"Then I pushed the door open, but it wouldn't open; it was locked from the inside, so I kicked it open. When the door opened, I saw Miss Li standing there, holding a bloodstained dagger, her eyes closed as if she was terrified. Then I ran to the window. There was no one suspicious below, but there were footprints on the window."
The head constable then asked, "How can the princess be so sure there are no suspicious people on the street downstairs?"
Gu Xin pointed at Bai Er: "My bodyguard didn't come upstairs with me. He was waiting for me across the street. I asked him, and he said he didn't see anyone jump out of the window. Of course, whether they jumped out before I arrived, I don't know."
Officer Gao clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your cooperation, Princess."
Gu Xin nodded.
Officer Gao then looked at Li Yuyan: "May I ask why Miss Li is here? Did you know the deceased?"
Li Yuyan said tremblingly, "I had arranged to have tea here with Miss Jiang and Miss Lu. After entering the room, only Miss Jiang's maid, Xiao Cui, was there—that is, the deceased. Xiao Cui said that Miss Jiang and Miss Lu would be here soon and asked me to wait. Then I sat down to drink tea, and then, and then..."
Officer Gao patiently looked at Li Yuyan.
Li Yuyan squatted down and cried, "I don't know, I don't know why the dagger was in my hand. I didn't kill anyone, I didn't kill anyone."
Li Yuyan had broken down and was crying uncontrollably.
The head constable ordered someone to watch over Li Yuyan and her maid, and also sent someone to invite Lu Ni and Jiang Hong and to inform the people in the Li family. He also ordered someone to guard the door of the room.
While waiting for the prefect, Lu Ni, and Jiang Hong, he began questioning the innkeeper, the waiter, and the few customers in the teahouse.
The shopkeeper said that only the deceased Xiao Cui had come to the teahouse today. Lu Ni and Jiang Hong had never come. Xiao Cui came alone.
When Xiao Cui arrived, there were no customers downstairs yet; she had arrived quite early.
Downstairs, the customers were all seated in groups of at least two, and no one came alone to drink tea. As for the manager, the waiters, and the kitchen staff, they were all doing the same work they did every day, just like usual.
While Officer Gao was questioning people, Gu Xin idly glanced at Li Yuyan, who was leaning against a maid and seemed emotionally unstable.
She suddenly realized that she seemed to have evidence that Li Yuyan was not the killer! She just didn't know if this evidence was correct, since she had never been to a murder scene before and had mostly only read Gu Ren's stories.
She thought for a moment and decided to verify it. So she got up and walked up to Officer Gao: "Officer Gao, may I go upstairs to take a look at the scene?"
Officer Gao looked at Gu Xin in surprise.
As expected of Princess Xin Xin, who had fought countless enemies in the Western Lands, she dared to go and see the dead and remained so calm. If it were any other girl, she would have been trembling with fear long ago.
Gu Xin thought he disagreed, so she explained, "I won't touch anything inside. I'll go in alone. You can have someone watch over me."
Officer Gao snapped out of his daze and nodded: "Yes, Princess, you may go."
Gu Xin asked Dong Xue to stay downstairs with Li Yuyan, then took Bai Er upstairs and went to the crime scene.
She went in alone, leaving Bai Er and the guards at the door to watch over her. She absolutely refused to touch anything inside.
She walked around the deceased, becoming increasingly certain of her guess.
The person wasn't killed by Li Yuyan; it must have been someone else who killed him and then put the dagger in Li Yuyan's hand. Also, there must have been something wrong with the tea that Li Yuyan drank.
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