The two men knelt in panic, "Thank you, Wang Ye, for saving our lives!"
Wang Xiaohua let out a rough, heavy snort, earning an even fiercer glare from Wu Jiang.
Xiao Jin Yu acted as if he hadn't noticed Wang Xiaohua's presence in the room at all, calmly gazing at the two soldiers kneeling on the ground. "Do you two remember what happened on the night of the incident?"
"Replying to Wang Ye, we remember."
"From the start of your shift until the discovery of the body... recount everything you did and saw during those three hours, no matter how trivial."
"Yes... yes."
Xiao Jin Yu listened quietly as the two recounted every detail, big and small, from those three hours, then nodded slightly and said with an air of nonchalance, "Now, from the discovery of the body back to the start of your shift... recount it in reverse order."
The two men choked, but seeing that Xiao Jin Yu didn't seem to be joking, they had no choice but to steel themselves and begin.
"When we opened the door for the shift change inspection, we found three people hanging from the beam..."
Xiao Jin Yu interrupted abruptly, "Who opened the door?"
"This... this humble soldier did. The key was in my possession."
"Who was the first to enter?"
"It was also this humble soldier... I unlocked the door and pushed it open to go in."
Only then did Xiao Jin Yu nod slightly. "Mm... continue backward."
"Before that, before that... a cat darted past the door, startling us both..."
Xiao Jin Yu interjected again, "A black cat or a white cat?"
"Bl-black..."
Xiao Jin Yu raised an eyebrow slightly. "Wasn't it a calico cat just now?"
"Y-yes... calico, calico. This humble soldier misspoke..."
"Mm... go on."
The other soldier swallowed hard before continuing, "Then... then Granny Qin passed by the door pushing a cart to deliver water to the examination sheds..."
"Granny Qin?" Xiao Jin Yu looked calmly at the two soldiers, now sweating profusely. "Didn't you say it was an old man just now?"
"Y-yes... it was an old man!"
Xiao Jin Yu's expression darkened. "Will you two tell the truth, or shall I summon the Qin elders to ask them myself?"
The two soldiers kowtowed in panic. "Wang Ye, please calm your anger! This humble soldier deserves death... deserves death!"
Xiao Jin Yu said coldly, "If you confess yourselves, I will punish you according to the dynasty's laws for concealing evidence. If I uncover the truth, I will hand you over to General Wang to be punished according to military regulations for dereliction of duty..."
Before Xiao Jin Yu could finish, the two soldiers rushed to say, "We will confess, we will confess!"
"Speak."
"What we saw... was indeed Granny Qin." One soldier straightened his back. "That night, Granny Qin was alone, pulling a cart to deliver water to the examination sheds. She's an elderly woman, sick and frail, and she tripped in front of the building, unable to get up... We both have parents at home and couldn't bear to see it. I offered to pull the cart for her, but she was afraid the Imperial Examination Hall staff would see and fire her, so she wouldn't be able to see her son anymore... So I pulled the cart near the examination sheds, and he carried Granny Qin over. Only then did we return."
Wang Xiaohua rolled her eyes, Wu Jiang furrowed his brow, and Xiao Jin Yu's frown eased slightly. "Did Granny Qin tell you not to let Qin Daye know?"
The two soldiers were taken aback. "Yes... How did Wang Ye know?"
Xiao Jin Yu didn't answer. "You two return to the barracks now and write down everything that happened that night truthfully... If there's even one false word, it will be considered the crime of deliberately deceiving me."
"Yes!"Once the two soldiers withdrew, Xiao Jin Yu addressed Wang Xiaohua, whose face had turned ashen, "General Wang, the first exam concludes at dusk today. If any cheating candidates are apprehended, I must trouble you to have General Wu escort them to the Ministry of Justice..."
Wang Xiaohua’s eyes widened like a bull’s, and he slammed the hilt of his sword, "Wang Ye, what do you mean by this?!"
"Nothing much..." Xiao Jin Yu replied calmly, his gaze steady on Wang Xiaohua. "At dusk, thousands of candidates will be allowed to leave their examination cells and move about the front courtyard of the Imperial Examination Hall. I fear disturbances may arise... We’ll need you, General, to maintain order."
Wang Xiaohua swallowed hard and retorted irritably, "That’s my duty anyway."
"Then I leave it to you, General."
"Hmph."
Wu Jiang watched Wang Xiaohua swagger out, his own face dark with anger. "Wang Ye, when this man finally falls into our hands, you must assign the case to me. I’ll investigate him to death..."
"No rush... Have you made any progress on what the Imperial Concubine tasked you to investigate?"
Wu Jiang shook his head, his brow furrowed. "Not yet... I visited the Qin Family’s elderly parents. They insist their son is among the candidates, but they haven’t seen him in years and their description is vague. The only usable evidence is a copper-coin-sized black mole on their son’s lower back."
Xiao Jin Yu nodded slightly. "Do you know where they live?"
"Yes, in the servants’ quarters to the west."
"Go to the firewood room and inform the Imperial Concubine to return as soon as she’s finished. I’ll wait for her so we can visit the Qin Family’s residence together."
"Understood."
☆ 95 Braised Pork Knuckle with Rock Sugar (IX)
Xiao Jin Yu changed into a clean set of white robes and had just begun reviewing a few urgent documents at his desk when Chu Chu rushed back in a flurry.
"Wang Ye, I’m back!" Chu Chu made a beeline for the wardrobe, flung it open, grabbed a set of clothes, and tossed them onto the bed. "I didn’t touch the corpses earlier—just burning some herbs and changing my clothes, and I’ll be ready to go!"
Xiao Jin Yu paused, setting down the report in his hand. "You didn’t touch the corpses?"
Hadn’t she said she was going to conduct a corpse examination when she left?
"Mm... I only examined the clothes worn by the three hanged individuals."
Chu Chu swiftly removed her outer robe, and in the blink of an eye, she had stripped down to her underwear. Xiao Jin Yu hurried over to close the half-open window, his face flushing crimson with fluster.
Chu Chu, however, remained perfectly composed. She undid her breast-binding cloth as well, then turned to face him with a look of eager anticipation. "Wang Ye, guess what I discovered?"
In broad daylight, at such a comfortable and well-fed hour... Xiao Jin Yu suddenly felt as if the charcoal brazier in the room had flared up with unusual intensity.
"I... I don’t know..."
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