Chapter 398 Murderer

The palace gate slowly opened, and the eunuch beside Emperor Liang walked out. The ministers seemed to see hope and surrounded him immediately.

Zhu Lan had no choice but to squeeze into the crowd and said, "Eunuch Zhang, I really have something important to discuss with Your Majesty. This is a matter concerning the country..."

"I also have something important to discuss with His Majesty. It's urgent, Eunuch Zhang!"

"...No, no, my matter is the most urgent, let me see him first!"

Zhu Lan's voice was quickly drowned out.

"Silence, silence!" The chief eunuch flicked his whisk and looked at them angrily.

"Your Majesty has been so busy with state affairs that he is coughing up blood today! How can a big matter be as important as the dragon's health?

Don't wait here, my Lords. When His Majesty gets better, I will come to see you."

The official from the Ministry of Works asked weakly, "Then... when will your Majesty recover?"

"You ask me, who should I ask?" The chief eunuch glared at him. "If you continue to cause trouble to His Majesty, who will be responsible if he tires out his body?"

No one said a word.

The chief eunuch glanced at everyone coldly, turned and left, and the palace gate slowly closed behind him.

It seems that Emperor Liang is really ill.

Even Zhu Lan was at a loss now. She couldn't even enter the palace gate and could only pace on the spot, anxiously thinking about who she could turn to for help.

She didn't notice a figure walking towards her.

"Zhu Xiuzhuan, I finally found you." The person standing in front of Zhu Lan was Si Ying, the patrol officer of Dali Temple.

"Patrol officer?" Zhu Lan was a little surprised.

Si Ying said to her, "There is a result in the Chu Xiuning case. Lord Sizheng asks you to go to the Dali Temple immediately."

…

Si Ying brought Zhu Lan into the Dali Temple, came to Chang Yunxiao's office, and left on her own.

Chang Yunxiao was wearing a black official uniform, exuding an aura of keeping strangers away, and was sitting in front of the desk.

There were many papers arranged in order on the table, which were the sketches that Zhu Lan used to record the crime scene at that time.

Zhu Lan walked up to him, not even bothering to say hello, "Have you found the murderer?"

Compared to Zhu Lan's anxiety, Chang Yunxiao remained as emotionless as ever.

He pointed out some details in the sketch and asked Zhu Lan to confirm some of the circumstances at the scene.

Zhu Lan had an excellent memory. When she closed her eyes, she could almost completely recreate the original appearance of the crime scene in her mind. She was sure that she had not drawn it wrong.

"You said before that you suspected the guy named Chu Xin," Chang Yunxiao said.

"Is it really her?"

Chang Yunxiao shook his head. "I checked her whereabouts again. She has no possibility of committing any crime, and there are no other suspicious people with whom she has close contact."

Zhu Lan was stunned. She had no doubt about Chang Yunxiao's ability to investigate cases. Could it be that Chu Xin was really innocent, and was she too suspicious?

But Chang Yunxiao's next words shocked her even more!

"Based on the scene you drew, and based on my re-examination of the wounds on Chu Xiuning's body, I can confirm that—

She committed suicide.”

…

Zhu Lan was walking on the way home, still feeling a little dazed.

According to Chang Yunxiao, on the day he went to meet Chu Xiuning, there was no so-called murderer hiding in the room. It was Chu Xiuning herself who put drugs in the tea.

In order to avoid arousing suspicion, Chu Xiuning also drank a small amount of tea, but he was unconscious for only a moment before waking up.

During the time he was unconscious, Chu Xiuning committed suicide with a dagger and faked it to look like murder.

There is no murderer.

The above are all the conclusions drawn by Chang Yunxiao.

Zhu Lan felt that his mind was in a mess——

Chu Xiuning actually committed suicide. What was her purpose?

Zhu Lan was puzzled.

"Zhu Lan, why are you wandering around the street alone?"

Zhu Qingyan's voice suddenly rang out, startling Zhu Lan. When he looked up, he realized that he had already walked past the road.

Seeing that she looked unhappy, Zhu Qingyan hid the concern in his eyes, glanced at her and asked her what was wrong.

Zhu Lan rubbed his brows tiredly. He had nothing to hide from Zhu Qingyan, so he told him everything.

"Chu Xiuning committed suicide, but I can't figure it out."

When Zhu Qingyan heard that Chu Xiuning committed suicide, she couldn't believe it. After confirming that the source of the result was credible, she nudged Zhu Lan with her elbow.

“I didn’t expect that you would also have a time when you don’t have enough brains.

Why don't you just stop thinking about it. You've been running around these past few days and haven't had any rest. Maybe you'll figure it out after you wake up from a good night's sleep."

Zhu Lan shook his head painfully. "Nothing seems to add up. I always feel like... there is a clue that seems to be within reach, but it's just a little bit away, just a little bit..."

"Oh." Zhu Qingyan finally couldn't help but patted her shoulder, thought for a moment and said:

"If you can't figure it out in the forward direction, why not think about it backwards? Well... since we don't know why Chu Xiuning died, then think about it the other way around. What would have happened if she hadn't died?"

"If she wasn't dead..." Zhu Lan murmured again, his eyes flashing again.

If Chu Xiuning hadn't died, he would have gotten to the bottom of it and asked her directly about the prince's background.

If Chu Xiuning had not died, he would not have been regarded as a murderer, so he had to look for the real murderer to prove his innocence.

Next, he obtained the secret from "Collected Annotations of Various Philosophers", and Chu Xiuning's death made him more convinced that the murderer killed Chu Xiuning to silence her in order to cover up the secret.

Based on the "Collected Annotations of Various Philosophers", he found Chen's mother and daughter, and then found that Yan Xiuyun might be the fake prince. However, considering that Chu Xiuning had no reason to harm the prince, he went back to look for clues again, and found Ning'an Earl's Mansion, and finally found Prince Qi.

If Chu Xiuning hadn't died, many things could have been clarified by simply asking her, without having to take so many detours and be confused by false information.

Could it be that... the purpose of Chu Xiuning's death was to allow himself to find those false information?

A final thought slowly formed in Zhu Lan's mind, and her eyes gradually became clear.

She smiled at Zhu Qingyan.

"Thanks for your reminder, I was the one who got confused."

Zhu Qingyan was somewhat proud, and then thought of another thing, "By the way, have you entered the palace to see His Majesty?"

When Zhu Qingyan heard Zhu Lan say that he had not seen it, he became anxious. This was the King of Zhenbei who commanded hundreds of thousands of troops and was planning a rebellion!!!

She pulled Zhu Lan to try to break into the palace again, but she heard Zhu Lan say:

"Wait, let's go home first."

"Why go home?"

"I want to confirm one thing. If it is really what I think, then the current situation in the northern border... maybe we don't need to worry about it at all."

Zhu Lan's eyes turned dark and he looked up at the sky.

By this time, Chu Xin should be home.