There is a god in the sky

Chapter 104 The Strange Case of Fuchunju 2

"You are Xiao Ji?" The young prince walked over, his gaze revealing an unsettling aggressiveness.

Xiao Ji bowed to him, "It is your humble official."

"I've heard you're very good at solving cases. I was originally unconvinced and wanted to become a detective myself, but alas... if you can solve this case, I will believe you are the number one detective in Da Xi."

Xiao Ji did not feel that he was qualified to wear such high praise.

"Your Highness is too kind. I am unworthy of such a title, but I will do my best to assist the government in solving the case as soon as possible."

The young prince, with his hands behind his back, stepped into the blood-stained study and said, "Ask whatever you want. Everyone in Fuchun Residence is at your command."

Xiao Ji cut to the chase and said, "Then please have the young prince answer a few questions for me first."

"it is good."

"First, has the Prince made any enemies?"

"Never."

"Not a single enemy? For example, the oppressed servants, the colleagues offended in officialdom, the common people who disagree with the verdicts in court, and those who harbor resentment towards the Prince's Mansion."

"I don't know, maybe there is, but I didn't pay attention."

Xiao Ji then asked, "Secondly, why hasn't the Prince moved out of Fuchun Residence these past three months? Would the murder case have stopped after you left?"

The young prince said angrily, "If I am forced to leave, wouldn't I look spineless?"

Silent and desolate.

What's the use of such backbone?

"Aren't you afraid of becoming the killer's next target? He can come and go freely around you, killing people without leaving a trace. To be honest, your life is not guaranteed."

The young prince certainly knew this, but he was not a coward.

Moving away from here means bowing down to the murderer, which will be a stain on his life, making him unable to hold his head high again.

"Thirdly, if I am unable to solve the case, Your Highness, could you please resign and leave?"

This was a question unrelated to the case, and the young prince asked in confusion, "Did Father summon you?"

"That's it."

"Ha, he actually cares about me, his son. I thought he was just waiting to see me make a fool of myself."

Clearly, the relationship between the father and son was not harmonious, but this should be irrelevant to the case.

Xiao Ji turned to Ma Long and said, "Please send someone to Furong Garden to invite my coroner."

Ma Long asked in surprise, "Lord Xiao even brought a coroner?"

"Yes."

"That's wonderful!" Ma Long immediately sent someone to invite him.

Xiao Ji wandered around the mansion, but he didn't intend to look for the body. After all, so many people had searched the ground three feet deep and hadn't found it, so it was impossible for him to find it.

Fuchun Residence is very large, and its style is completely different from that of Furong Garden. It is like a garden in Jiangnan, with beautiful scenery everywhere.

Ma Long followed him the whole way, wanting to ask many questions, but fearing to disturb Xiao Ji, he didn't dare to speak.

"Does Officer Ma have any speculations about this case?"

It's been three months. Logically speaking, most of the suspects should have been investigated, and there should be one or two key suspects.

But it seems they have no clue at all.

"To be honest, we did have some clues at first, but the more we investigated, the more confused we became. Whenever we found a clue, it was quickly overturned, and we were left in a state of confusion."

"Has such a bizarre case been reported to the imperial court?"

Ma Long laughed awkwardly, "Our Tanzhou is, after all, the territory of the Prince of Zheng. We won't report to the imperial court unless it's something extremely serious."

"This concerns the life and safety of the Prince; how can it not be a major issue?"

"This..." As everyone knows, King Zheng does not like this eldest son.

Xiao Ji stopped asking questions. Since there was no clue, he decided to start investigating from the beginning.

"The bodies from before must have decomposed by now, but have they been buried?"

“We’ve buried them, but we’re all buried together, just in case…” Ma Long touched his nose.

The time had dragged on for too long, so they had no choice but to find a place to bury the body, but they were also prepared to dig it up at any time.

But so much time has passed, the information on the corpse is probably useless by now, right?

"The coroner has completed the autopsy report and will show it to you later."

"it is good."

Xiao Ji sighed inwardly, thinking that this case seemed to be deliberately targeting the young prince.

He didn't kill the young prince, either because the grudge wasn't that deep yet, or because he had some concerns. It couldn't be because the time wasn't right, could it?

Not long after, the officials brought Sui Feng and Shen Lan in together.

Upon hearing that there was a case, Shen Lan brought her toolbox.

At first, she thought something had happened at the Prince's mansion and was afraid that Xiao Ji and Fu Qingyan were trapped inside. On the way, she learned about this strange case from the officials and knew why Xiao Ji had been detained.

"My lord," Shen Lan asked, carrying the box, "where is the body?"

Xiao Ji looked up at the sky. "It's too late. Let's stay here for now."

"Here?" Shen Lan thought they would have to perform an autopsy overnight, but Xiao Ji didn't seem to be in a hurry.

Fuchun Residence is the residence of the Prince, and Shen Lan is not particularly willing to live here.

Xiao Ji smiled and shook his head, "No, Prefect Dou arranged accommodations for us in the backyard of the government office, which is close by."

He thought Shen Lan was scared, so he comforted her, "Don't be afraid. It seems that the murderer is killing randomly, but he has never killed a woman."

Shen Lan wasn't afraid; even if they met, the other party might not be able to kill her.

But her views differed from Xiao Ji's.

"I believe the murderer is a very intelligent person. He toyed with the young prince and hid all the clues very well. His reverse investigation ability is very strong. Such a person could not have committed murder randomly."

Xiao Ji asked solemnly, "Do you think he's making fun of the young prince?"

"Isn't that right? Deliberately killing someone and dumping the body next to the young prince, even mutilating it, was all to scare him, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but is his purpose really that simple?" Who would be so bored as to use murder to toy with someone?

This is the residence of a prince, guarded by many. How can one kill and dispose of a body without being discovered?

Shen Lan couldn't figure these things out either. The case hadn't even started investigating yet, so all speculation was baseless.

Ma Long and the other man remained silent before daring to speak. He asked, "Lord Xiao, where is the coroner you mentioned?"

The person he sent only brought a young woman. How could he possibly get things done?

Xiao Ji then remembered this woman and hurriedly introduced her: "This young lady's surname is Shen, and she is a female coroner hired by this official."

He said to Shen Lan, "This is Constable Ma from the yamen."

Ma Long looked blank, his eyes filled with doubt.

Shen Lan was used to this kind of gaze and didn't need his approval. She just wanted to avoid being questioned about her work.

"Officer Ma, could you tell me about the previous bodies? For example, the age, height, and condition of the wounds, etc."

Ma Long could tell from her question that she was a professional, so he quickly ran to retrieve the autopsy report.

He was afraid he hadn't explained things in enough detail.

Xiao Ji led them to stay across the street, while Sui Feng went to the kitchen to find something to eat. He and his master hadn't even had dinner yet.

Even the cook had gone home by then, so Shen Lan ended up cooking two bowls of noodles for them.

"By the way, where is Young Master Fu?"

While eating his noodles, Xiao Ji replied, "He was left in the Prince's residence."

Shen Lantian thought to herself: It seems that he and the Prince of Zheng do have a good relationship.