The Prodigal Son

"There are so many ways to commit suicide, why does it have to be self-immolation?"

Qin Yu raised his own question: "Hanging or slitting one's throat, isn't that more painful than self-immolation? Burning someone alive is so much more painful!"

He suspected that Madam Sun was murdered for two reasons.

First, the method of suicide!

Secondly, there's that so-called suicide note.

The suicide note's target was all too obvious.

By directly targeting himself and the imperial court, he was clearly putting pressure on them.

She even set herself on fire with her young daughter. What good did she get out of doing this?

Shouldn't she be thinking of dragging more people down with her?

He even dared to try to shake the court's determination to reform the salt administration by sacrificing his own life?

Is she really that selfless?

Faced with Qin Yu's question, Fu Mingzhu's face twitched slightly.

How was he supposed to answer that?

If Madam Sun was willing to commit suicide by self-immolation, would he really allow her to do so in another way?

Or perhaps, before Madam Sun committed suicide, she discussed with him about finding a suitable way to die?

This information had to be obtained from Qin Yu himself.

If he gets the answer from someone else, he'll start cursing right away.

After hesitating for a moment, Fu Mingzhu tentatively said, "Regarding the matter of Madam Sun taking her young daughter to commit suicide by fire, I and the officials investigating the case have some speculations, but we don't know if we should say them."

Qin Yu: "Speak!"

Fu Mingzhu glanced at Qin Yu's expression and said cautiously, "We believe that Madam Sun's decision to immolate herself is somewhat related to you, sir!"

"What does this have to do with me?" Qin Yu frowned.

How the hell can this be related to me?

Why does he want to pin all sorts of blame on himself?

Fu Mingzhu replied, "Since Madam Sun intends to accuse the Lord and the court, she will naturally choose the most tragic and resolute way to commit suicide..."

"But I don't think so!"

Qin Yu shook his head. "In my opinion, this was premeditated murder! Burning it would cover up many traces, and if Madam Sun had anything that could harm others, it could also be burned!"

"this……"

Fu Mingzhu was speechless for a moment before replying, "What you say is possible! I and other officials had similar speculations before, but we later dismissed them!"

Why deny it?

Qin Yu asked with great interest, "Did you discover any crucial evidence to prove they committed suicide?"

Fu Mingzhu replied, "The night patrol soldiers of the governor's mansion personally witnessed Lady Sun going to the court before committing suicide! If someone had wanted to kill her and her daughter, she could have easily called for help!"

Is that so?

Qin Yu lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then asked, "How many people saw it? Is it reliable?"

"Six!"

Fu Mingzhu replied again, "Those six guards were all soldiers patrolling the governor's mansion at night. I interrogated them separately, and their testimonies were basically consistent! The testimonies of all those involved in this case are attached to the case file, which you can review at any time, sir."

Hearing Fu Mingzhu's words, Qin Yu couldn't help but frown secretly.

That is indeed a problem!

It seems like all the evidence chains are now closed loops, right?

Even the doubts he had raised were well explained.

While pondering, Qin Yu carefully examined the location where the body was found.

He also knew that so many days had passed, and it would indeed be difficult to find any trace of the incident.

However, he still wanted to look for it.

Perhaps, we can find traces left behind.

As he looked around, Qin Yu noticed a faint symbol in the center of the lime circle.

It looks a bit like a... cross.

"What is this?"

Qin Yu pointed to the symbol in the middle, "Was this left by you, or was it already there when the body was discovered?"

"It was there when the body was discovered."

Fu Mingzhu replied, "Based on our assessment, these are traces left by Madam Sun in her struggle before her death. There are also some other similar traces nearby. You can take a look, sir!"

As he spoke, Fu Mingzhu pointed out the traces left at the scene to Qin Yu outside the lime circle.

Qin Yu looked in the direction Fu Mingzhu was pointing and indeed found some traces.

It looks somewhat like the scratches left by Madam Sun before her death.

However, because other areas were scorched by the fire, the remaining marks were not very noticeable.

This mark was pressed down by the body, so it needs to be a little more noticeable.

"Oh, I see!"

Qin Yu smiled knowingly, then stood up and instructed Fu Mingzhu, "Alright, you don't need to keep me company anymore! I'm giving you a task: immediately issue a recruitment notice in my name!"

A recruitment notice... a list of talents?

Fu Mingzhu's expression changed slightly.

Is Qin Yu preparing for a large-scale arrest of officials?

After a brief silence, Fu Mingzhu tentatively said, "My lord, shouldn't we reconsider this matter? Sending out this recruitment notice might cause widespread panic!"

"If you have nothing to hide, why would people be filled with fear?"

Qin Yu smiled. "Here's what we'll do. You can also pass on a message to the officials below: Give them three days. If they're not clean, they should write a letter of apology and submit it! Anyone who voluntarily confesses will not be pursued, as long as it's not a major issue! But if they refuse to confess and I find out, their punishment will be doubled!"

Fu Mingzhu opened his mouth slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then accepted the order and left.

After he left, Nan Que'er couldn't help but tease him, "Couldn't you have tried some other moves?"

Qin Yu looked around, then lowered his voice and chuckled mischievously, "It's not like we're getting intimate, why do we need so many moves?"

"You're going to die!"

Nan Que'er felt embarrassed and grabbed the soft flesh on his waist and pinched it hard.

Qin Yu laughed and gave Nan Que'er a quick kiss on the cheek, earning her a reproachful look.

What moves or techniques!

They only arrived so long after Sun Min's incident; by then, they probably had already destroyed a lot of evidence of corruption by corrupt officials!

He doesn't have the time or inclination to unravel the mystery!

Let's take the false win first!

By exploiting a few false alarms, you can identify the people involved in the same scheme!

After laughing and joking around, Qin Yu squatted down next to the lime circle again and stared at the strange symbol once more.

Nan Que'er noticed Qin Yu's expression and immediately asked curiously, "Is there a problem?"

Qin Yu stroked his chin and said in a low voice, "I feel that Madam Sun and her daughter were indeed murdered!"

How do you know?

Nan Que'er pointed to the symbol. "Just because of this?"

"Um!"

Qin Yu nodded slightly, "All the other marks are outside the white circle, but this symbol is inside!"

"This symbol looks like it was deliberately placed under her body before she died!"

"This symbol will only be found if someone discovers their bodies!"

"It's obvious that this symbol is different from the other scratches!"

"I think this symbol is an 'X,' which means that the mother and daughter did not commit suicide..."

Qin Yu seemed possessed by Di Renjie, continuing his analysis.

"That...does seem to make some sense!"

Nan Que'er reached out and picked at a bit of dirt from the mark with her fingernail, whispering, "This was written in blood!"

"right!"

Qin Yu nodded. "I noticed it just now! I think the mark was more obvious before. The way it is now, either the people moving the body accidentally wiped it away, or it was deliberately damaged!"

"If it was going to be damaged, it would be completely destroyed! It was most likely wiped off accidentally."

Nan Que'er glanced around and asked in a low voice, "You suspect that Fu Mingzhu was the one who killed Madam Sun? Is that why you didn't tell him your suspicions earlier?"

"It could be him, or it could be someone else!"

Qin Yu nodded slightly, "Don't say anything rashly before the situation is clear! Just pretend you've been fooled!"

"Um."

Nan Que'er nodded gently...