However, in the end, they realized that it was the most difficult to catch Jiang Simeng. It was as if Jiang Simeng had disappeared from the face of the earth. They could not find him no matter what.
They searched for three days in a row, but there was no sign of him. This made the people in the county office anxious.
So many people had died in a row. If the real culprit was not caught, the county magistrate would definitely be held accountable by the higher-ups.
Moreover, the Tan family’s case was the focus of the entire county. If they did not catch the real culprit, people would live in panic.
Therefore, the county magistrate felt pressured and ordered that the real culprit must be caught.
In the past three days, in order to train Chu Xujin, Chu Qingzhi did not say anything. She asked Chu Xujin to think of a way for himself.
Tao Yiqian was still disguised as a man as she followed Chu Xujin. She came up with one or two ideas, but they didn’t work.
Finally, they figured out what they were neglecting.
In the county office, Chu Xujin suddenly said excitedly, “I think we’ve overlooked an important person.”
Tao Yizhou immediately asked, “Who?”
Chu Xujin looked at the silent Chu Qingzhi and said, “Red Crane!”
Chu Qingzhi did not reveal anything and did not give any hints. If Chu Xujin wanted to grow, he had to rely on himself. “Third Brother, why do you say that?”
Chu Xujin took a deep breath and said, “After Tan Maozhi died, other than fainting, she never showed any concern for Tan Maozhi. Instead, she locked herself at home all day. In addition, the existence of the black robe in her room is still unexplained. I think she has something to do with these cases. Although there hasn’t been any abnormality about her in the past few days, it only makes her more suspicious.”
Tao Yizhou asked again, “Then what do you plan to do?”
Chu Xujin made a bold guess. “If Red Crane is related to these cases, could Jiang Simeng be hiding at Red Crane’s place?”
The head constable stood at the side with a saber in his arms. His serious eyes were filled with worry. “Xujin, you went to Miss Red Crane’s residence previously. Didn’t you not notice anything wrong?”
Chu Xujin hesitated for a moment before saying, “I didn’t notice anything wrong previously, but now that I think about it, there’s something strange. There’s a potted fleeceflower in her house, and there are a few incense burners like the ones found in the Tan mansion. One incense burner per room is enough. Why does she have so many?”
The head constable thought for a moment and immediately mobilized his men. “Let’s go and pay a visit to Red Crane.”
Everyone followed him to Red Crane’s residence.
Chu Qingzhi walked at the back. She had already thought of where Jiang Simeng was hiding. It was only a matter of time before they found him, so she was not in a hurry and gave Chu Xujin some time to practice.
And Chu Xujin didn’t disappoint her.
Under the head constable’s lead, the group immediately rushed to Red Crane’s small courtyard. Without giving Red Crane any time to prepare, the constables surrounded the small courtyard.
A constable knocked on the door. “Miss Red Crane, please open the door.”
When the madam of the Hundred Flowers Tower saw that there were so many constables, she came over to greet them while secretly cursing Red Crane for attracting trouble.
When Red Crane heard the constable’s voice, she immediately opened the door. She was still charming. “Officers, what brought you here?”
Chu Xujin pulled Tao Yizhou, who was about to speak, and said tactfully, “It’s nothing. We came to take a look.”
After all, there was no real evidence. What if the real culprit was not here?
Red Crane said, “Didn’t you check my place already?”
The head constable’s tone was firm. “Please be cooperative, Miss Red Crane. We won’t disturb you for long.”
Red Crane calmly moved aside. “Go ahead.”
The head constable, Chu Xujin, and Tao Yizhou walked in. Chu Qingzhi walked over and said to Red Crane, “Miss Red Crane, my condolences.”
Red Crane lowered her head and revealed a sad expression. “Maozhi likes me so much. Now that he has died an unnatural death, I plan to fast for a period of time and chant scriptures to pray for him.”
Chu Qingzhi nodded. “Miss Red Crane, you’re kind in doing this for him.”
When she was talking to Red Crane, she released her divine sense and enveloped the entire courtyard, searching inch by inch.
There was a banana tree in the courtyard and a well behind it. After Chu Qingzhi finished searching the house, she gathered her divine senses around the well.
When she probed with her divine sense, she realized that the well was dry and there were traces of human movements.
There was a passageway at the bottom of the well. Following the passageway to the end, she sensed a rough stone room. In the stone room, a rough-looking man was sitting on the edge of the bed and polishing a saber.
His appearance was very similar to the valiant warriors of the northern border.
Chu Qingzhi retracted her divine sense and continued to chat with Red Crane. “Miss Red Crane, do you have any siblings?”
Red Crane fell into her memories. “I remember that when I was young, 1 had many brothers and sisters. However, when my father was imprisoned, my family was confiscated and my family members were sold as slaves. I ended up becoming an orphan.”
Chu Qingzhi nodded and did not ask further.
She walked in and came out with an incense burner. This incense burner really looked like the incense burner in the Tan mansion.
Red Crane’s eyelids twitched.
Chu Qingzhi placed the incense burner on the table in the courtyard. Then, she took out a piece of fleeceflower roots and placed it inside. She lit it with a matchstick.
After the fleeceflower root was lit, she covered the incense burner and a smoke floated out from the gaps.
Originally, the smoke from the fleeceflower roots should be purple, but at this moment, the smoke from the incense burner was black.
It went without saying that there was something wrong. The problem was this incense burner.
When Red Crane saw that her secret had been discovered, her face turned pale and her entire body turned cold.
Red Crane’s gaze suddenly turned vicious. She stared at Chu Qingzhi’s back and slowly walked towards her, killing intent appearing in her eyes.
Chu Qingzhi looked back from the corner of her eye and remained calm.
Red Crane walked to a step behind Chu Qingzhi and narrowed her eyes. “Miss Chu, did you see anything?”
While her words distracted Chu Qingzhi, she suddenly stabbed Chu Qingzhi from behind with the dagger.
Chu Qingzhi nimbly turned around and dodged the dagger. At the same time, she knocked the dagger out of Red Crane’s hand and dislocated her arm.
“All-”
The scream resounded throughout the courtyard and instantly attracted the attention of all the constables. The three people in the house hurriedly ran out. “Fifth Sister, are you hurt?” When Chu Xujin saw the dagger on the ground, he was so frightened that his forehead was covered in sweat. Fie hurriedly pulled Chu Qingzhi aside and sized her up carefully.
Chu Qingzhi smiled and shook her head. “Third Brother, I’m fine.”
The head constable ordered coldly, “Tie her up and bring her back to the government office!”
Red Crane looked at Chu Qingzhi and did not struggle. There was a dead look in her eyes..
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