Chapter 428 - 426: Those Who Kill Often Will Know (2 Updates)

Chapter 428: Chapter 426: Those Who Kill Often Will Know (2 Updates)

"No, this case is just too bizarre, isn’t it?"

Chen Hu couldn’t help but frown and say, "In just a few days, seven people have died, and... all the dead were close to Prince Ling and Princess Consort Ling!

Could it be the Jiang Family rebels who did it?"

"But, the Jiang Family is the maternal family of Princess Consort Ling, and also the family of Prince Ling’s maternal grandfather."

Xu Jing looked at Chen Hu and said, "Why would they kill people around the prince and his mother?"

Chen Hu was at a loss for words, thought for a moment, and said, "They have rebelled now, and Prince Ling carries the royal blood. If Prince Ling rebels with them, they would have royal legitimacy in their hands, making it easier to win over the people. They are killing those around Prince Ling to force him to rebel with them?"

It seemed Chen Hu knew quite a bit.

Saves her from explaining slowly.

Xu Jing slightly raised the corners of her mouth and said, "That is possible, but it assumes Prince Ling is unwilling to rebel with them. Moreover, if I were from the Jiang Family, I would be more focused on winning over Prince Ling rather than going through all this pointless trouble."

With the time and energy spent on these things, they might as well just kidnap him directly.

However, it’s also possible that they are doing this to confuse those escorting the prince and his mother.

To know what’s really going on, we still need to go there and see.

Xu Jing immediately turned to Deng Youwei and said, "County Magistrate Deng, as mentioned in the letter from the Holy Emperor, he has already sent a secret letter to the Inspector of Xinzhou, and this matter is of great importance, so he has asked the Inspector of Xinzhou to take over directly.

Because not too many people should know about this, the Holy Emperor used a secret letter."

"I’m going back to prepare for the trip to Xinzhou now, so can I trouble County Magistrate Deng to lend me a few people?"

Deng Youwei nodded solemnly and said, "You can borrow as many people as you need. The Imperial Guard who brought the letter will also personally escort Miss Xu to Xinzhou, Miss Xu, thank you for your hard work."

The journey from Anping County to Xinzhou would take more than half a day even if they hurried. Xu Jing thought she would probably have to stay in Xinzhou for a few days this time, so she specifically went back to inform Shen and the others, as well as to see Chang Xiao.

Subsequently, Xu Jing instructed Chunyang and Song Qingyun to hand over their current work clearly to others, and then they set off for Xinzhou overnight.

It was Song Qingyun’s first time following Xu Jing to investigate a case, and she couldn’t help but feel both excited and nervous. Thinking about the nature of this case, she felt a faint apprehension. She looked at Xu Jing, who was quietly sitting in the carriage reading the case details, and said, "Jing, this case sounds really complicated. Where do you think the heads of those victims went?"

Xu Jing lifted her eyes from the scroll in her hands, looked at Song Qingyun, and pondered, "Anyone who has killed often knows that it’s easy to kill, but difficult to deal with the body. Do you know the common methods murderers use to dispose of bodies?"

Song Qingyun: "..."

Who often kills people? What kind of people often kill?

She remained silent for a moment and said, "Throw the body away or bury it?"

Chunyang couldn’t help but glance at Song Qingyun.

As expected of Song Erniang, who wrote "Lady Xu’s Collection of Exonerations," she spoke of these things without a tremor in her voice.

And carried a kind of inexplicable, hidden excitement.

Xu Jing laughed softly and said, "You mentioned two. In fact, the most common methods murderers use to dispose of bodies are to discard, bury, dismember, and cremate the bodies, but these cases all happened in inns, which are not private spaces that a murderer could control, so it’s unlikely they used dismemberment or cremation.

Even if they threw the victims’ heads into the inn’s kitchen stove, human bones don’t burn completely, and others would have noticed."

Song Qingyun was taken aback and said, "So, do you think the murderers threw the victims’ heads somewhere, or buried them?"

Xu Jing shook her head again, "These two are also unlikely. These victims were mostly killed at night and discovered the next day in daylight, so the murderer couldn’t have had enough time to take the heads far away. If they were nearby, the authorities would have found them.

Furthermore, as Prince Ling’s entourage traveled, people were dying along the way, indicating that the murderer was among them. If someone within the group left the inn for too long, it would have attracted attention."

Song Qingyun was a bit confused by Xu Jing, "So how exactly did the murderer deal with those victims’ heads?"

"It can only be that he used an unconventional method, outside of these four."

Xu Jing slightly raised the corners of her mouth and said, "I told you this to let you know there are countless criminals in the world, each with a different method of killing. We must learn to think outside the usual framework, boldly hypothesize, and cautiously verify."

"Boldly hypothesize, cautiously verify..."

Song Qingyun murmured, unable to resist taking out her pocket notebook and writing this phrase down with bright eyes.

Xu Jing watched her with amusement.

Chunyang couldn’t help but ask, "What could unconventional methods be?"

Xu Jing shook her head and said solemnly, "I don’t know either; we’ll have to inspect the site to find out. More so than this, I’m curious why the murderer chooses to execute the victims by decapitation, and then hides their heads so thoroughly? If it’s just hiding, why only hide the heads of a few?"

Chunyang and Song Qingyun were both taken aback.

Indeed, with many ways to kill, why did the murderer choose such a troublesome method as decapitation? After all, chopping off a person’s head isn’t easy.

Moreover, hiding the heads of only some victims, why is that?

"Generally speaking..."

Xu Jing murmured, "The murderer hides the victims’ heads to conceal their identities. However, we all know who the deceased are, so there seems to be no need for the murderer to hide them. Or perhaps the heads of those victims contain some secret the murderer doesn’t want us to discover? Or is it a personal quirk of his?"

Qingyang and Song Qingyun found it quite creepy to think there could be a murderer with a penchant for hiding victims’ heads.

It really is... beyond comprehension.

It wasn’t until dawn that their carriage arrived in Xinzhou.

At this time, the gates of Xinzhou hadn’t opened yet. Chen Hu and Wu Xiangui, who were driving the carriage, called the guards, discreetly showed them the Holy Emperor’s handwritten letter, and the guards, frightened, immediately knelt down in salute. After sending someone into the city to make inquiries, they immediately, respectfully, opened the gates to welcome Xu Jing and her group.

Unexpectedly, once inside, they saw that the Inspector of Xinzhou, along with several officials, was already waiting to welcome them behind the city gate.

Seeing Xu Jing disembark from the carriage, the Inspector of Xinzhou quickly stepped forward, giving a bow and saying, "The Holy Emperor has already explained the specifics in his letter to me. Thank you, Miss Xu, for coming all the way here to assist us in solving this case.

This case has indeed been a headache for me; Miss Xu, your willingness to come is indeed a great help."

Xu Jing didn’t waste words with him, returning the courtesy and said, "I presume you are Governor Zhang? Where is the inn where Prince Ling and Princess Consort Ling are staying? There’s no time to waste; let’s head there immediately."

"That inn is not far from here, only about a quarter of an hour’s walk."

Governor Zhang immediately said, "If Miss Xu doesn’t mind, we can walk there. I can take this opportunity to brief Miss Xu on the case details."