Chapter 220 Osmanthus Fragrance

After hearing this, Lin Hao looked very calm: "I don't know."

"I don't know?" Manager Jia raised his eyebrows, obviously dissatisfied with the answer.

"Princess Yi'an just came to buy floral dew. Why did she run into the floral dew shop when something happened? Did Lord Jia ask Princess Yi'an the reason?" Lin Hao asked back.

"Princess Yi'an is currently emotionally unstable. She needs to seek verification from multiple sources regarding certain issues. I hope Miss Lin will understand." Officer Jia stared intently at Lin Hao, not missing a single change in her expression. "Princess Yi'an said there was a third person present at the time, but unfortunately, she was so distracted she didn't see their face."

The third person?

Lin Hao and Qi Shuo looked at each other.

Jia, the head of the household, coughed lightly, interrupting their silent exchange. "The reason I came to ask Miss Lin Er in detail is because Princess Yi'an mentioned something special. She smelled the fragrance of osmanthus from that person."

"Osmanthus fragrance?" Lin Hao frowned and glanced across the shelves.

The shelves are divided into multiple layers at different heights. On one layer, several bottles of scented water are neatly arranged. It is the newly-released osmanthus water.

Osmanthus dew is made by steaming osmanthus flowers, and the fragrance of osmanthus is the same as the fragrance of osmanthus flowers.

"The flower dew shop has just stocked up on osmanthus dew." Lin Hao said calmly, "Osmanthus dew is a common scented dew in any flower dew shop. If Lord Jia focuses his investigation on me, it will be a waste of time."

Director Jia cupped his hands and said, "It's not that I mean to embarrass Second Miss Lin, but this case is of great importance and we cannot miss a single clue."

"Master Jia, why don't we go to the teahouse together?" Qi Shuo suddenly spoke.

Manager Jia was stunned for a moment.

"We also hope to find out the truth as soon as possible and clear Princess Yi'an's name."

Qi Shuo's words touched the heart of Master Jia.

His superiors had specifically instructed him to do his utmost to find the person Princess Yi'an had mentioned. The implication was that whether there was a third person or not, he had to find them anyway.

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

As such a big thing happened, the teahouse has stopped operating, and many yamen runners are standing in front of the door to prevent curious people from approaching.

"This is the elegant room." The waiter who led a few people upstairs pointed to a door.

At the signal of Master Jia, the yamen runner who followed him went forward and opened the door.

The time from Princess Lingque's death to her discovery was very short, and she had been under the control of the government. The private room remained the same until now, and a faint smell of blood hit her face as the door opened.

There were bloodstains everywhere, on the tea table, on the chairs, and on the ground.

"Princess Lingque sits here, Princess Yian sits here." The waiter pointed out their seats.

Director Jia had already been there. Looking at the shapeless bloody footprints on the ground, he sighed, "There were so many people coming in at that time that even if there were any traces, they have been destroyed."

Qi Shuo did not respond to what Master Jia said. He avoided the messy footprints on the ground and walked to the window.

This elegant room was right at the edge, with two windows, one facing the street and the other facing a small path. Looking out from the window facing the street, one could see curious people looking in and passersby.

Qi Shuo walked to the window facing the path and observed for a moment, then called Master Jia over: "Master Jia, look, there's a lot of dust on both sides of the window, and there are signs of it being brushed off here."

Jia's expression changed slightly. "Your Highness, are you saying that someone came in through this window?"

"This possibility cannot be ruled out."

"But if someone climbs in through the window, won't it alarm the two princesses?" Manager Jia looked down from the window and couldn't help shaking his head.

It’s not difficult to jump down from a two-story building, but how do you get up there?

Lin Hao sniffed softly: "Do you smell it?"

"What?" asked Master Jia.

A breeze blew, bringing a faint fragrance.

Qi Shuo uttered three words: "Fragrant osmanthus."

Master Jia also smelled it.

"Let's go outside and take a look." Qi Shuo said this and walked out.

When you are in an elegant room, your vision is inevitably restricted.

A few people left the teahouse and walked along the path. After a few steps, they stopped and looked up at the mottled wall.

The bricks bore the marks of time, and in places a light moss grew, making them slippery with a touch of a finger. What stopped several people in their tracks was the osmanthus branches that peeked out from within the wall.

It was a three-meter-tall Osmanthus fragrans tree with luxuriant branches and leaves and star-like flowers. The breeze carried its faint fragrance to the noses of several people, and the fragrance was much lighter than that of the golden osmanthus.

Before Lin Hao and Qi Shuo could say anything, Jia Zhushi had a guess: "Could it be that the man had been hiding in this osmanthus tree?"

Qi Shuo looked up and looked at the green tile roof.

The height of the osmanthus tree exceeded that of the second-floor teahouse. If there really was a third person there, it would not be difficult for someone with good skills to climb onto the roof by using the osmanthus tree, and then hang upside down from the roof to enter the private room through the window.

Manager Jia immediately gathered everyone in the teahouse together for questioning.

"From the time the two princesses entered the teahouse until the incident, did anyone go to the backyard?"

Manager Jia's question made everyone in the teahouse look at each other in confusion.

The shopkeeper said in embarrassment: "It was a busy time, and there were too many people coming in and out."

"Has anyone else been there?" Qi Shuo asked.

The shopkeeper was stunned by the question: "Outsider?"

"The two princesses walked into the teahouse casually after leaving the Hualu Shop. If there was another murderer who killed Princess Lingque, the possibility that he happened to have the identity of someone in the teahouse as a cover is very small. It is more likely that he discovered that the two princesses had entered the teahouse and found an opportunity to sneak in." Qi Shuo explained lightly.

When the shopkeeper heard this, he quickly denied it: "There is definitely no outsider coming in. Outsiders are not allowed in the backyard."

"Boss, don't be so quick to deny it." Manager Jia strode up to a clerk and pulled him out.

The young man was suddenly pulled out and stuttered: "Sir..."

"Do you know something?" asked Manager Jia coldly.

The guy waved his hands desperately: "I don't know anything——"

Chief Jia was furious: "I just noticed that you look a little strange, and you still refuse to admit it! I'm telling you, the Emperor is watching this case. Anyone who dares to conceal it will be punished by the death of all nine generations of your family!"

When he heard about the extermination of the entire clan, the servant's legs went weak and he burst into tears, "I speak, I speak."

Jia Zhushi loosened his collar and said, "Go ahead."

"There was a guest who asked to borrow the toilet. Seeing he was in a hurry, I helped him..." The waiter fell to his knees and kowtowed in fear. "I really didn't know this would happen. Please spare me! Please spare me!"

He didn't dare tell anyone that he had accepted the money from that man. For Jia Zhushi and others, such trivial matters were not of concern to them.

"Do you still remember what that person looks like?" Qi Shuo asked.

The guy nodded quickly: "I remember, I remember! That man was very thin——"

"Wait a moment." Qi Shuo interrupted him and said to the shopkeeper, "Please bring me some writing brush and ink."