Chapter 26 Wrongful Conviction Solved: What is the connection between the two murder cases...?

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a commotion arose in the courtyard. The chess pieces were placed into the box, and the person holding the black pieces had risen at some point and strode towards the door.

"I'm back!"

Li Changling sat motionless, as if his buttocks were glued to the chair. "Someone's eagerness is such that you see them before you even hear them."

Wang Yan went straight into the room and headed for Li Changling. "What do you mean, 'Seeing someone before hearing their voice'? Judging from your expression, Senior Brother, you really trust me that much?"

Li Changling looked at Shen Minghuai and smiled, "Who's been complaining every day that they have no chance to hone their skills while I'm around? Now is the time for you to show your abilities."

Shen Minghuai calmly sat down next to Wang Yan. "How is it?"

Wang Yan followed Qi Chu to a secluded courtyard in the east of the city, where a woman opened the door for him. If he wasn't mistaken, that woman was Zhihe. She planned to go there with Shangguan Yu the next day, hoping to find out something.

Since Wang Yan returned to Wanchun Courtyard, Shen Minghuai, who had not been treated with any respect by him, pondered and said, "That person will inevitably bring up today's events when he goes back. Zhihe will definitely be on guard, so be careful in everything."

Wang Yan nodded and stood up. "It's getting late, Young Master Shen, you should head back soon."

Only after Wang Yan's figure disappeared into the night did Shen Minghuai come to his senses and take his leave. The moonlight tonight was mesmerizing, causing quite a few people to suffer from insomnia.

Early in the morning, Wang Yan learned that Shangguan Yu was checking accounts at his family's pawnshop. After a quick bowl of soup noodles, he headed to Jushui Pavilion. The Shangguan family ran the largest private pawnshop in the east of the city. Expensive jewelry and antiques were all pawned at Jushui Pavilion to get a price.

Before Wang Yan even reached the pawnshop entrance, a familiar figure carrying two silver ingots, one large and one small, passed by her happily. After asking the shop assistant, she headed towards the back hall, where she bumped into Shangguan Yu, who had just finished reviewing the accounts and was heading to the front hall. Shangguan Yu showed no surprise at Wang Yan's appearance.

"Young Master Chen just left, and here you are again."

Wang Yan asked, puzzled, "When did he arrive?"

“Hmm… about half an hour ago.” Shangguan Yu glanced at her and then said, “She came to ask Sister Li what clothes she usually likes to wear, saying it was for questioning purposes.”

Wang Yan nodded and followed her to the front hall. "Do you know that Zhihe has a lover named Qi Chu, who also works for the He family?"

"A lover? It must be something within the He family's household; how would I know?" Unexpectedly, Shangguan Yu was so capable when in charge.

“He came to your shop to pawn some things just now. I saw that he exchanged quite a bit of money, at least thirty strings of cash.”

The shopkeeper overheard Wang Yan's words and immediately took out a gold lock, placing it in front of Shangguan Yu. "Madam, look, this beaded and filigree gold lock is worth fifty strings of cash. That man just now—"

Shangguan Yu's expression changed drastically. She picked up the golden lock and examined it closely. "This golden lock! Who owns it?"

"I don't know who that official who just left is either." The shopkeeper panicked, not knowing what was going on.

Wang Yan gestured for a while, "Was the one who just walked out wearing brown clothes and had his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin?"

"That's right." The shopkeeper still carefully observed Shangguan Yu's expression.

Wang Yan then asked, "Does he come here to pawn things often?"

The shopkeeper replied, "I've never seen him before, but he's been coming quite often these past few days. He even came to pawn a fine jade pendant a couple of days ago."

“It must have been stolen from Sister Li’s room.” Shangguan Yu said bitterly, regarding the golden lock as a precious treasure.

“But I went to her room yesterday, and there were no signs of anyone searching it. There were many jewels in an exquisite jewelry box. Why would he only steal this?” Wang Yan then took out the letter He Li wrote to Zhihe. “I also found this.”

Upon seeing the letter, Shangguan Yu's expression grew even more somber. "This gold lock was a longevity lock given to Sister Li by her mother when she was born. She originally intended to use it to redeem herself from Meng Shu..."

"We'll go find Zhihe right away." Wang Yan led Shangguan Yu quickly to the villa in the east of the city.

After knocking on the door for a long time, no one answered. Just as Wang Yan was about to knock for the sixth time, an older woman came over and told them that the lady in this villa was very mysterious. She either went out early and returned late, or stayed in the house all day. They could hardly see her on ordinary days. The only people who could enter her courtyard were her husband and an old man.

The old man would come every few days, and there would always be an argument. On the other hand, her husband had a proper job and treated her very well. He would bring home some new gadgets every day, and she had never heard the two of them quarrel. It was just that he was a bit rude and impolite.

After talking for a while, he threw out another question.

"What do you want with her?"

Shangguan Yu smiled gratefully at the aunt, "It's nothing. We are her distant cousins. We heard that she lives here, so we wanted to come and see her."

"I see. She went out early this morning. You two can come back tonight." With that, Aunt Chun picked up her vegetable basket and left.

"She's probably already suspicious. Come alone tonight, and I'll send her lover away and keep an eye on things for you." Wang Yan handed her the letter. "Be very careful, lest you alert her."

Night had hastened the passing of day. It wasn't until the second watch of the night that Zhihe's figure appeared at the alley entrance. A quarter of an hour later, there was a knock at the door—three short knocks followed by a long one. Zhihe opened the door but hadn't even seen who it was before hurriedly closing it again.

"Wait! Look at this!" Shangguan Yu hurriedly took out the letter from her sleeve and handed it to Zhihe.

Zhihe walked into the room by herself. "What is Shangguan Niangzi's purpose in finding me and then using Qi Chu's code to lure me?"

“I found this letter in the lacquer box that Sister Li gave me, so I had to ask someone to find out where you live so I could come and thank you in person.” Shangguan Yu handed the letter to her. “Thank you for sending me the message, which prevented Sister Li from being left to rot in the wilderness… Now that the government has intervened in the case, I believe that justice will soon be served for Sister Li.”

“Very well…” Zhihe’s wary expression wavered slightly, and she poured tea for her. “After you drink this cup of tea, you may leave, my lady.”

Shangguan Yu clearly had no intention of leaving. "Sister Li has always been the closest to you. Now that you have been freed from your slave status and left the He family, I believe she can rest in peace in heaven."

Tea leaves overflow when the cup is full; the cup Zhihe handed over was too full.

"My lady, hurry up and go, Qi Chu will be back soon."

Shangguan Yu remained unmoved. "Do you know that Meng Shu has been imprisoned as a suspect in the murder of Madam He?"

Zhihe turned to get a handkerchief to wipe her hands. "I have heard about it. My lady, you should leave quickly."

Shangguan Yu strode over and grabbed her wrist. "Is there something you're hiding from me? Meng Shu—"

"Madam Shangguan!" Zhihe shook off Shangguan Yu's hand and gave the final order to leave.

"It was my rudeness." Shangguan Yu pursed her lips, took a step and turned around, a golden object slipping from her sleeve.

"...Why is my wife's longevity lock with you?!" Zhihe's eyes widened in surprise.

"I don't know who stole it, but they pawned a lot of gold and silver from my shop. It's a pity I didn't see the thief with my own eyes. It's a shame that the He family is still like this after Sister Li left..." Shangguan Yu put away the gold lock and left with a sense of loss.

One morning, Li Changling, still damp with dew, dragged Wang Yan out of bed and told her that the He Li case had been solved.

Yesterday, after the Chief Justice interrogated Qingfang, he immediately went to Sun's Pharmacy to verify the information. Sure enough, a few days before He Li "hanged himself," Qingfang had gone to Sun's Pharmacy to buy three kinds of blood-activating and menstruation-regulating medicines, a full three times the usual dosage, which matched the coroner's autopsy results.

"What kind of hatred could drive someone to kill her like this? Not even a chance to survive?" Li Changling sighed deeply.

“But Madam Xu is dead.” Wang Yan said calmly, “Who killed her?”

Li Changling suddenly remembered that she and Shangguan Yu had gone to Zhihe's residence yesterday. "Did you find any clues when you went to investigate yesterday?"

Wang Yan shook his head. "They're all trivial matters. Shangguan Yu guessed that Meng Shu and Zhi He had a grudge, and that Qi Chu wasn't loyal to her."

"You look so worried. I shouldn't have let you get involved in these things. Yiheng will scold me again if he finds out."

So Li Changling pulled her out the door. Not long after they left, they ran into Shen Minghuai, who had just come out of the painting studio.

"Why doesn't the Criminal Investigation Department want you to help with the case anymore? Or has the case already been solved?"

Wang Yan had a feeling that Li Changling harbored hostility towards Shen Minghuai, though she didn't know when it started.

“If I had any leads, I wouldn’t have met you two here. Isn’t Madam Wang keeping an eye on this important lead?”

Upon hearing this address, Wang Yan immediately looked at him.

"An important clue?"

"The manager of Xianggu Pavilion suddenly remembered that a few days after Mengshu took leave, a woman had entered his room, but since the door was opened with a key, he did not pay much attention to it."

The three of them went to a beverage shop and sat down.

"Could that lady be Zhihe?" Wang Yan deliberately sat opposite Shen Minghuai.

Shen Minghuai then shifted his gaze from Wang Yan. "The person in charge didn't get a clear look at her face, but he knows it can't be He Li."

"I told you I have no money! How long are you going to keep pestering me?"

It was him again. Wang Yan felt that the old man next to him looked familiar, and Shen Minghuai's words instantly reminded him: cricket fighting.

Li Changling was puzzled when Wang Yan added, "That's Zhihe's father."

"Don't think I don't know you pawned one of Little Grass's gold locks yesterday!" Seeing that gentle persuasion failed, the old woman resorted to threat. "Don't think I don't know what despicable things you've done. I saw you with my own eyes coming from the Elephant Maiden's Pavilion that day—"

The old man's mouth was covered, ending their argument, and they left the drink shop hand in hand. The three of them rushed to the Criminal Investigation Department, where the constables immediately arrested Qi Chu and his companion and took them back to the department. The old man, who claimed to be Chen Banmu, immediately changed his story. A short while later, the two of them walked out of the Criminal Investigation Department's gate side by side again. Shen Minghuai followed closely behind, and a quarter of an hour later they returned to the department. Qi Chu had indeed given Chen Banmu a considerable amount of silver.

Li Changling was not giving up, feeling that Qi Chu must still be hiding a secret, so he followed him to the He family's lacquerware shop.

Shen Minghuai then turned his gaze back to Meng Shu, and with He Fan's permission, prepared to question her again in the prison. Wang Yan, however, said he wanted to go and see her together.

"Young Master Shen, I have nothing more to say to you." Meng Shu, dressed in a white robe with her hair loose, did not even show her face to the visitor.

"I have come today only to inform you that the case of Madam He is now closed—"

Before Shen Minghuai could finish speaking, Meng Shu excitedly turned around and asked, "Is it that poisonous woman, Xu?"