Chapter 183: Strange Young Man
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The county magistrate’s expression was ugly. Having a murder case meant that this period of time would not be easy for him. “Miss Chu, thank you for your help. I wonder if you can help us to the end. Don’t worry, when the case is solved, 1 will definitely reward you.”
It was obvious that this case was extremely tricky. It was better to find a capable person to investigate. Otherwise, who knew how long it would take to solve the case.
Chu Qingzhi wanted to find out the truth anyway, so she agreed. “I’ll do my best.”
At this moment, a young man in black walked over. He was thin and looked to be 15 or 16 years old. He had delicate features and was very energetic. “Father, I want to investigate the case too.”
When the county magistrate saw the young man, he felt a headache coming on. “Go back. It’s not a place for you to mess around here.”
The young man said firmly, “Father, I’m not messing around. I just want to investigate the case. This has been my dream since I was young. I didn’t have a chance in the past. I won’t give up no matter what.”
The county magistrate ordered, “Someone, bring Young… Young Master back.”
The young man was anxious. He quickly took a step back and said, “Father, you can lock me up today, but can you lock me up for the rest of my life? Why don’t you let me try?”
The county magistrate felt helpless. “Forget it. i’ll allow it this time. If you can’t prove yourself, you’d better stay at home obediently.”
The young man was delighted. “Thank you, Father. I will do my best.”
The county magistrate looked at Chu Qingzhi and said in a humble tone, “Miss Chu, this is my son. He has liked to investigate cases since he was young. Please don’t mind him being here.”
Chu Qingzhi nodded indifferently. “Okay.”
The county magistrate went to make other arrangements.
The young man walked up to Chu Qingzhi with a provocative gaze. “Chu Qingzhi, my name is Tao Yizhou. Thank you for letting me stay and learn from you.”
Chu Qingzhi said humbly, “You flatter me. Let’s learn from each other.”
Tao Yizhou was a little jealous of Chu Qingzhi. As someone of the same age, she had already saved countless people and made great contributions while he could only be a bird in a cage. “Since you are so capable, why don’t we compete?”
Chu Qingzhi refused. “Investigating cases is a very serious matter and can’t be used to compete.”
Tao Yizhou snorted. “What i mean is, let’s see who solves the case first.”
Chu Qingzhi moved aside and said humbly, “Young Master, please.”
Tao Yizhou was furious. Chu Qingzhi was too insensible. “I’ll definitely solve the case before you do.” After saying that, he rushed towards the dormitory angrily. He didn’t believe that he was not as good as Chu Qingzhi.
“Aiyo!” At the door of the dormitory, Tao Yizhou bumped into someone and fell on his buttocks.
“Are you alright?” Chu Third hurriedly went forward to help him up. He came out of the dormitory to look for Chu Qingzhi, but just as he reached the door, someone bumped into him. He was fine, but the other party was knocked over.
Tao Yizhou’s butt hurt at that moment. His eyes were misty with tears as he glared at Chu Third. “Are you blind?”
Chu Third hurriedly said, “You were the one who bumped into me. However, I was also not careful. I’m sorry. Are you alright? I’ll get Fifth Sister to take a look at you.”
Tao Yizhou shook off Chu Third’s hand. “I don’t want to see her. I’m fine. Go away. Don’t hinder my investigation.”
As he spoke, he got up from the ground and limped into the dormitory.
What a stubborn young man… Chu Qingzhi smiled mischievously and walked towards Chu Third. “Third Brother, did you find something else?”
“Yes.” Chu Third brought Chu Qingzhi into the dormitory and found some clues in the incense burner. “Fifth Sister, the ash in the incense burner is strange. It’s purple.”
Chu Qingzhi picked up some purple ash and sniffed it. “It’s fleeceflower stems. This is a calming herb. Let’s go out and ask Liu Yuanping.”
Chu Third nodded. “Ok.”
Liu Yuanping had calmed down. When he heard Chu Qingzhi’s question, he replied, “When I came back last night, Tan Maozhi was already asleep. 1 was too exhausted and went straight to bed. 1 didn’t burn fleeceflower stems.”
Chu Qingzhi asked again, “Was there anything abnormal about Tan Maozhi when he woke up this morning?”
“He was yawning non-stop like he had stayed up ail night. After washing up, he sat at the table and asked me to bring him breakfast. 1 had something to do, so I declined. When 1 returned at noon, I saw that he was still sitting there, so 1 patted him. In the end, he fell off the chair to the side and was dead.”
As he spoke, Liu Yuanping shivered. He was not a bold person. Now that his roommate was dead, he was frightened out of his wits.
Chu Qingzhi was deep in thought and asked, “Anything else abnormal about him these past two days?”
Seeing that Liu Yuanping was so afraid that he was stammering, Yuan Hongjun said for him, “Master, he just told me that Liu Yuanping usually stayed in the brothel, but last night, he slept in the dormitory.”
Chu Qingzhi frowned. “In a brothel?”
Yuan Hongjun said with a complicated expression, “He said that Tan Maozhi likes a servant girl at home very much, but her mother is very domineering and doesn’t agree to the two of them being together. She is not even allowed to be his concubine. His mother also sold that girl to a brothel. From then on, Tan Maozhi stayed in the brothel like it was his home.”
“There’s actually such a story.” Chu Qingzhi paused and asked, “How is Tan Maozhi doing at school? Did he say what his dreams were? Also, did he have any obvious habits?”
Bao Linjiang replied, “Master, Tan Maozhi is 19 years old this year. He has already passed the imperial examination at the county level
and his results are above average. He’s a B class student.”
“He said that he wanted to become an official in another country. Then, he would redeem Miss Red Crane and take her away. He would never return to the Tan family.”
Chu Qingzhi asked, “Miss Red Crane?”
Bao Linjiang explained, “Miss Red Crane is the servant girl he likes.”
“As for the obvious habit, he likes to mix a kind of incense. This incense is called Red Soft Jade. He said that Miss Red Crane likes it very much. Every time it’s used up, he will personally concoct it and send it to her.”
Incense? Chu Qingzhi recalled the strange Incense she had smelled just now. “Liu Yuanping, I smelled a kind of Incense in your room just now. Is it Red Soft Jade?”
Liu Yuanping did not dare to hide anything. “His incense mixing necessities are placed under his bed plank. When you lift his bedsheets, you will see a secret compartment. The things are placed inside.”
The few of them returned to the dormitory and did as Liu Yuanping said. As expected, they found the incense mixing things.
Chu Qingzhi checked it. The herbs used to make the Red Soft Jade were very ordinary. There was no poison, and it was not something that could kill.
She turned around and said to the head constable, “Put these things away first.”
The head constable had already been ordered by the county magistrate to listen to Chu Qingzhi’s instructions. He immediately nodded. “Yes, Miss Chu..”
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