Chapter 51:  The True Culprit Revealed, Dali Temple (3/3)

Now, she just needed to gather the evidence and present her reasoning to the Shen Yan AI.

That left only one final question-

After solving the case, how would she enter Volume B?

The next morning, dew was still fresh in the depths of the bamboo grove.

Jiang Qingyu held a warm teacup, contemplating how to assign the investigation teams.

Lin Mingxi, unusually quiet, sat nearby, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table.

After a thoughtful pause, he said, “Jiang-jie, what if I used a prophecy? We could categorize the suspects first, then let me consult Shen Yan for guidance.”

Jiang Qingyu considered it and nodded.

“That could work.”

Just then, the bamboo door slid open, and Su Fu stepped out, her voice light.

“You’re up early.”

“Oh, by the way-the case is solved.”

“Today, we’ll submit the answer to the Dali Temple and check on the other cases while we’re at it.”

Clang-

Crash-

Two teacups hit the ground almost simultaneously—a repeat performance.

Lin Mingxi scrambled up from his chair.

“Wait, wait, wait!”

His eyes widened in disbelief.

“Boss, what did you just say?”

“Case solved?”

No way, this… this is way too fast!

Weren’t the leads just cut off last night?

And after the boss examined the corpse last night, she didn’t say anything. With Li Shaoqing present, she just told everyone to rest.

He thought nothing had been uncovered, but now… this?

Huh?

So sudden?

Dazed, he turned to Jiang Qingyu, “Jiang Jiang, slap me! Am I still dreaming? This is just unbelievable.”

But Jiang Qingyu was equally stunned, her usually calm face breaking into an expression of shock-clearly, the abrupt news had hit her hard.

Jiang Qingyu cautiously confirmed, “You mean… you’ve found the killer of Yuliuli?”

Su Fu nodded.

Jiang Qingyu: “… This is way too sudden!”

And if the case is already solved, how can you still be so calm about it?!

The group marched back to Chang’an in a grand procession, drawing frequent sidelong glances along the way.

If he wasn’t mistaken, most of them were examinees, but Su Fu couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge them.

To put it boldly, any examinee who crossed her path now would have to address her respectfully as “Officer Su.”

Such was the power of authority.

Soon, the group dispersed.

Su Fu and Li Shaoqing headed straight for the Dali Temple, while Jiang Qingyu turned toward Zuixue Pavilion to fetch Cuicui.

Meanwhile, behind an ornate second-floor window on Vermilion Bird Street…

Elai watched the procession pass below, his gaze settling on Su Fu at the forefront.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised.

Just a few days, and Su Fu had already risen so high?

Walking side by side with the Dali Temple’s Deputy Chief?

“Heh,” a light chuckle came from behind him.

“Though Su Fu may seem to be thriving on the surface, Zongzheng Ye and Su Luan have already plotted her into a dead end.”

Liu Yingxue stepped forward.

“Now that the key clues in Su Fu’s case have been severed, she’ll likely never find the entrance to Volume B.”

Elai replied calmly, “I doubt Su Fu will let them off so easily.”

“She holds the advantage of status now, and judging by the direction they’re heading toward the Dali Temple—”

“That means she’ll soon have access to all the examinees’ mission assignments.”

He smirked, “If she decides to interfere with their tasks, those people are in for a rough time.”

The simplest example?

Transferring an examinee away from their case or finding an excuse to eliminate them outright.

End the exam paper without shedding a drop of blood.

“Tsk, tsk,” Liu Yingxue gloated.

“I wonder how they dared provoke Su Fu in the first place. With her in the game, Chang’an is about to descend into chaos.”

“A storm is coming.”

Elai watched as Su Fu’s figure gradually disappeared around the street corner.

“Su Fu took down Zongzheng Wujiu—she’s long since earned her place as the top of Lingxiao Province.”

“In the end, isn’t the fight for resources just a fight for supremacy?”

“They’re just trying to eliminate her first so they can focus on dealing with me.”

“Who do you think will win?” Liu Yingxue couldn’t help but ask.

Elai turned around as sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating his face.

He grinned brightly, “Let them fight like dogs.”

“After all, we’re just one step away from our goal.”

At this, Liu Yingxue finally showed a trace of concern.

“Elai, are you sure about taking such a risk? If your judgment is wrong…”

“Everything carries risk, doesn’t it?” Elai’s smile didn’t waver.

“Moreover, Zongzheng Ye and Su Luan have probably already deciphered the answers to enter Volume B.”

“No matter who wins between them and Su Fu, I must enter Volume B before them to gain the first-mover advantage.”

“Don’t worry, I know my limits.”

Liu Yingxue wanted to say more, but suddenly there was a knock at the door.

“Knock, knock-“

Both of them fell silent instantly.

“Master Hu, Miss, breakfast is here,” came the voice of a constable from outside.

The door opened, and a servant-like figure cautiously entered carrying a food box, carefully arranging the dishes without glancing around before stepping aside.

He couldn’t help but marvel inwardly at what an impressive show of force.

Four constables were stationed outside the door, four more downstairs, and who knew how many were hidden in the shadows.

Had these two offended some powerful figure?

Or committed some crime?

For the Ministry of Justice to deploy such a heavy guard just for a foreign merchant?

As he finished clearing the dishes and left the room, he couldn’t resist asking the constable at the door, “Brother, how many more days do we have to deliver meals like this?”

The constable thought for a moment.

“Not long, probably just a couple more days.”

After speaking, the constable glanced inside again and couldn’t help but sigh.

They had voluntarily provided clues to help solve the case, only to end up targeted by the mastermind behind it all.

Ah, he sighed, hoping it would end soon.

Those who had set their sights on them were not to be trifled with—they would never let them off easily.

He thought to himself, “We must protect these kind-hearted citizens.”

Ministry of Justice Archives.

Su Fu laid out the evidence from the heart-removal case one by one on the table.

“Boss…” Lin Mingxi finally couldn’t hold back any longer.

He leaned on the table with both hands. “What exactly is going on with this case? Who’s the murderer?”

Su Fu remained calm.

“No rush. Let’s wait for Jiang Qingyu to return, and I’ll explain everything together.”

“Huh?” Lin Mingxi deflated instantly, turning his attention to the evidence on the table.

A murder weapon-the blade bore the Ministry of Justice’s official engraving, and upon inspection, it was confirmed to be genuine, not a counterfeit.

Next were several letters documenting correspondence between Yuliuli and Jiang Qingyu—of course, referring to Jiang Qingyu’s character identity.

Before the incident, their contact had been quite frequent.

Lastly was a vanity case from Yuliuli’s boudoir.

According to the boss, it had once contained talismans, and traces of their energy still lingered.

Lin Mingxi was puzzled.

What could possibly be deduced from just these items?

What if they approached it from the people involved?

“Yuliuli knew so many people…” he muttered, unable to help himself.

“Especially all those high-ranking officials and nobles.”

“At the very least, there are people like my character-constables from the Ministry of Justice or like you, boss, a diviner from the Imperial Observatory, or even sisters from the music house like Jiang Qingyu.”

Hearing this, Su Fu chuckled softly.

Lin Mingxi grew even more curious.

Had he said something wrong?

Why was the boss laughing?

He was burning with curiosity, desperate to know how the boss had pieced it all together!

Just then, footsteps echoed Jiang Qingyu had returned!

But when Lin Mingxi looked over, he noticed her expression was odd.

She stared straight at Su Fu, as if confirming something.

Su Fu smiled and asked, “Seems you’ve figured it out too?”

Lin Mingxi: ???

Wait, did that mean Jiang Jiang also knew the answer?

He grew frantic, and said: “No, what’s really going on here? Boss, just tell us already!”

Su Fu: “……”

With a light sigh, she turned to Jiang Qingyu:

“First, tell me the outcome of your conversation with Cuicui.”

Jiang Qingyu sat in the chair, her first words being:

“Cuicui said that my relationship with Yuliuli isn’t good.”

“What?” Lin Mingxi was baffled.

“Wait, what does this have to do with solving the case…”

Jiang Qingyu raised her eyes: “To be precise, she once saw Yuliuli trying to kill me with a knife.”

“Holy shit!” Lin Mingxi was shocked.

“You… was your relationship that bad? She even wanted to kill you?”

But he quickly realized: “But wait, why would she want to kill you?”

Su Fu suddenly spoke up, “Because of that fox spirit. It was once surrounded and attacked by me. Though it managed to escape, it was severely injured.”

“And it needs to dig out hearts to recover.”

Lin Mingxi felt a chill run down his spine.

“If I’m not mistaken,” Su Fu looked at Jiang Qingyu, “Yuliuli didn’t just want to kill you.”

She enunciated each word: “She wanted to dig out your heart.”

Lin Mingxi was stunned for several seconds before he found his voice again, his tone completely changed:

“Damn! Yuliuli was working with the fox spirit?! She was helping it find hearts?!”

“Correct,” Su Fu finally revealed the truth.

“Yuliuli made a deal with that fox spirit. She would find three hearts for it. In return, the fox spirit would make her more beautiful and help her maintain her position as the top courtesan.”

“One of her chosen targets…” Su Fu looked at Jiang Qingyu, “She recently invited that person to the plum garden for a viewing, planning to strike in a secluded spot.”

She glanced at the letters on the table, “And in your recent correspondence with her, she frequently invited you to the plum garden, didn’t she?”

Lin Mingxi caught on, “So she was targeting Jiang Jiang?! She wanted to dig out Jiang Jiang’s heart?!”

Before he could finish, he suddenly realized something and gasped in shock.

He stared wide-eyed at Jiang Qingyu, his voice trembling:

“Wait… but in the end, it was Yuliuli who died…”

His pupils constricted sharply:

“So… so you killed her instead?! Jiang Jiang, you’re the murderer?!”

Jiang Qingyu, however, remained unexpectedly calm.

She simply looked at Su Fu and said quietly, “You haven’t finished yet, have you?”

Su Fu nodded, “That’s right. I once severely injured that fox with thunder magic, and… I often felt pity for the top courtesan Yuliuli.”

“Actually, it was Yuliuli who pretended to be pitiful and deceived my original self, allowing the fox spirit to escape.”

She paused, “If I’m not mistaken, I was another one of her targets.”

“I never guarded against her and always felt sympathy for her.”

“Most importantly, the fox spirit hinted that it would leave because my presence threatened it.”

“But how could Yuliuli tolerate the fox spirit that helped maintain her beauty leaving?”

“So she became even more determined to eliminate me.”

“As for the last target…” Su Fu’s voice echoed in the silent archives room, “it was a young, official-ranked man who had been pursuing Yuliuli.”

Jiang Qingyu and Su Fu both turned their gazes toward Lin Mingxi.

Lin Mingxi: “???”

He raised his hand:

“W-wait! Give me a moment…”

He looked at Su Fu, then at Jiang Qingyu, stammering, “So both of you are murderers?”

“No… that can’t be right!”

“There are three fatal wounds on Yuliuli’s corpse.”

“The ligature marks on the neck… perhaps made by pipa strings.”

“The charred lightning wounds are unmistakably from the Thunder Talismans of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.”

“As for the heart-extracting weapon afterward—it was a blade from the Dali Temple.”

At this point, Lin Mingxi felt his scalp prickle.

He finally understood the answer.

The pipa strings pointed to the court musician, Jiang Qingyu.

The Thunder Talismans pointed to the head of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

And that Dali Temple blade… pointed to none other than himself!

Lin Mingxi’s mind buzzed violently, his entire body going numb.

The culprit they had been searching for all this time… was actually themselves?!

Right under their noses all along?

All their running around, investigating this and that-only for the answer to have been with them the entire time?

“Ministry of Education-” He couldn’t help but curse, “What the hell?! Are they out of their minds?! This is just messing with us!”

Before his words even faded, the long-silent voice of the Shen Yan AI rang out:

“Congratulations, examinees, for successfully identifying the culprit. Your main mission progress is now at 90%.”

“Only one task remains: Please continue your efforts to locate the entrance to Volume B.”

Almost the instant the announcement ended, disaster struck!

Whoosh-

A frigid gust of wind swept through the sealed archives room without warning!

Then, the Dali Temple blade on the desk suddenly shot into the air, its tip aimed straight at Lin Mingxi’s chest!

“Help!”

Clang-

At the critical moment, Su Fu reacted instantly, deflecting the weapon with her golden staff.

Lin Mingxi only felt a chill at his chest as the blade grazed his robes, carrying a wisp of icy wind.

The weapon clattered to the ground—but then, it suddenly dissolved into bloody characters, each stroke as if written in fresh blood:

“You… can’t escape!”

The words writhed across the wooden floor, alive in a way that made Lin Mingxi’s hair stand on end.

Wait, weren’t they the ones who had struck back against Yuliuli because she tried to extract their hearts?

Logically, she was the one who had intended harm-so why was her resentment so intense?

Just then, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the hallway.

The three immediately tensed, rising to their feet as the door was flung open-a panting constable stumbled in.

He was gasping for breath, his voice trembling:

“S-Supervisor Su! It’s terrible!”

“The foreign merchant you asked me to monitor closely…”

“He’s dead!”

Everyone froze, a chill shooting from their soles to the crowns of their heads.

Dead?

Who was dead?

The foreign merchant—Elai, heir to the Thor family, wielder of the “Terminus Spear,” the strongest chief of Xuandu Province…

In this instance… was dead?!