Chapter 336 - 334: The Reason for Looking Around (2nd Update)

Chapter 336: Chapter 334: The Reason for Looking Around (2nd Update)

Mr. Yao quickly leaned over, "Miss Xu, have you discovered something?"

Xu Jing pointed to a certain spot on the back of the outer garment and said, "Take a look here."

The outer garment was dark gray, without other patterns, but where Xu Jing pointed was a spot near the top middle of the garment, there was a noticeable tear, horizontal, about a fingertip wide. The garment had some cotton padding inside for warmth, and now some aged-yellow cotton wadding was peeking through.

Mr. Yao was slightly stunned. What does this tear signify?

Xu Jing stared at him and said, "Does your inner garment have such a tear?"

Mr. Yao shook his head, "No, Miss Xu, are you suspecting that this tear was made when Sister-in-law Wu died?"

Xu Jing nodded, her eyes deepening, "I have a theory."

This theory arose when she first heard Mr. Qu say that his mom had rolled off the roof.

What she did next was essentially to verify this theory.

Mr. Yao looked at her with a face full of puzzled curiosity, but Xu Jing said nothing more and turned to Mr. Qu, "Mr. Qu, do you recall when your mom’s outer garment got that tear?"

Since he had washed this set of clothes himself, Mr. Qu naturally knew of this tear’s existence. He shook his head, somewhat helplessly saying, "Honestly, I’m not sure. I live at the academy most of the time and only come home during breaks. I can only be certain that the tear was there when I took the clothes off my mom.

But my mom usually cherished her belongings a lot. If there was a tear in her clothes, she would mend it immediately. So I guess the tear happened that night."

Indeed, Sister-in-law Wu’s clothes were covered with patches, evidence of their owner’s diligence and thriftiness.

Noticing Xu Jing still staring at the tear, Jiang Yu, who had been silent on the side, suddenly asked, "Miss Xu, have you thought of something?"

Xu Jing raised her eyebrows slightly, glancing at him.

To be honest, if he hadn’t spoken suddenly, she would have forgotten he was there.

She stood up with the outer garment in hand, saying calmly, "I now know how Sister-in-law Wu died. As we speculated earlier, it’s very likely she didn’t suicide but was murdered."

Everyone looked at her in shock upon hearing this.

How did she suddenly figure it out? Weren’t they at an impasse?

Even Jiang Yu was momentarily stunned.

Mr. Yao quickly asked, "Miss Xu, what exactly is going on?"

"I want to visit the inn where Sister-in-law Wu died."

Xu Jing glanced at him and said, "I’ll explain the details once we’re there."

The location where Sister-in-law Wu fell was the Xinyi Inn in the eastern part of Western Capital. The class distribution of Western Capital was clearly laid out across the city’s layout—generally, powerful families lived in the north, especially the northwest. Only those who could be named in Great Chu lived there.

Ordinary folks typically lived in the south of the city. The southeast, bustling with many outside merchants, was particularly lively, forming many markets of various sizes. The goods there might not be the best quality, but they were certainly the most cost-effective. Xinyi Inn was located in the southeast of Western Capital.

And the market where Sister-in-law Wu usually sold tofu wasn’t far from Xinyi Inn, just a short walk away.

As Mr. Yao and his group stepped into Xinyi Inn, they immediately sensed something amiss—there were too few people there! The entire hall had only two occupied tables. Although it was year-end when guests were naturally fewer, they had passed by other inns that weren’t as deserted.

When the shopkeeper saw people entering, he was about to greet them cheerfully, but upon noticing their official attire and particularly Mr. Qu accompanying them, he immediately turned pale. Startled, he stepped back and angrily said, "You... you have the nerve to come back! It’s because of your mother that our inn is now shunned, and nobody wants to stay here! Everyone thinks it’s unlucky! Our shopkeeper said that if this continues, we might as well close early, renovate in spring, and reopen! In my opinion, you should be the one to pay for those renovations!"

Mr. Qu looked embarrassed, bowing to the servant. "I am truly sorry. I know we’ve caused you a lot of trouble. Originally, I didn’t have the face to come back, but since Mr. Yao from Western Capital’s authorities believes my mother’s case has more to it, I had no choice but to come again with them."

Upon hearing they were with Mr. Yao, the shopkeeper dared not argue further, though his face still looked displeased, he harshly said, "Your mother just committed suicide, right? What’s questionable about that?"

Mr. Yao stepped forward, "We’ll discuss the details later. We want to see where Sister-in-law Wu fell. Would you kindly lead the way?"

The shopkeeper was still respectful to Mr. Yao, knowing that they had many occasions where they might need the help of Western Capital’s authorities in the future. He set aside his irate demeanor, got permission from the shopkeeper, and said, "Please follow me."

Then he led them to the backyard, explaining as they walked, "The woman jumped from the eastern building. The room where she stayed is also there; the eastern building has two floors. I remember she stayed on the first floor."

As they spoke, they arrived at an open area in front of the building. The servant pointed to a spot on the right and said, "Here, this is where she fell."

The inn had a simple layout, with buildings connected by corridors on all four sides. The buildings on the left and right had only one floor, while those at the front and back had two. This was an affordable inn, so the courtyard wasn’t particularly refined, sparsely planted with trees. The tallest tree was the parasol tree beside the building from which Sister-in-law Wu fell.

Mr. Yao scanned the surroundings, "Where is the room Sister-in-law Wu was staying in?"

The servant pointed to a window on the left, "There are six rooms on the first floor. She stayed in the second room from the left."

Mr. Yao nodded, then asked, "When she came to check in, did you notice anything unusual about her?"

The servant glanced at Mr. Yao, "Mr. Zhang asked that before. When the woman came in, she didn’t look well, seemed very despondent, and appeared somewhat flustered, constantly looking around."

Looking around?

Mr. Yao frowned slightly.

Words like ’flustered’ might carry personal interpretation from the inn staff. The same expression could be interpreted differently by different people, but actions like ’looking around’ were more concrete.

Based on his understanding of Mr. Zhang, under the assumption of suicide, he might interpret that as Sister-in-law Wu being anxious before taking her life.

But what if she was looking around to avoid someone?

Considering that the perpetrator likely knew the victim, maybe even lured her there, Sister-in-law Wu could have been looking for that person!

Mr. Yao pondered this for a moment, instinctively wanting to discuss it with Xu Jing. He looked around but didn’t see her.

He couldn’t help but be slightly stunned, "Where is Miss Xu?!"