The silhouette of that young lady appeared from Lingwu Temple to Marquis Changxing’s mansion. With his keen intuition honed from years of case-solving, Zhen Shicheng couldn’t ignore this detail.
His subordinate reported, “Sir, I’ve checked. There was no Miss Jiang among the noble ladies who attended the banquet at Marquis Changxing’s mansion that day.”
Zhen Shicheng stroked his beard.
Was the surname fake?
This wasn’t hard to understand. At that time, the young lady’s brother was involved in the Lingwu Temple murder case, so it was natural for her to be unwilling to reveal her true name.
Zhen Shicheng looked at his subordinate as if he were an idiot. “Why make it so complicated? Just ask about the background of the most beautiful lady who attended the banquet that day.”
The subordinate’s gaze towards Zhen Shicheng suddenly became incredibly peculiar.
He never thought his superior was this kind of person!
Zhen Shicheng was so angry he nearly plucked out a strand of his beard. He kicked his subordinate, “Hurry up and investigate!”
The subordinate quickly returned with a reply, “That young lady’s surname is Jiang, she’s from the Earl of Dongping’s family, the fourth daughter.”
“The Earl of Dongping’s family?” Zhen Shicheng’s eyes flickered as he stroked his beard.
The wife of Marquis Changxing’s heir was from the Earl of Dongping’s family. So that young lady was the sister-in-law of Marquis Changxing’s heir.
Lingwu Temple, the flower-viewing banquet at Marquis Changxing’s mansion, the strikingly beautiful Fourth Miss Jiang, the fashion-conscious heir of Marquis Changxing…
These pieces of information were like pearls, only needing a string to connect them all.
Zhen Shicheng closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, his fingers lightly tapping on the table.
One case after another had made this middle-aged man, nearing forty, appear somewhat haggard from busyness. His resolute brow and the vertical wrinkle between his eyebrows made people understand that this was a man who wouldn’t easily give up when faced with problems.
The subordinate knew this was when his superior was thinking, so he obediently closed his mouth, not daring to disturb.
After an unknown amount of time, the rhythmic finger tapping suddenly stopped, and Zhen Shicheng opened his eyes.
“I roughly understand now!”
“Sir—”
“Make arrangements. I want to meet that Fourth Miss Jiang.”
“What?” The subordinate’s mouth gaped open.
Sir, this is going too far.
“What’s wrong?”
The subordinate looked troubled, “Sir, she’s after all a noble lady from an Earl’s family. What capacity are we meeting her in?”
Whether personally or officially, there needs to be a reason, right?
Zhen Shicheng simply stood up, “Come with me to the Earl’s mansion. The case isn’t closed yet, and since the Earl’s family and Marquis Changxing’s family are related by marriage, I need to understand the situation from a few young ladies.”
The Earl of Dongping’s family received Zhen Shicheng’s visiting card, feeling quite surprised.
“Wasn’t the heir of Marquis Changxing already sentenced to immediate execution? Why does he still need to question Qian’er?” Madam Xiao clutched her handkerchief tightly, looking displeased.
Second Master Jiang sneered, “Zhen Shicheng dared to directly sentence the heir of Marquis Changxing to immediate execution, saying that a prince who breaks the law is punished the same as a commoner. Can’t he question Qian’er? Don’t forget, Qian’er was once the wife of Marquis Changxing’s heir. Even though they’ve separated, that fact can’t be changed. It’s reasonable for Zhen Shicheng to want to understand more from her.”
“That won’t do. Qian’er has already suffered so much. I don’t want her to be stimulated again,” Madam Xiao insisted.
Although she didn’t want to think too much, as a mother’s intuition, she didn’t want her daughter to be in the spotlight at this juncture.
Whether Qian’er was truly unaware of the crimes of Marquis Changxing’s heir as she claimed, or if she had noticed something early on—what if that Prefect of Shuntian accused her daughter of knowing but not reporting?
She absolutely couldn’t let Qian’er take this risk!
Zhen Shicheng soon arrived at the Earl’s mansion, accompanied by Second Master Jiang and Jiang Ancheng.
After brief pleasantries, Zhen Shicheng spoke directly, “Regarding the case of Marquis Changxing’s heir torturing and killing ten women, I’d like to understand some situations from Madam Cao Jiang.”
“Lord Zhen, my daughter has already separated from the heir of Marquis Changxing. They are no longer husband and wife,” Second Master Jiang reminded.
Zhen Shicheng smiled, “Ah, I remember now. Then I’ll trouble Second Master to invite your daughter out.”
“Lord Zhen, to be frank, my daughter is delicate and has long been abused by the heir of Marquis Changxing. Now with such a horrifying incident, my daughter is already bedridden from the shock and cannot see anyone. Please understand, Lord Zhen.”
“Is that so—” Zhen Shicheng raised his eyebrows slightly, having anticipated this situation.
Let alone a noble lady from an Earl’s family, even in ordinary families, if the woman felt ashamed and unwilling to appear, it would be understandable.
Fortunately, Zhen Shicheng’s true intention for coming today wasn’t this. He didn’t insist and changed the subject, “Then what about the other young ladies of the Earl’s family? They were all present on the day of the incident. Surely they haven’t all fallen ill from fright?”
Second Master Jiang couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Ancheng.
Jiang Ancheng was a straightforward person who quite liked Zhen Shicheng for his decisive judgment of heavy punishment for the heir of Marquis Changxing. Hearing this, he smiled and said, “They’re all fine.”
Even he was startled when Si’er encountered such a thing. He had specially bought two braised pork knuckles for Si’er to calm her nerves.
“Then I’ll just ask a few questions to the young ladies.”
“Go ahead, Lord Zhen. If we can help you, that would be best,” Jiang Ancheng said nonchalantly.
Second Master Jiang secretly frowned.
His elder brother was such a fool. When encountering such things, others couldn’t wait to avoid it.
Zhen Shicheng laughed heartily, “Thank you, Lord Earl. When I have time, I’ll treat you to a drink.”
“Then I’ll be looking forward to that drink from Lord Zhen.”
Zhen Shicheng asked Jiang Ancheng and others to temporarily leave, citing the need for confidentiality in questioning. The first person he met was Jiang Qiao.
Jiang Qiao came out after about a quarter of an hour, winked at Jiang Si, and said in a low voice, “Fourth Sister, don’t be nervous. That Lord Zhen is quite kind.”
Jiang Si nodded and then walked in.
Zhen Shicheng sat squarely, holding a cup of clear tea. Seeing Jiang Si enter, he smiled slightly, “Miss Jiang, we meet again.”
At this time, there was no one else in the hall. Jiang Si gracefully curtsied, “Since our parting at Lingwu Temple, you said we would meet again. I didn’t expect our next meeting to be in my home.”
Zhen Shicheng laughed heartily and pointed to the chair opposite him, “A young lady is a straightforward person. Please sit.”
Jiang Si sat down, her expression calm.
He had seen her quick-witted side at Lingwu Temple, so there was no need to pretend to be weak.
“I didn’t expect the young lady to be a noble lady from an Earl’s family.”
Jiang Si smiled slightly, “I also didn’t expect you to be the Prefect of Shuntian, not a county magistrate.”
If she had known then that this person was the famous Judge Zhen, she probably would have quietly watched the commotion from the crowd. Perhaps there wouldn’t have been this meeting today.
Indeed, Jiang Si was very certain that Zhen Shicheng’s trip to the Earl’s mansion was not really to see Jiang Qian, but to see her.
This Judge Zhen was sharp-eyed and might have already guessed something.
Zhen Shicheng took a sip of tea and asked in a gentle tone, “What’s Miss Jiang’s view on the case of the heir of Marquis Changxing?”
“The heir of Marquis Changxing deserved his punishment and death. Your judgment, sir, is applause-worthy and will surely go down in history.”
Zhen Shicheng smiled, “Let’s not talk about these pleasantries. Miss Jiang, you were to be the next target of the heir of Marquis Changxing, weren’t you?”