Chapter 511: The First Break

Chapter 511: Chapter 511: The First Break

Shen Hao didn’t explain, nor did he want to. No matter how curious Li Qing was, she could only hold it in. At most, she secretly grumbled: Psh! What’s so special about it anyway? I don’t care to know!

But curiosity got the better of her; she really wanted to know why Shen Hao suddenly singled out this luxurious bottle among all the items on Qin Xiuyuan. What is fragrant candy? Is it something you eat?

Fragrant candy is indeed something you eat, but not for pleasure—it’s for freshening breath. Mixed with wine and swallowed, it slowly releases aroma from the stomach, making one’s breath smell nice.

Since it’s consumed, it’s made from rare medicinal herbs. It’s something between an ordinary medicine pill and a true elixir—expensive, extravagant, and frankly not all that useful. Who would spend one hundred taels of silver for a bottle holding just a dozen fragrant candies? Must be crazy.

Shen Hao had never eaten that stuff. Most in Xuanqing Guard were like him—rough and loud, not the type for such delicate things. What mattered most there was prowess, not whether your breath smelled pleasant. Even if your breath stank, no one cared; it’s not like anyone’s kissing you. But he’d seen plenty use it—like the songstresses at the Flower House.

If a songstress had bad breath or ate something with a smell, then leaned in to speak... that scene would probably get her killed by the madam right on the spot. So songstresses all had the habit of freshening their breath. Either they chewed a piece of fragrant herb—cheap and practical, though a hassle. Those with money used fragrant candy.

Not just songstresses; he’d seen fragrant candy at Liu Hengyi’s place too. Liu Hengyi ate them as well, claiming it was a quality-of-life thing and babbling endlessly about it.

To Shen Hao, it was simply "fashion" or "trend."

Seems Qin Xiuyuan was also one of those upper-tier people living a refined life.

Li Qing picked up the bottle Shen Hao had returned, sniffed it, and suddenly understood: "It’s that magnolia scent you mentioned! So, the reason his blood carries that aroma is that he ate the ’fragrant candy’ from this bottle, right?"

Shen Hao nodded. He didn’t know what fragrant candy was exactly, but it didn’t matter—he could still deduce the source of the scent in the blood clots.

Afterwards, Shen Hao carefully examined Qin Xiuyuan’s body, finding no unusual external injuries. There were some bruises and abrasions on the heel, though. Checking the floor beneath the corpse, he deduced that these came from Qin Xiuyuan struggling in agony and kicking during asphyxiation.

Asphyxiation death with no injuries?

Shen Hao took off his leather gloves, stored them, then circled the room again, even opening the window to look outside. The surroundings were nice—three sides bordered by ponds, with a lookout post in the distance. Only the entrance side had a stone walkway. Quiet place, but not easy to get in or out.

Standing up, Shen Hao now had a preliminary impression of Qin Xiuyuan’s death in his mind. The first thing to figure out now was how exactly this person died.

"Have you called for the forensic doctor?"

"No need. We at Hawkeye have our own forensic doctor—he’ll be here soon."

"Doing it here?"

"Of course. Dragging him back is too much hassle."

Hassle? Shen Hao didn’t even know what to say. He simply stayed silent, though he wasn’t planning to linger for the autopsy. He’d review the forensic report later—Hawkeye wouldn’t deliberately hide anything like that.

Just then, Wang Yiming returned. He’d questioned a royal guard and three staffers responsible for this building.

"Go ahead, tell us what you found out."

"Sir. This is indeed a guest suite in Prince Shou’s Mansion—a high-end one at that. Even when unoccupied it’s cleaned daily. Qin Xiuyuan arrived and moved in the night before last and never left the suite during his stay, but his appetite wasn’t great. Over four meals, he barely touched anything, just drank a bit of millet porridge and ate some greens."

The leftover dishes were hardly touched, so a couple of staffers said it’d be a waste to throw them out; two of them reheated the food and had it as supper."

Shen Hao nodded, approving. "Good work. Let’s go, get some rest."

Leaving already? Wang Yiming glanced at the dimming sky—it was late, true, but they couldn’t be leaving after only a cursory round, right? He wanted to ask, but couldn’t bring himself to; he just silently agreed.

Li Qing sneered, thinking: So much for an ace detective. Barely did anything before calling it a night? Tch tch, is this the Xuanqing Guard’s ’Evil Star’? What a joke.

Shen Hao pretended not to notice the emotions in her eyes, leading the group out of Prince Shou’s Mansion.

As Shen Hao left, Li Qing followed suit. She headed to the Ministry of Justice, turning down a corridor to a Public Office and knocking before entering.

Inside, Li Qing saw Xue Gui, wearing a black metal mask.

"Sir, I’m back."

"Where’s Shen Hao?"

"Reporting, sir—the guy surnamed Shen just took a look around the crime scene and left, less than an hour total. In my opinion, he’s just a self-promoter, only here to ride Hawkeye’s coattails and share the credit." Li Qing replied formally, clearly showing her real respect for Xue Gui, but when speaking about Shen Hao, she made no effort to hide her disdain.

"He left already?"

Xue Gui had been writing at his desk. Hearing Li Qing return so soon surprised him—wasn’t she supposed to work with Xuanqing Guard? And the Xuanqing Guard guy just left? Didn’t even come to the Ministry of Justice? How’s that "assisting the investigation"?

Setting down his pen, Xue Gui asked, puzzled: "Shen Hao has quite the reputation in Xuanqing Guard, especially these last two years; he’s been the standout figure. His track record is impressive—the likes of which is rarely seen. And he’s a disciple of Jingxi Governor Jiang Cheng, so there’s no way he’s someone who got ahead just by coasting. Tell me in detail what he did at Prince Shou’s Mansion, leave nothing out."

Li Qing wasn’t convinced, but followed Xue Gui’s instructions, repeating word for word everything Shen Hao did and said tonight at the mansion. Finally she said: "Lots of showy gestures from him, but he left without learning anything. Sir, maybe you’re just overestimating the guy?"

Xue Gui’s expression didn’t change. After a long silence, he said, "You’re wrong. Shen Hao most likely already discovered some clues—you just didn’t see it."

"Huh? Sir, how could he have found any clue with all that nonsense?"

"He asked people to check the time Qin Xiuyuan moved in and his eating habits, which needs to be considered together with the perfectly clean bathroom in the suite. This is for determining Qin Xiuyuan’s cause of death."

"But... how does any of that relate to Qin Xiuyuan’s death?" Li Qing still didn’t quite get it.

"Qin Xiuyuan had no lethal external injuries, but died of asphyxiation, and at the scene there were no signs of a killer entering to commit murder. Isn’t it possible that Qin Xiuyuan ate something that caused his airway to block, and in the end died from suffocation?"