Chapter 104: Speculating on the Murderer
Yu Huatang walked closer and took a look. The girl's ten fingers were now all black, and even her face had turned red, which was not the case before. She carefully observed the new wounds that the coroner mentioned, which were on her ten fingers.
She recalled the girl's previous appearance and thought for a moment before saying, "When making lanterns, we usually use various potions. Some of these potions are for bonding, and some are for coloring. I think she must have struggled violently before her death, and then someone used these special potions to restore her skin to its original appearance and bond some parts together. So when the potion wore off, the wounds became visible."
"Yes, that's right. I was just telling the doctor that the murderer must be an expert in his craft. To be more precise, he not only knows how to commit crimes, but is also an expert in making lanterns."
"So at least we can be sure that the murderer is a man with nimble fingers," said Zhao Yan.
The others then talked about other things, and the coroner asked, "Miss Yu, why do you think the murderer wanted to kill her? She has no money and no power, so killing her must not be worthwhile."
Yu Huatang hadn't thought about this question, but on the way here, the yamen runner said that the family was originally unwilling to accept the girl, so she said, "Perhaps compared to a life, reputation is more important to some people. Or maybe these people are born into high power and have all kinds of means. They may have handled it this way in the past, but just miscalculated this time."
After hearing this, the coroner thought this was possible. Yu Huatang then followed him to sign. After leaving the room, she took off her handkerchief and gloves, and Zhao Yan reached out to take them.
"Thank you so much today. The coroner originally had no way to confirm what line of work the murderer was in, but now we have shortened the scope of our investigation." Zhao Yan looked at her and said.
Yu Huatang also sincerely hoped to find the murderer as soon as possible so that she could be cleared of her crime. She asked, "Is it possible to determine who bought these potions on that day, or who used such a large amount of them?"
Zhao Yan said, "I've already interrogated everyone in the He Mansion. Among the men there, the only ones who can do manual labor are the master, the servant, and a coachman. We can't rule out the possibility that someone is lying, or that the murderer isn't among them. But no matter what, at least we can bury this girl today."
Yu Huatang listened carefully and nodded, then said to him, "My Lord, please be busy now. I will go back first."
Zhao Yan stopped and said gently, "Then take care, Miss Yu."
Yu Huatang turned and left. Only when her figure disappeared through the corner gate did Zhao Yan retract his gaze. He knew how to get along with her. As long as he didn't deliberately disturb her and just followed her quietly, she would definitely not hate him anymore...
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The annual exchange between the fishing gang and the guild is finally here.
On this day, most shops will be closed. Yu Huatang took Xu Fu to Caiyuan Street. They heard that in addition to specific activities today, the government office will also set off fireworks in the evening to celebrate the end of a hard-working year.
Those who wanted to listen to the experiences carefully went to the greenhouse early to reserve seats along the way, while those who just wanted to join in the fun and watch the fireworks wandered around the streets. Some shops took advantage of the excitement to display various festival items, including nesting dolls, clay figurines, acrobatics, and street fire-breathing to entertain children.
It doesn’t matter if my daughter doesn’t want to see these. Just walk a few steps forward and you will reach Shangtang Street. Maybe because it is near the end of the year, the merchants not only display some jewelry and brocade bags, but also various festive gadgets.
Yu Huatang took Xu Fu for a stroll and bought a lot of gadgets. When they arrived at the guild hall again, it was already full of people. The masters upstairs were vividly describing various interesting things about going out to sea.
Baili Yunzhou was guarding the door to prevent any problems. When he saw them, he walked over and gave each of them a piece of paper with information about going out to sea written by their guild and some funny jokes.
Xu Fu finished reading it in two or three glances and said, "Sister, there's nothing interesting here. Let's go to Xiatang Street. I heard there's a lot of food there today. Don't you want to try Dingsheng Cake too?"
Yu Huatang also asked Baili Yunzhou, "What do you want to eat? We'll bring some for you."
Baili Yunzhou casually picked up some of her hair and played with it in his hand, and Yu Huatang pulled it out without leaving a trace.
"I don't have anything I want to eat. We've also booked a big table here, and we have to go with them later. Why don't you all come with me?"
Xu Fu snorted. This didn't mean he wanted them to go together. It was obvious that he only wanted his senior sister to go, and take him along.
He couldn't let Baili succeed.
"Sister, there's nothing good about the big table meal. It's just some big dishes that are greasy. Let's go to Xiatang Street."
Yu Huatang didn't want to go either. There were a lot of people here. If they saw her and Baili together, they would definitely talk about them. Although they were walking upright, she didn't want to hear people talking about them.
Seeing that they were about to leave, Baili Yunzhou asked them to stop and took out two hairpins from a box, one delicate and the other rough.
Yu Huatang asked, "Why are there still these?"
"Oh, these are prepared for the people who will give the lecture today. There are three gifts in total: a hairpin, money, and a towel. These are the extra ones you can wear as well."
Xu Fu took it and thought that this must be another trick of Baili. It was obvious that this hairpin was specially prepared for his senior sister, in case she didn't want it, and took him with her at the same time.
He returned the things to Baili and said, "Why would a grown man like me need this? I don't want it."
Baili was surprised and said, "How can a young boy like you be so manly? But you are almost 17 now, and your family may be arranging a marriage for you. This hairpin is perfect, you can give it to that girl."
"I don't want to get married. I still have to accompany my senior sister to learn skills." His face was full of rejection and determination.
Yu Huatang didn't know what was wrong with Xu Fu, so she smiled and said, "He meant well, so just take it."
"That's right, this kid doesn't appreciate it." Baili also said, "Put it away."
After a while, Baili Yunzhou saw that nothing was wrong and said, "Didn't you just say you were going to Xiatang Street? Wait for me for a moment. I'll go talk to my housekeeper and ask him to send someone here."
"Go after you've made your arrangements. There's no rush." Yu Huatang took Xu Fu to sit down.
"Okay." Baili walked back and talked to a man in his forties for a while. He seemed to give some instructions. Several servants followed him and walked around the guilds several times. After the servants nodded heavily to show that they understood, Baili finally came towards them.
The three of them ate at several shops on Xiatang Street and then went to Mingtang Street to watch some acrobatics. As sunset approached, they heard celebratory sounds coming from the guild. Yu Huatang knew that this year's guild meeting was over. She asked, "Aren't you going to go on stage and say a few words later?"
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