Chapter 3 Investigation
Seeing Du Huaizhi silent again, Du Ruozhi felt unsure. This elder sister seemed different from before, but four years had passed, and her appearance would definitely change, and her temperament had also changed a lot. She was cold and made her a little scared.
But he still mustered up the courage to persuade her, "Sister, please come back with me. Father is old now and longs for the family to be reunited. He misses you in his heart."
Du Huaizhi looked at Du Ruozhi, who was obviously so scared that she almost shrank into a quail, but was still trying to hold on, and said in a calm voice: "Please go back. I won't go with you."
Du Ruozhi was stunned. She didn't expect Du Huaizhi to refuse. In her opinion, if she returned to the Du Mansion, she would have no worries about food and clothing. She would no longer have to carry a heavy wooden box to make a living and live such a hard life.
"What do you mean?" The maid couldn't help but step forward to defend herself. "My young lady spoke to you kindly, and you have this attitude. Do you know that in order to take you back, the young lady came thousands of miles, sleeping in the open air, fell ill several times, and nearly lost her life."
"Xiuzhu, stop talking." Du Ruozhi scolded with a stern face.
The maid named Xiuzhu was still indignant, "Miss——"
Du Huaizhi watched the interaction between the master and servant, and his mockery intensified. "Since that's the case, my humble abode is so simple, I'm afraid I can't provide you with adequate hospitality. Miss Jiaojiao, please go back to where you came from." Du Huaizhi said, grabbing Du Ruozhi's shoulders and throwing her and the maid out the door. Then he simply closed the door, leaving no room for negotiation.
The master and servant stumbled and supported each other, barely standing. Du Ruozhi looked at the closed door, feeling helpless for a moment.
"Miss, she doesn't want to leave. Why bother begging her? You're just being ignored. Just leave her to fend for herself." Xiuzhu said unhappily. Her young lady had never suffered such injustice since she was a child.
Du Ruozhi sighed, "My elder sister is resentful." When her father proposed to bring Du Huaizhi back, Du Ruozhi was ecstatic. Her favorite person when she was a child was her elder sister. Although her mother didn't let her get close to her and Du Huaizhi didn't pay much attention to her, she still liked to get close to Du Huaizhi.
Because apart from Du Huaizhi, there were few people who really wanted to play with her. After Du Huaizhi was kicked out of the house, she was depressed for a long time and begged her mother to bring her sister back, but was scolded so harshly that she dared not mention it again.
Now that she finally has the opportunity, she will not give up so easily. Her sister must have suffered a lot, which is why her personality has become like this.
Du Ruozhi was unwilling to give up just like that, and the two of them stayed in the yard for a long time.
"Miss, how long are we going to wait here?" Xiuzhu looked at the small courtyard in front of her, her brows furrowed so tightly that they could kill a fly. "This place is not even as good as the firewood room in the mansion."
"Stop complaining," Du Ruozhi said. "Sister doesn't want to go back, and we can't force her to go. Besides..." She looked around. The environment here was indeed very different from the Du Mansion far away in Kyoto. "Sister has had a hard time these past few years. You have to be patient."
Xiuzhu was deflated, "Miss, where are you planning to stay tonight?" Judging from Du Huaizhi's attitude just now, he would definitely not take them in.
Du Ruozhi bit her lower lip lightly, her eyes sweeping over the dilapidated houses around her. She had noticed how desolate this place was when she first entered, with only a few households in the entire village. Finding a place to stay would be difficult, and she simply couldn't get used to living in a place like this.
"Before it gets dark, let's go to the town and find an inn. We'll stay there at night." Wait until daytime to persuade Du Huaizhi.
Du Ruozhi clapped her hands and made the decision. Before leaving, she looked back and said to the closed door, "Sister, I will come back again." Her voice was a little soft, but she knew Du Huaizhi could hear it, and that was enough.
Not surprisingly, there was no response.
…
At the same time, inside the government office, a young man dressed as a knight was squatting on the ground, and in front of him, a corner of the headless corpse that was originally covered with white cloth was lifted up, revealing the location of the broken end.
The young man ate a pancake and looked at the severed body without saying a word, as if he was enjoying the bloody scene with his pancake.
Beside him, the county magistrate was supported by the official. His tears had dried up and his face was sad. His body was twitching, causing the flesh on his body to shake.
"Are you sure... this person was sent... by the higher-ups?" The magistrate, who had been howling for a long time, had not recovered yet. His speech followed the rhythm of his body twitching and seemed incoherent.
The butler replied, "I was skeptical at first, too. How could an official dress like that? But he did come in with a token from the Dali Temple. I guess he disguised himself to avoid detection."
The magistrate nodded. The man was right, but it was a bit too much to eat cakes while performing an autopsy. But after all, he was from the Dali Temple and could not be provoked.
The anger in his heart had nowhere to vent, and his round face turned black and red, and he stared at the young man until he finished the rest of the cake, then he grabbed the butler's sleeve and gave him a look.
The butler understood and crouched forward to ask, "Sir, is there any progress?"
The young man slowly wiped his hands on the white cloth covering the body, then casually put the cloth back on and said calmly, "The murder weapon was a long knife. The victim's cervical vertebrae were first penetrated by the knife, and then the blade rotated to cut off the head. The cut at the broken neck is neat, which shows that it was a very sharp knife."
When the word "knife" was mentioned, the housekeeper's eyes unconsciously fell on the knife on the young man's back, with a strange look in his eyes.
The young man seemed to have guessed what the butler was thinking and continued, "Don't look at me, that man is using two swords."
"How did you know that the man was using two swords?" the butler expressed doubt.
The young man didn't answer directly. Instead, he smiled mysteriously, and his originally serious face was stained with a hint of cynicism. He asked in return, "Do you know about the case in Lin County?"
The details of the case were government secrets, not to mention that the case was taken over by the Dali Temple. As a housekeeper, he naturally couldn't directly say he knew. "I heard some rumors in the streets."
The young man raised his thin lips slightly, "Have you heard who did this?"
The butler shook his head, "I don't know."
"It's 'Xi,'" the young man said without hesitation. "After my careful inspection, the incision is exactly the same as in the Lin County case. It is certain that it was done by the same person. We can directly report it and combine the cases."
This straightforward conversation made the butler break out in a cold sweat. He looked at the young man with a slightly stiff expression. Is this something he can listen to?
"Hey, don't be afraid." The young man patted his shoulder and said soothingly, "There's nothing to hide about this matter that everyone knows. Everyone knows that Xi, one of the four assassins of the Tiandihui, is lurking in the southeast."
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