Chapter 315 List

Meihua choked up as she spoke of that day: "After we discovered we had the same crush, we both thought he was attracted to us, and we got into an argument. I said Jing and I played together when we were little, and he said, 'Just because you're prettier, does that mean he'll like you?' Yan'er said, 'I'm just pretty...'"

Lin Hao thought of the little monk's words and nodded slightly.

"Then I got angry and left first. I didn't expect Yan'er to—" Meihua's eyes turned red, and she no longer hid her self-blame, "I shouldn't have asked Yan'er to go to Tianyuan Temple..."

She hadn't had a single moment of peace in the past few days, constantly praying that this was all a dream. When she woke up from the nightmare, Yan'er was still alive, and they were still good friends who would occasionally bicker.

The erect heart chamber collapsed with the confession, and Meihua covered her mouth and cried bitterly.

"What's the name of the brother Jing you're talking about, and where does he live?"

Meihua stopped crying and a look of vigilance appeared in her eyes.

"Don't overthink it. This is just a normal investigation. We won't wrongly accuse innocent people."

Meihua bit her lip and hesitated for a moment, then said reluctantly, "His name is Zhang Jing, and he lives in the same alley as my family. I went looking for him the day I left Tianyuan Temple, but he wasn't at home. His family received a letter saying that his aunt had passed away, and the whole family had gone out of town to attend the funeral. Yan'er's affairs had nothing to do with him..."

The girl's tone became excited.

"In that case, you don't have to worry." Lin Hao comforted in a gentle voice.

Meihua grabbed her white silk skirt nervously: "Then...will you call him in for questioning?"

Everyone knew that she had a good relationship with Jingge. If she saw Jingge being interrogated by the government, she would have guessed that it was her who was with Yan'er that day.

Lin Hao knew Meihua's worries and dispelled her concerns with one sentence: "Things like attending a funeral can be easily investigated. There's no need to summon the person for questioning."

Meihua breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Hao's tone suddenly changed. "But if there are no new clues, we can only focus on you few people who often play with Yan'er and conduct an in-depth investigation. Meihua, think about it carefully. Did you meet anyone special or have any special events happen in Tianyuan Temple?"

"A special person..." Meihua pondered and shook her head, "No. There were many people who came to burn incense that day, nothing special..."

She paused, her tone uncertain: "Yan'er and I had a quarrel and left first. I was angry and left in a hurry. I accidentally bumped into someone. Is this unusual?"

Lin Hao's heart moved, and he asked hurriedly: "Is that person a man or a woman?"

"It's a woman."

"Do you remember what she looked like?"

Meihua quickly shook her head: "I can't see what she looks like, she's wearing a veil."

"What about age, body shape, and clothing?"

"I feel like she's only two or three years older than me. She's very thin. Although she doesn't have a maid, her clothes don't look like those of an ordinary family..."

"You bumped into her and she didn't say anything?"

"No, but she must have been very angry." Meihua tried to recall, "The veil on her hood shook, and I saw her mouth was tight -"

Meihua suddenly stopped, looking conflicted.

"What's wrong? Did you think of something?" Lin Hao asked patiently.

"I don't know if I saw it wrong or if it is really like that--" Meihua hesitated.

Lin Hao patted her hands and said, "Don't be afraid. We'll verify it later. Just tell us what you noticed."

"She seems to have scars on her face..."

"Scar?" Something flashed through Lin Hao's mind, but it was so sudden and fast that he didn't catch it. "What kind of scar? Left or right cheek?"

"Left cheek... No, it seems to be the right cheek!" Meihua shook her head. "I can't remember clearly, maybe I saw it wrong..."

It was just a casual glance. If she hadn't just racked her brains to recall it, she wouldn't even be able to remember such details.

Scar, a young woman from a wealthy family, Tianyuan Temple, a beautiful girl without a head... Lin Hao repeated these words in his mind, and the fleeting flash of inspiration turned into lightning that split the chaos in his mind, and a person emerged.

Meihua saw Lin Hao's expression change and called out nervously, "Sister?"

Lin Hao came back to his senses, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and gave Meihua a soothing smile: "You can go out later."

Meihua nodded obediently and sat for a while before walking into the yard at Lin Hao's reminder.

Lin Hao remained calm and chatted with the last girl.

The five girls went in at about the same time, and their expressions looked similar when they came out. Neither Captain Liu nor Yan'er's mother could tell which one was related to Yan'er.

Qi Shuo asked Captain Liu to send the girls home, and he and Lin Hao said goodbye to the woman together.

"Sir, do they, do they know what happened to Yan'er that day?"

"Don't worry, sister-in-law, the murderer who killed Yan'er will definitely be found."

As soon as they left Yan'er's house, Lin Hao whispered, "Let's go to Tianyuan Temple."

She asked Qi Shuo to get into the carriage and told him what she had asked on the way.

"When Meihua said the woman she bumped into seemed to have a scar on her face, I suddenly thought of someone."

"Who did you think of?"

Lin Hao shook his head slightly: "I'm afraid that telling it will affect our judgment, so let's go to Tianyuan Temple to verify it first."

"Actually, I thought of someone too."

"who?"

"The second Miss Tang who was tragically disfigured at Qinglu Temple outside the city over a year ago."

The second Miss Tang that Qi Shuo mentioned is Tang Wei, the second lady of the Wuning Marquis Mansion. Her elder sister Tang Qiang died at the hands of the deposed crown prince. Therefore, Emperor Tai'an did not pursue the matter of the deposed crown prince being assassinated in the Wuning Marquis Mansion.

The once glorious marquisate gradually lost its presence in the wealthy circles of the capital.

"It seems we have the same idea."

Qi Shuo smiled and hugged her: "Many times, intuition is a judgment made after combining various information. It is not nonsense."

As they were talking, they arrived at Tianyuan Temple. They went straight to the abbot and asked for the list of distinguished guests who came to pay incense money on the day Yan'er disappeared.

For example, those pilgrims who contributed a lot of money to the incense offerings were recorded by the monks. Although Buddhism is said to be a place of tranquility, it is not immune to worldly practices in some aspects.

Sure enough, the two saw the name of the wife of Marquis Wuning on the list.

"Is the list from more than a year ago still preserved?" Qi Shuo asked.

Tianyuan Temple had suffered two similar incidents, and the temple had been greatly affected. The abbot also wanted to catch the murderer as soon as possible, so he cooperated and ordered the monk in charge to present the account books: "This type of account book will be kept for at least five years. The two donors will take their time to review it."

The two of them got together and started looking at the account books from two years ago. They soon found the name of the wife of Marquis Wuning in the book, which was more than a month before the first headless female corpse was discovered.

It seems that the wife of Marquis Wuning visits Tianyuan Temple about once every three months, and also during festivals. It's likely that her daughter's accident at Qinglu Temple has caused her to shift her focus to burning incense and worshipping Buddha.

"Thank you, Abbot."

After leaving Tianyuan Temple, Lin Hao glanced into the distance and said, "Although the Wuning Marquisate has declined, going directly to investigate will probably only alert the enemy."

If Tang Wei was responsible for Wen Qing's disappearance, then she might be the key to solving the case.