Su Yan has been afraid of dogs since she was a child. Whenever she sees several dogs running around her feet, she gets so scared that she freezes in place and doesn't dare to move.
Seeing Shen Yao walking further and further away, Su Yan shouted loudly to stop the person in front of her, "Lord Shen, save me..."
Hearing the noise, Shen Yao turned around and saw that Su Yan's face was deathly pale. When he saw the dogs wandering around her feet, Shen Yao instantly understood.
"You're afraid of dogs?" Shen Yao was quite surprised.
Su Yan nodded with a long face, "Help me chase the dog away..."
Seeing this, Shen Yao laughed and shooed the dog away, then casually opened his hand, "I'll lead you by the hand, so you're closer to me and the dog won't dare come near you..."
Su Yan felt strange about holding hands in broad daylight, especially with two men, but out of fear, she still placed her hand in Shen Yao's, a blush rising on her face.
This was the first time in Shen Yao's life that he had held someone else's hand. He felt a warm touch on his fingertips, and the feel was better than he had imagined.
Su Yan's hands were soft and smooth, like a woman's, but Shen Yao didn't feel anything else and didn't dislike Su Yan's approach.
Putting everything else aside, once they got closer to Shen Yao, the surrounding dogs seemed to be afraid of him and kept their distance, but they still didn't leave.
The further you go in, the more desolate it becomes.
Su Yan couldn't understand why that person would come to the alley.
Could it be... that the body was dumped?
The thought suddenly popped into her mind, and Su Yan urged Shen Yao to pay attention to the surrounding environment.
"Lord Shen, please pay close attention to places where flies gather and there is a foul odor."
Soon, the two reached the end of the alley, a dead end blocked by a brick wall, but they still found nothing.
Aside from the increasing number of dogs along the way, nothing suspicious was found.
Perhaps I'm overthinking it?
Soon, Su Yan noticed something was amiss.
Logically speaking, stray dogs should have a strong sense of territory, but since she came in, instead of driving her away, she has been very docile, waiting patiently for food.
If people didn't feed them, the stray dogs wouldn't let their guard down around humans.
"Lord Shen, perhaps I know why that person came here?"
Shen Yao stared at the wall in front of him, still troubled, and didn't immediately understand what Su Yan meant.
"Why?"
"This might be bad news..."
"What do you mean?" Shen Yao was completely confused by Su Yan's words.
Su Yan pointed to the dogs that had been following them. "These dogs are filthy and obviously not domesticated. They also don't look like they're often hungry, so it's very likely that someone has fed them."
"It's just that someone feeds them, what does that prove?"
"Lord Shen, if you were the murderer, how would you choose to insult the deceased?"
Shen Yao thought about it carefully, but couldn't think of any way to insult the dead.
Seeing Shen Yao's troubled expression, Su Yan couldn't help but smile, "Lord Shen, if I were the murderer, I would choose to feed the dismembered body to the dogs..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yao felt that Su Yan's words made a lot of sense; what could be more insulting than feeding dogs?
However, having not found any human remains along the way, Shen Yao felt that Su Yan's guess was not very accurate.
The alley was very narrow, only wide enough for two people to pass side by side. If a body had really been dumped here, there would have been a lot of traces.
"But this is just speculation. Let's go back to the government office and find the person in the portrait first..."
"You don't believe me, sir?"
Shen Yao nodded.
Su Yan smiled calmly, keeping Shen Yao in suspense, "Don't worry, my lord, I will soon prove it to you."
After saying that, Su Yan ran out of the alley and got a piece of braised pork bone from somewhere, which she threw in front of several dogs.
Soon, the dogs started fighting over the bone, and Su Yan quickly hid behind Shen Yao, silently watching from the sidelines.
They were left to fight over the food. About half an hour later, the braised pork bone was snatched away by one of the slightly larger dogs and ran out of the alley.
Seeing this, Su Yan hurriedly urged Shen Yao, "My lord, hurry and follow that dog..."
The big dog ran very fast and disappeared in no time. Shen Yao immediately chased after it.
Su Yan's health was already poor, and after chasing for a short while, she was so tired that she couldn't catch her breath. It seems that she should put the plan to buy medicine to nourish her body on the agenda as soon as possible.
Soon, Su Yan lost track of them and returned to the original location of the teahouse.
As soon as the teahouse owner saw Su Yan, he immediately and warmly served her tea and water, "Sir, please have some water..."
Su Yan sat down, looked at the teacup the shopkeeper handed her, and asked, "Does this cost money?"
The teahouse owner immediately shook his head, "It's free, a free gift..."
Hearing the teahouse owner say it himself, Su Yan accepted the teacup with peace of mind and started gulping it down.
While fanning Su Yan, the teahouse owner asked with a gossipy look on his face, "Sir, what exactly happened around here? Yesterday, an official led a group of people to search around."
It makes sense, considering the dismembered body was found outside the city, and given the high profile of the case, the news has essentially been kept under wraps.
Su Yan naturally wouldn't tell the teahouse owner the truth, so she made up a reason: "We're investigating the 'carefree swordsman' who's been making headlines lately. We found out he's been hanging around here recently, so we came to check it out."
"But I heard that there was a dismemberment case in Chang'an. It seems to have happened in the city. Could it be that the dismemberment was transported out from here?"
Su Yan was taken aback for a moment. She hadn't expected the teahouse owner to know about this. Her expression quickly returned to calm and composure. "If there really is a dismemberment case, how could it be our turn to take it over? The higher-ups would definitely send someone over."
"That gentleman who came with you earlier, I think he was the county magistrate?"
Su Yan nodded. "A sixth-rank official is nothing compared to the sixth-rank officials that Chang'an has no shortage of."
Whether it was to avoid the princess for Jingning's sake or for some other reason, after returning to Chang'an, Shen Yao did not return to the Imperial Guard. Instead, he went from acting to becoming the official county magistrate.
"That's true..."
As soon as the teahouse owner finished speaking, Shen Yao emerged from another location.
He waved to Su Yan, signaling her to come over.
Upon seeing this, Su Yan immediately put down her teacup. "Boss, thank you for the tea..."
After saying that, Su Yan ran towards Shen Yao.
"My lord, how is it?"
"Found it..."
After saying that, he led Su Yan toward the tree where the wild dogs buried their bones.
Before they even arrived, Su Yan told Shen Yao about her affair with the teahouse owner.
"Sir, besides Wu Tiezhu and the government officials, were there any other people present at the scene yesterday?"
Shen Yao thought back for a moment. He remembered that the body was discovered outside the city, and there weren't many pedestrians on the road at the time. "No..."
"That means that apart from the people who were present that day, no one else knows about the dismemberment case."
Shen Yao nodded. "That's right, I haven't reported the case to my superiors yet..."
Su Yan seemed thoughtful, "That's strange..."
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