When the weather is colder, people become lazier.
Qiao Song wakes up early each day to arrive at Xiaotong Guan ahead of Duan Yelin, organize the day’s tasks, and then head to Jinyan Tang to pick him up.
The car got stuck in traffic halfway through the journey. His eyelids started twitching, and he felt something was wrong.
Qiao Song put down the half-eaten bun and stopped the car while still chewing it. There was a huge crowd of people gathered in front of the gate of the Governor’s Mansion.
What’s going on again?
He finally squeezed to the front of the crowd and saw all the soldiers of the Governor’s mansion running out and standing in front of the door, holding guns, looking like they were facing a great enemy. He was about to ask when he saw the butler running towards him from a distance.
“Adjutant Qiao! Adjutant Qiao! Something bad has happened!”
The butler was terrified as if he had seen a ghost, and he held on to Qiao Song’s military uniform tightly, which hurt Qiao Song a lot. But after Qiao Song heard the butler’s shout, he no longer cared about the pain.
It was shocking news!
He was as surprised as the butler, but he was not flustered. He immediately rushed back to the car, stepped on the accelerator, and with a hum, the car drove towards Jinyan Tang.
In Jinyan Tang, Duan Yelin had just opened his eyes.
He glanced up and saw Xu Hang still sleeping soundly, breathing up and down like a lazy cat.
Duan Yelin couldn’t help but ruffle his hair. Xu Hang moved in his sleep and shrank back a bit. Duan Yelin leaned over and kissed Xu Hang’s lips, touching him gently without trying to wake him up.
But Xu Hang still opened his eyes and looked at Duan Yelin with a frown.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Duan Yelin scratched his nose, “I have a lot of meetings to attend today, and I can’t be late. Don’t force me to break the rules.”
Xu Hang snorted coldly, turned his back to him: “Get out, you’re dissipating all the warmth in the quilt by sitting like this.”
“So mean.” Duan Yelin touched his head.
This moment seemed very affectionate, but the next moment, the fatal knock on the door startled the two of them!
There was not only the knocking on the door, but also the sound of Qiao Song shouting, “Commander! Commander! Something happened, Commander!”
Qiao Song was a man of measure, and he would not easily be so unruly. Not to mention that he just barged in and knocked on the door, just the way he called out so hastily was enough to tell that it must be something serious.
Duan Yelin quickly got out of bed, put on his coat, and hurried to the door. He paused, turned around, and saw that Xu Hang had also gotten up, faster than him, and was changing clothes behind the screen. Then he opened the door.
He buttoned his shirt while opening it: “What’s so urgent? Are the Japanese invaders entering the village?”
He even had some time for joking.
Qiao Song was sweating profusely, and he had obviously run inside as soon as he got out of the car. He panted heavily and frowned, saying, “It’s the Governor, something happened to the Governor!”
Dian Yelin was displeased when he heard these two words: “He is always busy causing trouble. Even if you say he is dead, I won’t find it surprising either.”
Qiao Song groaned, then said, “Commander, you are right this time, he is really dead!”
Duan Yelin’s hand slipped, leaving a button undone. He quickly looked up and said, “Say that again?”
“This morning, as I was passing by his door, the butler hurried out to inform me that when the maid entered the room, she found the Governor dead in his bed! The entire room was drenched in blood, and the body remains untouched—no one dares to move it. They’re all waiting for you to handle the situation!”
Honestly speaking, Duan Yelin didn’t care whether Wang Ronghuo was dead or alive. In fact, if he really died, it would be a good thing for Duan Yelin. But his death was so sudden that Duan Yelin felt mixed emotions, he felt as if a dark cloud was hanging over his head.
If something suddenly happened, there must be something fishy going on.
“Alright, go back to Xiaotong Guan first and take people to stabilize the situation. Don’t let rumors spread in the city. I’ll be there soon!”
“Yes!”
Duan Yelin turned around and went back to the room. This time, his movements seemed much more hurried, and he put on his clothes and shoes very quickly. Xu Hang raised his head slightly and looked at Duan Yelin, he didn’t say or ask anything.
Only after Duan Yelin had packed everything did Xu Hang slowly make his morning tea: “It seems that you’re going to stay up late at Xiaotong Guan today.”
“Do you want to accompany me?” Duan Yelin took the teapot and poured a sip directly into his mouth.
Xu Hang frowned, as if he was very unhappy that he wasted the tea like this: “I won’t go.”
Duan Yelin put down the teapot: “I was just saying as well, it is better to watch less of those messy things so as not to pollute your eyes.”
He left in such a hurry that he didn’t even have time to eat breakfast. Chan Yi, who came in with breakfast, brushed past him and put down the plate: “Eh, the Commander is in such a hurry, the kitchen even cooked abalone porridge today!”
Xu Hang picked up the porridge and drank it, his eyes relaxed a little: “The cook did a good job today, go to the accounting room and get some silver dollars as a reward for them. Also, iron the new clothes in the closet, I will wear them when I go out later.”
Chan Yi nodded, then covered her mouth with the plate and smiled: “Head of the Household seems to be in a really good mood today, is there any happy event? Or did you get any good news?”
Xu Hang glanced at her and said, “You little girl, it is a happy event. I’m going to marry you off. Do you think this is a good thing?”
“Hey, hey, the Head of the Household even began to joke with us now!” Chan Yi was deliberately annoyed, but she was happy in her heart. Xu Hang was actually about the same age as her. She had served Xu Hang for four years and always felt that he was too cold and rarely jokes. She felt sorry for him, it was rare for him to say a few words. She was as surprised as if she had found money.
As the saying goes, one family is happy while another is sad.
The most gloomy place at the moment is the Governor’s Mansion.
When Duan Yelin arrived, all the servants of the Governor’s Mansion had been detained in the yard, with police, soldiers, and forensic doctors coming in and out… and there’s also Yuan Ye.
Yuan Ye was standing outside the door, holding a small notebook in his hand, carefully writing something down. When he looked up and saw Duan Yelin coming, he walked up to him and said, “Commander.”
“Why are you here?”
“I rushed here as soon as I heard the news. After all, the Governor and my father have some friendship. I wanted to come and see, and if I could help in any way, that would be great.”
As they stepped into the room, the overpowering scent of blood filled the air, making it difficult to breathe. Even soldiers who had just returned from the battlefield and accustomed to all kinds of gruesome sights, had to admit that a scene like this was exceptionally rare.
The ground was covered with blood, flowing from the bed to the door, winding like a stream. Wang Ronghuo, lying on the bed, had his eyes wide open, as if he was dying with his eyes open. His body was spread out in a spread-eagle shape, and the heaviest bleeding was in his limbs, with deep cuts on his hands and ankles.
The most bizarre thing was that Wang Ronghuo’s mouth was wide open, stuffed so full of opium that his gums were stretched to the point of bleeding!
The interesting thing was that above his heart, there was an exquisite golden hairpin inserted straight in, which looked eerily beautiful when the sunlight shone through it.
It’s clear that a shocking murder unfolded here last night!
Duan Yelin turned around and asked Qiao Song, “Tell me, what did you find?”
The moment Qiao Song spoke, it seemed as if he could crack the case: “There is at least one person who has to be involved.”
“Who is it?”
“The Governor’s concubine, Ruan Xiaodie.”
Duan Yelin asked again, “Where is she?”
“Gone.”
