Jing Yi seized Gu Yao's wrists and pulled them above his head. Using the sash he had just untied from Gu Yao's robe, he swiftly bound both hands firmly to the headboard.
The physical restraint only heightened his sensory awareness, plunging Gu Yao into agony. His strained voice spilled forth with pitiful pleading, "Mmm... Sir..."
"If you don't behave, I'll tie your legs too."
"Don't... Hurry..."
"Stop squirming, and I'll speed up."
"I won't move..."
Jing Yi responded absently to Gu Yao's increasingly desperate pleas while continuing to leisurely remove his garments. With Gu Yao's hands bound, Jing Yi peeled off his upper clothing layer by layer like stripping onion skin. The sound of tearing fabric made the exquisite body tremble uncontrollably.
Adding insult to injury, Jing Yi stroked the quivering form and asked kindly, "Cold?"
"No..."
"Hot then?"
"Mmm..."
"Should I let you cool off for a while?"
"Don't..."
"Don't want to?"
"Want..."
"Make up your mind - want or not?"
"Sir..."
Seeing the desired effect achieved, Jing Yi finally sighed and neatly removed his trousers. An accidental brush against sensitive areas made Gu Yao's exposed body jolt violently. Jing Yi quickly pressed his shoulder down, "Don't rush. Going too fast will hurt you."
"Fast..."
"Very soon. Just answer a few more questions."
"Mmm..."
"Lian Cheng - Princess Jinyang's consort, Xue Yue - the Grand Tutor's fourth son and Vice Minister of Personnel, and Xiao Lin - Prince of Qi. Which of these three treated you best?"
"Xue Yue..."
"How was he different?"
"He's special..."
"What about Lian Cheng and Xiao Lin?"
"I liked..."
Gu Yao gasped like a fish out of water. Jing Yi nodded thoughtfully and stood up from the bedside, "Before me, you just sent off someone you liked, didn't you?"
Gu Yao's body stiffened, his breathing hitched. He turned his head to stare bewildered at Jing Yi's still gentle smile.
Jing Yi sighed softly, "The drug hasn't worn off yet, otherwise you wouldn't be in this state... With all these bruises and the swelling down there still present, that person didn't care about you at all, did he?"
"He just... took medicine... liked me..."
Jing Yi frowned slightly, pondering Gu Yao's muddled logic, "You give them drugs to make them like you?"
"It's the best medicine... They like it... over and over..."
"What about Xue Yue..."
Halfway through his question, three sharp knocks sounded at the door, followed by Xiao Jin Yu's icy voice, "You two, get out."
Hearing Jing Yi's yelp from inside, Xiao Jin Yu's voice turned colder, "If you don't come out now, Xu Ru Gui and I are coming in."
After a brief silence, a loud "thump" echoed. Xiao Jin Yu looked up at Xu Ru Gui, "After you, Manager Xu."
Xu Ru Gui hesitated for a long while before steeling himself to push the door open. Finding the window wide open and the room empty, he quietly sighed in relief, secretly wiping sweat from his forehead.
Making a middle-aged man and a powerful young official eavesdrop together on two men being intimate - only Xiao Jin Yu could come up with such an idea...Xu Ru Gui stole a glance at this man who could kill without even drawing a blade. Even he, a long-time operator in such a business, felt his body go numb and his face flush with heat, yet Xiao Jin Yu showed no reaction at all. From start to finish, his face remained pale and serene, like a statue of Buddha. Was this man utterly oblivious to worldly affairs or...
"Proprietor Xu," Xiao Jin Yu picked up the cup of fragrant tea on the table as soon as he entered the room, took a shallow sniff, and handed it to Xu Ru Gui, who was staring at him in a daze. "Is the drug you mentioned earlier of this kind?"
Xu Ru Gui quickly snapped back to attention, took the teacup, and carefully smelled it. "Your Highness, the scent emanating from the deceased was exactly this—night-blooming jasmine, Gu Yao's exclusive secret formula. There's no mistake."
Xiao Jin Yu nodded thoughtfully, lightly furrowing his brow as he carefully scanned the room. "Proprietor Xu mentioned earlier that Gu Yao was skilled in using blades and whips to entertain clients, and the blade marks and whip wounds on the corpse are strikingly similar..."
"Exactly."
"If that's the case... these instruments are crucial evidence in this case. I wonder if I could trouble Proprietor Xu to retrieve them for me?"
"They're in the hidden compartment at the head of the bed."
Xu Ru Gui deftly opened the secret compartment and retrieved a tray of neatly arranged, exquisitely crafted instruments, about a dozen of varying types. At a glance, Xiao Jin Yu could identify the function and name of at most three or four of them.
Bringing Jing Yi along was the right decision...
"I need to examine this room further. Please deliver these pieces of evidence to Lord Jing's room."
"Yes, Your Highness."
As soon as Xu Ru Gui closed the door and left, Xiao Jin Yu knitted his brows, pushed his wheelchair closer to the bed with its disheveled bedding.
The Corpse Examination confirmed the cause of death as death by erotic asphyxiation, induced by that exclusive secret formula.
The corpse bore a variety of wounds, yet all were shallow, scattered in chaotic locations with peculiar trajectories. Aside from the suggestive tray of instruments, it was difficult to find any other plausible explanation.
Combined with Gu Yao's earlier words—stripped of the emotional interjections—the pieces almost fit together seamlessly.
Although the person had been dead for over three days, the time between the examination and the body's removal from a warm place to the snow could not have exceeded half an hour.
Given the intensity of the wind and snow outside, the guards were still able to track footprints leading to the dumping site in the snow, indicating that Chu Chu not only saw the corpse but also likely came face to face with the murderer.
The murderer had no intention of killing her, at least not immediately, or else there would have been more than one body.
People in such a business operate within a very limited scope. If they wanted to hide a living person, the safest place would be their own bedroom.
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