nucmednet Chapter 314 The Brothel Murder Case 2
Chapter 314 The Brothel Murder Case 2
When Xiao Ji led his men to the crime scene, it was already surrounded by a group of guards.
"Make way! Make way! This is a government investigation; who are you?"
Constable Xing, along with his officers, drove away the onlookers. They overheard someone in the crowd saying that these guards were from the Princess's residence.
When they received the report, they only knew that the deceased was someone of great importance, but they never expected that it would alarm the eldest princess.
"Lord Xiao, my master requests your presence."
Xiao Ji had a bad feeling and followed the guard into Zuixiang Tower.
The flower girls were all gathered in the lobby on the first floor, crowded together, some even crouching on the ground with their heads in their hands.
In the very center of the hall, a noblewoman sat regally, attended by four maids dressed in palace attire.
She really is the eldest princess!
Who was the deceased today? How could someone of such high birth be allowed to frequent a brothel?
"Your Highness, I am Xiao Ji!" Xiao Ji, accompanied by the officials of the Criminal Investigation Department, paid his respects to the Princess.
Shen Lan approached and saw that there were many broken pieces of porcelain scattered on the ground, indicating that the person was in an extremely bad mood.
But she didn't show any sadness on her face, and Shen Lan guessed that the deceased was not someone she cared about.
"Chief Judge Xiao, I believe in your ability to solve cases. The government doesn't need to concern itself with this case anymore, nor does it need to investigate it. You can take your men back."
Xiao Ji asked humbly, "May Your Highness inform me of the identity of the deceased?"
The eldest princess poured herself a cup of wine and drank it.
Shen Lan smelled a familiar scent; it was the same wine she had drunk that night.
She observed the princess and noticed that she showed no signs of intoxication, indicating that the wine she had drunk that day was indeed problematic.
"One of the deceased was my consort, Lu Yuan. As for the other one, I do not know him, and you do not need to know him either."
Xiao Ji was indeed surprised; he hadn't expected that the one who died was the prince consort.
He knew that the eldest princess and her husband had a bad relationship and lived apart for many years. The eldest princess only lived in the princess's residence with her only son, Lu Changzhi.
The prince consort lived in the Lu family mansion and even had several concubines who bore him several illegitimate sons and daughters.
However, the eldest princess never met these people, and there were many rumors back then that she was jealous.
"Does Your Highness not want to know the cause of the Prince Consort's death?"
"Hmph, I don't want to know, and I'm too lazy to find out."
The eldest princess clearly didn't care about the cause of her husband's death, but someone burst in and knelt before her: "Mother, please investigate the cause of Father's death and clear his name!"
Shen Lan had never seen the person who came before, but she assumed he was one of the illegitimate sons of the Lu family.
"Guards, slap him! Who gave you permission to call me 'Mother'?"
The guards restrained the man, and after a few slaps, he became obedient, only kowtowing and begging repeatedly.
The eldest princess asked earnestly, "Do you really want to know the cause of his death?"
"Yes, as a son, how can I turn a blind eye to my father's death? Wouldn't that be the greatest act of filial impiety?"
The eldest princess sneered: "Lu Xuezhi, stop making veiled accusations. My son doesn't need to act like a filial son or grandson."
She nodded to Xiao Ji, "Alright, since someone isn't afraid of making a fool of themselves, then I won't bother to cover for them. Xiao Ji, go and take a look."
If it can be determined that it was murder, and the murderer is also found, I will thank him.
Xiao Ji agreed, gave Shen Lan a wink, and the two went upstairs together.
As for the other officials, they remained on the first floor, while Constable Xing took the manager of Zuixianglou aside for questioning.
More and more people from the Lu family came.
Clearly, they had just received the news as well.
Upon seeing the Princess, they all behaved themselves well and dared not overstep their bounds.
Until Lu Changzhi arrived.
"Who died?" he asked as he ran in.
The eldest princess remained expressionless, while the Lu family's illegitimate sons beside her all wore sorrowful expressions.
Lu Changzhi suppressed a laugh and asked his mother, "Is it true?"
The princess poked his forehead. "Go back home and stop meddling here."
"Mother is joking. How can anyone remain uninvolved when their father dies? As the eldest son of the Lu family, it is my duty to help carry the coffin and break the coffin. Oh, by the way, shouldn't I also inherit the Lu family's business?"
The faces of the Lu family's illegitimate sons all changed, and one of the concubines began to cry softly.
"My lord, your body is barely cold, and people are already eyeing the Lu family's wealth. How are we, a widow and her orphans, supposed to live?"
The eldest princess waved her hand irritably, "Take the opera singers out, they're so noisy!"
The aunt stopped crying immediately, hid behind her son, and dared not say another word.
Standing on the second floor, Shen Lan saw an elderly woman hidden among the group of beautiful young women. It was none other than Madam Xu, whom she had met at Zui Xiang Lou.
Shen Lan had doubts about her identity and couldn't help but suspect that she was involved in the murder.
Officer Xing brought up the manager of Zuixianglou, and Xiao Ji nodded and asked, "Where is the body?"
"In...in the rightmost wing room on the second floor."
"Where are the other guests in the building?"
"All the guests have left. As soon as the important guest arrived, he called the girls up and gathered them on the first floor. No one has come up here."
"it is good."
Pushing open the door to that private room, a strong smell of alcohol mixed with a complex incense aroma wafted out.
Shen Lan put on a mask and stood behind Xiao Ji. She noticed that the window directly opposite was open and asked, "What's outside that window?"
She remembered the orientation when she entered the room; the window did not face the street.
The shopkeeper squeezed through the crowd and answered tremblingly, "There's a small courtyard in the back, and a row of storage rooms."
Xiao Ji walked in and saw two corpses lying on the bed. He asked in confusion, "Has someone moved the bodies?"
"No...no."
"Who was the first to discover they were dead?"
"She's the cleaning lady here. Every morning, after the guests have left, she comes to clean the house."
She saw the door was open, went inside, and found the two young men dead.
"Was that how the two of them were lying in bed?"
Xiao Ji asked this question because he never expected that the two who died were actually sleeping together.
The person lying on the bed was naked, and it was impossible to see what they looked like.
However, as far as he knew, Zuixianglou was not a brothel.
The innkeeper shrank his neck and replied in a low voice, "Yes... Prince Consort Lu... occasionally brings people to Zuixianglou to spend the night."
To put it bluntly, Zuixianglou simply provided this person with a room and charged him a small rent.
"Coroner Shen, come in. The rest of you wait outside."
The bed wasn't visible from the doorway, so Shen Lan only discovered this situation after she went inside.
The two men spending the night in a brothel—what they were doing was self-evident.
The body was completely naked, and although no examination was conducted, it is presumably that sexual intercourse had taken place.
No wonder the eldest princess didn't allow an investigation earlier; if such a scandal were to be publicized, it would be detrimental to her as well.
But how could the princess know that the prince consort had such a peculiar habit?
If she knew, given her power, why didn't she end the marriage sooner?