Chapter 13 When the Fog Rises Again 3
"Why do you ask?" Cheng Jue leaned his arms on the window and leaned his head slightly out to look at her.
"I can't see any joy on his face that the case is over." Zhou Zhenzhen looked up, her fair face was clean and her eyes were as pure as water.
Cheng Jue hummed: "We have all the physical evidence and the murderer is dead. Normally, the case should be closed, but..."
Cheng Jue frowned and said calmly, "Zheng Yan created his own game and chose very clear targets, but what about his motive? Since Zheng Yan didn't kill people randomly, there must be a reason and a motive, but now we know nothing. I always feel that this case is not over yet."
Zhou Zhenzhen thought about it, imitating Cheng Jue's past thinking, and sorted out the clues: "When Zheng Yan killed people, he made the brother choose between his own life and his sister's life. Du Rufeng and Liu Yan chose me, and their sisters died. Meng Fan chose his sister, and in the end both of them survived. Zheng Yan himself has a sister named Zheng Xiangru. Could it be that he and Zheng Xiangru were kidnapped by someone, and he also experienced such a thing and was traumatized?"
She thought about it and felt something was wrong. Suddenly she remembered something: "Master Cheng stood on the top of the Muer Building for a long time before. Did he also discover something?"
"That rope..."
"Master Zhou, Master Zhou!" The guards of the Dali Temple shouted repeatedly, interrupting Cheng Jue's words.
Zhou Zhenzhen turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"
"The Prince Zheng'an's Mansion sent someone to say that the young lady fainted on the spot after hearing about the Crown Prince's affairs. Doctor Yan had treated the young lady at Kuailv Villa before, so the Prince Zheng'an wanted to bring Doctor Yan over."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Miss Zheng has been calling out your name while she is unconscious. Prince Zheng'an would like to ask Lord Zhou and Doctor Yan to go with her."
Zhou Zhenzhen looked at Cheng Jue, who nodded and said, "Go!"
Zheng Xiangrui was in poor health, and Zheng Yan's death was a huge blow to her. When Zhou Zhenzhen and Yan An arrived at the Zheng'an Palace, Zheng Xiangrui's breathing was weak, his whole body was burning with fever, and he kept mumbling, sometimes calling "brother" and sometimes "Zhenzhen".
King Zheng'an had experienced the pain of losing his son, and now his beloved daughter was in danger. Such a strong man's back seemed to be crushed, and half of his life was gone.
"I didn't take good care of Xiangru. I feel sorry for Xiangru's mother and even more sorry for her... I don't want anything anymore. As long as my daughter can survive, I don't want anything else."
Prince Zheng'an sat dejectedly on the edge of the bed, lowered his head, and tears fell on the back of his hands.
Yan An gave Zheng Xiangru acupuncture. After piercing several acupoints, Zheng Xiangru suddenly opened his eyes, vomited a pool of blood, and then fainted again.
"I used the golden needle method to open the acupuncture points that were blocked by Miss Zheng's depression. She will wake up tomorrow morning at the latest."
"Thank you, doctor." The housekeeper bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, you haven't closed your eyes for a long time. The young lady is fine now. Your Majesty, please go and have a rest first!"
Prince Zheng'an closed his eyes tightly, suppressed the tears that were welling up in his eyes, nodded silently, and stood up with the help of the butler's hand. His tall body blocked Zhou Zhenzhen's sight like a mountain, casting a shadow in front of her eyes.
"You must be the Master Zhou Zhenzhen that Xiangru has been calling, right?"
"It is you, my subordinate."
"Although my daughter is well-behaved and sensible, she is also introverted and timid by nature. Apart from... her brother, she doesn't even get close to me. But she kept repeating Lord Zhou's name while she was unconscious, which shows how much she relies on you. Now her brother has... so I hope Lord Zhou can accompany Xiangru tonight until she wakes up. Tomorrow I will give you a generous gift, and I hope Lord Zhou will understand my love for my daughter."
Zhou Zhenzhen had heard that Prince Zheng'an was a resolute man who never bowed to anyone, but now he was so sincere to her about Zheng Xiangru's matter, which was really moving.
"I will stay here, Your Majesty, please rest assured."
In fact, Zhou Zhenzhen didn't know why Zheng Xiangrui called her name in his sleep.
She and Zheng Xiangru had only met a few times. To put it more deeply, they were rivals in love. Apart from that, she couldn't think of any deep relationship between her and Zheng Xiangru.
The two lights in the room were turned off, and Zhou Zhenzhen sat down on the narrow couch that was moved next to the bed, not feeling sleepy at all.
She used this time to review the case and found that just as Cheng Jue said, she could not find the murderer's motive.
Why did Zheng Yan do this?
"Zhenzhen..." The woman on the couch whispered her name in a soft and hoarse voice, raising her hands and grabbing randomly in the air. Zhou Zhenzhen subconsciously reached out her hand, and Zheng Xiangrui grabbed it tightly. Suddenly, Zheng Xiangrui grabbed it as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw and refused to let go.
“Save me, save me…”
Zheng Xiangrui murmured with tears in her eyes, and Zhou Zhenzhen suddenly remembered that she had grabbed her hand in the same way when they returned to Chang'an from Kuailv Villa in the carriage.
Prince Zheng'an said that Zheng Xiangrui didn't dare to get close to others, and it was probably because he accidentally grabbed her hand in the carriage that he relied on her even when he was sick.
Zhou Zhenzhen sat down on the edge of the couch and pulled up the quilt that Zheng Xiangru had lifted up.
And that hand never loosened.
When Zheng Xiangrui woke up, the first thing he saw was Zhou Zhenzhen sleeping on the edge of the couch. She had her eyes closed and was sleeping soundly.
His eyes slid down to the two hands they were holding. Zheng Xiangrui moved, his hands were numb from holding the same position for so long. This slight movement also woke up Zhou Zhenzhen, who had not slept for long.
"Are you awake? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Zheng Xiangrui shook his head, paused, and said in a hoarse voice: "Thank you."
Zhou Zhenzhen let go of her hand and said with a smile, "It's just a small favor. But I'm a little curious, what did Lord Zheng dream about that made him call my name?"
"I called your name?" Zheng Xiangrui's expression changed slightly, and he shook his head again, "I don't know. I dreamed of a group of wolves circling around me. I was very scared and terrified. I wanted to call for someone to save me, and I don't know why I called Lord Zhou's name."
The origin of dreams is illusory and cannot be delved into.
Zheng Xiangru was still weak, so Zhou Zhenzhen asked the servants to feed her a bowl of porridge and waited until she lay down again before leaving.
Zheng Xiangrui looked at the empty door, turned over, reached out to the pillow, and touched the delicate patterns on the red plum hairpin. His mind was in a mess, his eye sockets were stinging, and tears rolled down his cheeks.
So sad.
There is a kind of life that is more painful than death.
The case was solved, and there were no more difficult cases for the time being. The people from the Detective Department did not have to go to the yamen on time like other officials from the Dali Temple. After Zhou Zhenzhen left the Zheng'an Palace, she went back to the Manyue Teahouse and slept for two hours before having lunch in the lobby.
It just so happened that Mr. Li Er was there too. When he saw her, he smiled and greeted her, "Our female detective from Chang'an City is here. Come on, I have to toast you."
Zhou Zhenzhen's face was about to burn. She smiled awkwardly, said a few perfunctory words, and then sat aside waiting for the shopkeeper to steam the cakes.
With Mr. Li Er was Mr. Chen, whom Zhou Zhenzhen had seen last time. This time, all his injuries were healed, except for his leg, which was still injured. His expression was still unclear, just like last time: "In this world, why do bad people live leisurely, while good people always have a bad ending?"
"Brother Chen, I have to say something to you. Although Prince Zheng'an is a good person on weekdays, he did kill someone. He deserves his current fate."
Master Chen said angrily: "Those two people deserved to die. Their brother did many evil things, and they are not good people either!"
"Hey, hey, hey, keep your voice down..."
"Zhenzhen, the pastries are packed for you. I put the red bean pastry in another layer. Don't make a mistake." Mrs. Wang put the food box on the table and saw Zhou Zhenzhen frowning her delicate eyebrows and looking at the table of Mr. Li Er.
“Really!”
Zhou Zhenzhen turned a deaf ear to him, suddenly stood up and walked to that table, and asked solemnly: "Before you said the people who beat you up, were they Du Rufeng and Liu Yan?"
The moment Master Chen heard those two names, his face turned pale. He had been looked down upon countless times because of this matter during this period of time. Master Li saw it all and was afraid that he would be so ashamed and angry that he would attack the girl, so he hurriedly pulled Zhou Zhenzhen outside.
"Brother Chen was unlucky in this matter. He happened to run into Du Rufeng and his friends who were drunk. They went to the Ministry of Justice and got some silver to get rid of the misfortune. But Brother Chen's leg was not treated in time. I'm afraid it will be in unbearable pain in the future, whether it's cloudy or rainy."
"What about Zheng Yan?"
The second son Li said, "There is no prince."
"Besides Du Rufeng and Liu Yan, who else is there?"
Mr. Li thought for a moment and said, "Huang Yingquan, the son of the former Governor-General of Liangjiang, who was just transferred back, and the youngest son of a prince."
Zhou Zhenzhen's eyes suddenly lit up, and her pretty face instantly became bright, which made Mr. Li Er stunned. She turned around and ran away quickly, and soon ran out of sight.
"Hey Zhenzhen, you haven't got the pastries yet!" Mrs. Wang chased to the door, but couldn't even catch up with her shadow.
Mr. Li touched his chin and thought: "Boss lady, is there really a marriage in your family?"
"That is not the case."
"Then what do you think of me, Madam Boss?"
By dusk that day, most of the people from the Detective Department had finally arrived.
Yan An and Huo Chi were each studying their own fields to the point of neglecting sleep and food. If Meng Fan hadn't gone to catch them, they would not have remembered to come back.
Cheng Jue glanced , and the three of them couldn't help but straighten their backs.
"You should be more restrained in being lazy in the future."
After what happened with Qinqin, Meng Fan was extremely grateful for Cheng Jue's actions, and his fear of him inexplicably dissipated a lot. At this moment, he boldly muttered: "That Zhou Zhenzhen hasn't come yet, and she is more open about being lazy than us. Master Cheng, you can't treat her differently!"
Cheng Jue said "Oh" calmly: "If you can also marry me as your new wife and spend the rest of your life with me, then I can treat you the same way."
Meng Fan: …
Huo Chi: ...
Yan An had never experienced such a thing before, and he couldn't help laughing out loud.
The two looked over with wooden faces. Yan An covered his mouth and said, "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it."
"Zhenzhen seems to be back." Meng Fan pointed at the shadow outside the door. The next moment, the door opened, Zhou Zhenzhen coughed lightly, and walked in with her head slightly lowered. Her expression seemed normal, but the area from the tip of her ear to her neck was red.
Cheng Jue's eyes were filled with smiles, and he asked softly, "Meng Fan said you were slacking off."
"I didn't." Zhou Zhenzhen thought of something important and raised her head. "I know how Zheng Yan chooses his targets."
For a moment, several people from the Detective Department put away their playful smiles and gathered around. Zhou Zhenzhen took out a file: "Before, Du Rufeng and Liu Yan, as well as Huang Yingquan, the son of the former Governor of Liangjiang, and the youngest son of Prince Yuanqing, once made trouble after drinking in Hexi Tower and beat up a scholar named Chen who made a living by writing storybooks for the opera troupe. The case was finally settled with the four people's families paying compensation, but Scholar Chen became ill because of it. I went to the Ministry of Justice to find the file of this case. The former Governor of Liangjiang had only one son, Huang Yingquan, and Prince Yuanqing had four children, all of whom were sons. The only ones who met the requirements of siblings were Du Rufeng and Liu Yan. The files clearly described the situations of the generals, and recorded every detail. Zheng Yan often went to the Ministry of Justice. I guess he decided to take action against Du Ruyue and Liu Fang after seeing the files."
Huo Chi asked: "What about Meng Fan?"
Zhou Zhenzhen said: "Meng Fan and I went to the Ministry of Justice together that day, the night before Qinqin's accident. Zheng Yan was also there that night. He must have seen Meng Fan and remembered that Meng Fan also had a sister at home, so he decided that Qinqin would be the next target."
Meng Fan exhaled, still feeling a lingering fear: "So this is how it is."
Zhou Zhenzhen's mouth was dry after she finished speaking, but Cheng Jue didn't react. She was nervous and looked at him while biting her lower lip. Cheng Jue noticed her gaze, smiled softly, and poured her a cup of tea.
Cold tea is the best for soothing the throat. She felt comfortable in her mouth, but she was still nervous.
Because the solution is still the same problem.
"What's the motive?"
Zhou Zhenzhen couldn't answer. Even if she had broken the method of selecting the target, she really couldn't think of why Zheng Yan did this. The family was harmonious, he had a good reputation, and his favorite sister was only close to him. It was a life that people envied in every way. What was his purpose in doing such a thing?
Cheng Jue took the half cup of tea from her and drank it all.
Meng Fan: …
Huo Chi: ...
Yan An: ...He is somewhat used to it this time.
Zhou Zhenzhen's face flushed, and she coughed loudly because of Cheng Jue's natural intimacy. Cheng Jue patted her back and suddenly asked, "Is Zheng Xiangrui's illness healed?"
"It's healed." Zhou Zhenzhen couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in her heart when she heard him care about Zheng Xiangrui, and she pouted unconsciously. Cheng Jue saw this and laughed secretly. He scratched it casually and said, "Since it's healed, let's go and have the trial!"
"Trial of Zheng Xiangru?"
Cheng Jue looked at her thoughtfully, and said, "She knows this brother best. If we interrogate her, we may get some unexpected results."
