Chapter 6: His talent is so high!
In March, the winter snow in Dingzhou has melted, the willows are swaying, and the streets along the river are particularly lively.
Jin Shu was in a bad mood and refused to sit in the same carriage as Li Jin. So she squeezed in with Zhou Zheng and sat in front of the carriage, acting as the coachman.
The carriage swayed and rocked as it headed towards the fish market on the outskirts of the city. She and Zhou Zheng sat side by side, watching the ordinary city life gradually unfold before them. However, Jin Shu's mind was constantly scrutinizing the man in the carriage.
Although she was furious, she had to admit that Prince Jing, Li Jin, really had a talent for criminal investigation.
She still hasn't figured out how the three strands of hemp rope could be connected to a plate of fish in a restaurant.
"Zhou Zheng, change course, go to the brothel."
The sound came from the carriage behind her, abruptly pulling Jin Shu back to reality. She looked at Zhou Zheng beside her in surprise and astonishment, her eyebrows almost touching her hairline.
A brothel?!
To everyone's surprise, Zhou Zheng let out a "whoosh" and actually turned the car around, heading towards the commercial street.
“Your Highness is not that kind of person.” After a while, he glanced at Jin Shu’s expression out of the corner of his eye and suddenly blurted out this.
The news of a prostitute's death in the red-light district of Dingzhou has already caused quite a stir.
When the three of them arrived, the "Peony Pavilion" where the girl had worked was already surrounded by constables.
Inside the building, besides the courtesans gathered together, weeping and wailing, there was also an older woman who addressed everyone as "Master" and always had a smile on her face; it was obvious at a glance that she was the manager of the Peony Pavilion.
"Have you seen the body?" Li Jin asked.
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper recalled the unrecognizable appearance he had seen the previous night, and immediately staggered, almost falling over.
Seeing this, Li Jin gestured to Zhou Zheng to bring her a stool, and continued to ask, "Is this really someone who went missing from your area?"
Before him, the shopkeeper, who sat down shakily, nodded with a bitter smile: "Alas, Xiaoli, such a beautiful girl, has such a tragic fate."
Tell me about it.
Zhou Zheng brought Li Jin an octagonal chair from the side. He sat down next to the shopkeeper, looking at the woman in front of him with considerable sympathy.
"Actually, Xiaoli has been with our Peony Pavilion for a year and a half now. She lives alone. The young lady works very well and is about to be redeemed..." The manager sighed as he said this.
"...He can be redeemed in a year or two. It seems he's going to be the star attraction of this Peony Pavilion." Li Jin said, looking around the Peony Pavilion, and kept saying, "What a pity."
But the shopkeeper raised his hand and waved it back and forth: "What star performer? She was lucky to have someone offer to redeem her. But she wasn't destined for that; she died before she could be redeemed."
Redeeming a prostitute from her brothel is a considerable expense.
Li Jin pondered for a long time, waving his fan in his hand: "He must be a romantic young master."
He paused, then asked, "Does Xiaoli have any enemies in this Peony Pavilion?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the shopkeeper froze. Even the group of women gathered nearby, sobbing, seemed to have been put on pause, falling silent in unison.
Jin Shu and Li Jin both turned their heads in surprise, looking at the bizarre scene before them.
All the courtesans' eyes were fixed on one person.
The woman turned pale with fright, staring at the person in front of her, repeatedly saying, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me! Really! It wasn't me!"
"Who are you, and what grudge do you have against Xiaoli?" Li Jin looked at her and vaguely felt that he had grasped the most crucial clue in the case.
The woman knelt down with a thud: "My name is Xiaofang, I didn't kill Xiaoli!"
"I'm asking you, what grudge do you hold against me? You'd better tell me the truth and don't hide anything."
Seeing all the suspicious gazes fixed on her, Xiao Fang panicked and kowtowed to the ground: "I was just... just jealous of Xiao Li. We served Young Master Su together for over a year, but only she won his favor and was able to be redeemed..."
At this point, she couldn't help but cry: "Although I sometimes do humiliating things to her, I would never dare to kill her!"
Hearing the wailing beside him, Li Jin frowned slightly.
Seeing this, the shopkeeper quickly waved his hand and ordered someone to drag her away.
“This… sir, she shouldn’t be the murderer.” The shopkeeper frowned and said, “I heard the Su family mention the other day that they saw Xiaoli go to the night market. Since Xiaoli wasn’t there, Xiaofang has been filling in for her these past few days and has been working non-stop.”
Did you go to the night market the other day?
Jin Shu was taken aback, looking at Li Jin, who was also looking at her.
"When was the last time the shopkeeper saw Xiaoli?" he asked.
"About five days ago, she said she was going to take care of something, and specifically said that if she came back late, Xiaofang would cover for her."
At this point, the fragments of clues in the case gradually came together in Li Jin's mind, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, forming a clear narrative.
Now, there's only one key person left on this line.
Young Master Su.
He looked up and smiled at Jin Shu: "Mr. Jin, is there anything else you'd like to see, or any questions you'd like to ask?"
“Yes.” Jin Shu glanced at the women beside her, then turned back and said, “I want to see Xiao Li’s room.”
The Peony Pavilion has a gatehouse in front that serves as the business premises, and a separate two-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house) in the back. The innermost room is where these young girls live.
It was dark, damp, and smelled musty.
Jin Shu raised her hand to cover her nose and followed behind the shopkeeper, watching her point to the two small cabinets in front of her: "These are the cabinets she uses, and no one has touched them these past few days."
On the cabinet, an iron lock stood out clearly.
As if knowing what she needed, Li Jin gently called out to Zhou Zheng.
He took two steps forward, pulled a small iron rod from his waistband, and in the blink of an eye, the lock clicked open.
Jin Shu was shocked, watching Zhou Zheng retreat expressionlessly, as if being a member of the Six Doors meant he should have this skill.
She pursed her lips, her thoughts returning to the cabinet in front of her.
As soon as the two doors on the left and right were opened, what came into view was a woman's everyday clothes, an exquisite little bundle, and a few pieces of silver wrapped in layers in a cabinet.
She checked it carefully, and everything that should be there was there, neatly arranged, with nothing missing.
In other words, five days ago, Xiaoli's original plan was not to go out for many days, but to go and come back on the same day.
Little did she know that she was embarking on a path of no return.
"Manager," Jin Shu turned her head, "may I ask, is that Young Master Su the young master of the Su family from Dingzhou Fish Shop?"
"Yes!" the shopkeeper nodded and said, "He is the second young master of the Su family of Dingzhou, who is extremely wealthy."
Jin Shu looked at Li Jin, who was standing to the side with a smile, and her doubts about this man deepened.
Last night, how was he able to pinpoint the fishmonger's location so accurately based solely on the clue of three strands of hemp rope?
Is this person's talent for criminal investigation and solving cases really that high?
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