Imperial Academy Murder Case
"Miss, get up quickly, Qingyun has brought some things."
Lanxin, still half asleep, rubbed her temples as Xiaoxi kept rocking her. She had tossed and turned all night, thinking that person was gone, but she didn't expect him to bring something the next day.
"Let's go take a look."
The two arrived at the front hall and saw a girl dressed in men's clothing standing behind Qingyun. Her hair was tied up high with a black jade hairpin and had no other decorations. She exuded a heroic and dashing air.
"Qingyun, what's this?"
Xu Lanxin stared intently at her, not only because of her men's attire, but also because of her strikingly beautiful, fox-like appearance.
But her eyes were cold, without a trace of allure, creating a stark contrast.
The face and eyes look quite disjointed when viewed in comparison.
"Qingyu, from now on she will serve by the young lady's side and protect her."
After Qingyun finished his introduction, he waved to the people behind him. Several servants carried a few small boxes, and a large box came forward from behind.
Qingyun instructed someone to open it, and earrings, gold hairpins, hair ornaments, and combs were neatly arranged on it.
She couldn't name many of the ancient jewelry pieces; she only had a general idea of what they were.
The servants brought over a larger box containing brocade garments, which looked to be made of similar fabric to what Xu Lanzhi usually wore.
It must be extremely valuable.
"This was prepared by the master for the young lady. Please have someone check and accept it. I need to report back to the master. I will take my leave now."
"Qingyun, wait a minute, did he have any message for you to pass on to me?"
Qingyun thought for a moment, looking somewhat conflicted, her brows furrowed, before finally speaking, "The master said, he said you shouldn't embarrass him when you go out."
Xu Lanxin's initially excited heart was extinguished by a bucket of cold water poured on it.
"Thank you, sir."
Is she not trying to take care of herself? Who told her to have a father who didn't love her, a mother who died young, and a wicked stepmother? It's a miracle she's even alive!
"Thank you, Qingyun. You can go back to your work now!"
On the way back to the courtyard with Xiao Xi and the newly joined Qingyu, Lan Xin suddenly stopped and looked at Xiao Xi: "Xiao Xi, don't you feel like something's missing today?"
Xiao Xi was completely confused and shook her head.
"Why isn't Feng Wanqing here today?"
It's really strange. In the past, she would have jumped out and made a scene.
“Miss, you were so absent-minded when you came back to your room yesterday that you fell asleep as soon as you lay down on the bed. When Master came back last night, he punished Madam and Second Miss, sending them to the small Buddhist hall to meditate for half a month.”
"This morning, I was thinking of telling you this good news, but you were asleep the whole time."
What's with this "quieting for half a month" nonsense? Who's this for? They'll probably be released in a couple of days.
Qingyu didn't utter a single word throughout the entire return to the hospital, leading Lanxin to believe that she had taken in a mute.
When she arrived at the small, dilapidated courtyard, her face was expressionless, and the disdain in her eyes was all too obvious.
"If you don't want to follow me, to avoid us getting tired of each other later, go back to your Lord Cen. Don't make it seem like I'm bullying you. My preferences are quite normal."
Qingyu knelt down and performed a deep bow: "Miss, I have no right to refuse you. I will be yours from now on. If you do not want me, I will kill myself immediately."
The disgust in her eyes was replaced by fear, and it was unclear what she was thinking.
"Alright, Xiao Xi, take her to get acquainted with the place, and don't bother me."
Now that Feng Wanqing is under house arrest, she can take this opportunity to find Li Mama, who works for her mother.
We really should thank that person for bringing us this timely help. That bluefish looks like it's a skilled fighter; it will make things much easier for us to run errands from now on.
In the Shaoqing Hall of the Dali Temple, Qingyun hurriedly walked in, his steps slightly more hurried than usual, and his expression solemn.
"What is it?"
Cen Yan looked up from the case file and looked at the person who had come.
"My lord, a murder has occurred at the Imperial Academy."
After putting down the file, Cen Yan stared at him and gestured for him to continue.
"The deceased student was named Li Sheng. There are three suspects: Liu Jin, the second son of the Duke of Junguo; Yang Xuanzhi, the illegitimate son of the Vice Minister of Revenue; and Lan Shuhe, the illegitimate son of the Vice Minister of Works. Li Sheng was often bullied and beaten by these three men before his death."
"He was found floating on the lake near the Imperial Academy at Chenshi (7-9 AM), with obvious signs of beatings on his body."
"Witnesses can be found."
Qingyun shook his head.
Nobody dares to get involved in this mess.
"Let's wait until the coroner finishes examining the body before we look at it. You can go now!"
He picked up the case file, glanced at it, seemed to remember something, and saw Qingyun about to walk out the door.
"Did she send a message when she came back?"
Qingyun shook his head again in response, then said uncertainly, "The young lady said she thanked you, sir."
"You said it to me?" Cen Yan frowned, sensing something was off about the tone of the voice, and gestured for him to leave first.
The next day, Xu Lanxin took Xiaoxi and Qingyu out the door. She had spent half the night drawing blueprints for anatomical tools and needed to make them as soon as possible.
As the saying goes, "A skilled craftsman must first have the right tools."
With the bluefish, Xu Lanxin quickly found the best blacksmith shop in the capital.
After her explanation of the blueprints and her verbal description, the old blacksmith quickly understood and agreed to pick up the goods on the 15th.
The three of them left the blacksmith shop, and Lanxin tentatively asked, "Qingyu, you follow your master, so you must have a lot of connections!"
"Can you help me find someone?"
"Please speak, young lady!"
"My mother's maid, Li Mama, was kicked out of the manor by Feng Wanqing ten years ago. Qingyu, this person is very important to me, I have to find her!"
This mother's dowry must be retrieved. As the daughter of the richest man in Jiangnan, she certainly won't be stingy with it. It will be her private property in the future. No matter what, having money in hand will give her peace of mind.
"Yes, young lady!"
I got two things done today, and I'm in a good mood.
"Let's go back and make some barbecue skewers!"
"What are these skewers, girl?" Xiao Xi asked, full of curiosity.
Oh dear, I got too excited and forgot.
"It's just roasted meat, I just saw it called that in a storybook!"
"Young lady, when will we have some storybooks?"
Xu Lanxin was momentarily stumped by the question. The original owner of this body was so well-behaved and probably wouldn't read storybooks!
"Ah, last time I was at Lord Cen's place, while waiting for him, I casually flipped through his things."
"When did you leave, young lady? I don't remember at all."
"Da!" Lanxin directly tapped Xiaoxi's credit limit.
"How can someone so young have such a bad memory? Just like last time!"
Xiao Xi touched her forehead, a little stunned: "However, I didn't expect that the cold, fair and strict Lord Cen would actually read storybooks."
My apologies, my apologies! I hope Cen Yan doesn't hear this! Otherwise, I'll really be crawling on the ground.
While praying, Xu Lanxin forgot that there was a perfectly legitimate undercover agent right beside her.
At midnight, the night watchman struck his gong and clapper; it was the third watch of the night, and tonight there was no moon, so it was relatively dark.
The blue fish, dressed in black, darted through the night and arrived at a courtyard in the residence of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
A series of coded sounds, one for each company, rang out from the window frame.
Only when the person inside called "Come in" did Qingyu open the window and jump inside.
"master!"
"Hmm, is something wrong with her?"
Cen Yan stopped writing and placed the brush on the inkstone.
"The young lady asked me to help her find Granny Li, who works for her mother."
After saying that, he took out a few sheets of paper from his pocket and laid them flat on Cen Yan's desk.
"Today, the young lady took me to the blacksmith's shop and asked him to make these things on paper. Master, these papers were drawn by the young lady. A young lady from a secluded family, she doesn't do needlework, but only draws props."
Cen Yan's eyes gradually turned cold, devoid of any human warmth, and he looked at Qingyu as if she were a dead man.
She immediately knelt down, goosebumps rising on her back, and her hands clenched nervously.
"This will not happen again. Go and accept your punishment!"
Cen Yan stopped looking at her and picked up the painting of the bluefish that was being copied on the table.
The props on these seem to be for the purpose of a coroner, but they also seem to be different.
Xu Lanxin, who exactly are you?
"Why aren't you coming down yet?"
She was still kneeling on the ground.
"My master has spoken about the young lady's matter, and every word must be detailed. I haven't finished speaking yet."
"explain."
"The girl and her maid said they read a storybook here, and in the storybook, roasted meat was called 'kebabs'."
So Qingyu recounted their entire conversation without missing a single word.
Upon hearing this, Cen Yan not only wasn't angry, but instead smiled wickedly.
Qingyu's eyes widened in surprise. This person who could make her master laugh must have some skill.
She had never seen him smile since she started serving him.
"Go down!"
This time, Qingyu went straight out, nodded to Qingyun, and disappeared into the night.
Cen Yan stared at the blueprints in his hand, Qingyu's words echoing in his mind, and a smile deepened on his lips.
When Qingyun went in, he saw his master smiling the whole time. It was unbelievable! Miss Xu was really amazing!
After pondering the matter, Cen Yan composed himself and instructed Qingyun to send someone to find the person.
After he left, Cen Yan put the blueprints into a small box. She thought married life would be very interesting; she was really looking forward to it!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com