Gu Xin quickly ran towards the source of the sound. In the innermost private room, the door was tightly locked, but she kicked it open.
Inside the house, Li Yuyan was holding a bloodstained dagger, screaming with her eyes closed. In front of her lay a girl dressed as a maid, surrounded by blood. With such a large amount of blood loss, there was almost no chance of survival. The window facing the street was open.
"Dongxue, keep watch and don't let anyone in!" Gu Xin instructed before running to the window, leaving a footprint there.
Looking out the window, there was no one who seemed out of place.
Gu Xin spotted Bai Er leaning against the wall across the street and called out to him, "Bai Er, come here!"
Bai Er walked over.
"Did you see anyone jump out of the window?" Gu Xin asked.
"No." Bai Er shook his head. "Third Miss, has something happened?"
"Tell the shopkeeper to go to the yamen to report a case; someone has died here," Gu Xin said.
Bai Er was startled. He went into the teahouse, said a few words to the manager, and then went upstairs.
Someone has already died; he can't possibly leave the Third Miss here alone.
"Gu, Gu Xin, oh no, Princess Xin Xin, I, I..." Li Yuyan was too frightened to speak, still holding the dagger in her hand.
Just then, the waiter tried to come in, but Dongxue stopped him.
Gu Xin ignored Li Yuyan, walked to the door, and took out her token: "I am Princess Gu Xin, the protector of the country. Now, except for cases involving murder, tell the manager to close the door. No one in the teahouse, whether customers or staff, is allowed to leave!"
Xiao Er was so frightened that he nodded repeatedly, turned around and ran towards the stairs, but he tripped and fell. Bai Er, who was going upstairs, helped him up.
"Third Miss, who died?" Bai Er walked in, looked at the situation in the room, and frowned.
"I don't know." Gu Xin shook her head and didn't touch the lying corpse.
She had read it in Gu Ren's storybook: in any murder case, the scene must not be disturbed.
"Miss Li, who is this? Did you kill him?" Gu Xin turned to look at the bewildered Li Yuyan.
"No, no." Li Yuyan was so frightened that she dropped the dagger and ran to Gu Xin. "Princess Xin Xin, no, I didn't, it wasn't me, it wasn't me."
"Don't panic." Gu Xin grabbed her wrist and asked, "Who is that person on the ground?"
“It was Xiao Cui, Jiang Hong’s maid.” Li Yuyan, having been grabbed by Gu Xin, calmed down a little and said, “I was invited to the teahouse by Lu Ni and Jiang Hong. After I came up, only Xiao Cui was there. Then I was thirsty and drank some tea. And then, I don’t know why I was holding a dagger, or why Xiao Cui died. Really, Princess Xin Xin, I really didn’t kill anyone.”
“I’m not the one who judges cases, so there’s no point in you talking to me,” Gu Xin said.
Just then, there was a commotion outside; the head constable of the Jingzhao Prefecture arrived with his yamen runners.
"Greetings, Princess Xin Xin!" Since almost everyone in the Jingzhao Prefecture knew Gu Xin from the case of the flower sellers on the Lantern Festival, Officer Gao bowed to her upon arrival.
"Yes. Officer Gao, I was the only one who went into this room just now. I didn't touch the deceased or anything else in the room," Gu Xin nodded and said.
Officer Gao entered the house and looked around, then asked Gu Xin, "Princess Xin Xin, please forgive my intrusion, but may I ask why you are here, and what happened when you entered?"
Gu Xin said, "I came here with my maid for tea. As soon as I went upstairs, I heard screams coming from this room."
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