Do Not Offend the Reborn Wicked Wife-Chapter 441: Clues

The room fell silent for a moment before Long Yue spoke, "It seems that person was silenced before they could talk. But I’m really curious, since they wanted to silence them, why didn’t they dispose of the body? Doesn’t this leave evidence for others?"

Wasn’t this behavior a bit foolish?

"Perhaps the enemy left clues on purpose, just to mislead us!"

Li Qingmu analyzed calmly.

The real enemy would never leave such a big mistake as evidence, so this is the only possibility!

And many people could easily fall into this trap.

Immediately, everyone nodded.

"Let’s go, we need to check out what’s happening at Jingzhao Mansion!"

Jingzhao Mansion.

Zhao Mengran looked at a corpse on the ground and asked the forensic doctor beside him, "Have you noticed anything?"

"Reporting to you, sir, the person was directly slashed across the throat with a sharp weapon from the front, leading to asphyxiation. Moreover, the technique was very professional. Look, the cut is extremely neat, just like a line, with no sign of any hand tremor."

The forensic doctor bent down, reaching out to show the wound to Zhao Mengran.

Zhao Mengran rubbed his eyebrows, saying, "This should be a revenge killing. The silver notes were still on him, so it wasn’t for robbery. In that case, the case can be closed, though finding the murderer might be difficult!"

It’s really hard to find the killer based solely on a corpse and a wound, especially with no eyewitnesses nearby at the time.

"Check whether this person offended anyone recently? Look into his family’s situation, quickly go!"

Zhao Mengran waved a hand, and someone stepped out from behind him.

However, just a short time later, they returned.

Zhao Mengran was puzzled, "What’s wrong?"

"Sir, Mr. Li and Lady Jiao have arrived!"

This Lady Jiao had previously helped Zhao Mengran find the murderer of his son, allowing him to be laid to rest. Upon hearing this, Zhao Mengran said, "Let’s go welcome them!"

Zhao Mengran, accompanied by several subordinates, went out to greet them, "Mr. Li, it’s an honor to have you visit. May I know how I can assist you?"

"I heard there was a case here and wanted to see the deceased."

Hmm? Zhao Mengran was taken aback.

This seems a bit inappropriate. I’m handling a case here, and you are the Imperial Censor, responsible for impeaching and supervising officials. Are you here to impeach me?

That thought flashed by quickly, and Zhao Mengran shook it off. If Li Qingmu wanted to impeach him, there’s no need for such hassle, so it must really be something important.

He immediately led them inside.

A corpse lay on a stretcher in the hall, not yet covered by a white cloth. The deceased’s eyes were open, pupils dilated, and the expression on the face was terrifying due to asphyxiation, scaring Ning Xiang, who had come along, into a scream.

Li Qingmu turned to block Long Yue’s view, "Do you want to step outside?"

It’s not good for her to see such a gruesome sight.

But Long Yue simply shook her head, "I am not afraid of these things!"

Li Qingmu was taken aback—after all, Long Yue could fight in battles, so how could this kind of thing scare her?

Li Qingmu walked over to the corpse, glancing at it, he confirmed the forensic doctor’s conclusion but then his gaze fell on the corpse’s hand.

The dead typically have clenched fists, so people generally don’t look at their hands, yet Li Qingmu instinctively took a glance.

With just a glance, he noticed something seemed to be hidden in the fingers.

"A shao, come over and help me open his hand!"

Cao Xiao was a bit reluctant but complied.

As they pried open the tight fist, a small amount of powder fell from his fingers.

Duanmu Nan stepped forward to inspect, nodding, "That’s the kind of incense, the toxic incense!"

"What kind of incense?"

Zhao Mengran was bewildered, thinking this was just an ordinary murder case. Why did poison come into play now? His head was buzzing. If murder involved poisoning, then things just got complicated.

It was frustrating for him. In recent years, everything had been harmonious, and there were only small cases here and there. Why have problems kept cropping up these past two years?

While Zhao Mengran was feeling frustrated, Li Qingmu had already pried open the other hand of the deceased, and a small round bead fell from the palm.

The small bead had a silver chain, obviously meant to be worn. The sphere emitted a purple glow, as if stars inside were twinkling, incredibly beautiful—a veritable priceless treasure!

It’s laughable that such a treasure would be in the hands of a small vendor!

"This item..." Li Qingmu took the bead, looking at Zhao Mengran, "Lord Zhao, with your extensive knowledge, do you recognize the origin of this bead?"

"This..."

Zhao Mengran’s scalp went numb seeing the bead; he knew something big was happening, indeed something big!

Although he didn’t know why Li Qingmu was investigating this matter, his instinct as an official told him it wasn’t simple.

"This bead was a gift from the Emperor to Princess Consort Zhen. Princess Consort Zhen treats it as a treasure and wears it during every grand feast."

"Princess Consort Zhen?"

Li Qingmu squinted his eyes; earlier, Long Yue had mentioned that during her visit to Xiangguo Temple, the Seventh Prince’s concubine, Lady Xiang, tried to curry favor with her and said she would gift her the incense from Beibing Mei.

And here, the scattered powder was indeed Beibing Mei!

In this way, all signs point to the Seventh Prince, Qi Junchen, intending to harm Yue’er!

But isn’t this ridiculous? Harming Yue’er, causing a rift with Li Qingmu, how would it benefit him? Not at all!

The adversary only intends to exploit Li Qingmu’s potential grief over his wife’s death to irrationally target Qi Junchen.

All of this, however, was uncovered before it could unfold!

"This case... could be problematic!"

Zhao Mengran felt a headache.

"Not a problem; just handle it as a normal murder case. As for this bead, it needs to be returned to its rightful owner!"

Li Qingmu put the bead away, Zhao Mengran thought about stopping him, but reconsidered and decided not to. The fact that the Princess Consort’s item ended up in the hands of a lowly vendor would certainly cause a substantial commotion once it reached the court. Li Qingmu taking it away was actually a relief for him.

"By the way, Lord Zhao, was the corpse found near Xiangman Garden?"

"No, it was discovered by the river hundreds of miles away. A civilian witnessed a shadow lurking and chose not to disturb it. After the shadow left, they went to check and found the body lying by the riverbank. Later, we searched around and found bloodstains in that alley."

"I understand, sir. We’ll handle this matter, and I’d appreciate it if you could keep it quiet."

Zhao Mengran was taken aback, "Why?"

"Because the person the mastermind wanted to harm is my wife. This is a personal matter, and we’ll handle it ourselves."

Instantly, a weight was lifted from Zhao Mengran’s heart.

They were attempting to harm Lady Jiao? In that case, indeed, it should be handled by Li Qingmu himself, allowing Zhao Mengran to extricate himself.

Zhao Mengran felt his mindset was not very noble and awkwardly smiled at Li Qingmu, "In that case, I’ll leave it to you, Mr. Li. If you need any help from me later, just send someone to tell me, and I’ll certainly assist!"

"Alright, thank you!"

Leaving Jingzhao Mansion, upon returning to the General Mansion, Li Qingmu went directly to find Qi Junchen.