Chapter 16 Blood Inkstone
Upon hearing that there was new progress in his son's case, Jin Baoyi was overjoyed. He rushed to the Imperial College and met Qiandeng at the door.
Zheng Junshan was a student from out of town who lived in the dormitory of the Imperial College.
The doorman led them inside. The students who came to watch the fun saw that although Qiandeng was wearing a veil, her figure was slender and graceful, very different from the legendary tigress. They were all very curious and stared at the veil as if they wanted to see through the veil to get a glimpse of what was going on.
Ji Linyou was a tall and strong man, and he came from a military background. He quickly drove away the group of troublemakers and escorted the county lady along the path. They saw several rows of bungalows on the open space at the edge of the Imperial College.
After knocking on the door of a nearby house, Ji Linyou inquired about Zheng Junshan's residence and said to Qian Deng, "He lives in Room 2, B, which should be the second room in the second row."
Before he finished speaking, a low voice of "County Princess" suddenly came from behind.
The voice was strange and it was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman. It seemed a bit like the accent of Jintang's parrot Jin Tuantuan.
Qian Deng and Ji Linyou looked at each other, and they walked quickly to the back row, and Jin Baoyi quickly followed.
The three of them walked around the first row of dormitories and saw a "B" sign hanging on the wall of the second row of dormitories. They looked at the second room and saw that the door was half open and a figure was hurriedly slipping in.
Ji Linyou rushed forward, kicked the door open, grabbed the figure inside, and shouted, "Zheng Junshan?"
Before he finished speaking, he turned the other person around, took a closer look, and couldn't help but be surprised: "Meng Lanxi?"
Qiandeng had also reached the door at this time, and saw that the person who was grabbed by the arm and pulled out by Ji Linyou was Meng Lanxi.
His usually clear and elegant face was now filled with panic.
Qiandeng's gaze moved down from his face. There were a few drops of ink splashed on his ivory-white clothes, and two traces of blood were mixed in the black ink drops. In his hand, he was holding a rather heavy stone inkstone, which was clearly covered with ink and blood stains.
It was obvious that the ink and blood stains on his body were from this inkstone.
Qiandeng's eyes swept over his body and then turned to the room behind him.
The room was narrow, with only a table, a chair, a bed and a cabinet. In the open space in front of the table, a student in a blue shirt was lying face down on the blue brick floor. The back of his head was bleeding from a blow, and a large area of his collar was soaked with blood. He lay on the ground motionless.
The posture of lying on the ground suddenly reminded Qiandeng of Yu Guangling who died in a pool of blood. He turned to Meng Lanxi in disbelief.
Meng Lanxi's face turned pale. She threw away the stone inkstone in her hand and said with a tight throat, "County Master, I... I was lured here by someone..."
Before Qiandeng could speak, Jin Baoyi, who was standing behind him, looked out and saw the scene. He shouted, "Someone, come! Someone's been killed! Someone's dead!"
He recognized Meng Lanxi and knew that he was another suspect in Yu Guangling's death, so he roared with all his might, gloating impatiently.
The students outside heard the roar and immediately rushed in. When they saw the situation inside, they all burst into an uproar: "Junshan? What happened? Who did this?"
The student who had the best relationship with Zheng Junshan rushed over and tried to help Zheng Junshan up in a hurry. However, the ground was slippery with blood, and he fell into a pool of blood. His hands were immediately stained with blood and ink, which scared him so much that he raised his hands and screamed.
Jian Anting, who had caught up with him from behind, immediately grabbed his hand and dragged him back, saying anxiously, "Don't mess up the scene. The authorities will come to investigate!"
Ji Linyou rushed forward and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had pulled the student out in time and the body was not touched. He signaled Jian Anting to quickly pull the student out and to get all the outsiders out of the room to prevent them from destroying the scene.
When he, Qiandeng, Meng Lanxi and Jin Baoyi were the only ones left in the room, Ji Linyou walked to Zheng Junshan, raised his hand and pressed on his neck for a moment. After confirming that there was no pulse, he turned back to look at Qiandeng and shook his head.
Qian Deng said to the students outside in a slightly cold voice, "Please ask the doorman to go to the Dali Temple and notify them to send a coroner to the Imperial College."
A few students responded and hurriedly turned around to call for help.
Meng Lanxi, who had been standing there in a daze, suddenly woke up and quickly explained, "County Lady, I've been framed! I just heard someone calling 'County Lady' in a strange voice, and I saw the door was ajar, so I came over to check what was going on. But as soon as I pushed the door open..."
As he spoke, he pointed at the doorframe and said anxiously, "The inkstone fell from above and almost hit me. I reached out to catch it and saw it was covered in blood, just like... the person in front of me. I was so panicked at the time, and when I heard someone coming in, I didn't know whether to hide or run away immediately..."
Jin Baoyi sneered and interrupted him, "How could such a coincidence happen? Someone was murdered, the murder weapon fell from the sky, and you just happened to get it?"
Meng Lanxi's expression was extremely grim. She defended herself, "When you push the door open and something falls, you subconsciously raise your hand to catch it. This... this is human nature."
"But, when Yu Guangling died before, you were already a suspect! And this deceased person just happened to claim that he knew the real murderer. Now he died in front of you, and you were holding the murder weapon. Is this human nature?"
Meng Lanxi had no way to refute it. She could only look at Qiandeng, her lips pale and trembling. "That's why I said that someone framed me and deliberately led me into a trap. Please understand, County Lady!"
He was always elegant and graceful, with a light aura about him, but at this moment, due to his confusion, it had all disappeared.
Qian Deng looked at him, paused, and instructed Ji Linyou: "Go and see if there are any marks on the door frame."
If it is true as Meng Lanxi said, that the stone inkstone in his hand fell from the door frame, then there would be blood and ink on it, and there must be traces left on the door.
Ji Linyou responded, dragged a chair over and stood by the door, looked above the door frame, and frowned.
Jin Baoyi saw his expression and immediately asked, "How is it?"
Ji Linyou raised his hand and touched the door frame, then opened his palm to show them.
There were only traces of ash on his hands, no traces of ink or blood.
Meng Lanxi couldn't believe it and blurted out, "Impossible...it clearly fell from above!"
Qiandeng frowned slightly, took out the handkerchief he was carrying and handed it to Ji Linyou.
Ji Linyou took the handkerchief, wiped it carefully above the door frame, and showed it to everyone.
There was still nothing on the snow-white handkerchief except dust.
Meng Lanxi's face turned pale, she took two steps back, and couldn't utter a word.
Seeing him move, Ji Linyou thought he was going to escape, so he immediately jumped off the chair and pressed him against the door, preventing him from moving.
"County Lady..." Meng Lanxi was suppressed by the door, but she turned back stubbornly and stared at her. Her eyes were filled with grief, grievances and astonishment, as if they wanted to penetrate the gauze of the veil and pierce her chest.
Qiandeng lowered her eyes silently, avoiding his sight.
Seeing her standing stiffly, someone beside her brought a stool over and whispered, "County Lady, please sit down for a while."
She turned around and saw that it was Jian Anting. After pulling out the student who was disrupting the scene, he returned and looked at Zheng Junshan's body silently with a pale face.
She nodded to him, sat down to rest for a while, and heard Jian Anting's voice ask in a daze: "Junshan's death... is it related to Guangling?"
Qian Deng knew that he and Yu Guangling were the best friends in the Imperial College. Although he felt a little depressed, he still reluctantly responded, "At the moment, everything is hard to say."
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