The Killer's Cleansing Manual

Chapter 107 You just confessed your feelings to me, where are you going to hide now?

Starting with an ordinary topic and then asking a question suddenly may have unexpected results.

Lin Shanjuan calmed down after hearing about the case. She picked up the problem that she couldn't figure out again. There happened to be a person with the strongest brain sitting next to her, so she might as well tell her.

She wiped her mouth and rinsed it. After the food was cleared away, she told Qi Zhaomian all her current ideas, as well as the key but contradictory questions that came up before she came back.

Qi Zhaomian was intrigued by the case after hearing it, and murmured, "Wang Xing came to Beijing to take the imperial examination but didn't take it. The three fellow townsmen had reason to kill him but didn't have the means."

Lin Shanjuan nodded, then stood up and paced slowly, trying to digest his food.

"What I can't understand is that when one person kills another, there are only a few situations. Either it's revenge, or passion, or they're jealous of the person and kill him, or there's no reason at all, just a spur of the moment killing him."

Qi Zhaomian's gaze followed her around the pavilion. "The latter two are obviously impossible. It's just jealousy or a spur of the moment thing. There's no reason for her to forge a suicide note and drink with him."

Lin Shanjuan pondered, analyzing the first two scenarios. "A vendetta is unlikely. His home is a long way from the capital, and once he arrives here, he'll be submitting to the Imperial Court. He wouldn't have the time to get into trouble with others. Furthermore, he's a poor scholar with plain looks. It's unlikely that any enemies would show up in such a short time, let alone a romantic relationship that turned from love to hate."

The case had reached a dead end. Lin Shanjuan paced back and forth around the pavilion, his brows furrowed into a small knot, and he completely forgot about the words "I'll take a break today and continue investigating the case tomorrow."

Qi Zhaomian also pondered this. She gently opened her red lips and said the key: "But what if... she killed the witness to silence him?"

Lin Shanjuan suddenly stopped where he was when he heard this, and his thoughts began to wander wildly along the line of "killing to silence the witness".

"If he's truly talented, so talented that others sincerely believe he'll be the top scorer...so they'll have him do something, and then, afraid he'll leak it after it's done, they'll...kill him to silence him!"

The more Lin Shanjuan thought about it, the more he felt that this was the most likely scenario, but—

"What have you done...what have you done that you want to hide from everyone..."

She thought about it over and over but couldn't figure it out, and was so anxious that she kept turning around in circles.

It's the Spring Examination, and if there's anything a candidate needs to do, then there's only...

Qi Zhaomian: "Could it be... someone bought his article?"

But she thought about it again and suddenly denied it, "No, how could the person who bought the article happen to buy the title of the article?"

Lin Shanjuan paused, then suddenly thought of a possibility: "Could it be possible that they colluded with court officials? Did the officials leak the test questions?"

Qi Zhaomian was stunned for a moment, then thought seriously, "It's not impossible, but...his fellow townsman, like him, comes from a humble background. It's not easy for him to make friends with officials who know the question."

Lin Shanjuan nodded in agreement, but she found that if she put aside this unsolvable problem, all other questions could be explained.

"Let's say the official leaked the exam questions, and one of his fellow townsmen got hold of them. He then had Wang Xing write an essay based on them, and then recite it himself. On the day of the exam, he used some trickery to prevent Wang Xing from taking the exam. Wang Xing, devastated by missing out, spent his days drinking. Angrily, he tried to confront Wang Xing, and he was subsequently killed!"

Qi Zhaomian followed her line of reasoning, "If he's working for an imperial official, then it's not surprising that his fellow townsman has the money to reserve the guesthouse. He could easily have tricked him into leaving under the pretext of 'explanation' or 'compensation', and then taken action."

Lin Shanjuan nodded vigorously. "This solves all the problems! Why would he drunkenly go to a luxurious place like the Yingbin Building? What about that superfluous suicide note? And why he didn't go for the imperial examination? All of these are solved!"

Qi Zhaomian tilted his head to look at her surprised expression, his lips curling slightly. Putting aside the question of "how did fellow townspeople collude with the powerful?", the whole incident was indeed clearly coherent and interconnected.

I have to say that she, as a son-in-law, is indeed very smart.

Lin Shanjuan felt like he had been standing in front of a blocked mountain road for a long time. Now, a thunderclap split the rocks blocking the road, and he felt suddenly enlightened.

Seeing her so overjoyed, Qi Zhaomian remembered his original plan and asked without warning, "So what did you hide from me today?"

Lin Shanjuan was suddenly enlightened, and he spoke without any restraint in his thoughts or words, with a look of joy on his face.

"I like you!"

As soon as he said this, the mountain road that had suddenly opened up suddenly collapsed, and Lin Shanjuan was swept hundreds of miles away by the mud and rock flow that he had spit out from his own mouth.

Finish.

This time it's really over.

Qi Zhaomian hadn't expected this answer. She was so shocked that she didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth slightly and questioned with deep doubt for a long time:

"……like?"

Lin Shanjuan was already filled with mud and rocks. She felt like a clay figure, and she was about to burst with embarrassment.

Qi Zhaomian's heartbeat became more and more panicked, her eyes drifted away, and a slight blush appeared on her cheeks.

She didn't expect this answer. She thought Lin Shanjuan had caused trouble or done something wrong.

So, it turns out that she loves me?

This……

The confession came too suddenly, and Qi Zhaomian didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Lin Shanjuan couldn't stand the awkward silent atmosphere any longer, so he took the initiative to "break out of the ground".

"Um...don't feel pressured. I like you, it's my business. I definitely won't cause you any trouble. Just treat it as a joke."

She felt her mind was a mess, and the current situation was—

She had damaged her sweater, and it was still unraveling, so she tried to fix it by pulling out a piece of linen, without checking to see if the color was right or if she wasn't making it worse.

Anyway, I just wanted to make up for it randomly.

Qi Zhaomian's panic was calmed down by this obviously more panicked sentence. She looked at Lin Shanjuan with a smile, and seeing that his face was getting redder and redder because of her stare, her mood somehow became light and uplifted.

"Why are you blushing, Juan'er? Are you shy?"

Lin Shanjuan gradually lost control of his facial features, and his usual leisurely and calm demeanor disappeared. The blush on his face undoubtedly melted away the vague estrangement between the two of them.

Qi Zhaomian knew that she was very embarrassed. She actually cared about the young prince consort very much, otherwise she would have asked her about it just now and would not have let her eat before talking about it.

But... now, she had some bad thoughts and wanted to enjoy Lin Shanjuan's embarrassment.

The more flustered and shy Lin Shanjuan was, the more satisfied and happy she felt.

Unable to stay in this place any longer, Lin Shanjuan was about to run away, but Qi Zhaomian quickly grabbed him.

"You just confessed your feelings to me, where are you going to hide now?"