That old man was in charge of delivering the meals.
It was clear that the prison warden had already explained the whole story on the way.
He was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.
"My wife cooks the food; I'm just responsible for delivering it. That man is a prince. Lord Liu specifically instructed that he should not be mistreated before the execution order is issued, so his meals are prepared separately. The day before yesterday afternoon, my wife said that someone came to the house while she was cooking. She only saw a shadow, which disappeared in a flash. She thought she was seeing things."
"The jailer only remembered this when he went to ask today. There's nothing else besides this."
"A shadow that vanishes in an instant?" Jiang Qingwan frowned.
If it really is that shadow beside Su Weichuan, even those who know martial arts like Qinghui and Li Dou might not be able to see it clearly.
Not to mention these ordinary people.
"I understand. You can get up and go back now."
The jailer had just left with Old Li.
A commotion came from the front yard.
"Where are they? Where are the officials? Get out here right now!"
Before the advisor could even come out of the backyard, those people had already rushed in.
A middle-aged man who looked like a butler was followed by seven or eight guards, looking menacing.
"Where is your Lord Liu? Where is the head constable?"
The advisor recognized the other party.
"Aren't you Steward Deng from the Imperial Academy's main residence?"
Butler Deng snorted coldly.
His face was full of anger.
"It's good that you recognize me. Jiang Zhao, the deputy head of the Imperial Academy and the husband of the current Princess Qingrui, is a ruthless and insane man who went to the head academy's residence to kill someone. Now you must immediately send troops to the head academy's residence to arrest the murderer and take him to the market to be beheaded."
The advisor was dumbfounded.
"The chief physician...is dead?"
Steward Deng roared, "I know that your Jingzhao Prefecture has a close relationship with the Ninth Prince, and Madam Song of the Prince's Mansion and Princess Qingrui even address each other as sisters. But when my master died, there was only Jiang Zhao in the room. The evidence is conclusive. Now the guards in the manor have captured him and are just waiting for you to come and take him away. If you dare to show favoritism, all the relatives of the master will definitely report to the palace."
"And all the students of the Imperial Academy. Before the Yulin Academy incident, the Ninth Prince targeted and suppressed the Imperial Academy at every turn. Wasn't he just trying to help Jiang Zhao seize the position of our head academy master? During that grand martial arts competition, Jiang Zhao already showed his ambition. Our master told me these things himself. Now he can't even wait to have evil intentions and kill people. He has simply wasted his time studying the classics!"
The advisor was stunned on the spot.
My mind went completely blank.
It's not that we haven't dealt with emergencies before, but the conflict between the academies had just ended, and now the head academy is dead, and the murderer is the husband of Princess Qingrui, who is close to the Ninth Prince's mansion.
The connection between these events is something even Liu Ruzhi probably wouldn't dare to draw a conclusion about easily.
He quickly cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.
"Steward Deng, an emergency has suddenly occurred at the yamen. Our lord has led all the constables out to handle the case. I am just a clerk, and I am really not up to the task of catching the criminal."
"What do you mean by that? Does the Jingzhao Prefecture not care? Then I'll go to the Dali Temple to file a complaint right now!"
As he spoke, Butler Deng turned to leave.
Just then, a constable ran in from outside.
Just as the advisor was about to ask a question, he was grabbed by Steward Deng.
"Isn't this a constable? How dare you, the Prefectural Governor, so blatantly favor Jiang Zhao! How can you still have the nerve to be the officials in charge of the capital?"
The constable was startled when he was pulled, and immediately shook him off.
"Master, where is the Princess? The Lord sent me to fetch her; we've found Qin Run."
Jiang Qingwan came out of the room.
Why not arrest them?
He quickly explained, "The person is hiding in the dense forest. The forest is very large, and we dare not go in rashly for fear of further casualties. The master sent me to invite the princess to come and take a look."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Steward Deng started shouting again.
"Ninth Prince's Consort? You're the Ninth Prince's Consort? Your Jingzhao Prefecture is indeed a lackey of the Ninth Prince's Mansion!"
The clerk said urgently, "Steward Deng, be careful what you say. The Ninth Princess was specially invited by our lord to assist in the investigation. If you continue to show such contempt for the government, don't blame me for reporting to the lord and charging you with defamation."
Steward Deng pointed at the advisor, his face turning ashen with anger.
The atmosphere was tense, but Jiang Qingwan spoke calmly.
“Sir, now that we have constables, we must investigate cases. There’s no reason to turn away those who report crimes. As for Qin Run’s case, just tell me his location, and I’ll go there myself.”
The advisor was at a loss.
I could only nod.
After the constable told her the location of the dense forest, Jiang Qingwan led Qinghui and the others away.
After she left, the clerk said,
“Steward Deng, investigations require evidence, and we cannot rely on your word alone. Neither the constable nor I are qualified to convict anyone, much less to execute someone on the spot. I will gather all the evidence with the coroner, and once Lord Liu returns, we will immediately hold a public trial.”
Butler Deng had no objection to this.
"We all witnessed it with our own eyes, how could it be false? Are you afraid of our investigation?"
The crowd made a racket as they headed toward the main residence.
The news quickly reached Mo Qingrui's ears.
She was playing mahjong with someone and didn't believe it at all when she heard this.
"If Jiang Zhao has committed murder, I, the princess, will twist his head off and use it as a football. Stop listening to his nonsense and don't disturb my card game."
The servant boy who was supposed to deliver the message was sent outside by the maid.
She whispered anxiously, "I really saw the constables go to the chief physician's house, and that steward Deng even shouted that they had caught our Prince Consort."
The maid gave him a disdainful look.
"Master is the Prince Consort and the Vice Dean of the Imperial Academy. With our Princess protecting him, he will rise step by step and enjoy endless wealth and honor in this life. Why would he be so foolish as to kill someone? You must have misheard."
The servant shook his head.
"I heard it with my own ears, there's no way I could have misheard it."
The maid thought for a moment and pointed to the private room in the teahouse.
"The princess is in high spirits, so don't spoil her mood. Go to the main residence first and check it out. You can report back later if you're sure."
The servant immediately realized his point and turned to run away.
Meanwhile, Jiang Qingwan and the others quickly arrived at the edge of the dense forest.
At this moment, Liu Ruzhi was standing in front of Xiao Hong and Xiao Hua, trying her best to persuade them.
"My two divine beasts, please don't act rashly. Look at the corpses on the ground. If anything happens to you, how will I explain it to the Ninth Princess?"
Little Red arrogantly raised its fox head.
Clearly, they were quite unhappy that Liu Ruzhi compared them to the wild rabbits and pheasants on the ground.
Liu Ruzhi quickly tried to comfort her.
“I know that you two must have supernatural powers. If we accidentally kill the person inside, it will cause trouble for the Ninth Princess.”
He spoke until his throat was dry, and when he saw Jiang Qingwan get off the carriage, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He jogged over to meet her.
"Ninth Princess Consort, thank you for your trouble. I really have no other choice."
“Look at the corpses on the ground. It seems that all the wild rabbits and pheasants in the forest have been killed.”
Jiang Qingwan looked down at it twice.
The cause of death for those corpses was the same as that for the poultry carcasses outside the Jingzhao Prefecture government office.
The death was far more gruesome; not only were they drained of blood, but their limbs were also torn apart, a truly horrifying sight.
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