Chapter 147: Many Doubts
"Sir..." The leading officer who had just replied seemed to have noticed something and spoke hesitantly, "The footprints on the ground are a bit messy, but apart from ours, there seems to be only shallow footprints heading this way, and the footprints leaving are not very obvious..."
Pei Ji suddenly raised his head and looked at the official, his eyes as sharp as a knife: "Speak clearly!"
The officer was frightened by Pei Ji's eyes and hurriedly looked more carefully. Someone next to him also came closer with a torch to provide illumination.
"Look, sir," the officer pointed at the muddy ground. "Although the rain has almost washed away the footprints that led us here, if you look closely, you can still make out the tip of the shoe pointing here. But aside from ours, there don't seem to be any clear footprints leaving. Could it be that the thief took flight? Or... did he deliberately cover up his departure after he was done with it?"
Xie Wuqi's heart moved. Yes!
If someone kidnapped Luo Zhaohan, or killed her and dumped her body, there should be footprints, right? This place is so muddy, even if it rains, it's impossible to completely erase all traces, unless that person is very skilled in light martial arts and can't even touch the ground? Or...
A bolder thought flashed through Xie Wuqi's mind: Perhaps no one had left at all? Had these clothes been deliberately thrown here to create the illusion that Luo Zhaohan had been murdered?
He looked at Pei Ji again, only to see that Pei Ji had stood up. He looked around the dirty alley, his eyes scanning every corner like an eagle.
"Search carefully." Pei Ji's voice returned to its previous coldness, even colder, with a commanding tone, "Use this place as the center and expand the search outward. Corners, eaves, gutters, any place where clues may be hidden, don't miss it. Focus on searching..."
He paused, his voice lowered, "Are there any drag marks, or footprints that don't belong here, especially female footprints?"
"A woman's footprints?" The leading officer was stunned.
Xie Wuqi's eyelids also twitched. What did Pei Ji mean by this?
Pei Ji did not explain.
"Do as you are told." He spat out two words coldly.
"Yes!" Although the officers were full of doubts, they did not dare to ask more questions. They immediately dispersed and searched more carefully.
Xie Wuqi was completely confused now. He rubbed against Pei Ji and nudged him with his elbow: "Hey, Pei Ji, what are you doing? Did you discover something? Tell me quickly!"
Pei Ji glanced at him sideways, and raindrops dripped down his well-defined jawline.
His eyes were still deep, but there seemed to be something more in them than before.
"Xie Wuqi," he suddenly asked a seemingly irrelevant question, "What kind of person do you think Luo Zhaohan is?"
"Huh?" Xie Wuqi was stunned by the nonsensical question and scratched his head. "She was like that when she was little, a taciturn person, very timid, and could even be frightened to tears by a caterpillar. She has so many rules and is so boring. Hey, why are you asking this?"
He suddenly realized, "Is this related to her disappearance?"
Pei Ji's gaze returned to the deep alley on the rainy night. His voice was so soft that it seemed as if he was talking to himself, but with a sense of certainty:
"Maybe we're all wrong."
"What did you think wrong?" Xie Wuqi asked.
Pei Ji did not answer any more, but narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he wanted to see through the heavy rain and see the truth of something that was happening or had happened.
"Let's go." After a while, he suddenly said.
"Go? Where to?" Xie Wuqi was even more confused.
"Let's go back to Dali Temple." Pei Ji turned around. "We've left enough clues here. Next, it's time to meet other insiders."
Xie Wuqi felt an itch in his heart. He felt that Pei Ji must have a surprising guess in his mind, and this guess might completely overturn their first impression when they saw all this just now.
This case seemed to be much more interesting than he had imagined!
Moreover, Pei Ji was clearly acquiescing and even somewhat happy to get involved? The sun was rising from the west?
Xie Wuqi suddenly became energetic, all his laziness was swept away, and he followed Pei Ji's footsteps happily.
"Hey, Pei Ji, wait for me! Tell me, what's going on? Who do you suspect? Is it someone from the Luo family? Or..."
The rain is still falling.
Pei Ji didn't stop, and even walked faster. The hem of his dark official robe swept across the wet flagstones, splashing tiny drops of water. Xie Wuqi hurriedly followed, his mouth still busy.
"Hey, why don't you say something? Why are you pretending to be so profound? Do you think that pile of clothes was a cover-up? Luo Zhaohan wasn't murdered at all? She ran away on her own?"
Pei Ji suddenly stopped and turned his head.
Raindrops hung on his long eyelashes, making his bottomless eyes look even colder.
"Xie Wuqi," he said in a low voice, almost drowned out by the sound of rain, "When did you become so talkative?"
"I'm just anxious!" Xie Wuqi said confidently, "Besides, who are we to each other? We're only friends if we wear open-crotch pants! If you find anything, why not tell me? I promise I won't tell anyone!"
He held up three fingers and pretended to swear, although it didn't look sincere at all.
Pei Ji stared at him for two seconds, his eyes like he was evaluating a troublesome piece of evidence. Finally, he seemed to weigh the pros and cons, deciding that letting this sticky person blindly guess might be worse, so he uttered a very brief sentence: "The bloodstains are wrong."
"Ah? What's wrong with the bloodstain?" Xie Wuqi immediately moved closer, his eyes shining.
"The color and shape." Pei Ji said briefly, clearly not wanting to linger any longer. "It's more like animal blood deliberately smeared on, rather than human blood splattered or flowing. The tear marks are also too deliberate, like they were cut with a sharp weapon, rather than torn apart by a struggle."
Xie Wuqi suddenly realized and slapped his thigh: "That's right! I told you! It looks scary, but I feel like something is amiss! Master Pei must have a sharp eye!"
He chuckled twice, then frowned again, "But that doesn't make sense. If she ran away on her own, why did she pull this stunt? Doesn't she want to marry you?"
After he said that, he subconsciously shrank his neck, ready to face Pei Ji's cold eyes or even fists.
After all, saying in front of the fiancé that his fiancée would rather fake her death and run away than get married is a blatant slap in the face.
Pei Ji's reaction was once again beyond his expectations. This Lord Pei's eyes darkened, and the corners of his mouth seemed to curl up a very faint arc, and then he returned to his thousand-year-old icy expression.
"Maybe." He replied indifferently, turned around and continued walking forward. "So, we need to ask the people around her."
Xie Wuqi stood there in a daze and blinked twice.
What's going on? Isn't Pei Ji's reaction too calm? His fiancée is so disgusted with him that she's about to run away, and he's not angry at all? Doesn't he feel embarrassed?
Or...he already knew it? Or, he just didn't care?
Xie Wuqi felt like his brain wasn't working anymore. There had to be something fishy going on between these two! And it was a big fishy thing!
He quickly chased after her again, this time with even more questions: "That's not right, Pei Ji. Even if she ran away on her own, how could she, a young lady from a secluded place, get animal blood? And how could she tear her clothes into pieces and throw them into the trash? Does she have the strength? Does she have the brains? And how did she avoid the eyes of so many servants in the mansion? There must be an accomplice, right? Who is it? Do you have a suspect? Is it the maid who reported the crime?"
Pei Ji frowned because of his noise, but he did not slow down at all.
The two of them walked out of the dark and damp alley quickly, one in front and one behind, and returned to the carriage parked at the side door of Luo Mansion.
When the driver saw them coming out, he quickly put down his footstool.
Pei Ji was the first to board the carriage. He bent down before getting into the carriage and finally turned back to look at Xie Wuqi. His eyes were filled with obvious expulsion: "Young Marquis, it is not convenient for me to accompany you on the rest of the journey. Please go back."
"No!" Xie Wuqi grabbed the car door and refused to let go. "Look at this long night, with wind and rain. How boring it would be for me to go back alone? Besides, investigating the case and catching the accomplice is so exciting. What's wrong with taking me along? I promise I won't cause any trouble! I can even be your bodyguard! What if that accomplice is a vicious criminal?"
Pei Ji looked at his shameless appearance and his forehead seemed to twitch.
He looked at Xie Wuqi silently for a few seconds. Just when Xie Wuqi thought he was going to use force to kick him down, he suddenly relaxed, moved further into the carriage and made room.
"Come up."
"Okay!" Xie Wuqi was overjoyed. He slipped in quickly and sat down opposite Pei Ji. He did not forget to brush off the water droplets on his body, which splashed all over Pei Ji.
Pei Ji: “…”
He silently took out a handkerchief and wiped the water stains on his face, his eyes cold enough to freeze someone to death.
The carriage started slowly, rolling over the flooded ground, making a gurgling sound.
For a moment, the only sounds in the car were the patter of raindrops hitting the roof and the slightly eerie silence between the two men.
Xie Wuqi is a man who can't sit still and can't be quiet for a moment.
He looked at Pei Ji, who was resting with his eyes closed, and couldn't help but speak again: "Hey, are we going to the Dali Temple Prison now? You want to interrogate the maid who reported the case?"
Pei Ji didn't even open his eyes, only making a vague sound from his nose: "Hmm."
"You suspect her?" Xie Wuqi became excited. "I told you! There's something fishy about that little girl! She was crying when she reported to the police, maybe she was just pretending! She must be an accomplice!"
"Evidence." Pei Ji opened his thin lips and uttered two words.
"Uh..." Xie Wuqi was stuck and scratched his head. "Isn't it the way to find evidence? Wait a minute, let me help you analyze it! You see, she is Luo Zhaohan's personal maid. She knows Luo Zhaohan's living habits best and can enter and leave her room freely. It would be easiest for her to get some animal blood, tear up her clothes, etc.!
And if she reports to the police, saying the young lady is missing and there are signs of a struggle in the room, it will just lead our attention to the murder. Who would even think that she ran away on her own? What a perfect plan!"
He spoke very logically, and the more he spoke, the more he felt that he was right.
Pei Ji finally opened his eyes and looked at him. It was hard to tell whether the look in his eyes was one of approval or speechlessness.
"It makes sense, but it's still speculation." Pei Ji said calmly, "Why did Luo Zhaohan run away? Why did the maid help her? What was her motive? All of this needs to be clarified."
"I don't want to marry you!" Xie Wuqi blurted out, then immediately covered his mouth and looked at Pei Ji's face carefully.
There was still no expression on Pei Ji's face, but his eyes were a little more serious.
He turned his eyes away and looked at the street scene outside the window which was constantly blurred by the rain.
"Maybe." He said these two words again. They sounded light and airy, but inexplicably made people feel a little bitter.
Xie Wuqi's gossip fire flared up. He leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Pei Ji, tell me the truth. Are you and Luo Zhaohan not on good terms? Does she have someone she likes? That's why..."
"Xie Wuqi." Pei Ji interrupted him, his voice filled with warning, "Investigating a case requires evidence, not conjecture."
"I'm helping you broaden your thinking!"
Xie Wuqi curled his lips and sat back down, but after being quiet for only two seconds, he couldn't help but mutter, "But then again, Luo Zhaohan looked so dull when she was little, but she turned out to be so smart when she grew up? She actually figured out how to fake her own death and run away? And she even dared to use animal blood. Isn't she afraid of the dark? Isn't she afraid of rats? The back alley is so dirty..."
He kept talking on and on.
Pei Ji listened to his muttering and closed his eyes again, but his fingers tapped his knees unconsciously, showing that his heart was not as calm as he seemed.
He also tried to connect the gentle and obedient fiancée in his memory with the suspicious scene tonight.
Is it really her?
Does she really have the courage and intelligence to do this?
If it was really her, why would she do this?
Just because you don't want to marry him?
When the carriage stopped at the gate of Dali Temple, the rain had eased a little, but the sky was still as dark as ink.
Pei Ji got off the car first, followed closely by Xie Wuqi.
When the guards at the gate of Dali Temple saw Pei Ji, they hurriedly saluted. Then they saw Young Marquis Xie following behind him, and a look of surprise appeared on their faces, but no one dared to ask more questions.
Pei Ji walked straight towards the prison.
In the dark and damp corridor, only the oil lamps hanging at intervals on the wall emitted dim light, and the air was filled with a faint smell of mold and oppression.
Although Xie Wuqi was fearless, he still felt a little nervous about entering such a place and unconsciously leaned closer to Pei Ji.
"Pei Ji, the environment in your Dali Temple Prison is not very good." He made small talk.
Pei Ji ignored him and walked to the door of an interrogation room. He ordered the jailer standing outside: "Bring Luo Zhaohan's maid here."
"Yes, sir." The jailer took the order and left.
Soon, a little maidservant, wearing a lotus-colored maid's uniform and with eyes red and swollen from crying, was brought in. As soon as she saw Pei Ji sitting behind the interrogation table, she fell to her knees with a plop, her voice filled with tears: "Sir! Sir, please spare me! I know nothing! The young lady must have been murdered by a villain! Please, sir, help the young lady!"
Xie Wuqi leaned against the door with his arms folded, looking at the little maid.
She was young, about fifteen or sixteen, and had a pretty face. Her face was pale with fear, and she looked truly pitiful. But he hadn't forgotten his speculation: this girl might actually be a talented actress.
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