The deceased, Li Xinghuai, was kneeling on the ground, his face contorted in pain and an indescribable horror.
His upper - body clothes were open. One of his hands was wrapped in a bandage, while the other, covered in blood, clutched at his clothes. His abdomen seemed to have been burst open by something, with a large hole. His internal organs were scattered all over the ground, as if they had been blown to pieces.
Si Hongxi frowned slightly. After the inspection, he quickly walked out.
"Take the body back to the morgue and ask the coroner to thoroughly examine the cause of the victim's death!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The prince walked up to Mu Qing, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Are you okay? Let's go!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Mu Qing closely followed Si Hongxi and went to question the few servants who had last seen the deceased.
"When did you last see your young master?" Si Hongxi asked.
The servants never expected such a thing to happen to their young master. They were extremely nervous, frightened by the scene.
They looked at each other.
The leading servant replied truthfully, "My lord, after we returned from outside with the young master last night, he went back to his room and told me to leave. That was the last time I saw him!"
Si Hongxi noticed that the servant was avoiding his eyes and nervously swallowing his saliva.
"Did your young master have any deep - seated enemies while he was outside?"
Hearing this question, the leading servant thought to himself, how could he possibly remember all that? The young master had offended so many people! If he told the truth, it might damage his master's reputation. He hesitated.
"This... "
"The lord is asking you a question. Answer truthfully. If you hide anything, can you bear the consequences?" Mu Qing beside him scolded.
The servants trembled all over, afraid of being involved.
Another servant quickly replied, "My lord, we dare not hide anything. It's just that our young master was usually overbearing and had offended too many people. We don't know who did this!"
"What about your young master's injured arm? Did he have any disputes with anyone before his death, or did anything strange happen?"
"Yesterday, our young master had a conflict with a fortune - telling woman on the street. Then he was beaten up by a man. The injury on his arm was caused by that man breaking it!"
Breaking an arm? What kind of person had such amazing strength?
"After that, our young master was still angry. He planned to go to the brothel to have some fun and think of a way to get revenge. But just as we arrived at the brothel, we met a beautiful young woman. The young master took her back home. After that, we don't know what happened!"
A mysterious woman? "Is this woman still here now?" Si Hongxi asked.
"My lord, I don't know. We haven't seen that woman since this morning!"
"Where and when did your young master have the dispute?" Si Hongxi continued to ask.
"Yesterday morning in front of Shananfang. That man should be from Shananfang!"
Shananfang? Si Hongxi frowned thoughtfully. He thought of Wan Ruo and Bai Chen!
He had originally planned to visit them after leaving the crime scene. Unexpectedly... Could they be involved in this case?
Si Hongxi then left the Li Mansion and rushed to Shananfang.
Just as he stepped out of the door, he noticed the broken Bagua mirror and a wooden stick on the ground.
Si Hongxi thought for a moment and ordered his men to collect these pieces of evidence. Then he rushed to Shananfang.
When he arrived in front of Shananfang, he saw a fortune - teller's stall, but didn't pay much attention to it.
However, Wan Ruo saw Si Hongxi coming and deliberately tried to avoid him.
This action made Si Hongxi a bit curious. He looked back at this person, feeling that the face was familiar. He retracted the foot that had just stepped into Shananfang.
He walked up to the fortune - teller's stall and carefully sized up the person in front of him. There was always something strange about this person!
Seeing that she couldn't avoid him, Wan Ruo generously asked, "May I ask if this young master is here for a talisman or for a fortune - telling?"
Seeing Si Hongxi and Mu Qing staring directly at her, she felt a bit embarrassed and tried to avoid their gazes.
But she was still recognized by Mu Qing. "You, aren't you Miss Wan Ruo?... Your Highness, look, it seems to be Miss Wan Ruo!" Mu Qing couldn't help laughing when he saw Miss Wan Ruo's current attire.
"Miss Ruo Ruo, what are you doing?" Si Hongxi asked curiously.
Wan Ruo frowned slightly. She thought to herself, I've dressed like this and they can still recognize me. Are their eyes blessed?
Wan Ruo said awkwardly with a smile, "Ahaha, I'm setting up a stall. Yes, just setting up a stall!"
"Oh, what are you here for?" Wan Ruo pointed at them and then at Shananfang, asking nervously, "Has another strange case happened?"
Mu Qing looked at Si Hongxi and replied, "Miss Wan Ruo, we're here exactly for this matter."
Hearing this, Wan Ruo said, "Then what are you standing there for? Let's go in and talk!"
Wan Ruo didn't even care about her stall anymore. She directly led Si Hongxi and the others into Shananfang.
"What exactly happened? Tell me in detail!" Wan Ruo asked eagerly.
"This morning, we received a case of a strange death. The deceased is the son of the Li family, named Li Xinghuai. According to the servants, he had a dispute with a fortune - telling woman in front of Shananfang yesterday and then had his arm broken by a man from Shananfang!"
"Could that fortune - telling woman be you, Miss Wan Ruo?" Mu Qing stared at Wan Ruo with wide eyes and asked suspiciously.
After hearing this, Wan Ruo looked embarrassed. Could the Li Xinghuai he was talking about be that damned hooligan?
"Ah... There really was a bastard yesterday. It was my first day setting up the stall. He not only bullied men and women in broad daylight but also dared to flirt with me. How could I tolerate him? I should have beaten him to the ground! Let him know that he can't act lawlessly!"
Wan Ruo got angry just thinking about what had happened yesterday.
"Then... Is the man from Shananfang who beat him the shopkeeper Bai?" Mu Qing continued to ask.
"They outnumbered me. If it was just him alone, I could have beaten him to the ground! But he even had four or five helpers. Just then, Shopkeeper Bai showed up. How could he tolerate someone causing trouble in front of his shop? Moreover, I'm his employee. How could he let me be bullied? That would be an insult to him!" Wan Ruo tried hard to explain.
"However, it turns out that the dead man is that bastard from yesterday?" Wan Ruo thought to herself.
After hearing Wan Ruo's words, Si Hongxi frowned slightly. It seemed that Li Xinghuai's character was not very good, which was consistent with what his servants had said.
Bullying men and women? Could he have done something immoral? They needed to investigate this person's actions thoroughly!
"You said you saw him bullying men and women on the street with your own eyes. What exactly happened?" Si Hongxi asked.
Wan Ruo carefully recalled and described the scene at that time.
"A crazy woman? Mu Qing, go back and immediately send people to investigate the women related to Li Xinghuai and see if there's anything suspicious!" Si Hongxi instructed Mu Qing.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Wan Ruo became interested again and asked, "What was the specific situation at the crime scene? Tell me in detail!"