Xiao Jing came closer: “Young Master, what is this?”
“It was the costume for Xue Xianglong’s role in the opera ‘Suolin Nang’. The murderer disguised himself as an actor and sneaked out among the troupe! When he left, he bumped into me. He was in the crowd, and I didn’t look at him closely!” Yuan Ye tightly grasped the tiny piece of cloth, his words full of regret.
“How do you know it’s him? There are so many people in the troupe!”
Yuan Ye’s gaze was fixed. “Today, we invited three opera troupes from different factions, each performing their most renowned plays… Although the troupes left at separate times, the actor who played Xue Xiangling was from the Cheng Troupe—but he slipped out with the Mei Troupe instead. I let him get away because I didn’t think much about it at the time!”
Xiao Jing was startled by Yuan Ye’s attentiveness: “Then, maybe he missed the time and went out with another troupe?”
“Anyone who can perform Xue Xiangling has to be a lead actor. What troupe could possibly leave without noticing their lead was missing? That proves he wasn’t actually part of the troupe! And this burnt robe—it’s clear the murderer was trying to destroy the evidence!”
Yuan Ye narrowed his eyes, staring intently down the alley. Xiao Jing slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Ah! The clothes aren’t completely burned yet—he can’t have gone far. Let’s go after him!”
Just as he was about to run, he was stopped by Yuan Ye: “Don’t worry, I have something else for you to do. Now drive to Heming Medical Hall. If Physician Xu is not in the medical hall, he is most likely the murderer.”
“Young Master, are you suspecting him?”
“Even if I don’t have evidence, I still want to seek reassurance from him.”
Xiao Jing paused to think, then said, “But if it really is him, and he regains his composure and drives back, he might get there before I do.”
Yuan Ye waved his hand dismissively and said, “There aren’t many families in Hezhou that own cars. And if someone wanted to commit murder in secret, they wouldn’t use something as conspicuous as a car to flee.”
“I understand,” Xiao Jing ran out of the alley, stopped after a few steps, and said with concern, “Young Master, then go to the hospital quickly, and leave this matter to me!”
Yuan Ye nodded slightly but did not move at all.
When he was the only one left in the alley, he turned around and heard a rustling sound coming from the corner deep in the alley.
He suddenly became alert and ran forward quickly. And at the source of the sound, footsteps were heard!
Is it the murderer?!
Just like a stealing mouse being discovered by a cat, a game of chase begins.
The further he ran, the happier Yuan Ye felt, because he knew that if he turned another corner, it would be a dead end. If that was really the murderer, he would be unable to escape.
Why did he want to kill his father?
With a mix of suspicion and anger boiling inside him, Yuan Ye charged forward with his head down. Just as he rounded a corner and was about to catch sight of a figure, several people suddenly appeared and blocked his path.
“Stop! Don’t move! Who told you to run?”
He was caught off guard and fell to the ground. Several men who looked like soldiers handcuffed his hands behind his back. One of them stood in front of him and grabbed his hair.
“Damn it, how dare you flee for fear of crime? You caused me to be scolded by the Governor! Take him back!”
Yuan Ye knew that struggling was useless, so he stiffened his neck and shouted, “I’m not trying to escape, I saw the murderer. Come with me to catch him!”
The soldier looked around and said, “You are trying to fool me. Where can there be a person?”
“I’m not lying to you! He’s in the alley ahead. It’s a dead end. He can’t run away!”
Yuan Ye’s face flushed as he spoke, and his words were so certain that the soldiers couldn’t help but believe him a little more.
“Fine, I’ll go take a look. If you play a trick on me, you’ll have to bear the consequences!”
The soldier held his gun, put on the safety, and carefully moved forward step by step, turning into the alley.
Yuan Ye couldn’t catch sight of him, so he kept his eyes fixed on the corner near the exit, anxiously awaiting the outcome of the search. But time passed, and there was no sound of a struggle, no gunfire— not even a whisper from the alley.
After a while, the soldier came out, not holding the gun in his hand but on his shoulder. As soon as he came out, he hit Yuan Ye in the lower abdomen with the butt of the gun: “I knew you were talking nonsense! Where is the person? I even searched the garbage dump, and there was not even a single ghost!”
Yuan Ye bent down in pain but was held up by the soldiers. He couldn’t believe it: “No one? Impossible… I clearly heard footsteps…”
He disappeared out of thin air? Could it really be the work of evil spirits?
“Do you think I’m blind? Alright, if you have anything to say, just go back and tell the Commander!” The soldier didn’t want to say anything to him any more. It was important for him to go back and report. With a wave of his hand, several people carried the unwilling Yuan Ye back.
Military boots crunched over the scattered ashes in the alley, kicking up a cloud of dust.
————
They escorted Yuan Ye all the way to the hospital where Duan Yelin was at the moment. When they arrived, everyone was outside the operating room.
Madam Yuan was still crying, Old Madam Yuan just recited the sutra devoutly and Duan Yelin leaned against the wall and thought carefully. When Yuan Ye arrived, the operation had just ended.
The doctor was surrounded when he came out. Madam Yuan grabbed his sleeve and said, “How is it? Is everything alright? Is my old master alright?”
The doctor pulled back his clothes, his face expressionless, and he just reported to Duan Yelin, “Commander, his life is saved, but his limbs are broken, his tongue has been cut, and he will not be able to speak in the future. He has lost too much blood and is frightened, so he will have to stay in the hospital for a long time.”
“This… this is going to kill me ah!” Madam. Yuan’s voice was sharp and high-pitched, causing ear pain to those present.
Duan Yelin looked at Yuan Ye, whose face was pale, and said, “Then take good care of him first.”
This was the first time the murderer had left someone alive—but he did so in an exceptionally brutal way. The victim could neither speak nor write. Even if he stood right in front of Yuan Sen, he wouldn’t be able to give any testimony.
And Yuan Sen… will live like a powerless individual, with his family’s fortune likely lost. All he can do now is hold onto this feeling in his heart and slowly dwell on it.
Thinking of this, Duan Yelin patted Yuan Ye on the shoulder and said, “Before the decision from above comes out, I will not put you in jail. You just stay in this hospital. If you need anything, tell Qiao Song, and he will try his best to prepare it for you. Don’t run around and make things difficult for me.”
Even though Yuan Ye didn’t say anything, Duan Yelin just assumed that he had heard it.
“One more thing…” Duan Yelin’s hand tightened a little, gradually exerting force. “You have a good woman who truly loves you, so don’t do stupid things to make her worry about you.”
Yuan Ye’s expression finally changed a little, his eyes flickered, he pursed his lips, and he nodded slightly.
After sealing off the Yuan family, there were still many things to deal with. Duan Yelin wanted to go back to Xiaotong Guan first. As soon as he turned around, he was stopped by Yuan Ye.
“Commander Duan, do you really not know who the murderer is?”
Yuan Ye’s eyes were like the lights in the interrogation room, dim but eager to dispel the darkness.
Duan Yelin was confused.
Yuan Ye knew that he was the type who disdained lying and that this expression was not fake, so he looked at him steadily and said word by word, “I’m starting to feel more and more that the golden hairpin is very close to us. Or… perhaps it’s much closer to you, Commander, but you just can’t see through it.”
