Chapter 346 - 344: Arrogance or Insecurity (Second Update)

Chapter 346: Chapter 344: Arrogance or Insecurity (Second Update)

Xu Jing looked at Mr. Yao, "Speak."

"Sister-in-law Wu has a reclusive personality. I sent someone to White Jade Village to inquire with her fellow villagers, and they all said they rarely interact with her and are unaware of the places she has been.

They only know that Sister-in-law Wu sets off before 5 a.m. daily to sell tofu in the city. If her tofu sells quickly, she returns early, but if sales are slow, she returns later."

Mr. Yao continued, "However, we did uncover an important piece of information, although the villagers don’t know where Sister-in-law Wu goes during the day, they do know she has business partnerships with several teahouses and eateries in the city, supplying them with tofu daily. However, they weren’t sure which ones specifically.

So we went to the spot where she regularly sets up her stall and asked the nearby vendors who heard her mention a few places in passing. Unexpectedly, one of the places they mentioned was Qinghui Garden."

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback.

Unexpectedly, there was a link between Jiang San and Sister-in-law Wu so quickly!

Xu Jing asked, "Have you sent anyone to investigate Qinghui Garden?"

Mr. Yao shook his head, "I just recently received this information and was planning to visit Qinghui Garden myself. But just as I was about to, my people, who I sent to interview other vendors, followed the leads and went to the nearest place that Sister-in-law Wu had dealings with. There, we discovered that Sister-in-law Wu also supplies tofu to Lanxin Garden."

Xu Jing couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised.

Lanxin Garden also collaborates with Sister-in-law Wu?

No wonder Mr. Yao mentioned it was tricky; not only are Sister-in-law Wu’s movements less clear than Jiang San’s, but they quickly found two places where Sister-in-law Wu and Jiang San intersect.

No wonder Sister-in-law Wu could single-handedly raise a Scholar; she had quite a knack for business.

Xu Jing stood up and said, "In that case, let’s investigate one place at a time, starting with Qinghui Garden. I just saw on this document that Jiang San visited Lanxin Garden accompanying her sister-in-law and niece, with them by her side the entire time. The perpetrator should have had no opportunity to interact with Jiang San, but she went to Qinghui Garden alone and met twice individually with people from the opera troupe. The perpetrator must have had time alone with the victim to influence them into following their instructions."

Mr. Yao immediately replied, "Miss Xu, your thoughts align with mine. I also believe Qinghui Garden is more valuable for investigation."

The two headed straight to Qinghui Garden, only to unexpectedly run into Wang Qilang, dressed in official attire, just as he was leaving.

Xu Jing’s steps halted abruptly upon seeing Wang Qilang with a look of disbelief as if he’d seen a ghost, causing her lips to twitch.

Tsk, as expected, it’s a narrow road for enemies.

Mr. Yao seemed surprised that people from the Ministry of Justice arrived before them and hurriedly stepped forward to greet Wang Shaoqing, "Are you here to investigate the Jiang San case too?"

Wang Qilang returned the courtesy perfunctorily to Mr. Yao, then gave Xu Jing a cold glance, "I didn’t expect the Western Capital government to actually be willing to work with a woman. I thought the decree from Holy Emperor previously was just a plaything that no one would take seriously."

This referred to the decree from Holy Emperor appointing Xu Jing as an external advisor to the Western Capital government.

Mr. Yao was slightly startled and couldn’t help but glance at Xu Jing discreetly.

When did Miss Xu become at odds with this young lord of the Wang Family?

Xu Jing looked at him with a half-smile, "It seems I’ve startled Wang Shaoqing, but I thought anyone could ignore that decree, except for you. After all, it was because I solved the Imperial College case before you did that Holy Emperor was so pleased, leading to the issuance of that decree."

Wang Qilang’s face changed dramatically; he gritted his teeth, "That time was just my carelessness. Miss Xu, don’t think you can always be that lucky! And also, tell your man at home this: no matter what, our Wang Family is one of the four major families of Great Chu with merits accompanying the dragon, and is not something a mere Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice can shake! He’s feeling proud now under the favor of the Holy Emperor, but if he’s not confident he can topple our Wang Family in one go, he’d better be prepared to regret it later!"

After speaking, he shot Xu Jing a cold glance before striding past her and leaving.

Xu Jing couldn’t help but turn to watch his departing figure.

For him to say those words, it’s likely Xiao Yi has begun openly investigating their sale of Cold Food Powder, using it as a pretext to probe into the Wang Family possibly being that behind-the-scenes force.

Beside her, Mr. Yao cautiously glanced at Xu Jing and said, "Miss Xu, don’t mind Wang Shaoqing’s words. He has always been arrogant and indifferent, reportedly not getting along well with colleagues. Both Jiang Zhaoyin and I recognize your abilities."

Xu Jing, however, chuckled softly to herself.

Arrogant? To her, this guy’s too insecure, suppressed by Xiao Yi from a young age, leading to a volatile personality that explodes at the slightest provocation.

She didn’t want to dwell on him further and continued walking into Qinghui Garden, "Let’s go. I remember Jiang San’s personal maid mentioned Jiang San met alone with the playwright of that new play and the actress playing the mother character, meeting them one by one. Let’s see them as well."

However, to their surprise, when they met the owner of Qinghui Garden and requested to see the two from the opera troupe, the owner looked troubled and said, "Those two were taken away by people from the Ministry of Justice earlier, on the grounds of being suspects."

Xu Jing couldn’t help but recall the situation during the previous Imperial College investigation, feeling rather speechless.

As expected of you, Wang Qilang!

Mr. Yao was somewhat dumbfounded, "They’ve been taken away just like that? Did the Ministry of Justice people uncover some critical clues?"

In his understanding, for someone to be taken as a suspect, there must be major cause for suspicion of a crime.

For instance, if there were evident clues pointing to the person, or if there was testimony linking them to the case.

But the owner shook his head and said, "After Wang Shaoqing arrived, he called out Mr. Song, who writes scripts for the troupe, and Mr. Qiao, who specializes in playing the female lead, gave them a look, and just took them away, saying they’ll be questioned later."

He hadn’t experienced such an event before and assumed it to be part of normal procedure.

Mr. Yao: "..."

Xu Jing silently looked to the sky and could only ask the owner in front of her, "Can you describe the physique of those two gentlemen, and roughly how much they weigh?"

The owner paused, thought for a moment, and replied, "Mr. Qiao, being a specialist in female roles, doesn’t have a robust build like other men; rather, he’s slender and graceful. Meanwhile, Mr. Song’s physique is... unusual. Although talented, he’s very short, appearing like an eight or nine-year-old child. It’s precisely because of this that he writes scripts for the troupe here rather than pursuing the imperial examinations, where his talents would likely excel.

Regarding their weight, I’m really not sure."