Сhаpter 133: Тhе Сhеn Fаmily
Upon аrriving аt the Chеn residenсе, Zhu Yаn suddеnlу stеppеd ahead of Shen Du, pоsitiоning hersеlf in front оf him.
Shеn Du glаnсed аt hеr disdаinfullу bеforе following her intо thе housе.
The furnishings inside wеre simplе. At that mоmеnt, Сhеn Shоujiе wаs alonе аt homе, hаlf-lуing on thе bed аnd muttеring something undеr his brеath.
Zhu Yаn searchеd around the rооm аnd indeеd found an unfinished еmbrоidеry рiесе insidе а plаin сabinеt.
Surprisеd, she turned hеr gazе tоwаrd Chеn Shоujiе оn the bed. "What is gоing on here?"
Shen Du stoоd nearby with а grim exрressiоn. Givеn Chеn Shoujie's current state, could she really expect to get any answers from him?
To his surprise, when Chen Shoujie saw the embroidery in Zhu Yan's hand, his vacant eyes suddenly regained focus.
It was as if he had snapped back to awareness.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhu Yan quickly asked, "What is the meaning of this? How could there be an embroidery piece from the Brocade Workshop in Councilor Chen's home?"
Chen Shoujie hadn't recognized Zhu Yan at first, but when he looked at Shen Du, he understood everything and spoke up,
"She is my second wife. She used to work as an embroiderer at the Brocade Workshop and even mentored apprentices. Her skills were truly exceptional. When the Brocade Workshop was implicated in the case, she happened to be away on business.
Afterward, when the court searched for remaining accomplices, she went into hiding everywhere. She encountered me, and I saw that she had good character, was hardworking and resilient, and didn't mind my family's poverty. So I married her as my second wife. These embroidery pieces, these embroidery pieces..."
Chen Shoujie paused briefly before continuing, "They are just something she does out of habit, to pass the time and entertain herself."
After hearing Chen Shoujie's explanation, Zhu Yan furrowed her brows tightly and turned her gaze toward Shen Du.
Shen Du was no better off than Zhu Yan, his sharp eyebrows knitted into a deep frown as he also pondered the underlying truth.
After saying all this, Chen Shoujie's eyes began to grow vacant again, and he mumbled incoherently, his words unclear.
The two left the Chen residence. On the way back to the Shen manor, Zhu Yan kept her head down, biting her nails as she pondered Chen Shoujie's words.
Seeing Zhu Yan silent and deep in thought, Shen Du naturally understood what was on her mind. He spoke up casually, "Still can't figure it out?"
Startled, Zhu Yan looked at him. "What? Have you figured it out?"
Shen Du appeared completely relaxed, as if nothing were amiss, and shook his head. "No."
Those two words nearly made Zhu Yan collapse on the spot. She had thought he might offer some earth-shattering insight, but instead, he was teasing her at a time like this.
Annoyed, Zhu Yan pouted, crossed her arms, and turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
Shen Du lowered his head and smiled. "I just wanted to tell you that if you can't figure it out, you should say everything you're thinking. The two of us can think together and exchange ideas. Perhaps we might discover something new."
Hearing this, Zhu Yan shot him an irritated glance. "Then why couldn't you just say that properly? You should have said so earlier."
Shen Du stopped joking with her and asked seriously, "What exactly is bothering you? Tell me."
Zhu Yan's expression turned earnest as she gently smoothed the hair on her shoulders.
"If Madam Chen really is the murderer, then killing to silence witnesses—does that mean she wants to wipe out everyone connected to the Brocade Workshop?
But if that's truly the case, doesn't it imply that there is some extraordinary secret in the Brocade Workshop case? Something they don't want anyone to know?"Listening to Zhu Yan's analysis, Shen Du also furrowed his brow and pondered seriously. "Your thoughts align closely with mine, but for now, these are just our speculations. To draw a definitive conclusion, we need to investigate further."
Zhu Yan nodded and took a few steps forward, suddenly remembering something. "Right, those bodies."
With that, she quickened her pace.
Shen Du didn’t immediately grasp Zhu Yan’s meaning, but seeing her hurry off, he knew she must have thought of another clue.
Zhu Yan went straight to the Ministry of Justice’s morgue, lifting the white cloth covering the bodies. To her surprise, she found the hearts of the corpses still in place. This puzzled her—if the murderer was imitating a previous case, why leave the hearts intact? Shouldn’t they have gone all the way and removed the hearts as well? Could she have been mistaken?
Standing beside the bodies, Zhu Yan remained silent, her eyes dark and inscrutable, making it impossible to guess what she was thinking.
At that moment, Shen Du arrived at the morgue entrance. Seeing Zhu Yan deep in thought, he hesitated to disturb her. Instead, he lingered at the doorway, keeping watch. He had only been there a moment when Jing Lin hurried over and whispered a few words in his ear.
Shen Du’s brow furrowed. He glanced at Zhu Yan, still lost in thought, then turned and left.
Zhu Yan was so absorbed in her contemplation that she didn’t notice Shen Du’s departure from the doorway—or perhaps she had already forgotten his presence altogether.
Unable to make sense of her thoughts, Zhu Yan decided to search for more clues from the bodies. She began another careful examination, and this time, she made an unexpected discovery.
Madam Chen’s corpse exhibited signs of having been dead for a long time, but the remaining fragments of her skin carried a faint, lingering fragrance. The scent seemed familiar, as if she had smelled it somewhere before. Upon inspecting the internal organs, she found, as expected, that the body had been tampered with. Inside the deceased’s shriveled stomach were some remnants of a special drug—one that could alter a person’s skin and appearance, making them look as though they had been dead for a long time when, in reality, they had died recently.
With these clues, Zhu Yan began to see some similarities between this case and the previous one. But this was only a small piece of the puzzle; delving deeper into the investigation still felt like an uphill battle.
After much deliberation, she decided to seek out her mentor, hoping he might provide some useful leads.
As usual, when visiting Chen Wen this time, she brought two jars of fine Nü’er Hong wine. Over drinks and discussions about the case, Zhu Yan steered the conversation toward the Brocade Workshop case from years ago.
Chen Wen recalled the details of the incident and nodded. "I remember this case quite well. At the time, the evidence seemed conclusive, but if we’re talking about doubts… there were indeed a few suspicious points."
Her mentor’s words left Zhu Yan somewhat confused, but her intuition told her he definitely knew something.
"Master, think carefully. Can you recall anything?" Zhu Yan pressed further.
"I can’t remember," Chen Wen frowned. "It’s been too long." With that, he downed a cup of wine.
Zhu Yan didn’t miss the teasing glint in Chen Wen’s eyes and persisted, "Master, dear master, please don’t make things difficult for your disciple."
"Heh heh heh…" Chen Wen tapped her forehead. "If you keep obsessing over cases like this, I’m afraid you’ll end up alone for the rest of your life."
Zhu Yan was puzzled. "What does that have to do with me?"Shaking his head, Chen Wen said no more, downed another glass of wine, and lowered his head in thought. "The only suspicious thing about that case is the short interval between the crime and the conviction, and the whole process went very smoothly. It was as if someone was pulling the strings, directing everything. All the events were arranged, just waiting for us to take the bait step by step."
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