PFC Chapter 426 Controlling the Ignition Device - Ice
Chapter 426 Controlling the Ignition Device - Ice
A moment later, a shifty-eyed man was brought before Lu Qingchen and his companion.
"who are you?"
The man pleaded in fear, "My lord, spare my life! I was just passing by, and I don't know how I got arrested."
"Bullshit! You were peeking around outside the Wang family's house and you said you were just passing by? Tell me! What were you hiding and looking at?"
"I'm innocent! I didn't look at anything. I just dropped something on the road and that's why I was looking for it nearby for a while."
"You won't talk, huh? Then we'll torture you..."
"Wait!" Qin Miaoxi walked up to the man from behind him. "Liu Zi, do you still remember me?"
The man's eyelids twitched suddenly, and he immediately dropped his nonchalant demeanor, bowing respectfully to her and saying, "Greetings, Miss Qin. I was unaware of your presence; please forgive my rudeness."
"Since you remember who I am, can you tell me now?"
Liu Zi was silent for a moment, then his gaze became firm. "Since Miss Qin asked, I will answer to the best of my knowledge. Someone gave me ten taels of silver to come to the Wang family and observe their movements."
"Why?"
"I don't know the reason, but when that person found me, he was acting mysteriously, wearing a cloak and a bamboo hat, and he was a thin, effeminate man."
Qin Miaoxi raised an eyebrow. "How do you know he's an effeminate man?"
Liu Zi laughed heartily, "Miss Qin seems to have forgotten what I, Liu Zi, do. I can tell whether someone is a man or a woman at a glance."
Qin Miaoxi: "..."
She had completely forgotten that Liu Zi was delivering men to Nanfeng Pavilion; those sharp eyes could remember a person clearly after just one look.
"So how did you contact the other party after you got the information?"
Liu Zi's face twitched almost imperceptibly. "He said that if someone dies, a red lantern should be hung in the Ministry of Justice, and if everything is normal, a red silk cloth should be placed at the entrance."
"Doing these things in the Ministry of Justice?" Qin Miaoxi couldn't help but chuckle. "You really risk your life for ten taels of silver!"
"No, he'll give me two hundred taels after it's done." There was both difficulty and longing in Liu Zi's eyes. Two hundred taels of silver was enough for him to buy medicine for his elderly mother for a month, which was why he was willing to take the risk to do the job.
Qin Miaoxi fell silent. She had seen Liu Zi's mother's condition before. She had damaged her health when she was young, and there was no way to cure her now. She could only rely on expensive medicinal herbs to keep her alive, living one day at a time.
Therefore, she has no right to criticize Liu Zi for his actions. To outsiders, he may be an unfaithful and opportunistic scoundrel, but to his mother, he is the best and most filial son.
"Now you can go back and report. Hang a red lantern and a red silk ribbon at the entrance of the Ministry of Justice, and I'll give you an extra two hundred taels, how about that?"
Liu Zi hurriedly refused, "No, I don't want Miss Qin's two hundred taels. I will do as you say."
His mother has been able to live so comfortably all these years thanks to the prescriptions Qin Miaoxi gave him. To him and his mother, Qin Miaoxi is a great benefactor. It is only natural to do things for a benefactor. He may not be loyal, but he has principles and can clearly distinguish between what he can and cannot take.
Qin Miaoxi said nothing, but immediately stuffed two hundred taels of silver into his hand, "Do a good job, there will be times when I need your help."
Liu Zi's eyes were red, and his hand holding the silver note trembled slightly. "Miss Qin, don't worry! Since this is a case you are handling, I will definitely do my best to handle it perfectly."
Lu Qingchen's bewildered gaze lingered between the two. [What's their relationship? Why does their attitude change so drastically when they see their wife? They even look at each other with such tender affection!]
Watching Liu Zi leave, Qin Miaoxi sighed deeply. She no longer had the energy to explain. Only this unreasonable young marquis could put the words "moved" and "admiring" together.
"Wife, you just let him go? We haven't even caught the person who asked him to do the job yet!" Lu Qingchen exclaimed, the air thick with a sour, jealous smell.
"Take a closer look before you speak."
Lu Qingchen looked over and saw the yamen runners following behind Liu Zi. She was overjoyed.
[I knew my wife wouldn't act on emotion; it turns out she'd been secretly sending someone to follow her all along.]
Qin Miaoxi: "..."
Oh well, let him think what he wants! If I told her that the people he sent were actually there for protection, she'd probably be consumed with jealousy again.
She just couldn't understand how a perfectly normal person could turn into pickled cabbage.
"Master Wang's concubine suddenly saw the light in the room, and the light illuminated the shadow of the hanging man."
Qin Miaoxi suddenly looked up at him, "Why did the lights in the room suddenly turn on at the hour of Yin?"
"Could the murderer still be inside?" Lu Qingchen immediately dismissed the question. "No, from the time the maid ran away in fear to the time our people came over, it was only a short period of time. The murderer couldn't have escaped."
"Perhaps he can light the lamp without being inside the house."
Her fingers traced the remaining water stains on the table, leaving a faint garlic scent on her fingertips.
"Catch a mouse."
? ?
Lu Qingchen, filled with questions, had someone bring over a robust rat, and Qin Miaoxi pressed the rat down to make it lick the water stains on the table.
"Isn't this just spilled tea...?" Lu Qingchen's mouth dropped open in shock. "How could this happen?"
The rat licked a few mouthfuls of water, then wriggled its body frantically. Soon after, it vomited yellowish-green vomit, collapsed weakly to the ground, convulsed, and stopped breathing shortly afterward.
"White phosphorus is flammable in air; it is both a fuel and a deadly poison."
"So it was white phosphorus that lit the candle." Lu Qingchen suddenly understood. "I get it now, the murderer used ice to manipulate time."
"Tell me."
“At first I thought the water on the table was spilled tea from a cup. If not, where did the water come from? Ice can melt water. If we hide white phosphorus in ice and fix it in the position of the candle, when the ice slowly melts and exposes the white phosphorus, it will naturally light the candle wick and reflect the image of the deceased.”
"You're right, the murderer is a ruthless person."
"how you said that?"
"White phosphorus is extracted from bones."
Lu Qingchen immediately felt a sour taste rise from his stomach. He had guessed all sorts of minerals, but he never expected it to be bones. This... was somewhat horrifying.
“If the perpetrator brought ice to commit the crime from a distance, there would definitely be traces of ice water dripping inside the house. But now there are only traces on the table, which means that the murderer was very close to the scene and is most likely a member of the Wang family.”
"The Wang family has their own ice cellar."
Qin Miaoxi nodded. "Do you have a map of the Wang family's territory?"
"Have."
Lu Qingchen immediately handed her the blueprints, and Qin Miaoxi discovered that they not only listed the names of the courtyards, but also the patrol times and routes within the mansion.
She gave Lu Qingchen a meaningful look, "You've prepared quite thoroughly."
Lu Qingchen's eyelids twitched, and he said with a grin, "That's right, always ready."
Between midnight last night and early this morning, a total of three patrol teams bypassed Mr. Wang's courtyard, and there was only a 15-minute gap in the time, which should have been the best opportunity for the murderer to escape the scene.
The two simulated an escape route and immediately sent people along this route to search for clues.
"Now all that's left is figuring out how the murderer left." Lu Qingchen was full of fighting spirit. "Even if I have to turn the house upside down, I will find out how the murderer left."
Qin Miaoxi remained silent, watching him rummage through drawers and cabinets searching for secret rooms and passages, but she always felt that something was missing.
"Young Marquis, a large amount of official silver has been discovered in the Wang family's artificial hill."
"Official silver!?"