Chapter 153 A boy with two youthful faces

Holding the envelope in his hand, Li Jin sat in the carriage and leaned out to take a look.

His face was extremely somber.

He reached out and lifted the carriage curtain behind Jin Shu: "Have you seen this envelope before?"

Jin Shu, sitting in front of the car, glanced back and nodded, saying, "I've seen him before. Song Zhen wanted to give it to me, but I didn't take it."

Li Jin's heart tightened: "...Have you looked inside?"

Jin Shu grinned and shook his head: "I didn't see it. After I declined, he put it away, saying it was some kind of backup plan."

Outside the carriage, the sun shone brightly, and the heat was scorching.

Inside the carriage, Li Jin carefully put away the contents of the envelope, took a deep breath, and regretted not punching Song Zhen more earlier.

He looked up, glanced at Jin Shu's curious face, and rolled his eyes at her: "Don't listen to his nonsense." Then, he lowered the carriage curtain and let out a long sigh, "A clear conscience is the way out."

He raised his head, leaned against the carriage wall, and slowly closed his eyes.

Only then did the overwhelming fatigue wash over him. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city outside, he felt as if he were in a dream.

After that, Yan Zhao was not at the Six Doors, and Li Jin did not appear for two consecutive days.

The hottest period of summer has gradually passed, with occasional thunderstorms, signaling the end of summer.

In the lotus pond of the coroner's office, the delicate pink lotus flowers swayed gracefully in the breeze after a night of rain.

After resting for two days, Li Jin, as usual, with a slight smile, had just stepped onto the stone steps of the main courtyard of the Six Doors when Shen Wen gave him a big gift.

In the courtyard, two boys, their hands and feet bound, knelt on the ground. When they saw Li Jin, dressed in a light yellow robe and filled with doubt, they instinctively shrank to the side.

Although I had never met Prince Jing, I had heard of his deeds.

Li Jin waved a fan in her hand, slightly raised her eyebrows, glanced at Shen Wen, and her eyes were full of inquiry.

This was probably to make up for the fact that in the case of Niu Dai's murder, he listened to others and failed to find out that Xiao Luo's box of copper coins was of clean origin.

It was probably also to make up for the mistake they made two days ago when Jin Shu was kidnapped, and they both lost track of her.

They worked together to bring the two murderers responsible for the death of the Pai Gow shop owner right in front of Li Jin.

"I have to thank Lord Yun for this. By tracing back along the route of the stolen goods, we quickly found the person," Shen Wen said.

Jin Shu, who came upon hearing the commotion, paused for a moment as she stepped into the main courtyard and looked at the two suspects.

The two children were dressed differently from ordinary people, with braids on their heads, making them look like the offspring of a nomadic people.

The rope wrapped around her waist was almost identical to the handmade rope that Jin Shu had compared at the time.

That's a pity.

He was surprisingly young, a boy with two youthful faces.

After taking the case notes from Jin Shu, Li Jin stood in the courtyard and flipped through two pages.

The victim was bound hand and foot and thrown on the bed. There were abrasions on his head from being hit by a bluestone brick. He had five small, short stab wounds to his chest and multiple stab wounds on the outside of his neck, which caused a major artery to rupture. He died from shock due to excessive blood loss.

The house was robbed of valuables, and there were obvious signs of ransacking. The surrounding area was also severely damaged. It can only be inferred that the crime was murder for money.

He glanced at the case notes in his hand, not even looking up, and said, "So young, yet so ruthless, committing murder for money." Seeing the two men trembling, Li Jin closed the case notes: "Where are your parents?"

The older of the two children, upon hearing the words "father" and "mother," bit his lip until his lower lip turned completely bloodless before answering, "They're dead."

After he finished speaking, Shen Wen added, "This child's name is Qiangzi. He has no parents and is an orphan. And this is his younger brother..."

Before he could finish speaking, the boy suddenly raised his voice considerably and said to Li Jin, "You're Prince Jing, aren't you! I killed that old man! It has nothing to do with my brother!"

He forcefully interrupted Shen Wen, knelt down in front of Li Jin, and nodded his head to the ground: "I was going to steal something, and that old man found out. I did it all by myself! It has nothing to do with my brother!"

These words could not fool Li Jin.

“A man in his fifties, and you, a boy of fourteen or fifteen, tied his hands and feet, hit his head with a brick, stabbed his chest with a knife, and threw him onto the bed without breaking a sweat.”

"You're really something!" His last words were spoken with great force, like a heavy hammer striking the boy's head.

"Speak." Li Jin's voice was devoid of any emotion, as cold as snow falling on the boy's back in the twelfth lunar month.

He kowtowed there, as if returning to that night he couldn't bear to recall.

That night, standing outside the Ruyi Gate, the two boys stared for a long time before finally raising their hands to knock on the door knocker.

The bright moon hangs high in the sky like a hook. It's just past midnight, which should be the time of day when people are sleeping the most soundly.

The victim, still wearing his clothes, opened the door, sleepily looking at the two children at the door. Hearing them say they wanted to buy some candles, he dismissively raised his hand, wanting to send them away.

"He said he didn't sell candles, so I asked if I could borrow some." Qiangzi pursed his lips. "He said no too, and raised his hand to kick us out."

"I took advantage of that moment and hit him on the head with the bluestone brick I had hidden behind me." At this point, Qiangzi shifted uncomfortably and continued with some difficulty, "I knocked him out after hitting him three times."

Afterwards, the two children tied up Liu Yong, the dominoes shopkeeper who had already lost consciousness, with a handmade rope around his waist and dragged him to the wardrobe in the inner room.

"I didn't mean to kill him." Qiangzi's eyes dimmed considerably. "I just..."

He hesitated for a long time before saying this: "My brother and I haven't eaten for more than two days. I just want to find some money to buy him a steamed bun."

"The owner of that dominoes shop lived alone. I used to sell herbal tea in his archway. Later, when he saw that the herbal tea was profitable, he wouldn't let me go in to sell it anymore, and he sold it himself."

Qiangzi chuckled, looking at his younger brother beside him who was trembling with fear and unable to speak. He tried to move forward, wanting him to lean on him.

That night, after searching the house for a short while, the shopkeeper Liu Yong, who was leaning against the cabinet, slowly woke up.

The two children did not pose any real pressure to him.

He struggled and cursed as he struggled, and the ropes binding him gradually loosened.

The younger brother, standing to the side, noticed that the rope had come loose and was terrified, panicking completely.

The older brother, who was searching for money, turned around and saw his younger brother going to tie the rope. He was then kicked hard by Liu Yong, and his reason was replaced by fear at that moment.

He took out a small dagger and threatened Liu Yong to stay still.

This man, in his fifties, who believed he had eaten more rice than they had eaten salt, was not afraid at all. He cursed even more fiercely and struggled even more violently.

The younger brother, who had gotten up from the ground, still tried to tie the rope properly.

He groped his way forward, but was suddenly kicked by Liu Yong's bound legs.

This time, the force of the kick sent the younger brother flying. He crashed heavily into a nearby table and chair, lying there for a long time, unable to get up.

The teapot on the table fell to the ground and shattered into countless pieces.

Just like the last string in Qiangzi's heart, it quietly snapped.