Chapter 129: Alibi

“Miaoxiang, Miaoyu, come over here,” called Madam Li anxiously.

The two young ladies were like twin sisters, almost indistinguishable to ordinary people.

“When did you leave this private room last night?”

“Sir, we left the room at one minute past midnight. At that time, Cai Zisong suddenly became very angry, saying that we two were no match for Sister Jingyou, and he kicked us out,” Miaoxiang said softly and timidly.

“That’s true. Those two stubborn girls came to me crying. I thought that offending Master Cai would be unwise, so I was going to call Jingyou over,” Madam Li continued.

That was indeed strange.

“After finally calling Jingyou out and opening the door, I saw Master Cai’s corpse right away. Because it was nighttime, I was afraid that the guests would be displeased if they knew, so I didn’t report it immediately,” Madam Li trembled as she spoke.

Her restaurant had just begun to thrive, so naturally, she didn’t want outsiders to know too much.

So don’t expect to wait until the guests leave the next day before reporting to the authorities.

Moreover, no outsiders had entered the second-floor rooms that night.

So there wasn’t much to think about.

“Were there guests in the rooms next door?”

“Yes, Room Three housed a young woman who came to Luojing to find relatives, and Room Five had a scholar staying there. I don’t know much about the others.”

There were only five private rooms on that floor.

“What about the rest?”

“Since Master Cai is our esteemed guest, I was worried he might need something in the middle of the night, so he stayed in Room One. As for Room Two, it’s occupied by Da Dong, one of our chefs,” Madam Li explained as she noticed his puzzled expression.

It wasn’t so difficult to understand; it was just a bit confusing.

“The other guests are all sitting on the first floor,” Han Qing glanced over.

He saw a weary-looking woman and a man who indeed had the appearance of a scholar.

Both looked calm, as if nothing unexpected had happened.

“You came to Luojing in search of relatives? Where do they live?”

“Sir, my relative has already passed away. I’m just here to collect the body,” the woman said.

This was peculiar.

Since it was her family matter, she understandably didn’t want to reveal details to outsiders.

“Did you hear any unusual noises around the hour of the Ox last night?”

“I went to bed very early last night, before the hour of the Ox. At one minute past midnight, I had a waiter bring me a pot of hot water and then didn’t speak to anyone else,” she said calmly.

“Right, the waiter can confirm this.”

Wang nodded.

“Sir, I did go to the kitchen to get a pot of hot water and placed it at the door of Room Three,” Han Qing glanced over.

The waiter showed no suspicious expression.

“Did you see anyone strange during that time?”

“On my way out to get the water, I saw someone rushing past my door. He was very fast, probably a martial artist.”

A martial artist?

“Was he a guest?”

“No, none of the recent guests are martial artists,” Madam Li explained plainly.

So a stranger appeared during that time? A martial artist?

“Brother Han, could it be that Cai Zisong offended someone from the martial world? Someone who silently took his life in the middle of the night? That’s possible,” Chen Tianwei said meaningfully.

“No, the Flowing Sand Pavilion already sent word that no martial world figures have been on missions recently.”

Oh?

They also questioned the chef and the scholar.

Both were in their rooms at the time.

The scholar had come out once around midnight because his bed was broken.

He had to stay in Room Two for the night.

Chef Da Dong was sent to the backyard by Madam Li.

Because of this, the kitchen didn’t prepare any meals that morning.

Da Dong’s temper was really quite bad.

“Brother Han, why does this man get angry so easily? Not cooking makes the guests suffer.”

Han Qing nodded.

“You also attended last night’s prayer meeting?”

“Yes. Young Master Han, your eloquence amazed everyone. But since it ended late, I had to find a nearby restaurant to stay.”

The scholar explained simply.

The reason was reasonable.

But one thing puzzled them.

Why was he so coincidentally assigned to a second-floor private room?

“Did you see anyone strange?”

“I felt a shadow pass by me, but I was too focused on fixing the bed to pay attention.”

All the evidence pointed to another person’s presence.

That person would be the murderer of Cai Zisong.

But their testimony was vague, and Han Qing still trusted the Flowing Sand Pavilion’s intelligence.

So it was impossible for an outsider to have sneaked in.

The only explanation was that the entire second-floor private rooms were concealing some truth.

Han Qing left the restaurant.

Instead, he arranged for someone to secretly investigate the woman searching for relatives and the backgrounds of the others.

They indeed uncovered some serious issues.

The woman searching for relatives was Lin Youlan. Her father had once been a fifth-rank official.

Later, he was imprisoned for corruption and bribery. The emperor had not harmed his children but forbade them from entering Luojing.

So this time, she had come under an assumed identity.

“Brother Han, that’s nothing. She’s been hiding, probably afraid the authorities would expel her. And this time she really came because an elderly family member passed away.”

An elder?

“Who was it?”

“Her wet nurse, Madam Wang, who recently died after a severe illness. The wet nurse’s sons are all worthless and unwilling to spend money on the funeral.”

A pitiful person as well.

“Who handled the corruption case back then?”

“It must have been the Ministry of Personnel. Do you mean Master Cai?”

“Yes, that’s possible,” Han Qing said slowly.

They couldn’t have all gathered in the second-floor rooms without reason; there must be some connection.

Han Qing had seen similar cases before.

Everyone creates a fake suspect to escape the truth.

“We found it. Master Cai did indeed preside over the case, and it was definitely a corruption and bribery affair.”

The detailed account books and data confirmed it.