Jian Zhaoxing

Chapter 277 Premeditation! One Strike Kills

Her voice was frighteningly calm.

Almost instantly, Lu Huai realized that Lin Zhiqing's vulnerability just now was all an act.

But Lin Yangyang also sensed something was wrong, and she grabbed Lin Zhiqing's hand: "Qing-meimei, just now..."

Lin Zhiqing sat upright in the carriage: "Let's go back to the Lin family first."

Once the carriage began to move slowly, Lin Yangyang couldn't help but speak up:

“Qing, Jiang Liuyun can’t beat me. If all else fails, I will risk my life to avenge Aunt Mu. Our Lin family has no other way out.”

“Cousin, whether this matter has anything to do with Jiang Liuyun still needs to be considered.” Lin Zhiqing’s tone was the same as usual, but Lu Huai could hear the slight tremor in it.

"Consider? Who else could it be but him? That shoe print is exactly the same as his; only a martial artist could leave such heavy marks!" Lin Yangyang was filled with anger.

“No.” Lu Huai shook his head: “It’s precisely because the traces are so heavy that, given Jiang Liuyun’s shrewdness, if he were to do this, he certainly wouldn’t leave such a big handle.”

Even though Lu Huai didn't know the complete story, he could piece together some details based on their accounts.

“That’s right.” Lin Zhiqing took a deep breath before continuing:

"Given his personality, even if he wanted to harm Aunt Mu, he wouldn't use such a radical method."

“I just observed him, and his facial expressions and body language don’t seem to indicate that he knew anything about it.”

"He's not the murderer?" Lin Yangyang asked.

“That’s not what A-Qing meant.” Lu Huai’s eyes were full of worry: “Jiang Liuyun might be faking it. The things he did were indeed very cunning.”

"But it's also possible that he's playing hard to get and deliberately leaving obvious evidence for us to rule out his suspicion."

"And don't forget, Liu Mang, one of his subordinates, is also an expert in mind-reading; judgments based on facial expressions and behavior are only 30% reliable when applied to him."

Lin Zhiqing rarely makes such uncertain judgments. Even though she shows no outward expression, Lu Huai knows that she must be feeling terrible inside.

Aunt Mu was left behind by Lin Zhiqing's parents, and her care and love for Lin Zhiqing far exceeded that of others.

After Lu Huai explained, Lin Zhiqing stared at her hands and said nothing more.

Lin Yangyang opened her mouth, wanting to comfort Lin Zhiqing, but at Lu Huai's prompting look, she remained silent.

After returning to the Lin family, Lu Nanyue, who had already arrived, suggested examining Aunt Mu's body.

Lin Zhiqing agreed.

Apart from the fatal wound in her heart, Lu Nanyue found no other clues.

Lin Yangyang was familiar with all kinds of weapons and immediately recognized that the fatal wound was caused by a dagger, and that the force was quite strong, killing the victim in one blow.

She concluded that the thugs knew martial arts.

Throughout the entire process, Lin Zhiqing simply observed carefully without offering any opinions.

After Lin Yangyang finished her examination, Lin Zhiqing sent someone to fetch the coroner.

But the coroner was already waiting at the Lin family's house; he had been invited back by Lu Huai.

The coroner's findings were consistent with Lin Yangyang's opinion.

In other words, this was a premeditated murder.

Everyone thought that Lin Zhiqing would get to the bottom of things and continue investigating the corpse.

Surprisingly, Lin Zhiqing quickly arranged Aunt Mu's funeral.

Throughout, she remained meticulous and impeccably proper, even her expression seemed almost identical to when Aunt Mu was present.

Gradually, rumors began to circulate.

Words like "heartless" and "unscrupulous" are constantly heard.

These words even reached outside the Lin family home.

Lin Yangyang was furious when she heard this and gave the people who had been gossiping a good beating.

As a result, Lin Yangyang's reputation for mistreating servants spread again. Lin Zhiqing did not react in any way after learning about these things.

Soon, the day of Aunt Mu's funeral arrived.

The city of Shengjing had been quiet for a long time, but recently all sorts of things have suddenly emerged, attracting a constant stream of onlookers.

Very few families would actually pay for the funeral of their servants.

In particular, Lin Zhiqing and Lin Yangyang attended in person, which is extremely rare.

When they returned, an uninvited guest appeared at the Lin family's door.

"Qing'er, you..." Jiang Liuyun was interrupted by Lin Yangyang before he could finish speaking.

"Young Master Jiang, weren't what you did the other day enough? My sister Qing is already in enough trouble, what more do you want?" Her voice was loud, quickly attracting the attention of the onlookers.

Lin Zhiqing glanced at Jiang Liuyun, said nothing, and went straight through the gate.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Jiang Liuyun's guards immediately spoke to Lin Yangyang:

"Miss Lin, you can eat whatever you want but you can't say whatever you want. How did my young master go too far?"

Before Lin Yangyang could speak, the people started discussing it.

"Oh, it seems the rumors are true. My husband said he saw Miss Lin covering her face as she came out of the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence last time."

“This Young Master Jiang is so handsome and doesn’t look like the kind of person who would hit someone. You all should just shut up.”

"I don't think that's right either. The way Young Master Jiang looked at Miss Lin just now was so affectionate. Miss Lin must have believed the rumors from a while ago."

"Come on, the charge of treason is still unresolved. Who knows if it's true or false?"

……

Jiang Liuyun watched as the Lin family's gate was closed, seemingly oblivious to the crowd's conversation, and then walked away.

Aunt Mu's death seemed to be just a minor incident; a few days later, those who were supposed to forget about it had almost forgotten it.

Everything at the Lin family's house was as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Lin Zhiqing was either in his study or constantly busy with accounts.

Lin Yangyang rarely gets to talk to her more than a few times.

Even when Lu Nanyue came to visit out of concern, she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

It wasn't until one night, when Lu Huai came to her door claiming to have found a clue, that Lin Zhiqing was finally freed from a pile of account books.

Seeing that Lin Zhiqing remained cooped up in her room, Lu Huai frowned deeply.

"Let's talk in another place."

“Right here.” Lin Zhiqing’s voice was very tired.

"No." Lu Huai, who was usually very compliant with Lin Zhiqing, rarely said "no."

Lin Zhiqing knew he was worried about her, so she sighed softly and didn't refuse again.

After obtaining her consent, Lu Huai took her back to the Lu family home and onto the roof of the Lu family library.

He moved several books here and gestured for Lin Zhiqing to sit cross-legged.

"I investigated everyone who passed through that alley a few days ago and found some clues." Lu Huai knew Lin Zhiqing was interested in the clues, so he spoke directly:
“I have selected all the people who know martial arts who have passed through there. Take a look.”

As he spoke, he produced a rather long list.

Lin Zhiqing was stunned for a moment, and a strange emotion welled up in her heart.

As she took the list, she whispered a thank you.

There are many people in that alley every day, making it extremely difficult to compile a list.

She knew that Lu Huai had put in a lot of effort.