Chapter 65: The Crime Scene

Inspect the storage talisman?

At first glance, Lu Wangji's request sounded entirely reasonable. After all, Jiang Shi did possess a storage talisman, and a remarkably large one at that; it was entirely possible that she had concealed the murder weapon within it after committing the crime.

Yet, Shang Xinlei felt a deep sense of wrongness, to the point of nine-tenths certainty.

Lu Wangji's tone and phrasing made it seem as though he had only suddenly remembered Jiang Shi's storage talisman after discovering the blood weapons brought out by the others.

Conversely, if Shang Xinlei and the others had properly hidden their blood weapons, would Lu Wangji have simply forgotten about this matter altogether?

Impossible.

Even though she had only known Lu Wangji for the past two days, Shang Xinlei was thoroughly convinced that this man was a person of meticulous calculation. The Left Xiaoqiyi Guard was an imperial elite force, the personal guards of the Son of Heaven. Furthermore, Lu Wangji was representing the imperial court to oversee the situation in the Mansu Woodlands; how could he possibly be so careless?

Yet, he had deliberately waited until this exact moment to raise suspicions regarding Jiang Shi's storage talisman.

After Jiang Shi handed over her saber, Lu Wangji inspected the white-iron straight blade without making any move to return it, instead passing the weapon to the person behind him. While this action could be explained as a plan to inspect everyone's weapons before returning them all at once, it could just as easily be interpreted as an intention never to return it at all—he had never meant to find bloodstains on the white-iron straight blade in the first place; his sole purpose had been to disarm Jiang Shi!

First the saber, and now the storage talisman.

Shang Xinlei suddenly recalled a book she had read in the past, which recorded the business philosophies of a group of merchants, titled *The Eight Strategies of Silver Blood*. One of the strategies was called "Leyin's Flesh-Carving." It spoke of a usurer named Leyin who attracted borrowers with low interest rates. However, Leyin would require borrowers to perform minor tasks for him to offset a portion of the interest. At first, these tasks were merely running errands or unloading cargo, but the demands gradually increased. If a borrower refused to help at that stage, Leyin would threaten to invalidate all previous interest reductions. To avoid letting their earlier efforts go to waste, most people would grit their teeth and persevere. Yet this would inevitably ruin their household affairs—either their crops would fail or their family members would fall ill—forcing the borrowers to seek loans from Leyin once more. Through this back-and-forth process, they would eventually end up selling themselves into servitude. Leyin carved away their flesh bit by bit until nothing was left.

Lu Wangji's maneuver shared an uncanny resemblance to Leyin's flesh-Carving. Had he demanded to inspect the storage talismans right from the start, everyone would undoubtedly have suspected his ill intentions. By first inspecting the white-iron straight blade to prove Jiang Shi's "innocence," and only then proposing an inspection of the storage talismans, he made himself appear merely diligent and dutiful, rather than purposefully malicious.

An innocent person, under Lu Wangji's guidance, would likely hand over all their belongings step by step. In the end, guilty or not, they would inevitably lose all capacity for resistance, becoming mere fish on a chopping block to be carved up at another's will.

"If you want to inspect storage talismans, have you inspected theirs?" Shang Xinlei pointed toward the crowd. "Qun Yushu, your ring is quite exquisite. Elder Chen, your pouch looks rather rustic, hardly fitting your usual style of dress. Elder Zhou, the hundred-flower belt produced by the Hundred Herb Garden is a luxury item coveted by the noble ladies of Jiangnan."

"Commander Lu, why don't you inspect their storage talismans first, and then come to inspect ours? That's fair, isn't it?"

Jie Yuanshao also snapped to her senses. "She's right. If we are to be inspected, everyone must be inspected; otherwise, aren't you simply targeting us? Besides, a storage talisman is a matter of profound privacy, equivalent to a private home. Commander Lu, without an imperial decree or an official warrant, do you dare to forcibly inspect their storage talismans?"

Lu Wangji paused slightly, his expression impassive as he replied, "You two are truly worthy of being direct descendants of the Jie and Shang clans. Your scholarly heritage runs deep, and your minds are as bright as your appearances."

Just when they thought they had turned the tables and successfully thwarted Lu Wangji's intentions, Qun Yushu's lazy voice drifted over.

"I am willing to submit to an inspection—especially since I haven't stuffed any women's stomach-wrappers into mine lately."

"A murder has been committed, and I am willing to cooperate with the investigation," said Chen Linchuan.

"I've known Old Lu for many years, and I'm not afraid of him finding anything," Zhou Ye chuckled with a smile.

Have they reached a consensus?

Jie Yuanshao felt a jolt of alarm. If the Seven Noble Families and the imperial court colluded, there would be no way for them to resist, no matter what they said. Yet she felt she might be overthinking things; after all, Jie Zilong and Shang Yue were surely standing on their side and would never allow Lu Wangji to act so lawlessly—

"Jie Zilong, Shang Yue," Lu Wangji called out, "can you accept an inspection?"

Jie Yuanshao and Shang Xinlei looked toward their family elders, yearning to hear a stern reprimand, or even cold sarcasm. Yet all they saw was a silent Jie Zilong and a coughing Shang Yue.

They stood there pondering and calculating, their silence appearing both as a form of protest and an act of tacit permission. Although they stood opposite Qun Yushu and the others, from the perspective of Shang Xinlei and Jie Yuanshao, this entire group seemed to be standing on the very same side.

Shang Xinlei's heart began to hammer violently, and a chilling thought surfaced in her mind: Was her eldest brother truly here to help her?

More accurately, were her interests and those of her family truly in complete alignment?

Jie Yuanshao frowned slightly, stepping forward as if intending to speak with her third uncle. Yet at that very moment, Jiang Shi, who had remained silent from the beginning to the end, suddenly spoke.

"I will not hand over my storage talisman," she said calmly. "Save your breath."

"Jiang Shi..." Qian Gongyu looked at her with worried eyes.

"Commander Lu, if you believe that refusing a storage talisman equates to being a criminal," Jie Yuanshao opened her palm, displaying the storage ring on her finger, "you may add my name to the list of criminals as well."

"Oh my, I feel quite looked down upon by the eldest miss of the Jie family," Shang Xinlei smiled. "I don't even carry a storage talisman, so I'm not even qualified to be a criminal alongside you all. I suppose I'll just have to sit at Little Yu's table."

"You are all overthinking this. Without conclusive evidence, I can only report the facts as they are. As for how the judgment is rendered, that is a matter for the Three Judicial Offices," Lu Wangji said indifferently. "Since you refuse to cooperate, we shall proceed to the final step of the inspection: using the Blood-Reflecting Mirror to check your persons for the victim's bloodstains."

With that, he produced the Blood-Reflecting Mirror and shone its light upon the four of them, acting as though it were mere routine. Jie Yuanshao and the others thought nothing of it; while they did have quite a bit of blood on them, it all belonged to fiends and demons. Everyone had been completely clean before entering the Mansu Woodlands; how could they possibly be stained with the victim's blood—?

*Hiss.*

Like a drop of ink falling into water, murmurs of astonishment rippled through the onlookers. Shang Xinlei, Jie Yuanshao, and Qian Gongyu all turned their heads, staring in stunned silence at Jiang Shi.

Under the yellowish illumination of the mirror, a faint bloody mist emanated from Jiang Shi's clothing. Furthermore, as Lu Wangji tilted the Blood-Reflecting Mirror, everyone could clearly see that the bloody mist rising from Jiang Shi's attire extended in a continuous line all the way to the corpse on the bed. Such direct evidence made it crystal clear to everyone present that the blood on her clothes originated from the victim himself!

"Impossible!" Qian Gongyu cried out loudly.

"There is definitely something wrong here!" Jie Yuanshao immediately protested. "I demand that the Three Judicial Offices review this case!"

"If her clothing had blood on it, why wasn't it visible this morning?" Shang Xinlei spoke at a rapid pace, like a volley of ten thousand arrows. "If she had washed the clothes, why not simply throw them away and change into a new set? A murderer would have ample time yet fail to change clothes—this defies all basic logic! Someone is framing her!"

"If she didn't commit the murder, why is Luo Weijin's blood on her clothes?" Lu Wangji countered. "She likely possessed a talisman to cleanse surface stains, but she didn't anticipate my use of the Blood-Reflecting Mirror to track her down, which is how her flaw was exposed. Had it not been for the Blood-Reflecting Mirror, who else could have uncovered this evidence?"

"You may raise your doubts, but such matters are not within my jurisdiction. Jiang Shi is suspected of murdering a scion of a noble lineage, employing vicious methods and acting with extreme ruthlessness. Now, I must ask you to step aside immediately. This official is placing the principal suspect, Jiang Shi, under arrest to be escorted to Jiangdu for trial!"

"You cannot!" Jie Yuanshao's beautiful eyes flared with anger. "This is a frame-up—Third Uncle!"

Jie Zilong sighed and said, "However, Jiang Shi's garments do indeed bear Luo Weijin's bloodstains, making her the prime suspect in this case. Even the Jie family cannot shield someone suspected of murdering a scion of a noble lineage."

"But—"

"Yuanshao, upholding the laws and rules is a fundamental principle for descendants of noble families," Jie Zilong said in a deep voice. "You may raise objections, conduct investigations, and clear Jiang Shi's name, but it must be done within the bounds of the legal framework, not by directly defying the laws of the imperial court!"

Jie Yuanshao bit her lower lip, locking gazes with her third uncle from afar before finally lowering her head in bitter resignation. "Understood."

On the other side, Qian Gongyu clutched at Jiang Shi's garments, nearly driven to madness. "Impossible, it's impossible! This is clearly my clothing; how could that fellow's blood possibly be on it... Jiang Shi, you only put on this set of clothes today!"

Shang Xinlei asked, "Who else could have accessed your wardrobe?"

"My wardrobe? It's right at the innermost part of the carriage, and we don't even use servants to wait on us. If anyone had sneaked into our carriage, Uncle Lin would definitely have noticed... Uncle Lin?"

Qian Gongyu suddenly froze. She looked around in a circle, scanning back and forth, but failed to spot that familiar figure anywhere in the crowd. Her body trembled slightly, her hands wrapped tightly around Jiang Shi's arm, and her knees buckled as she sank directly to the ground.

"I'm sorry..." Her voice was laced with a sob, and pearl-like tears fell onto Jiang Shi's hand. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry..."

"It's me... Our Qian family has harmed you... It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have made an enemy of Luo Weijin, and you certainly wouldn't have..."

"Jiang Shi, I, I..."

Jiang Shi raised her hand and gently stroked the tiger ears atop Qian Gongyu's head. Unable to hold back any longer, Qian Gongyu let out a wailing cry, heavy snot bubbles blowing from her nose, which lent a somewhat comical touch to her tiger-featured face.

Shang Xinlei muttered, "This is troublesome. If the real culprit cannot be found, Jiang Shi bears the heaviest suspicion. According to the code..."

"Killing a superior, brutally murdering a noble, subverting hierarchy and order, employing vicious methods, an unforgivable crime," Lu Wangji's emotionless voice echoed from afar. "According to the Twelve Jade Codes, sentence is death!"

"Anyone who dares to resist arrest or attempt flight shall be executed on the spot without exception!"

As dozens of divine machine crossbows locked their aim onto Jiang Shi, the tension in the area spiked instantly. The noble scions gathered on the outskirts began to clamor and shriek, seemingly anticipating the opening act of a bloody drama. Shang Xinlei and the others alternated between weeping and staring blankly, completely at a loss as to what to do.

At that exact moment, a single cough broke the dangerous equilibrium.

"What if the Shang family is willing to stand as guarantor for Jiang Shi?"