Chapter 221 He was covering up the victim's true identity

Although the courtyard was not quite in ruins, it still had a desolate air about it, with empty pockets.

Yang Defa, dressed in tattered clothes, looked at Li Jin's angry face, tightened his own expression, and coldly replied, "This humble one does not know what His Highness Prince Jing is talking about."

Between the two, it was as if a bolt of lightning was striking each other, carrying sparks that were about to ignite, slowly burning away all the oxygen in the courtyard.

The tension slowly spread, making everyone feel suffocated.

Li Jin glanced at Yang Defa's face, slowly waving his fan.

He spoke slowly and deliberately, a faint smile playing on his lips, but his voice was as cold as ice: "Yang Defa, your silence is not because you are upright and honest, but because you know that too much talk leads to mistakes."

The arrogant and overbearing demeanor that Yang Defa had displayed just moments before was gradually replaced by seriousness and vigilance in his eyes.

"You are covering up the victim's true identity."

No sooner had he finished speaking than an autumn wind swept through the courtyard.

A fleeting look of surprise crossed Yang Defa's face, but he kept his lips pressed tightly together, staring at Li Jin.

This man, dressed in fine clothes, used the gentlest smile and the most piercing gaze to pierce the soul beneath Yang Defa's body.

Something seemed to have been illuminated by him.

Yang Defa glanced at his face, about to say something more, when he saw Li Jin slam his fan shut: "If you don't want to talk now, then you can go to the Six Doors?"

He said this with an air of unquestionable authority on his face.

Only then did Yang Defa realize that the Prince of Wei was far more profound than he had imagined.

He didn't even know which of his words had given him a clue, allowing him to deduce that the victim's identity was not simple.

Before Li Jinlai arrived, Yang Defa had already prepared himself to take the "green hat" to his grave.

Even if he is mistakenly killed by a corrupt official, he will still fulfill his promise to the girl.

He looked at Li Jin's face, then glanced at Zhou Zheng, who was still pointing his knife at him. After a moment's thought, he wanted to make one last test: "Does Your Highness intend to presume guilt based on suspicion?"

“There’s no need for that.” Li Jin laughed. “Perhaps the murder was not your doing, but I’m ‘inviting’ you to the Six Doors…” He took out the piece of white jade from his pocket. “It’s because of the valuable jade pendant mentioned by the deceased. You have to explain the whole story, don’t you?”

Yang Defa paused for a moment.

"You're not going to tell me that you bought this five-tael silver coffin and included a piece of top-grade mutton-fat jade as a bonus, are you?"

Having handled so many cases, what kind of people hasn't Li Jin seen? What kind of sophistry hasn't Li Jin heard?

Major cases are often intertwined with minor ones. If a case is difficult to investigate on its own, a different approach can still keep Yang Defa from leaving the compound.

Before Yang Defa could even get a good look at the jade, he quickly pulled it back. He glanced at Yang Defa's expression out of the corner of his eye, watching him reluctantly nod.

At this point, Yang Defa was taken to the Six Doors by Feng Chao, along with the victim's corpse in the coffin.

Before Li Jin was about to leave, Xu Lin hurriedly caught up with him, looking at Li Jin with a dazed expression, and bowed, saying, "Your Highness."

His face was pale, and he gave an awkward laugh: "Um... I dare to ask Your Highness."

He hesitated, rubbing his hands nervously back and forth, his face showing his anxiety and unease. He looked at Li Jin's scrutinizing face with great embarrassment: "It's just... what Your Highness said earlier, that Yang Defa isn't the child's father? Is... is that true?"

Li Jin frowned, turned around with his hands behind his back, and glanced at Xu Lin from head to toe: "Your family is really carefree."

After saying that, she glanced at him and walked straight toward the carriage.

Xu Lin stood there blankly, and seeing that Li Jin didn't speak, he quickly stopped Jin Shu, who was walking behind him.

"Sir! Sir!" He stopped and bowed. "I beg your guidance, sir!"

Jin Shu frowned and looked him up and down: "Young Master Xu is not yet married?"

"Huh?" Xu Lin looked up at her, completely bewildered.

“A woman’s pregnancy takes ten months, and even with premature birth, it takes at least eight or nine months for the baby to survive.” Jin Shu held up a “six” on her finger: “Your sister has been married for six years and five months, and your eldest daughter turned six last month…”

She patted Xu Lin on the shoulder: "Your family is really carefree."

After she finished speaking, before Xu Lin could say anything more, she quickly jogged a few steps to catch up with Li Jin.

Behind him, Xu Lin stood blankly at the door, his mourning clothes fluttering in the wind.

He stood blankly at the door, his face as pale as his mourning clothes.

Inside the carriage, Li Jin's entire attention was focused on the jade pendant in his hand.

Its texture is smooth and its value is considerable; it is definitely not something that someone who only earns 80 coins a day can afford.

"Why does Your Highness believe that Yang Defa is covering up the victim's true identity?"

The carriage moved slowly forward, heading north from Zhuquemen Street.

The streets were bustling with activity during the Mid-Autumn Festival. There were many carriages and pedestrians traveling out of the city to visit temples and pay respects. Zhou Zheng carefully drove through the crowd, moving very slowly.

Li Jin glanced at Jin Shu, who was peeking out from behind the curtain and peering at him. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Firstly, because there is nothing in the inner room that an ordinary woman should have, or rather, nothing that is commonly used or indispensable."

"Secondly, everything he said was a deliberate attempt to avoid any interaction with the victim."

“And the most crucial point is the third one.” He paused. “The three city gates on the south side of the capital will close as soon as the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), and it is only the beginning of autumn now, so the sky at the hour of Xu is not yet dark.”

Li Jin stopped there and didn't continue.

He leaned against the carriage wall, watching Jin Shu, who seemed to have just realized something.

Anhuamen, south of Beijing, is only a 15-minute walk from the Xianningfang courtyard where Yang Defa lived.

But Yang Defa said that he went to Suizizhuang, five miles away, picked corn all day, then came back, stayed at home for one night, and went there again the next day.

He also emphasized that when he returned, it was already late at night, and both children were fast asleep, so he did not see the victim.

Obviously, the timing doesn't match.

After the city gates were closed, no one was allowed to open them even a fraction of an inch, except for intelligence from the front lines.

Only the Yanxing Gate on the east side was guarded all night to facilitate the delivery of memorials and urgent documents by post station officials, as well as the entry of special merchant caravans into the capital. Ordinary people needed a pass to pass through.

Yang Defa, who lived in abject poverty, was either a cunning man with a pass who took a roundabout route into the city, feigning weakness to outwit his opponent; or he simply didn't return that night.

"Jin Shu." After a long while, Li Jin called her softly from inside the car, "Let's put this case on hold for now."

Jin Shu paused before the carriage. She turned and lifted the curtain to meet Li Jin's tired face: "Why?"

Li Jin smiled slightly: "Isn't your brother coming back? Let's go keep Jin Rong company."

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, Jin Shu stared blankly at Li Jin in front of her, her eyebrows raised high as she looked at his gentle smile.

It's a scam.

Jin Shu pursed her lips: "Your Highness, we've worked together for over half a year. Why are you putting aside your current cases to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival..."

She looked at Li Jin's face, which clearly displayed the word "disbelief" on its forehead.

[Author's Note]

[Dear friends, today is the company's annual meeting, so I'm taking a one-day leave. I hope you understand. QAQ]