As Su Yan came down from the second floor, she saw Sun San grinning widely, leaning against the railing as if waiting for her. "Brother Su Yan, has Baldy Guo assigned the case to you again this time?"
Su Yan nodded. Ever since she first came to Chang'an and unexpectedly solved a cold case, Guo Huan would directly hand over any murder case to her, while he himself would wash his hands of it and go off to live a leisurely life.
Every time a case was solved, the credit went to him, while the blame fell on his subordinates; he was a very vivid and convincing official.
Fortunately, Su Yan didn't care about superficial things; as long as she could achieve her goal, that was enough.
As Su Yan went downstairs, she happened to see a constable handing something to Sun San, and guessed that there must be some progress in the case.
"how's it going?"
Sun San handed the box of face powder to Su Yan, saying, "Brother Su Yan, you guessed right. The murderer mixed phosphorus powder into the face powder. Luckily, the brothers have noses sharper than dogs, otherwise we really wouldn't have been able to smell it."
Where was the item found?
Sun San pointed to the backyard, "On the dressing table in the deceased's room."
Su Yan opened the box, and a strange, refreshing fragrance wafted out. It was fragrant but not cloying, and the scent seemed to come from a foreign region, rather than the Central Plains.
The fragrance was very strong and pungent, and Su Yan couldn't smell the unique scent of 'phosphorus powder', so she simply reached out, pinched a small amount of powder, and threw it into the air.
Dust fell from the sky, and the 'phosphorus powder' mixed in was like fireworks in the night, bursting into sparks in an instant, and disappearing like shooting stars.
Upon seeing this, Sun San exclaimed, "Holy crap... this thing is so weird, it looks like fireworks!"
Su Yan wiped her hands, which were covered in powder. "Tung oil and phosphorus powder are nowhere to be found on the market. These two things are not something that ordinary people can get their hands on. It seems that tracing their source will not be an easy task."
"So what do we do next?"
Su Yan thought for a moment. Tung oil and phosphorus powder would be difficult to trace, so she decided to start with the easier ones. "Let's investigate the deceased's interpersonal relationships first."
"Alright... I'll go find the madam of the brothel and ask her questions."
After saying that, Sun San turned to walk towards the second floor.
Su Yan quickly stopped him, "Lord Guo is interrogating Xin Yunniang alone, so he probably won't be able to get away for a while. Let's start by questioning the deceased's personal maid!"
Sun San knew Guo Huan's character, so he stopped in his tracks and turned around, saying, "I'll bring people over right away."
Yun Hua's personal maid was a young girl with childlike features, who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was not particularly beautiful, and her face was covered with freckles. Because she was so heartbroken, her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her bright eyes held a gaze like that of an eagle.
Despite facing a group of burly yamen runners, they showed no fear whatsoever.
"Your name is Yingliu?"
Yingliu nodded. "Yes, sir."
Where were you before the accident?
“I stayed by my young lady’s side until we went on stage.” Ying Liu couldn’t help but sob as she recalled the memory. “If I had known someone was trying to harm my young lady, I shouldn’t have let her go on stage.”
"Oh?" Su Yan raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that?"
"Sir, you don't think it was an accident, do you? As soon as my young lady had an accident, paper money was scattered all over the building. It's obvious that someone wanted to harm my young lady."
"Then who do you think is most likely to be the murderer of your young lady?"
Even if Yingliu was naive, she could understand the meaning behind Su Yan's words, so she changed the subject, "How could I know? When the fire started, the scene was chaotic, and I was standing at the scene and didn't see the murderer."
Su Yan hadn't expected this little girl to be so shrewd, not understanding at all. "Has your young lady ever had any grudges with anyone?"
Yingliu shook her head, "No... My young lady is aloof and never easily opens her heart to anyone, and she rarely offends anyone."
The deceased had a small social circle. Su Yan thought about this and then asked thoughtfully, "On the day of the incident, did you smell anything unusual?"
Phosphorus powder can mask the odor with exotic fragrances from the Western Regions, but tung oil soaked in clothes, even if it has been used to burn incense, cannot completely mask the odor, so how could the abnormality not be noticed?
Yingliu thought for a moment and then shook her head. "I didn't smell anything strange... but the face powder my young lady uses has a very unique and pleasant scent."
"Oh~" Su Yan raised an eyebrow. "Where does your young lady buy her face powder?"
"It wasn't bought; it was a gift from Miss's good friend, Lady Yunying, at the beginning of last month."
"Yun Ying? Who is that?"
"Miss Yunying and my young lady were both top courtesans at Wanhua Pavilion, but three years ago, Miss Yunying redeemed herself and left."
"How well do they get along?"
"Well... as an outsider, I can't really comment on our relationship, but my young lady visits Lady Yunying whenever she has free time."
Su Yan seemed to be thinking. She couldn't be completely certain that Yun Ying was the one who tampered with the perfume powder, since it happened last month and anyone could have done it during that time.
"Who else, besides you and her, is allowed into your young lady's room?"
“My young lady doesn’t like anyone entering her room. Besides me, the only people who can enter her room are Aunt Wang, who is in charge of cleaning and washing clothes, Madam Xu, who embroiders dance costumes, and Manager Xin. There is no one else.”
"Yun Ying never comes to the Wan Hua Lou?"
Yingliu nodded, "Back then, when Yunying left the shop, she offended Manager Xin, so Yunying never came to Wanhua Tower. Only my young lady often went to see her."
Hearing Yingliu say this, Su Yan's suspicion of Yun Ying lessened a bit. "Before your young lady had the accident, did those people you mentioned notice anything unusual, such as occasional deviations from their usual behavior?"
Yingliu frowned and thought for a moment, then shook her head at Su Yan, "No... For the past two weeks, I've been busy helping my young lady practice her dance for the courtesan competition, so I haven't paid much attention to the others."
Su Yan smiled at Ying Liu and didn't press further. "Alright, I've finished asking my questions. You can go now. I'll call you if I need anything."
"Yes, sir..."
As soon as Ying Liu left, Sun San rushed forward. He had just listened to Su Yan's interrogation and was completely confused.
"Why did you finish asking so quickly? Did you have any leads, Brother Su Yan?"
"Brother Sun, could you please check the names Yingliu mentioned earlier, and preferably find out who they've been in contact with recently?"
Sun Sanfang was still puzzled, but upon hearing Su Yan's words, he immediately understood, "You suspect it was an inside job?"
Su Yan did not refute Sun San's guess. Instead, she raised her head, craned her neck, and stared intently at a giant flower ball hanging in the sky above her. The yellow paper money scattered all over the floor of the Wan Hua Lou was falling from the flower ball.
"For something as important as building a stage, everyone would choose a trusted and long-term team of carpenters. If there were any new faces, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. Only the people from Wan Hua Lou could tamper with the flower balls without being easily detected."
"This murder was meticulously planned. I think it's more likely that it was committed by someone known to the victim. The maid just said that the deceased didn't like to interact with others, and only a few people knew about the deceased's recent situation. In my opinion, these few people are the most suspicious."
"Hmm... Brother Su Yan is right. I'll have the brothers investigate right away."
Although Guo Huan was absurd and incompetent, the county yamen runners and constables were still conscientious in their duties and quickly investigated and clarified the suspicions of Aunt Wang and the embroiderer Xu Cuiyun.
Aunt Wang was an illiterate country woman, kind and honest. Her whole family depended on her to work at the Wan Hua Lou brothel to make a living. She had no grudge against the deceased and had no reason to kill him.
Xu Cuiyun divorced three years ago and lived with her son and daughter at her parents' home. She was an excellent embroiderer, and many local gentry and wealthy people would patronize her business. However, she was extremely concerned about her reputation and her interactions with the deceased were always superficial. She never dared to make her relationship public and had no reason to kill him.
Before the county government could finish investigating the suspects, another murder occurred in Chang'an.
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