The boy hearing the news of his brother’s death, was completely stunned.
He abruptly shoved aside Li Quezi’s hand that was bandaging him, leapt off the bed, and desperately grabbed onto He Zheng’s arm. His face turned pale, and his mouth quivered, "You, what did you say? What happened to my brother?"
He Zheng replied bluntly: "I’ll take you to see."
He swiftly picked up the boy and left Li Quezi’s pharmacy.
Zhou Gu didn’t follow them, but looked at Li Quezi instead.
Li Quezi seemed to be stunned too. He walked briskly out of the pharmacy, repeatedly muttering, "How can this be possible?"
Despite his limp, he managed to move surprisingly fast. Following the shadow of He Zheng leading the boy, he too headed for the dark alley.
Feng Si was lying on the ground; before the coroner arrived, no one touched him.
The boy saw with his own eyes his brother lying on the ground, killed by a sword thrust to the throat. He let out a cry "Brother," and attempted to rush over. He Zheng restrained him, "Don’t touch him. We have to wait for the coroner to examine the body."
The word ’examination’ seemed to trigger the boy. He struggled against He Zheng, crying intensely, "Let me go, Bro, Bro!"
No matter how much the boy called out, Feng Si was dead, there would be no answer.
Zhou Gu didn’t stop He Zheng from holding back the boy. Seeing Feng Si’s corpse, Li Quezi turned pale and sat down on the ground, "He was fine just moments ago, and now, now he’s dead."
The coroner arrived very quickly. The imperial guards made way for him to perform the examination on the corpse.
The coroner who arrived was a renowned one from the capital city, with the surname Song and in his thirties. After carefully examining Feng Si’s body, he bowed to Zhou Gu and He Zheng, "Young Master Zhou, Commander He, this man was killed by a swift, thin sword, with one strike to the throat. His face shows no signs of surprise, which suggests he was caught off guard by someone he knew. There were no signs of a fight as well. Additionally, the perpetrator should be slightly taller than Feng Si. When wielding the sword, the level would be the neck, a precise lethal strike."
By this time, He Zheng had let go of the boy. The boy threw himself onto Feng Si’s body and began sobbing.
He Zheng looked towards Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu knew that once Song the coroner got involved, the examination would be thorough. He said to He Zheng, "Since it was someone he knew, let’s start investigating from the people he had contact with in his daily life, from his family members, to the Imperial Guards, and then to the acquaintances."
He Zheng nodded.
When the boy stopped crying, He Zheng squatted down and asked him, "Think carefully, someone who could lure your brother out just by calling for him must be someone your brother is familiar with. Has your brother mentioned anyone to you frequently?"
The boy’s eyes were red and swollen, his voice hoarse, "My brother often mentioned Commander He from the Imperial Guard, nobody else. My brother was on duty at the Imperial Guard and I was at school. We rarely had free time to chat. If it weren’t for my injured leg, my brother wouldn’t have taken leave."
He Zheng said, "I am the Commander He you mentioned. Your brother was involved in a case today. We came to question him, but he was killed before we found him. Clearly someone wanted to silence him. If you don’t want your brother’s death to be unjust, you should try to provide us with some clues so that we can track down the real murderer."
The boy clutched his head, unable to think clearly in face of the sudden tragedy — one moment his brother was carrying him for treatment and changing his bandages, and in the next, he lay dead before him. His mind went blank.
Zhou Gu said, "Let’s go. We should take him home first. As for Feng Si’s body..." That was supposed to go to the morgue, but since Song the coroner had already examined it, there was no need. "Let’s take it to his house as well."
Hopefully, Feng Si’s mother could withstand the devastating pain of burying her son before herself, and might provide some useful information.
The group returned to Feng Si’s home with Feng Si’s corpse. The old woman, already sick, fainted at the sight of her son’s dead body being carried in.
Li Quezi, who had followed them, treated the woman. After a while, she regained consciousness, devastated. Zhou Gu patiently waited for her to stop crying before questioning her.
The old woman shook her head, repeating what the boy had stated earlier. Because Feng Si was always respectful, he never burdened her with his matters. He only asked her to rest and recuperate, and never discussed anything else with her.
No useful information could be gathered from the helpless mother and brother.
He Zheng helplessly looked at Zhou Gu, "Young Master Zhou, the Emperor is waiting. What do you think we should do with this matter? Notify the Emperor first, or..."
Zhou Gu glanced at the sky and said, "It’s still early. Let’s split up. You go through the guards you command and see if anyone besides Feng Si was absent from duty today. Then look at those in the Imperial Guard whom Feng Si was close to in his daily life, see if any clues can be gathered. I’ll stay here to investigate everyone Feng Si was involved with and had contact within his daily life. Before dusk, let’s meet and go to the palace together."
He Zheng nodded, "That seems fine."
Zhou Gu stared at He Zheng again and added, "There must be many people who dream of replacing Commander He in your position, but I believe the Emperor trusts you and doesn’t wish to see you replaced. You understand what I mean, don’t you?"
He Zheng felt a chill and solemnly replied, "Fourth Young Master, rest assured. With such incidents happening in the Imperial Guard and people dying, I would never be so foolish to cover this up. That would be like playing with my own future."
Zhou Gu nodded, "I also believe in Commander He."
After He Zheng and his men left, Zhou Gu ordered Ziye, "Investigate. Apart from this courtyard, also question people around Li Quezi’s pharmacy. Before we go to find Feng Si, see if anyone has noticed any unusual activity around Li Quezi’s pharmacy. Don’t overlook anything, even the tiniest of clues, which could be useful."
Ziye acknowledged.
The two cases in the Capital City had kept both Rui’an King and Zhou Gu very busy. Despite involving Su Rong, the very person these cases concerned was rather relaxed.
After leaving the Princess Residence, Rui’an King didn’t immediately look for Su Rong. Instead, he went to the Jingzhao Prefecture, which he initially contacted when the incident first occurred. Thus, after being escorted back to his residence by Ye Guixue, Su Rong directly retired for an afternoon nap in his courtyard.
Upon returning to the Shen Residence from the Duke Residence, Su Xingze learned that Su Rong was napping, so he selected a book and sat in the drawing room to wait for her to wake up.
Su Rong slept for a long time. She didn’t wake up until almost evening. Walking out of her room, she saw Su Xingze sitting there. She rubbed her eyes, yawned, and greeted him, "Big Brother, when did you return?"
"I came back around noon," replied Su Xingze as he put down his book.
Su Rong scratched her head. So, he had come back shortly after she went to sleep? She sat down and poured herself a cup of tea, took a small sip and asked, "Did Mr. Zhao confess? Who was he working for?"
"He did confess," Su Xingze briefly explained the events of Zhou Gu’s interrogation and added that Zhou Gu had entered the palace.
Su Rong nodded and finished her tea before remarking, "With the Imperial Guard involved, this case might get more men killed. It won’t be easy to solve."
Su Xingze agreed, "Fen Ling has gone to gather more information."
Speaking of Fen Ling, he just returned and entered the room, reporting to them, "Master, Elder Young Master, guess what? The Emperor’s Imperial Guard has indeed found the man who went to see Mr. Zhao last night, his name is Feng Si. But by the time Zhou Gu and Commander He Zheng arrived, someone had already killed him. Right now, Zhou Gu and Commander He are still investigating. This will take several days, as the case has suddenly turned into a major one."
A case involving a murder and the Imperial Guard was naturally a big one.
On hearing this, Su Rong commanded, "Tell us more."
Fen Ling relayed all the details he had gathered, "The Fourth Young Master found a very precious medicinal herb from the residues of Feng Si’s mother’s medication. It’s an herb they could not have afforded with the little money Feng Si made. But Feng Si had been providing it for over a year now, even had spare money for his younger brother’s education. This clearly indicates he had another source of income. That’s what they’re investigating right now."
"What herb?"
"Gastrodia."
Su Rong nodded, "What about the Imperial Guard?"
Fen Ling replied, "They had a breakthrough too. He Zheng found out there were three guards on leave today. One of them is Ding Man, who usually gets along well with Feng Si. He was ordered by the deputy commander to go see a doctor due to severe stomach pain just before Zhou Gu brought Mr. Zhao and Zhao Fei to the palace. But he never actually went to see the doctor and his whereabouts are unknown. Looking at the timing, he might be the one who called Feng Si out and killed him."
Su Rong speculated, "To have been able to get the news as soon as Zhou Gu arrested Mr. Zhao and Zhao Fei, and then predict potential developments to silence Feng Si, this person must have been closely watching the Duke’s movements and be able to reach into the Imperial Guards. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to contact Ding Man immediately and ordered him to take action. He is very clever and rather capable."
Given the Emperor’s tight control, someone daring to lay hands on the Imperial Guards must have guts and be capable of getting close to the royal guards. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Su Rong asked Su Xingze, "Big brother, who could easily get close to the Imperial Guards?"
"The Princes, high-ranking officials above the third grade, and relatives of the Emperor could all have the possibility," replied Su Xingze.
Su Rong shrugged, "Well, that’s a wide range."
As Fen Ling mentioned, this case shouldn’t be expected to be solved within a few days.
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