Chapter 38: Portraying the Countenance of the Deceased

"No need! I will resolve this myself!"

Murong Huan spoke suddenly, leaving Ashu and the gathered Golden Guard in utter bewilderment.

"General Qiu, if I were the murderer, would I be foolish enough to remain here after killing someone, just waiting for you to arrest me?"

"Furthermore, these two people—one falling to her death and the other hanging—have only just perished. How is it that General Qiu arrived at this scene so rapidly?"

General Qiu Shenji’s expression shifted slightly, and he sneered, "The Golden Guard is tasked with the protection of the Divine Capital. Someone reported the case to me just moments ago, which is how I was able to arrive so promptly. Do not attempt to quibble!"

"And who was it that reported the case? If someone could predict this event before it even occurred, does that not make them even more suspicious?"

"I advise General Qiu to immediately surround this restaurant. The true murderer is likely still mingling among the guests here. If you let the real culprit escape, it will only confirm the accusation that you are shielding the murderer and attempting to frame me!"

"You—"

General Qiu frowned, ready to bark a reprimand, when a clear, resonant voice cut through the air: "General Qiu, what has happened here?"

Upon hearing the voice, Ashu felt a surge of pleasant surprise. Looking up, she saw Xiao Muchen approaching, his white hair and ethereal temperament making him appear as if he had stepped out of a painting.

"It’s the White-Haired Gentleman! No, it is Vice Minister Xiao!" Ashu hurriedly beckoned. "Vice Minister Xiao, Ah Huan and I were merely passing by this restaurant when someone suddenly fell from the sky, nearly crushing us. Had Ah Huan not pulled me aside just in time, we would be two corpses ourselves right now."

"It was only after Ah Huan saw someone fall that he brought me into the restaurant to investigate. We never imagined that the moment we pushed open this door, we would witness such a horrifying scene..."

"And before we could even leave, General Qiu arrived with the Golden Guard. The moment they stepped in, they declared us the murderers. How could such a coincidence exist? This is clearly a deliberate attempt to frame Ah Huan and me!"

Xiao Muchen remarked, "Indeed, this sounds like a premeditated frame-up. It appears the culprit is intentionally targeting this young man, Master Huan!"

"General Qiu, if the murderer were so easy to catch, what need would there be for the Supreme Court or our Censorate? Handling a case requires evidence. We must wait until the evidence is conclusive before determining who the murderer is."

Having said this, he turned to Xuan Yu, who stood beside him: "Notify the Supreme Court at once. They are far more skilled at examining crime scenes and performing autopsies!"

The latter part of his sentence was, naturally, directed at Qiu Shenji.

Xiao Muchen remained smiling and gentle, but Murong Huan noticed that General Qiu’s expression had tightened abruptly. The General clutched his fists beneath his sleeves, forcing out an unsightly smile: "That goes without saying!"

"However, I must offer Vice Minister Xiao a reminder: while you are a favorite of the Sage, you should consider the Sage’s bottom line. There are some matters that the Sage will not tolerate from you!"

"I thank General Qiu for the reminder!"

Xiao Muchen smiled, then asked Xuan Yu: "Has Wu Lingyue arrived yet? While the murderer has not yet fled far, ensure everyone currently in this restaurant is detained and questioned one by one!"

"That includes all the Golden Guards brought by General Qiu. Not a single person is to leave!"

"Understood!"

***

Xuan Yu departed to carry out the order, and General Qiu’s complexion changed drastically once more.

"What do you mean by this? Do you suspect that my Golden Guards are the ones who committed the murder?"

"That is not the case at all. I am merely concerned that the murderer might disguise himself as one of your Golden Guards to escape. After all, at this moment, the only people who would not be suspected by you, General, are your own men. Often, the person least likely to be suspected is the most probable culprit. Don't you agree, General?"

"You—nonsense! How can you investigate a case like this?" General Qiu was incensed, but then, perhaps struck by a thought, he sneered, "Then how is it that you appeared here so coincidentally?"

He was attempting to deflect the suspicion onto Xiao Muchen.

Xiao Muchen laughed. "I had an appointment with this young Master Huan, so I followed him here. Is that so strange?"

Before General Qiu could reply, he took a step forward, looking at the disfigured person hanging in the room. "The murderer has rendered the face unrecognizable. It seems they do not want us to discover the identity of the deceased. The same applies to the victim downstairs; since they landed face-down, I imagine their features are no longer discernible either."

With that, he turned to Murong Huan and asked, "Can you sketch the original appearance of this deceased person?"

"Ha! What a joke. In this state, unless someone who knew her describes her, who could possibly sketch her original face?" General Qiu sneered.

Xiao Muchen replied, "That is not necessarily true. She is, after all, someone capable of drawing the face of a skeleton before its death. Why not let her try?"

General Qiu’s face darkened again.

At this, Murong Huan replied, "I can!"

Xiao Muchen then called out to the restaurant staff, who were cowering in a corner: "Innkeeper, bring brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone!"

"Yes! Yes!"

A middle-aged man emerged timidly, hurriedly retrieved the writing implements from beneath the counter, and ran to Xiao Muchen, bowing respectfully: "My lord, the supplies are here!"

Xiao Muchen signaled for him to hand the items to Murong Huan, then turned to the cringing, fawning innkeeper:

"You are the manager here, are you not?"

"Yes, yes, I am!"

"You have quite the nerve, Innkeeper. A murder took place in your establishment, yet you were entirely oblivious? Did you not hear even the slightest sound? Or is this restaurant of yours a den of thieves?"

The innkeeper’s legs gave way, and he fell to his knees with a thud.

"My lord, you wrong me! Business has indeed been poor, so we devised a puppet show to entertain our guests and attract a crowd, but this is absolutely not a criminal establishment! Please, my lord, investigate clearly!"

"Then who was the guest that reserved this private room? Surely the manager would know that?"

The middle-aged man thought carefully, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "It was a very tall, burly man. He came at a quarter past noon today to reserve this room and gave me an ingot of silver, telling me not to bother with change. He instructed me that no one was to enter this room today, and then he left. It wasn't until a quarter past seven in the evening that he returned with another man. Both were wearing wide black cloaks and bamboo hats, their faces covered, making it impossible to see them clearly. After they entered, they asked for a few small dishes to be sent in and told me not to disturb them again. So, I let my staff go back to attending to other guests."

"But from beginning to end, we never saw two women enter, nor did we see those two men leave!"

The corpse hanging in the room, while unrecognizable, was clearly a woman based on its stature and clothing.

"So, this is not the primary crime scene. These two victims were secretly moved here, and then the scenes of the fall and the hanging were staged."

"Since you say you did not see those two men leave, where could they have gone?"

Before Xiao Muchen finished his question, Murong Huan added, "I have a way to find out where they went."

"Have you finished the drawing?" Xiao Muchen asked.

Murong Huan nodded and handed the portrait to Xiao Muchen. The innkeeper caught a glimpse of it, and suddenly pointed at the person in the drawing, gasping: "How can it be her?"

"Who is she?" Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan asked in unison.

The innkeeper, his heart still racing, revealed a touch of sorrow in his eyes: "This young lady was the daughter of a merchant named Xie Zi'e. Years ago, she and her father came to the Divine Capital of Luoyang to trade, and we met once. She was just entering womanhood then, very bold and forthright, skilled at befriending heroes. She spoke of business with such mastery that even I had to admire her. Later, I heard she married a knight-errant from the pugilistic world and went into hiding. But just a month ago, I saw her again. She looked very troubled and lacked her former optimism. When I asked about her father and husband, she wouldn't say a word, only mentioning that she intended to revive her family business. How could this..."

He seemed unable to believe it and asked Murong Huan, "Young Master, could your drawing be wrong?"

"I have never met this young lady."

Murong Huan’s answer caused the innkeeper to turn pale, his expression shifting from fear to pity.

At this moment, Xuan Yu arrived to report: "Wu Lingyue has already detained everyone in the restaurant and is questioning them one by one. Furthermore, Lu Shaoqing from the Supreme Court has arrived!"

As soon as Xuan Yu finished, Lu Ling hurried into the corridor with his bailiffs. Seeing the corpse hanging in the room, Lu Ling let out a shocked cry: "Who did this? To treat a woman with such cruelty—take her down at once!"

The bailiffs complied, and two of them lowered the body while others began searching the scene.

The coroner, Xin Wei, began the examination.

"Lu Shaoqing, there are footprints on the floor. Judging by the size, they appear to be from two men. But strangely, there are no footprints from the deceased. The body downstairs must have been thrown from this window, yet there are no footprints on the windowsill either."

Lu Ling nodded and looked at Xin Wei, who continued: "This woman likely died around nine o'clock this morning. She has many wounds and seems to have struggled with someone. I will need to perform an autopsy to determine the definitive cause of death, but I can be certain she was hung up only after she was already dead."

Lu Ling nodded again: "Then take her back for examination!"

Just as they were about to leave, Xiao Muchen suddenly said: "Wait!" He then turned to Murong Huan: "You just said you had a way to know where those two men went?"