Scourge Messenger

Chapter 65 The incident
Checking the stored keepsakes?
Lu Wangji's request suddenly sounded quite reasonable, since Jiang Shi did indeed have a large storage item, and it was entirely possible that she would hide the murder weapon inside after killing someone.

But Shang Xinlei sensed that something was very wrong.

Lu Wangji's tone and words made it seem as if he only remembered Jiang Shiyou's collection of the blood artifacts after discovering the blood artifacts that everyone had brought out.

Conversely, if Shang Xinlei and the others had hidden the blood artifacts, would Lu Wangji have forgotten about it?
impossible.

Even though she had only met Lu Wangji in the last two days, Shang Xinlei was absolutely certain that this man was a meticulous and shrewd individual. The Left Valiant Cavalry Guard was the imperial guard, the emperor's personal bodyguard, and Lu Wangji was there on behalf of the court to oversee the situation in the Mansu Forest. How could he be so careless?
But he waited until this moment to raise his doubts about Jiang Shi accepting the token.

After Jiang Shi handed over his sword, Lu Wangji, after inspecting the white iron straight sword, made no move to return it. Instead, he handed the sword to the person behind him. While this action could be interpreted as him intending to return it to everyone after inspecting them, it could also be interpreted as him never intending to return it at all—he had no intention of finding bloodstains on the white iron straight sword; he was merely trying to disarm Jiang Shi!
First came the sword, then the keepsake.

Shang Xinlei suddenly remembered a book she had read before, a book that recorded the business insights of a group of merchants, called "The Eight Strategies of Silver and Blood." One of the strategies was called "Le Yin's Flesh-Cutting," which told the story of a usurious merchant named Le Yin. Because of his low interest rates, everyone was willing to borrow from him. However, Le Yin would require borrowers to do small favors for him to offset part of the interest. At first, it was just running errands and unloading goods, but later the demands would increase. If the borrowers refused to help, Le Yin would threaten that the previous interest payments would be nullified. Most people, not wanting their previous efforts to be wasted, would grit their teeth and persevere. But this would mean neglecting their family affairs, resulting in either poor harvests or family illnesses, forcing the borrowers to borrow money from Le Yin again. In the end, they would all sell themselves to Le Yin. In this way, Le Yin would cut off their flesh little by little, taking all of their flesh away.

Lu Wangji's actions were similar to Yue Yin's act of cutting off his own flesh. If he had asked to inspect the stored token from the beginning, everyone would have thought he had ulterior motives. However, he first inspected the white iron straight sword to prove Jiang Shi's 'innocence' before asking to inspect the stored token, which made people feel that he was just doing his duty and not deliberately targeting him.

If someone is innocent, they will likely be led step by step by Lu Wangji to hand over all their belongings. In the end, regardless of their guilt or innocence, they will inevitably lose the ability to resist and become fish to be disposed of at will.
"If you're going to check the tokens of trust, did you check theirs?" Shang Xinlei pointed at everyone: "Qun Yushu, your ring is very beautiful; Elder Chen, your waist bag looks very tacky and doesn't quite match your style; Elder Zhou, the Hundred Flowers Belt produced by the Hundred Herbs Garden is a luxury item that noble ladies in Jiangnan flock to."

“Lu Xiaoqi, go check their stored tokens first, then come check us—is that alright?”

Jie Yuanshao also realized: "Right, if we're going to check, we should check everyone, otherwise wouldn't that be targeting us? However, storing tokens is an important private matter, like a private residence. Lu Xiaoqi, without your decree or order, do you dare to forcibly check their stored tokens?"

Lu Wangji paused slightly, then said expressionlessly, "You two are indeed worthy of being direct descendants of the Jie and Shang families. You are truly from a family with profound learning and are both beautiful and intelligent."

Just when they thought they had turned the tables and successfully thwarted Lu Wangji's intentions, Qun Yushu's lazy voice rang out: "I'm willing to be examined—anyway, I haven't been stuffing a woman's undergarment inside recently."

“Since a murder has occurred, I am willing to cooperate with the investigation,” Chen Linchuan said.

“I’ve known Lao Lu for many years, so I’m not afraid he’ll find out anything,” Zhou Ye said with a smile.

Have they reached a consensus?
Jie Yuanshao was startled. If the seven aristocratic families and the imperial court joined forces, there was nothing they could do to resist them. However, she felt she was overthinking it. After all, Jie Zilong and Shang Yue were definitely on their side and would not allow Lu Wangji to act recklessly.

"Jie Zilong, Shang Yue," Lu Wangji asked, "Are you willing to undergo an examination?"

Jie Yuanshao and Shang Xinlei looked at their relatives, hoping to hear a stern rebuke, or even some sarcastic remarks. However, all they saw was the silent Jie Zilong and the coughing Shang Yue.

They stood there, pondering and calculating, their silence a mixture of resistance and acceptance. Although they stood opposite Qun Yushu and the others, from Shang Xinlei's perspective, they all seemed to be on the same side.

Shang Xinlei's heart suddenly pounded, and a chilling thought popped into her mind: Was her older brother really here to help her?
To be more precise, are her interests and those of her family truly aligned?

Jie Yuanshao frowned slightly. She took a step forward, seemingly intending to talk to her third uncle. But just then, Jiang Shi, who had been silent throughout, suddenly spoke:

“I will not hand over the token,” she said calmly. “Don’t waste your energy.”

“Jiang Shi…” Qian Gongyu looked at her with concern.

“Lu Xiaoqi, if you think that not checking the stored tokens is equivalent to being a prisoner,” Jie Yuanshao opened her palm, showing the storage ring on her finger: “You can also put me on the prisoner list.”

"Oh dear, I feel like Miss Jie is looking down on me." Shang Xinlei laughed, "I didn't collect any tokens, so I'm not even qualified to be a prisoner with you guys. I can only sit at the same table as Xiaoyu."

"You all worry too much. Without solid evidence, I can only report the facts. As for how to make a judgment, that's a matter for the three judicial departments." Lu Wangji said calmly, "Since you are not cooperating, then we will proceed with the final inspection—using a blood-reflecting mirror to check whether there is any trace of the victim's blood on your bodies."

He then took out the Blood-Reflecting Mirror and shone it on the four of them, seemingly just going through the motions. Jie Yuanshao and the others didn't take it seriously. They did have a lot of blood on them, but it was all demon blood. Before entering the Mansu Forest, everyone was clean; how could they possibly be stained with the blood of the victims?

Wow. Like a drop of ink falling into water, the onlookers gasped in surprise. Shang Xinlei, Jie Yuanshao, and Qian Gongyu turned their heads and stared blankly at Jiang Shi.

Under the yellow light of the mirror, a faint blood-red mist appeared on Jiang Shi's clothes. As Lu Wangji shook the Blood-Reflecting Mirror, everyone could clearly see the blood-red mist from Jiang Shi's clothes extending all the way to the corpse on the bed. Such clear evidence made everyone know that the blood on her clothes came from the victim herself!
"Impossible!" Qian Gongyu exclaimed.

"There's definitely something wrong!" Jie Yuanshao immediately said. "I demand that the three judicial departments investigate this case!"

"If there was blood on her clothes, why didn't we see it this morning?" Shang Xinlei spoke rapidly, like a barrage of arrows: "If she washed her clothes, why didn't she just throw them away and change into something else? It's illogical for a murderer to have plenty of time without changing her clothes. Someone is framing her!"

"If she didn't kill him, why would her clothes have Luo Weijin's bloodstains?" Lu Wangji asked. "She might have used a keepsake to clean herself of the stains, but she didn't expect me to have the Blood-Reflecting Mirror to track her down, which is why she gave herself away. If it weren't for the Blood-Reflecting Mirror, who could have discovered this evidence?"

"You may raise your doubts, but that is not my concern. Jiang Shi is suspected of murdering a member of a prominent family. His methods were brutal and heinous. Now, please make way immediately. I am here to arrest the wanted criminal Jiang Shi and take him to Jiangdu for trial!"

"No!" Jie Yuanshao's beautiful eyes widened in anger. "You're framing—Third Uncle!"

Jie Zilong sighed and said, "But Jiang Shi's clothes are indeed stained with Luo Weijin's blood, and she is indeed the prime suspect in this case. Even the Jie family cannot protect a criminal suspected of murdering a member of a prominent family."

"but--"

“Yuan Shao, abiding by the law is also a principle for scions of noble families,” Jie Zilong said in a deep voice. “You can raise objections, you can investigate, you can clear Jiang Shi’s name, but you must act within the bounds of the law, not directly defy the imperial law!”

Jie Yuanshao bit his lower lip, looked at his third uncle from a distance, and finally could only lower his head sadly: "Yes."

On the other side, Qian Gongyu was almost going crazy, clutching Jiang Shi's clothes. "Impossible, impossible! These are clearly my clothes, how could there be that guy's blood on them... Jiang Shi, you just wore these clothes today!"

Shang Xinlei asked, "Who has access to your wardrobe?"

"Wardrobe? My wardrobe is at the very back of the carriage, and we don't need servants to wait on us. If anyone tries to sneak into my carriage, Uncle Lin will definitely find out... Uncle Lin?"

Qian Gongyu suddenly froze. She looked around, searching high and low, but couldn't find that familiar figure in the crowd. Her body trembled slightly, and she tightly hugged Jiang Shi's arm, bending her knees to kneel on the ground.

"I'm sorry..." Her voice trembled with tears, each drop like a pearl landing on Jiang Shi's hand. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

“It’s my fault…it’s all the fault of the Qian family that ruined you…it’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have become enemies with Luo Weijin, and you wouldn’t have…”

"Jiang Shi, I, I..."

Jiang Shi raised his hand and ruffled the tiger ears on Qian Gongyu's head. Qian Gongyu couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears, blowing big snot bubbles from her nose, which looked rather comical against her tiger-like face.

Shang Xinlei murmured, "This is troublesome. If we can't find the real culprit, Jiang Shi will be the prime suspect, according to the law..."

"This subordinate murdered his superior, slaughtered a prominent family, and defied the proper order of society. His methods were cruel and ruthless; his crimes are unforgivable." Lu Wangji's emotionless voice echoed from afar: "According to the Twelve Jade Laws, he should be executed!"

"Anyone who dares to resist arrest or attempt to escape will be killed without mercy!"

As dozens of crossbows were aimed at Jiang Shi, the situation on the field suddenly became tense. The scions of prominent families on the periphery started shouting and screaming, seemingly anticipating the start of a bloody drama; Shang Xinlei and the others were either crying or stunned, not knowing what to do.

Just then, a cough broke the precarious balance.

"What if the merchant is willing to guarantee Jiang Shi's loan?"

(End of this chapter)