Chapter 275 Xiao Qingyuan, you've been fooled by Shen Wantang!

"What?!"

With a cry of surprise from Lü Qiying, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone looked at Gu Qianhan in disbelief.

Just moments ago, they were questioning Gu Qianhan's abilities and his title of "genius," but now, no one dares to question him anymore.

In just one day, he found clues, evidence, and the remains of thirteen members of the Xin family.

If he's not a genius, then who is?

That's incredible!

That's absolutely shocking!

It turns out there really is a huge gap between geniuses and mediocre people like them!

But ironically, the genius who solved the case and gained immense credit remained indifferent and cold, his handsome, angular face devoid of any smug expression.

He sat there with a calm and composed demeanor, as if he were the master of this world, and nothing could shake his mind.

After a brief silence, the people in the hall came to their senses and surrounded the person who had run back with the news, asking him a barrage of questions.

"Where were the remains found in the south of the city? How were they found? Why didn't we find them?"

"At a manor owned by the Shen family in the south of the city, we followed Xiang Meng's father as instructed by Young Master Gu, and found that manor."

"Huh? That Xiang Meng killed the Xin family and buried them all in the manor? That's impossible. We followed Xiang Meng's father before, and we searched all of the Shen family's manors, but we found nothing!"

"It's not in the manor, but in a field outside the manor. We specifically asked around, and the people near the manor said there's a strange little patch of land. The soil used to be fertile, but in the last two years, it's inexplicably barren. Before we left, Young Master Gu said that the poison of the Western Region Purple Crow is very strong and can damage the soil, making it impossible for most vegetation to grow."

"I see. Young Master Gu is indeed remarkable. You even know this. We've never even heard of the name 'Western Region Purple Crow' before. Now the evidence is conclusive. The Xin family was poisoned and murdered by Xiang Meng."

"That's not all!"

The messenger returned with the news and stepped forward, saying, "Lord Lü, Young Master Gu, we also found half a rusty needle on one of the thirteen corpses!"

Lu Qiying was greatly encouraged: "Could it match the half that was taken from Xiang Meng's face?"

"A rough estimate should be about right. We were afraid of destroying the evidence, so we didn't touch the remains or take the needles back without permission. The needles are still stuck in the remains. Please, sir and young master Gu, come and check the scene together! Oh, and General Xin, there are still clothes left on the remains. I'm afraid General Xin will have to go and identify them to see if they belong to the Xin family."

Xin Huailin was swaying precariously, his face ashen white.

Although he was mentally prepared and knew that his family was likely to perish, when he actually heard the news of thirteen skeletons, he still felt dizzy and his heart ached terribly.

He bit his tongue hard to try and clear his head.

He survived countless brushes with death on the battlefield, only to return to find his entire family murdered. He was determined to avenge this tragedy with his own hands! He also had to give his family's remains a proper burial.

"Let's go to the south of the city!"

At Lü Qiying's command, almost the entire Ministry of Justice mobilized.

In a short while, only Xiao Qingyuan and Mo Ji remained in the main hall.

Mo Ji couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, shall we go and take a look?"

Xiao Qingyuan gritted his teeth, his face extremely grim: "Go see what? To see the corpses, or to see Gu Qianhan steal the spotlight? Or to let others witness my failure?"

He never expected that Gu Qianhan would solve the case so quickly!

That's it, Gu Qianhan's reputation as a genius is now completely confirmed.

Recalling the look of awe and admiration that the people from the Ministry of Justice had given Gu Qianhan, Xiao Qingyuan felt a surge of indescribable loss and frustration.

"Moji, why is it like this again? Why couldn't I beat Gu Qianhan when I was a child, and why can't I beat him now that I'm older? I was the one who got involved in the case first, so why did I lose to Gu Qianhan who came later?"

Mo Ji didn't know how to comfort him, so he could only say, "Sir, it's just a case, there's no winning or losing, don't think too much about it. It's late, let's go back to the manor!"

“Moji, I regret it now. I shouldn’t have agreed to Huayi’s request to stay at the manor and play in the snow with her yesterday. If I hadn’t stayed at the manor with her, if I had gone to investigate the case, I might have found a clue yesterday, and I would be the one who solved the case today, instead of Gu Qianhan.”

No sooner had Xiao Qingyuan finished speaking than a voice suddenly rang out from behind him: "Xiao Qingyuan, even if you investigated the case yesterday, it would have been useless. You can't solve the case!"

Xiao Qingyuan was startled. He turned around abruptly and saw a face that surprised him greatly: "Shen Mingxuan?!"

"Yes, it's me."

"Why are you at the Ministry of Justice in the middle of the night? Didn't anyone stop you outside?!"

"They've all gone to the south of the city to dig up the remains, and nobody cares about this place anymore. Besides, in the middle of the night, who would notice an insignificant person like me coming to the Ministry of Justice?"

Xiao Qingyuan then noticed that she was wearing a black men's outfit.

Recalling what she had just said, Xiao Qingyuan's expression darkened: "You came to the Ministry of Justice in the middle of the night just to mock me for not being able to solve the case?"

"I'm not being sarcastic; I'm just stating the facts."

Shen Mingxuan sneered: "Because the person who solved the case wasn't Gu Qianhan at all, but Shen Wantang!"

Xiao Qingyuan was shocked: "What did you say? This is impossible!"

"Hmph, what's impossible about that! When Xiang Meng killed Xin Huailin's sister, Shen Wantang wasn't even married yet. She probably saw something long ago. Is it strange that she knows Xiang Meng is the murderer?"

When Shen Mingxuan mentioned Shen Wantang, she almost ground her teeth to powder.

Yesterday, her father used family discipline and gave her twenty lashes. If the nanny who gave her the lashes hadn't been her mother's man and hadn't shown leniency, she wouldn't be able to stand up now.

Even so, she was in excruciating pain all over her body. Every moment she stood up, it felt as if countless needles were piercing her flesh.

However, she endured immense pain to see Xiao Qingyuan, all for the purpose of sowing discord between Shen Wantang and seeking revenge for herself!

"Xiao Qingyuan, you don't know, do you? Yesterday at the Shen family, Shen Wantang revealed that Xiang Meng was poisoned by a rare poison from the Western Regions, but she didn't give you the credit. Instead, she gave it to Gu Qianhan. Don't you think there's something fishy going on here?"

Xiao Qingyuan frowned: "What nonsense are you spouting? Wasn't it Gu Qianhan who discovered that Xiang Meng was poisoned by the Western Region Purple Crow? What does this have to do with Shen Wantang?"

"Wrong! Utterly wrong! The poison in Xiang Meng's body wasn't discovered by Gu Qianhan, it was discovered by Shen Wantang!"

“I was at home yesterday. Do you think I know better than you, an outsider, what happened in my home yesterday?”

"Xiao Qingyuan, you've been fooled by Shen Wantang!"