Ji Yunshu took a pair of gloves out of her sleeve, and passed it to Jing Rong. “Put this on.”
“Why are you giving this prince these?”
“I told you I needed your help.”
“Help?”
Ji Yunshu did not bother to reply, and simply stuffed the pair of gloves into Jing Rong’s hands. Then, she took out something small and ordered, “Open your mouth.”
“Huh?”
“Open your mouth.”
Jing Rong was stupefied but opened his mouth obediently nonetheless. She tossed the thing in her hand into Jing Rong’s mouth.
Once it landed on his tongue, his taste buds immediately went numb from the spiciness. Before he could chew it, Ji Yunshu pushed his jaw upward to shut his mouth, and he was forced to gulp down the unidentified piece.
“What did you just feed this prince with?” Jing Rong’s face paled.
“Ginger soaked in sesame oil.”
“It’s that thing again.”
This was not Jing Rong’s first taste of ginger soaked in sesame oil. The first time he tasted it was when he saw the burnt corpses at Jinjiang city's memorial hall. Like just now, Ji Yunshu had also stuffed the ginger in his mouth without any warning. Back then, he thought that Ji Yunshu was trying to poison him, and he had been scared half out of his wits.
Hearing that he was fed with the same thing again, he stopped protesting. However, he could sense that Ji Yunshu had some nefarious intention behind it. There was no way Ji Yunshu would suddenly offer him a piece of ginger normally used to mask the stench of corpses for no reason. This gift was as innocent as a weasel offering greetings to a chicken.
After the taste on his taste buds faded, he asked, “What do you want this prince to do?”
Ji Yunshu did not leave Jing Rong hanging. “I need you to help check Granny Lin’s body.”
What? Jing Rong stared at her in disbelief. Sister, are you kidding me?
He took a few gulps before he asked, “How does this prince know how to inspect a dead body?”
“I’ll be watching you at the side, and guide you one step at a time. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Why don’t you do it yourself?”
She raised her hand to show her palm wrapped in bandage. “I would‘ve done it myself if I could. Unfortunately, I’m injured, so I’ll have to ask Your Highness to lend me a helping hand.”
“This…”
“It’s late now. Hurry up. I’m not asking you to cut open the body. I only want you to inspect it. I’m afraid that I might have missed something previously. If we couldn’t find any trace at the crime scene, we might be able to find some clue on Granny Lin’s body or in her room.”
Upon listening to Ji Yunshu's explanation, Jing Rong had no choice but to bear this responsibility.
However, he had a condition. “I won’t do it if I have to remove her clothes.”
“Of course not. I only want you to meticulously inspect the exposed areas.”
“Sure, this prince will help you with that. But… you’ll have to repay me this favor.” A wry smile twisted his lips as he raised his eyebrows.
Not wanting to waste more time, Ji Yunshu did not bargain with him and agreed, “Alright. After you finish the job, I’ll naturally compensate you.”
That’s great! Jing Rong was exhilarated. He put on the gloves, crouched down, and got ready to work. Ji Yunshu crouched down opposite Jing Rong with a candle in her hand, and started guiding him like a teacher.
“Push her hair to one side and check if there’s any wound or swelling underneath.”
Jing Rong did exactly what Ji Yunshu instructed. He pushed Granny Lin's hair to one side and palpated the skin. “There’s nothing here.”
“Check behind the ears, and see if there are scratches or any other marks.”
He checked behind the ears, but to no avail. “No, nothing.”
…
Jing Rong checked from the body’s head to neck. He did not find anything different from Ji Yunshu’s initial inspection.
“Eh?” All of a sudden, Jing Rong exclaimed.
Ji Yunshu turned to look at him, and brought her candle stand closer. She asked, “What did you find?”
Jing Rong rubbed his fingers against Granny Lin’s clothes. “Why are her clothes so oily?”
“It’s oily?”
“Only the areas from her abdomen to her thigh.”
Ji Yunshu’s eyes narrowed as if something had crossed her mind. She quickly added, “Can you check if the fabric under her armpits are oily too?”
Jing Rong checked under the armpits and replied, “It’s only oily under the right arm.”
Huh! “Take a sniff and tell me what oil is that?”
Jing Rong followed her instructions. and replied, “I think it’s lard.”
She actually missed such an important clue!
Jing Rong noticed the change of her expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ji Yunshu pondered upon the situation, her gaze fixed on the tray and the few broken cups. This time, she reached out to touch them instead of asking Jing Rong to do it, and she found oil stains on the tray as well. The doubts clouding her mind seemed to fade away.
She mumbled, “ Why would Granny Lin visit the kitchen in the backyard at the hour of the ox (1-3am)? What did she do there? Was she looking for someone, or was someone waiting for her there? “
On the other hand, Jing Rong did not understand a single thing she said.
Slowly, Ji Yunshu rose to her feet. “I think I’ve figured out who the killer is.”
What? Jing Rong pressed on, “Who is it?”
The two guards who were standing by the door also heard Ji Yunshu’s words. They craned their necks and cupped their ears, trying to find out who the “supernormal” killer was.
They only heard Ji Yunshu saying, “The killer is someone who worked in the kitchen.”
"The chef?"
"No!"
"The pageboy or the maid who assists the chef?"
"Not them either." She turned to look at Jing Rong and continued, “Has Your Highness forgotten that when Marquis Kang interrogated them, all the kitchen staff had alibis to prove that they weren’t at the kitchen when the murder happened.”
“Then who is the killer?”
Ji Yunshu’s expression turned serious before she answered, “Cai Da!”
Jing Rong was shocked. He wasn’t shocked at the claim that Cai Da was the murderer, but because Granny Lin is Cai Da’s mother. He killed his own mother? That seems very unlikely. He was crying his heart out when he saw his mother's dead body. He even went nuts when Ji Yunshu touched the body, and almost wanted to tear Ji Yunshu into pieces. How can a tremendously filial son like him be a murderer?
Jing Rong refused to believe Ji Yunshu’s theory.
Ji Yunshu continued to explain, “Marquis Kang once mentioned that Cai Da was the estate’s butcher. He’d head out to purchase pigs every night, butcher it, and bring back the pork. In that case, his clothing should be very dirty, or at least, covered in lard. However, when I saw him, both his clothes and his hands were very clean. As a butcher who went out to butcher a pig, how could his clothes be this clean?"
"Perhaps, he had gone home to change."
She shook her head. "Impossible." She added, "According to the others, Cai Da came here immediately after he returned, so had no time to change. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, he secretly came back between the hour of the rat (11pm – 1am) as well. The guard at the front door said that Cai Da went out at the hour of boar (9 – 11pm) to purchase the pig and only returned after daybreak. Cai Da sneaked back in at the hour of the rat, but somehow Granny Lin knew about his return and met him in the backyard. For some reason, they had a dispute. As they quarrelled, he accidentally pushed Granny Lin, causing her to hit her head on a rock and die on the spot. "
