Chapter 329 - 327: That Person, Miss Xu Knows Them Too (Part 1)

Chapter 329: Chapter 327: That Person, Miss Xu Knows Them Too (Part 1)

Originally a bit groggy, Xu Jing suddenly woke up, sat up with the quilt around her, her morning voice still a little hoarse, "How long have they been here?"

Chunyang said, "They just arrived. Seeing that they seemed quite anxious, I took the liberty to wake up madam."

"What time is it now?"

"It’s already past the Si hour (around 9 AM). Lord said you’ve had a hard time traveling recently and let me allow you to sleep."

It’s already the Si hour.

Xu Jing instinctively turned her head to look at the bed beside her, only to see it was empty; not only was the big one gone, but the little one was gone too.

She couldn’t help but blink, "Where’s the little lord?"

She was used to Xiao Yi waking up earlier than her. She only felt surprised when she opened her eyes and saw Xiao Yi still sleeping beside her.

"The little lord woke up almost at the same time as the lord. The lord worried that the little lord staying here would disturb you, so after the servants dressed him, he took him out."

As Chunyang spoke, she suddenly pursed her lips and smiled, "Madam didn’t see the little lord following behind the lord with tiny eager steps, looking just like a cute little tagalong. The lord didn’t walk far before he noticed the little one struggling to keep up and just turned around to pick him up.

Later, the lord and the little lord had breakfast together, then went to work, and the little lord returned to his courtyard to do his teacher’s assigned homework."

Imagining this scene, Xu Jing’s eyes softened, but then she thought of needing to help the Western Capital’s government investigate a case, unsure how long it would take, fearing she might not have time to make a birthday cake for the little one. She sighed inwardly and, getting out of bed, said, "Help me prepare my washing utensils, and also bring Qiushui in. Let Chuju inform the people at the Western Capital’s government that I’ll be there in about half an hour."

Chunyang responded, then turned and left the room.

Soon, Qiushui entered, only to find madam not in the room but wearing an overcoat in the study on the right of the small hall, spreading out a piece of white paper writing something on it. She entered, saluted, and said, "Madam."

Xu Jing nodded but did not speak, racking her brain to recall the steps when her friend had once led her to make a cake.

Although she wasn’t skilled in cooking, her memory was quite good. While her friend mainly made the cake back then, it was she who reminded her of the steps; hence, even now, recalling those steps wasn’t too hard.

The only difficulty was that there was no oven in ancient times, and it wasn’t feasible to make one temporarily. Xu Jing simply decided to switch from baking a cake to steaming one. Although it wouldn’t taste as fragrant, it would be healthier. Besides, she trusted Qiushui’s skills; nothing Qiushui made tasted bad!

Once done, Xu Jing handed the paper to Qiushui, helplessly saying, "I originally planned to work with you to make a cake for Chang Xiao’s birthday, but something came up, and I have to go out. I can only leave this task to you. I’ve tried to write the cake-making steps on the paper as detailed as possible. See if you can make it; I’ll try to come back soon. If there’s anything unclear, feel free to send a guard to ask me anytime."

Qiushui was momentarily stunned, glanced at the paper, and upon seeing this fresh, unheard-of food, she felt her spirit of challenge ignite and nodded vigorously, "Don’t worry, madam, I’ll definitely work hard to make this thing called a cake!"

Madam always came up with all sorts of novel ideas. To be honest, she was already used to it, even looking forward to what other unheard-of ideas madam might come up with next.

After all, every time madam thought of something new to eat, it always turned out to be delicious!

After giving Shen and others some instructions, Xu Jing hurried to the front hall.

As expected, the one looking for her was Mr. Yao. When she reached the front hall, Mr. Yao was there pacing back and forth, his face clouded, looking very restless and uneasy.

Seeing Mr. Yao like this, it was clear that this indeed wasn’t an ordinary case.

Xu Jing’s eyes deepened slightly, and she said, "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Yao."

Seeing her, Mr. Yao immediately greeted her with a pleasant surprise, "Miss Xu... ahem, I should call you Mrs. Xu now. I apologize. You just returned to the Western Capital yesterday, and here we are asking for your assistance first thing this morning, so you must not have rested well yet."

Both ’Miss’ and ’Madam’ could be used to address married women, but in folk tradition, ’Miss’ was commonly used for unmarried young ladies, whether married or not.

Madam, however, was generally a title for women of noble or prominent status, or whose husbands had a certain level of power or status, allowing them to be called ’Madam.’

Honestly, compared to the somewhat distant-sounding ’Madam,’ Xu Jing was more accustomed to others calling her ’Miss Xu.’

She smiled gently, "Mr. Yao, you can still call me ’Miss Xu.’ I’m used to it, and we don’t need to be so formal between us. Since His Majesty appointed me as an external consultant for the Western Capital’s government, their affairs are also my affairs, and it’s my duty to help."

Mr. Yao immediately responded cheerfully, "Working with Miss Xu is truly comforting. This case is significant, and time is of the essence. I must ask Miss Xu to accompany me; Jiang Zhaoyin is already waiting at the crime scene."

Xu Jing couldn’t help but ask, "Usually, aren’t major cases in Western Capital handled by the Ministry of Justice?"

Mr. Yao’s expression grew somewhat odd, and he sighed quietly, "Only major cases of a severe nature fall under the Ministry of Justice, whereas our case seems like an ordinary suicide. I say it’s significant because of the sensitive identity of those involved."

After pausing, Mr. Yao added, "That person, Miss Xu, you should know. The woman who allegedly committed suicide is Jiang Family’s legitimate third daughter—Jiang Yanxia, who was... the former wife of the second killer Xin Lei in the previous Smiling Killer case."

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback, immediately recalling a gentle and graceful face.

The third daughter of the Jiang Family... actually committed suicide!

After Xin Lei was arrested, she had left him and returned to the Jiang Family, and that was almost half a year ago now.

Could it be that she still couldn’t move past that incident after all this time?

Because it involved someone she was acquainted with, Xu Jing’s mood grew heavy as she made her way to the crime scene.

Mr. Yao led her all the way to a riverbank on the northern side of the Western Capital, to a river called Little East River, a branch stemming from the Nu River. Because Little East River’s daily shipping traffic was quite busy, shops of various kinds lined both banks of Little East River. However, it was currently winter, a slow season for shipping, and as the year-end approached, the banks of Little East River were not as bustling as in the peak season, appearing even somewhat desolate.

In a rush, Mr. Yao did not share many details about the case, but as soon as Xu Jing saw Little East River, a thought immediately came to mind—

Jiang San, she feared, had drowned herself.

But if it was truly a straightforward suicide, there was no need for Mr. Yao and others to urgently summon her.

This case surely harbors some hidden truths.