, he came back to clean up thoroughly?” Zhu Yan voiced her doubts.
Beside her, Shen Du’s expression darkened, and he remained silent. Pan Chi was also at a loss.
“Search! See if there are any other clues left,” Mo Qianzhi ordered, and the yamen officials immediately began searching.
After a quick look around, Zhu Yan walked outside and addressed the onlookers, “Has anyone seen Liu Zongyuan tonight?”
“Oh, I have,” an older man stepped forward. “I had some business in another village today. On my way back, I met him on the road. He was in a hurry and carrying a bundle. It’s been quite a while now; he’s probably almost out of the city by now.”
Zhu Yan’s heart sank, her brow furrowing in thought. “What else do you know about him?”
An older woman also stepped forward, “This young man seemed quite nice usually. What has he done?”
“Quite nice…” Zhu Yan found the neighbor’s evaluation strange. Without answering the woman’s question, she continued, “Ma’am, do you know him well?”
The woman smiled and waved her hand, “I wouldn’t say I know him very well. He’s been living here for a while, and he got along well with the neighbors. We all had a good impression of him. He was also close to the deceased Li Kaixiang. They often visited each other to drink and eat together. They got along so well, like real brothers, always chatting happily.”
“That’s right,” the older man chimed in. “After Li Kaixiang died, he came to pay his respects and was very sad. At their age, it’s not easy to find someone you can talk to so easily. Losing a good friend must have been very painful for him. He even gave some money for the funeral expenses.”
Listening to the neighbors, Zhu Yan kept wondering why Pan Chi had suspected someone who seemed so well-regarded.
“In my opinion, he probably left because he was too heartbroken over his friend’s death,” someone in the crowd suggested.
Zhu Yan found this curious. “Why do you say that?”
“The lease on this house hasn’t expired yet, and he left all his things behind. Isn’t that a sign of extreme grief?”
Hearing this, even Shen Du was surprised. The room was so clean and empty, yet he hadn’t taken anything with him.
“How is that possible?” Zhu Yan looked at the speaker, puzzled. “There’s nothing in the room. He must have taken everything with him.”
“Oh my, how much stuff could there be? He’s just one man, how much could he have?” an old woman spoke up again.
“That’s not quite right,” Zhu Yan countered. “Even living alone, one accumulates things. He’s been here for so long, there should be some traces of his life.”
“When he came, he didn’t have much. Apart from some small personal items, even the furniture here was left by the previous tenant,” someone else in the crowd added.
“Has he been living here alone all this time?” Zhu Yan probed further.
Everyone nodded, saying they had never seen him bring anyone back or have any friends or relatives visit.
Having learned this, Zhu Yan felt she had gained a clue.
After thanking the crowd, she returned to the room. It was indeed clean. How could a single man’s living space be so tidy?
Could he have obsessive-compulsive disorder?
After careful inspection, Zhu Yan did find some traces. This house had recently housed more than one person.
Though the room was tidy, there were overlooked spots. Footprints at the edge of the bed had been wiped away, but traces remained near the heel.
Zhu Yan measured with her hand, roughly estimating Liu Zongyuan’s shoe size.
Moving to the window, she found incompletely wiped fingerprints on the sill. Notably, these prints didn’t match those on the window itself.
After circling the room for a moment, she suddenly noticed faint footprints on a pillar.
They were quite high up, likely left by someone skilled in martial arts.
Zhu Yan measured with her hand and found these prints completely different from the traces she’d found by the bed.
This further confirmed her suspicion: this house had housed more than just Liu Zongyuan.