Hearing this, Lin Hao’s expression remained very calm: “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Director Jia raised his eyebrows, clearly dissatisfied with this answer.

“Princess Yi’an only came to buy flower essences. As for why she ran into the flower essence shop after the incident occurred, has Director Jia asked Princess Yi’an the reason?” Lin Hao countered.

“Princess Yi’an’s emotional state is currently very unstable. Some doubts require verification from multiple sources. I hope Second Miss Lin understands.” Director Jia stared intently at Lin Hao, not missing a single change in her expression. “Princess Yi’an says there was a third person present at the time, but unfortunately her mind was confused and she didn’t see that person’s face.”

A third person?

Lin Hao and Qi Shuo exchanged glances.

Director Jia coughed lightly, interrupting their silent communication: “The reason I came to question Second Miss Lin in detail is because Princess Yi’an mentioned something special—she smelled osmanthus fragrance on that person.”

“Osmanthus fragrance?” Lin Hao frowned, her gaze sweeping over the shelves.

The shelves were divided into multiple tiers of different heights. On one tier, several bottles of essence were arranged in a staggered but orderly manner—it was the newly available osmanthus essence.

Osmanthus essence was made by distilling osmanthus flowers. The osmanthus scent was the same as osmanthus fragrance.

“The flower essence shop has newly stocked osmanthus essence.” Lin Hao’s expression was composed. “Osmanthus essence is a common essence in any flower essence shop. If Director Jia focuses his investigation here, he’s destined to waste his time.”

Director Jia cupped his hands: “It’s not that I intend to make things difficult for Second Miss Lin, but this case is extremely important. We cannot overlook a single clue.”

“Director Jia, why don’t we go to the teahouse together?” Qi Shuo suddenly spoke.

Director Jia was momentarily stunned.

“We also hope to clarify the truth as soon as possible and restore Princess Yi’an’s innocence.”

These words from Qi Shuo struck Director Jia’s heart.

His superior had specifically instructed him to do everything possible to find the person Princess Yi’an mentioned. The implication was that whether the third person existed or not, they had to find them anyway.

Director Jia took Lin Hao and Qi Shuo to the teahouse.

Such a major incident having occurred, the teahouse had ceased operations. Many bailiffs stood before the entrance blocking curious common folk from approaching.

“It’s this private room.” The waiter leading them upstairs pointed at a door.

At Director Jia’s signal, the bailiffs who had come along stepped forward to open the door.

From Princess Lingque’s death to her discovery, the time had been very short. It had essentially been under government control the whole time, so the private room still remained in its original state. As the door opened, a faint smell of blood rushed out.

On the tea table, on the chairs, on the floor—bloodstains were everywhere.

“Princess Lingque sat here, Princess Yi’an sat here.” The waiter pointed out their positions.

Director Jia had already been here before. Looking at the shapeless bloody footprints on the ground, he sighed: “Too many people came in at the time. Even if there were any traces, they’ve been destroyed.”

Qi Shuo didn’t respond to Director Jia’s words. Avoiding the messy footprints on the ground, he walked to the window.

This private room happened to be at the very edge, with two windows. One window faced directly onto the street, while the other faced a small alley. Looking out from the window facing the street, one could see curious onlookers and passersby.

Qi Shuo walked to the window facing the small alley and observed for a moment, then called Director Jia over: “Director Jia, look—quite a bit of dust has accumulated on both sides outside the window, but at this spot there are signs of it being brushed away.”

Director Jia’s expression changed slightly: “Is the Heir saying someone came in through this window?”

“That possibility can’t be ruled out.”

“But if a person climbed in through the window, wouldn’t it alarm the two princesses?” Director Jia stuck his head out the window to look down, then couldn’t help shaking his head.

Jumping down from the height of two floors wasn’t too difficult, but how did they get up?

Lin Hao sniffed lightly: “Do you all smell that?”

“What?” Director Jia asked.

A breeze blew, carrying a faint fragrance.

Qi Shuo uttered three words: “Osmanthus fragrance.”

Director Jia smelled it too.

“Let’s go outside and look.” Qi Shuo dropped this sentence and strode outside.

Being inside the private room, one’s vision was inevitably limited.

Several people left the teahouse and walked a few steps along the small alley before stopping and looking up at the mottled surrounding wall.

The wall bricks bore the marks of time. In some places, shallow moss had grown that felt slippery when touched with a finger. What made the group stop was the osmanthus tree branches extending over the wall.

It was a four-seasons osmanthus tree reaching a height of three zhang, with luxuriant branches and leaves and flowers like stars. With gusts of clear wind, it sent its subtle fragrance to their noses—a scent much fainter than golden osmanthus.

Before Lin Hao and Qi Shuo could say anything, Director Jia already had a guess: “Could that person have hidden in this osmanthus tree?”

Qi Shuo looked up at the blue-tiled roof.

The osmanthus tree’s height exceeded that of the two-story teahouse. If there truly was a third person, using the osmanthus tree to get onto the roof, then hanging down from the roof to enter the private room through the window wouldn’t be difficult for someone with good skills.

Director Jia immediately summoned the teahouse staff together for questioning.

“From when the two princesses entered the teahouse until the incident occurred, who went to the back courtyard?”

Director Jia’s question made the teahouse staff look at each other blankly.

The shopkeeper said with difficulty: “That was the busy time. Too many people were going in and out to the back.”

“Were there any outsiders who went there?” Qi Shuo spoke up to ask.

The shopkeeper was stumped by the question: “Outsiders?”

“The two princesses entering the teahouse after leaving the flower essence shop was random. If someone else was the murderer of Princess Lingque, the possibility that they happened to have the identity of someone from the teahouse as cover is extremely small. The greater possibility is that they noticed the two princesses had entered the teahouse and found an opportunity to sneak in.” Qi Shuo explained lightly.

Hearing this, the shopkeeper hastily denied: “Definitely no outsiders came in. Outsiders aren’t allowed in the back courtyard.”

“Shopkeeper, don’t be so quick to deny.” Director Jia strode before a waiter and pulled him out.

The waiter wasn’t very old. Being suddenly pulled out, he even stuttered: “S-s-sir…”

“Do you know something?” Director Jia asked coldly.

The waiter waved his hands desperately: “This commoner knows nothing—”

Director Jia became furious: “Just now this official already noticed your expression was off, yet you still won’t admit it! This official tells you, this case is being watched by His Majesty himself. Daring to conceal anything carries the crime of exterminating nine generations of your clan!”

Hearing “exterminating nine generations,” the waiter’s legs went weak. Crying bitterly, he said: “This commoner will speak, this commoner will speak.”

Director Jia released his collar: “Speak then.”

“There was… there was a customer who said he wanted to borrow the privy. This commoner saw he was anxious, so I did him a favor…” The waiter fell to his knees with a thud, frightened into kowtowing repeatedly. “This commoner truly didn’t know such a thing would happen! Sir, spare my life! Sir, spare my life!”

He didn’t dare mention accepting that person’s silver. To Director Jia and the others, they didn’t care about such minor details either.

“Do you still remember that person’s appearance?” Qi Shuo asked.

The waiter hastily nodded: “I remember, I remember! That person was very thin—”

“Wait a moment.” Qi Shuo interrupted his words and said to the shopkeeper, “Please trouble you to bring writing materials.”