Zhen Shicheng pushed the door open and was greeted by the familiar smell of blood.

He looked around first, and the messy bloody footprints on the ground made him frown.

There were so many large and small footprints, which showed the chaos at the time of the incident.

The candlestick used as a murder weapon fell to the ground, its tip dark red and icy in color.

Zhen Shicheng turned around and asked, "Which closet?"

Xie Qingyao glanced at Jiang Si and pointed to the closet that Jiang Si had opened earlier.

"Please don't come in, everyone." Zhen Shicheng said, and walked in with his capable subordinates to check.

The first thing he checked was the closet.

Just as Jiang Si discovered, there were two incomplete fingerprints in a very inconspicuous place inside the closet. Judging from the angle of the fingerprints, one can imagine that this was the most likely place where a person's hands would stay when hiding in the closet.

Fingerprints like these could not have been left by maids when taking and putting away clothes.

Zhen Shicheng stared at the fingerprints thoughtfully.

To leave such obvious fingerprints, sweat is one thing, but could the person's hands be stained with something else?

Zhen Shicheng carefully checked the situation in the cabinet. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he shouted to his subordinates, "Bring the tweezers and oil paper."

Taking the item handed over by his subordinate, Zhen Shicheng carefully picked up an object from the slightly messy clothes on the top and placed it on the oil paper.

Those are two hairs.

Zhen Shicheng suddenly became excited.

The closet is filled with washed clothes, which is very particular in noble families. How could there be hair on the mistress's clean clothes?

This possibility is extremely small, the most likely possibility is that these two hairs were left by the murderer!

Although he had discovered something, Zhen Shicheng remained calm. He handed the physical evidence to his subordinates for safekeeping, and then carefully checked every corner of the room. He was busy for half an hour before he left.

Seeing Zhen Shicheng coming out, Yongchang Bo couldn't wait to ask, "Master Zhen, how is it?"

"I wonder when was this closet last tidied?"

Immediately, a maid said timidly, "I collected the clothes at sunset yesterday and folded them and put them in the wardrobe. The right cabinet is full, and some are left in this cabinet."

"So, the clothes were collected before dark yesterday?"

The maid nodded quickly.

Zhen Shicheng stroked his beard and replied to Earl Yongchang: "There must be someone hiding in the closet."

"Really?" Earl Yongchang was shocked, and after the shock he was filled with tremendous anger.

There was someone hiding in the closet in his and his wife's bedroom. Who else could it be? It must be the murderer of his wife!

Yongchang Bo held Zhen Shicheng's hand tightly and said, "Master Zhen, please find the murderer who killed my wife!"

"Don't worry, Master. I will do my best. Where is the body of Madam Bo placed?"

Earl Yongchang hesitated for a moment.

Zhen Shicheng was quite calm: "Any physical evidence and speculation is not as important as examining the victim's body."

Earl Yongchang still hesitated.

Although he agreed to ask the government to intervene at the persuasion of his children and daughters, when the time really came, he still found it difficult to accept leaving his wife's body to be examined by the coroner.

This is almost unimaginable.

"Master, I have brought a female coroner with me." Zhen Shicheng knew why the Earl of Yongchang was hesitant, so he spoke up.

It's OK for ordinary people, let alone the Earl's house. Even for girls from wealthy families, there are very few who would accept a coroner's examination after being victimized.

Zhen Shicheng is a man of truth. He cannot bear to see the truth buried with the victims due to the ignorance of the world, so he simply trains a female coroner.

The female coroner he had hired was the daughter of an old coroner who had worked with him for many years. She was a rare girl.

"Father..." Seeing that Earl Yongchang didn't say anything, Xie Qingyao couldn't help but shouted, his eyes full of pleading.

Yongchang Bo finally made up his mind and accompanied Zhen Shicheng.

Zhen Shicheng walked past Jiang Si and looked at her.

He was very curious about how the little girl thought of checking the closet, but it was not convenient to ask now. It seemed that he would have to find a chance to ask.

The mourning hall was set up in the adjacent courtyard.

It was a hot June day, and ice basins were placed around the coffin of the wife of the Earl of Yongchang. One could feel the coolness as soon as one approached it.

A young girl with her head wrapped in blue cloth walked forward and began to perform an autopsy following Zhen Shicheng's instructions.

"Uncle, let's go back over there and talk." Zhen Shicheng knew that many victims would find it difficult to accept the scene of the autopsy, so he left the yamen runners to guard the mourning hall and left with Earl Yongchang and others.

While the female coroner was performing the autopsy, Zhen Shicheng was of course not idle. He immediately treated the hall as a court and began to interrogate the case. The first person he interrogated was the personal maid of the wife of the Earl of Yongchang.

The three maids knelt in front of Zhen Shicheng, all of them pale.

Zhen Shicheng smiled and said, "Everyone, please stand up and answer. This is not the government office. I am not here to question you. I don't care about your kneeling."

Zhen Shicheng's gentle attitude made the three maids relax a little and stand up hesitantly.

Zhen Shicheng glanced at the three maids and said slowly, "Generally speaking, there are always an even number of maids like you, two, four or six, right?"

The three maids were stunned for a moment, and one of them blurted out, "And Qiulu!"

Chunfang, Xiayu, Qiulu and Dongxue were the four maids of Lady Yongchang.

"Where is Qiulu?" Xie Qingyao asked.

Not only did she lose her mother, but her father was also accused of murdering her, which made this innocent girl extremely nervous.

Jiang Si patted her arm gently.

With the comfort of her good friend, Xie Qingyao calmed down.

The three maids looked at each other, and none of them could tell where Qiu Lu had gone.

Chunfang knelt down again, trembling all over: "Sir, yesterday... yesterday it was Qiulu who was on duty!"

As a result, Qiulu immediately became the most suspicious person. Zhen Shicheng made a quick decision and said, "Master, please tell everyone in the mansion to find Qiulu first."

It is still uncertain whether Qiulu is the murderer, but the fact that the maid who was supposed to be on night duty disappeared at this time is undoubtedly a clue that cannot be missed.

Soon the entire mansion went out to look for the head maid Qiulu.

Naturally, everyone in the mansion was familiar with the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion, so Zhen Shicheng only sent a few yamen runners to search for it.

As time passed, there was no news of finding the head maid Qiulu. Instead, the female coroner came to report after examining the body of the wife of the Earl of Yongchang.

"Mrs. Bo's fatal wound was on her chest, but there were three other wounds around it, of varying depths. One of the wounds was on her ribs..." The female coroner concluded, "Generally, when this happens, it's because the murderer is either inexperienced or lacks strength. I think it's more likely that the murderer is a woman..."

Yongchang Bo's face turned pale: "Have you found Qiulu?"

The coroner inferred that the murderer was a woman, and the head maid Qiulu was missing, so there was no doubt that the murderer was Qiulu.

Zhen Shicheng, however, remained calm and expressionless.

It is too early to draw any conclusions now. We have to wait until we know Qiu Lu's whereabouts.