Chapter 516: Indirect

Chapter 516: Chapter 516: Indirect

Li Qing, as Xue Gui’s Deputy, generally does not need to handle cases independently; assisting Xue Gui is enough.

Since Prince Shou’s Mansion was the crime scene, from the moment they received the notice and rushed over, through the onsite investigation and subsequent handling of the corpse, the whole procedure involved a final cleanup, which was also a last sweep for any missed clues.

Yesterday, the wrap-up was basically complete, but early this morning Li Qing returned to Prince Shou’s Mansion to confirm a few last matters with the Inner Guard there. After this, they would no longer be allowed to freely enter and exit the crime scene area.

But what puzzled Li Qing was that as soon as she arrived at the side gate at the back of Prince Shou’s Mansion, she saw several Xuanqing Guards. She recalled that they had previously come here with the person surnamed Shen.

"What are they doing here?"

Entering through the side gate, Li Qing was immediately approached by a government official who had been stationed here, saying he had something to report.

"What is it?"

"My lord, the Xuanqing Guards are acting strangely."

"Hmm?" Li Qing frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, these Xuanqing Guards were wandering around the area near Prince Shou’s Mansion, as if mapping out the surrounding streets; someone saw them writing and drawing in notebooks. Today, they are meticulously recording details inside the crime scene rooms, like...like..."

"Why are you stammering? Speak up!"

"Yes, like they’re recording the details of the crime scene."

Li Qing instinctively shook her head, "Impossible."

Crime scene records—Li Qing was no stranger to this. Normally, whether it’s Ministry of Justice constables, Local Government Office officials, or the Xuanqing Guards, as long as they handle a case, they will document the crime scene so it can be used later when compiling the case file.

But this case is so special, there’s no way they need to make a ’crime scene record,’ right?

Could it be that these Xuanqing Guards intend to faithfully record ’the crime scene is Prince Shou’s Mansion’ in the case file?! The moment this thought occurred, Li Qing couldn’t suppress it. Yesterday, she had already reported Hawkeye’s initial case file upwards, reviewed the content compiled personally by Lord Xue, which used "a secret residence in the Imperial City" to obscure the real location.

The reason? Li Qing’s experience told her this involved Prince Shou, and seemed related to a confidential case accusing the Xuanqing Guards, and the deceased Qin Xiuyuan was an escaped fugitive from the Local Government Office, wanted under a sea arrest warrant.

How does a fugitive end up dead in a prince’s home? Is his death connected to the prince? And what reason would the prince have for helping a fugitive wanted by a sea arrest warrant?

A string of questions could drag Prince Shou directly into the heart of the case. And this wasn’t the outcome Hawkeye wanted—in fact, before taking the case, Li Qing knew their lord had specifically received instructions from Minister Ma to avoid implicating Prince Shou.

But now, people below are saying the Xuanqing Guards seem to be making crime scene records?! What are they planning?

Li Qing didn’t just take the official’s word for it. She nodded to show she understood, then entered the courtyard, and indeed saw several familiar-faced Xuanqing Guards holding notebooks and writing and sketching. One stood at the doorway, apparently recalling yesterday’s position of Qin Xiuyuan’s corpse and drawing it on paper.

"Vice Officer Wang, what are you working on here?" Li Qing walked over with a smile. She played a little trick, intentionally keeping her footsteps quiet and holding in her own aura, only speaking when she was less than three feet from Wang Yiming. Her eyes quickly swept over what Wang Yiming was sketching, inwardly disdainful that his alertness was so lacking.

"Hm? Constable Li? Is there something?" Wang Yiming really hadn’t noticed her approach, but he didn’t just discover her at three feet; his slow reaction was mostly an act, though his demeanor and response were so natural no one could detect any falseness.

He also seemed startled by Li Qing coming up from behind, his hand shaking as he hurriedly put away the paper he’d been drawing on. But the move didn’t escape Li Qing’s notice.

He really was sketching a layout of the crime scene—a tool typically only used when compiling the case file. Li Qing was shocked; she felt she’d uncovered something serious: the Xuanqing Guards were preparing to drag Prince Shou into this!

"Nothing, just thought I’d come take a look. What are you doing?"

"Making some onsite records. Constable Li, in fact, I was about to look for you. Yesterday, the forensic doctor didn’t examine the corpse’s abdomen very carefully—Qin Xiuyuan ate inside Prince Shou’s Mansion, had a bowl of porridge before dying, but the forensic report doesn’t mention it. I’d like to examine the body again, if possible?"

"Hmm? I was present when the forensic doctor examined the body. There were indeed some food bits in Qin Xiuyuan’s stomach, but nothing special—was that necessary to record?"

"Yes, otherwise, how can we rule out that Qin Xiuyuan didn’t die from accidental ingestion? If it’s unclear, it’s not helpful for excluding Prince Shou’s Mansion as a suspect." Wang Yiming put on a strictly-business tone.

Deliberate. Though he first heard Lord Shen praise his ’acting skills,’ Wang Yiming got the meaning—now he was ’acting,’ pretending to be unguarded and deliberately letting Li Qing catch some clues.

"Oh, you’re working on the case file? Are you recording the crime scene in detail? Need any help from us Hawkeye?"

Wang Yiming’s brow furrowed and he said, "No need to trouble you, Constable Li. To be frank, my lord already had your initial case file stamped and reviewed—too rough. We’d better handle it ourselves. Regarding the corpse, please convey to Lord Xue on our behalf—we want to examine it again; if anything’s missing, we can fill it in."

His words sounded polite, but every line made it clear he distrusted the Ministry of Justice Major Case Department, because the initial case file they saw yesterday was so vague. The fuzzy case description seemed to offend Wang Yiming’s rigid Xuanqing Guard sensibilities.

"Alright then. I’ll inform Lord Xue."

"Thanks, Constable Li. Please hurry—it’s hot, and if we delay too long, the corpse will deteriorate and be harder to handle."

"Fine, then I won’t disturb you further, Vice Officer Wang. I’ll go and relay your request." Li Qing dropped her earlier fake smile; being looked down on by Xuanqing Guard made her uncomfortable. She wanted to fire back, but forced herself to hold back.

Finding a corner, Li Qing summoned a Hawkeye government official and said, "Go tell Prince Shou’s Mansion, we can’t close this area yet. When the final wrap-up can happen depends on when I get Lord Xue’s written order. For now, your job is to stall."

"Ah? But... but... my lord, where are you going?"

"Back to the Government Office! Don’t nag!"