Detective Ghost Empress

243 Body was not hidden in the courtyard

” Take a look at it, is this the same paint as the one you found on the back of Liu Fei Fei’s neck,” Liu Hui Ying handed the hairpin to Jia Li who took it without saying anything and then started to silently examine it. She was blessed with photogenic memory which was why she was easily able to decipher that the material with which the hairpin was painted was the same as that of the pain that was found at the back of Liu Fei Fei’s neck. “It’s the It’s but she was not stabbed by this hairpin.”

This was what made Jia Li even more confused why would someone press an old hairpin in the back of Liu Fei Fei’s neck when they were not going to stab her, what were they even thinking? Jia Li was confused but Liu Hui Ying was very calm as she took the hairpin back and carefully rubbed the pad of her thumb at the rough surface of the hairpin as she looked at it.

Clearly, the hairpin was less than ten years old and belonged to a child…for it to appear here for no reason and rhyme, it was truly confusing indeed but she was certain that there was some sort of link between this hairpin and the person who killed Liu Fei Fei.

But that was not important at the moment what was important was that she needed to find the place where the culprit tied Liu Fei Fei up and then left her to die slowly for an entire night. She turned to look at the small wooden vat that was sitting on the side of the pond and then turned to look at Jia Li and the others before she said, ” Examine traces of human involvement in every water body that is within this courtyard, once you have found something, come back and report to me.”

Liu Hui Ying thought that she would be able to make a breakthrough in this case soon enough but after looking around the entire courtyard, the three ghosts returned and told her that they could not find anything. There was not a shred of evidence that will tell that Liu Fei Fei has been captured and kept in captivity before she was killed, if not for the injuries that her body received before she died even Liu Hui Ying would have thought that she might have made a mistake.

” Are you sure you cannot find anything?” Liu Hui Ying asked as she looked at the three ghosts who shook their heads at once.

” No we cannot,” Jia Li had a bitter expression on her face as she replied to Liu Hui Ying, this was the first time they have received such a dead end, not once did any of them thought that Liu Fei Fei was being kept outside the courtyard that belonged to her but if she was not in the courtyard and her captive did not trap her in any of the water bodies that were inside this very courtyard then it meant that they dragged Liu Fei Fei outside!

The entire palace was filled with water bodies, how were they supposed to find one such water body where Liu Fei Fei was kept?

Even Li Gang had an ugly grimace on his face after all, he knew it very well that the imperial palace at least had more than a hundred ponds and the number of lakes was simply beyond his limit. There was even a fierce river flowing down the valley, does it mean that they have to look for clues in every freaking water body? At this point, he might as receive his reincarnation in the next life!

.....

Grandma Lan Fen was simply stunned as well, she never thought that the people in this era would be this smart but looks like no matter what the time, the people who were lost were just as dangerous as the ones in the future. “I believe that we need to take another look around the courtyard, lest we miss something——”

She was still speaking when she heard the sound of a carriage being dragged inside, surprised everyone including Zhai Heng turned to look at the small cart that was being dragged inside Liu Fei Fei’s courtyard and his eyes flashed when he looked at the overly large water barrels made of wood.

“What are you doing here?” He asked as he looked at the three men who were dragging the water barrels inside the courtyard after he walked down the steps that led to the backyard of Liu Fei Fei’s courtyard and then walked over to where the cart was standing. ” Do you not know that this courtyard has been sealed off because of the death that took place a few days ago? Why are you here?”

The three men were only responsible for bringing water to this courtyard, they were mere servants who were just following the orders that were given to them but all of a sudden they were being questioned. The leader was stumped but given that the person who was asking him was none other than the elder brother of the Emperor who had good relations with his majesty, he could only lower his head as he replied, ” Answering to my lord, we are responsible for bringing water to the harem and since no one told her to stop bringing water to this courtyard we are only fulfilling the order that our master gave us.”

Only then did Zhai Heng look at their dresses and realized that these men were actually eunuchs who worked for the kitchen, the imperial harem did not have any water facility other than lakes and ponds which was why the kitchen would send their workers with water barrels to fill the drinking vats and vessels in the harem.

” You are saying that you were not told to stop delivering water?” Zhai Heng questioned the eunuchs again who shivered in fright and then nodded before the leader replied, ” Consort Liu is going to be buried soon which is why according to the ritual, her courtyard is supposed to be washed and cleaned to be purified, we were asked to bring water for the ritual…is there something wrong?”

Leave a ps, golden ticket or gift please Orz!