Chapter 397 Even the most meticulous plans can have flaws.
"Brother, are you hungry?"
I'm not hungry.
"Here, brother, have some water." The girl's soft, slightly dialectal voice rang out again.
"Um, actually I'm not thirsty. Okay, thanks, Aqing." She took the drink, took a sip, paused, and said:
"Aqing, don't bother. I'll just sit for a bit and then leave. I have something to take care of. It's not time yet, so I'll take a good look at you all."
"good."
After a moment, Ouyang Rong's helpless voice rang out from inside the room:
"No need to move the heater, it's not too cold. I just got here and I'm still warm. Wait, this stove is covered in so much ash. How long has it been under the bed? Is it part of the meal service?"
“When I was bedridden in Sanhui Hospital, I didn’t find this thing. Ah Qing, how did you find it?”
"I don't know how long ago it was," Aqing said softly. "I saw it when I moved in and was cleaning. The day before yesterday, the old abbot brought over some charcoal. I burned some to try it out, but I've never used it."
"No need to bother, I'll be right there... Okay, you guys need it too, right? Then move aside, I'll do it. This brass thing is quite heavy, not easy to move. You're not even as big as it, move aside..."
After a flurry of activity, a fire was lit in the stove inside the house.
Ouyang Rong patted the dust off his hands, let out a long breath, took the damp towel handed to him by A Qing, wiped the ash and carbon residue off his face, and then wiped his hands.
He looked around and asked:
"Is there any hard labor that needs to be done? Oh, and is there anything else the family needs? I'll bring it over when I'm done..."
He kept rambling on and on, while the pretty young girl in front of him tilted her head and listened quietly, not finding his rambling annoying, and wrung out a towel for him.
A moment later, halfway through his speech, Ouyang Rong noticed a small hand quietly reaching out from the side and touching the hem of his undergarment.
Aqing gently rubbed the fabric between her fingers, then silently withdrew them.
"What's wrong?"
Aqing shook her head without saying anything, as if nothing had happened, and smiled shyly.
Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment, then suddenly stretched out his hand, palm outstretched, demanding:
"Give it to me."
Aqing shook her head.
Ouyang Rong didn't speak, just looked at her and pouted:
"Are you trying to freeze your brother to death? It's already autumn, and I've been waiting for your autumn clothes for ages. You want your brother to come all the way to Longcheng to get them?"
He pretended to be unhappy.
Aqing's delicate face, adorned with the tattooed character "Yue," froze for a moment before she hurriedly ran to the inner room and retrieved a large bundle that had been prepared for a long time.
The little girl eagerly handed it to him.
Upon opening the bundle, three sets of tightly stitched undergarments in black, gray, and white were neatly stacked inside.
Ouyang Rong reached out and touched it; it was very thick.
He couldn't help but glance at the timid and guilty-looking girl. He wondered how many nights she had spent preparing these carefully chosen undergarments.
According to Liu Lang, the little girl has to work at the Beitian Nursing Home every day, doing odd jobs, and then she has to take care of Liu's mother when she comes back at night...
"Hmm, not bad. I'll forgive you, but don't be coy and hide things next time, understand?"
Aqing lowered her head: "I know."
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but reach out and vigorously rub the head of the pretty girl who was not his biological sister but was even closer to her.
Unlike other girls her age who are cute and lively, Ah Qing is shy and reserved. Apart from the time when she was tied up and thought to be dead, and the tearful message she left before her death, she is usually quiet, but she makes people feel sorry for her.
Suddenly being patted on the head, Aqing blushed and lowered her head, stammering.
A few strands of black hair were rubbed and slipped down to her forehead.
Ouyang Rong noticed that Aqing's hair quality had improved considerably.
She used to be considered a young girl, the kind of child with yellow hair and drooping temples described in ancient romance novels, and always gave Ouyang Rong the impression of being malnourished.
I don't know if it's because my body has grown up or because the food conditions have improved since I met Ouyang Rong.
Aqing's long hair was jet black, shiny, and smooth.
This pleased Ouyang Rong greatly.
only……
His gaze sharpened slightly, landing on the prominent "Yue" tattoo on A Qing's forehead.
Ouyang Rong rubbed his right thumb, which was used to pat her head, against the tattoo on her forehead, and muttered something to himself:
"We'll see if we can find a way to wash it off later. There should be such methods in the Qi cultivation circle."
Ah Qing understood and immediately shook her head: "No."
This was a surprising act of defiance against Ouyang Rong.
He asked curiously, "Why? It can't be that you've developed a liking for tattoos."
Aqing lowered her head, raised her little finger to tuck the hair from her temples behind her red ears:
“My brother used to have one too. Seeing it reminds me of him…”
Ouyang Rong fell silent.
The two men, one with his head bowed and the other gazing at the night view outside the window, remained silent for a while.
“Brother, try on the undergarment. It’s been a year. I don’t know if the size is right.”
Aqing took the initiative and got up to walk over.
Ouyang Rong nodded, tried it on, and glanced at the undergarment in the process.
The most common thermal underwear of this era was actually a double-layered garment, also known as "裌衣" (liànyī).
When it's cold, stuff it with velvet or cotton wool; when it's warm, remove the stuffing and wear it alone.
But right now, there is no such thing as cotton.
Therefore, the internal filling and external weaving of the "裌衣" (a type of clothing) depended on the economic level and social status of the wearer.
Ouyang Rong certainly didn't lack undergarments.
The undergarments made for him by his junior sister, the Prince of Xunyang's mansion, and his aunt were all made of silk satin and filled with precious velvet, making them very warm.
Of course, Aqing didn't stuff the three thermal underwear pieces she made with velvet.
Ouyang Rong touched it without making a sound; it should be filled with reeds and straw fluff.
This was considered standard equipment for most poor families.
Of course, for poor families, having anything to wear is already a blessing; they don't care about anything else.
However, after Ah Qing finished making the thermal underwear, she didn't deliver it for a long time. She probably thought about her identity and felt inferior.
Ouyang Rong remained silent.
After trying on the undergarment made by Aqing, which fit him fairly well, Ouyang Rong smiled, took it off, and put on his original thin clothes.
Aqing was taken aback, her eyes filled with disappointment.
Ouyang Rong folded his undergarments neatly, stuffed them into his bundle, put them away again, and said softly:
"I really like the clothes, but I have to go out for a bit and I'm worried about getting them dirty. Please keep them safe for me until I get back."
Aqing nodded vigorously: "Okay, I'll wait for you, brother."
Ouyang Rong smiled.
...
"The day before yesterday, I examined Zhao Rushi's body and investigated the wounds. I found that Zhao Rushi was decapitated by an extremely sharp object that swiftly sliced through her body."
"Such neat and uniform wounds are unheard of in my humble opinion. I can only make a preliminary guess that they are from swords or knives."
"If I had to describe it, in my memory there is a kind of sword that has a similar effect of decapitating and severing the head."
Rong Zhen walked ahead and coldly asked, "What sword?"
The middle-aged female official, who came from the Luoyang court, said calmly, "Emperor Wen."
The girl in palace attire in front of them stopped in her tracks.
The middle-aged female official felt a cold gaze fall upon her.
Rongzhen was staring straight at her.
The middle-aged female official shook her head with a wry smile:
"Of course it couldn't be Emperor Wen. You're overthinking it. If it were a mythical figure like Emperor Wen, how could the Ding Sword be used to kill a mere guerrilla general? If it really were the Ding Sword, why wouldn't it leave behind any dazzling sword energy?"
"Every cauldron sword that has ever appeared in the world and is currently recorded by the Imperial Observatory has its own distinctive sword aura, which the sword wielder cannot hide, unless it is some unknown cauldron sword supernatural power, but that's a far-fetched topic."
"The cross-section of Zhao Rushi's head showed no sword energy; it was unremarkable, yet remarkably neat and uniform."
"Besides, what would a dignified swordsman do by killing a minor official or general? Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Unless the profit is extremely great, I can't imagine which powerful force would send their secretly nurtured treasure to kill someone and create unnecessary trouble..."
"Therefore, the path of tracing the weapon and method used by the killer has been temporarily blocked."
"The only way is to start by following the assassin's trail."
"Lady, please come this way. Let's go to that restaurant."
Rongzhen remained silent.
A short while later, in the bustling city of Longcheng, at the entrance of a restaurant.
Rongzhen and the middle-aged female official walked past the waiter with composure.
The waiter enthusiastically sang to the customers behind the two women:
"Welcome..."
It seemed that Rongzhen and the middle-aged female official were not seen.
The two women walked into the restaurant as if they were invisible.
The middle-aged female official, who was about to present her token, couldn't help but look at Fang Rongzhen's back and her eyes filled with awe.
This ability to borrow the aura of others and conceal one's own aura is exquisite.
Everything has energy (qi).
Those skilled in observing qi (vital energy) in the Yin-Yang school are most adept at this.
Every human activity leaves behind traceable traces of energy, more or less, and even those who practice Qi cultivation are not immune.
The most skilled practitioners of the Yin-Yang School are those who can observe Qi. Although they cannot erase their own Qi, they can use it to amplify the Qi of others and conceal their own.
So the waiter clearly saw Rongzhen and the middle-aged woman with his own eyes, but he ignored them and instead greeted the "very conspicuous" customer behind the two women.
Qi practitioners, qi practitioners, cultivate qi with their bodies, so it is inevitable that their aura will be overwhelming and their domineering presence will be overflowing.
Some Qi practitioners need to be flamboyant, their aura as dazzling as the blazing sun in the sky.
Of course, there are also Qi practitioners who prefer to keep a low profile and live in seclusion.
However, Qi cultivation techniques that can conceal one's aura are extremely rare.
Besides the Yin-Yang school's methods of shifting wind and borrowing energy,
Buddhism also has some methods for concealing one's aura, such as the legendary silent meditation, and a strange method of reincarnation that dissipates one's cultivation and returns to oneness. These are all secret supernatural powers of Buddhism, not easily revealed to others.
The legendary Yue maiden was as still as a maiden, and her stillness was so extreme that she could conceal her inner energy.
Finally, there are some sorcerers active in the East China Sea, who practice evil and unorthodox methods such as cannibalism and impersonation. Although they can conceal their aura to some extent, it is said that female cultivators from Yunmeng are most skilled at detecting them, so they are not perfect.
These are exclusive to cultivators of special Daoist lineages.
Legend has it that there is another rare supernatural power that can gather and store energy, which is not limited by one's lineage, but the conditions are harsh and require extraordinary good fortune... The host needs to consume the tortoise-shelled longhorn beetle, one of the five ancient wonders, in order to obtain it.
According to the secret archives of the Imperial Observatory,
Consuming half a tortoise shell longhorn beetle allows one to conceal one's Qi and energy, hiding all one's Qi cultivation level without taking action.
Consuming a whole longhorn beetle... can make one as transparent as a person, leaving no trace in the world.
That's too extreme, so experienced major powers, even if they obtain a tortoise-shelled longhorn beetle by chance, will not allow their disciples to eat the whole thing directly...
Without further thought, the middle-aged female official bowed respectfully and led the girl in cold, palace-style clothing to an empty dining table by the window.
"Please take a look, Your Excellency."
The middle-aged female official gestured.
Rongzhen turned her head to look at the seat by the window, and then at the street outside.
Faint red bloodstains remained on the street floor, directly opposite the spot where Zhao Rushi died that day.
"Zhao Ru was walking down the street that day when a head fell to the ground. No one saw the murderer commit the crime; it was as if... his head had suddenly fallen off."
The middle-aged female official recounted earnestly:
"I have reviewed the county government's files and questioned all the people who passed by at the time. Apart from a child who rambled on about seeing the moon, there was no one present who witnessed the murder, and no one even saw how it was done. The trail ends here..."
Rongzhen interrupted: "The moon?"
"That's right. A child playing on the street said that when he looked up, he saw a blue moon in the sky, echoing the sun. When asked about anything else, he knew nothing."
"Even with some extreme methods, it is difficult to recall the scene when the child is still very young."
"I suspect that he was looking directly at Yao Ri and his eyes were playing tricks on him."
Rongzhen nodded, signaling the experienced female official from the Imperial Observatory in front of her to continue.
The middle-aged female official's expression turned serious:
"The trail has gone cold again."
"We'll have to resort to the brute force method. Based on the murder scene, I've examined seven locations where the murderer was most likely to have lingered. The window seats in this restaurant are one of them, offering an excellent view, making them a key area for investigation. They were originally among the top three priority locations..."
She paused, then suddenly changed the subject:
"In the past few days, I have used the method of observing the aura in the prison to trace back the aura. Based on the degree of weakness, I have carefully extracted the aura of the people who stayed in these seven places on the day Zhao Rushi died. I have listed them as suspects and sent my subordinates to work with the county government to search for them one by one."
"Besides the locals of Longcheng, I also identified suspected outsiders by checking the records of the city gates and ferry crossings archived in the county government. There were no omissions."
"So far, there have been no strange cases where the corresponding scent has been detected, but the person is neither a local nor an outsider and has no record of entering or leaving the city. Everything is going smoothly and no problems have been found. Several places have been ruled out as suspects, including this window seat."
"Today, with the help of the county magistrate, I was investigating the last suspected location on the street downstairs. It's understandable that the street is crowded and troublesome."
"Can……"
For some reason, the middle-aged female official stopped speaking here and glanced at the seat by the window.
Rong Zhen nodded with a cold expression, glanced around at the seats by the window, and then looked at the middle-aged female official.
It seemed as if they were asking why she had been brought to this seat, and what was so special about it.
The middle-aged female official hesitated, then solemnly took out a bundle of red cloth from her sleeve.
The red cloth on the palm was opened, revealing four or five pieces of paper scraps inside. There were faint ink marks on the scraps, but the full words were not visible.
The middle-aged female official, who had assisted the Dali Temple in Luoyang in solving hundreds of cases, handed the red cloth bag to Rongzhen, her expression very complicated:
"This was discovered by a female officer who was extremely meticulous during the last routine check this morning; she found it in the crack in the floor next to this seat."
"Only one scrap of paper slipped into the crack in the floor, but later, we specifically checked the garbage pile in the alley next door and found the remaining four pieces. These should have been accidentally swept away by the waiter when Zhao Rushi was being cleaned on the day she was murdered."
"Based on the cross-section angle analysis, I can say with certainty that the weapon that shattered this thin paper and the weapon that cut off Zhao Rushi's head were the same kind of sharp weapon, incomparably sharp."
The middle-aged female official shook her head and sighed:
"After going through all that trouble and working for so long, I never expected to find clues in such a simple place."
"I thought this person was a master criminal who was elusive and had been around for quite some time since the crime occurred, so from the very beginning I used the important investigative method of tracing back the Qi and unraveling the mystery from the Si Tian Jian."
"How ironic that we almost overlooked such a simple and ordinary clue..."
Rong Zhen suddenly said, "This person is indeed a master of great wisdom, almost demonic."
The middle-aged female official nodded emphatically:
“That’s right. If it weren’t for this oversight, the seat where he lingered would have been cleared of suspicion. I was completely unaware and went in the wrong direction.”
Rong Zhen nodded, her cold eyes narrowing slightly:
"Looking back, there are two possibilities that could have almost misled you and allowed you to slip through unnoticed."
"First, he possesses the supernatural ability to conceal his aura, making it impossible to trace his 'qi'."
"Secondly, this person was extremely familiar with the methods of our Imperial Observatory, and had long been prepared to be investigated by me. He made thorough arrangements and managed to get away with it."
The middle-aged female official was dignified.
I recommend a new martial arts novel by a friend: "Dreamscape Connects to the Demon Realm! I Lived the Legacy of the Bull Demon King!"
(End of this chapter)
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