Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

The news of the sudden death of Zheng Daoyuan, the prefect of Shuntian, reached the Ren residence early the next morning.

Yu Lang himself went to inform them.

Before Yu Shaoqing arrived, the steward Ren Cong had just brought news from the Marquis's residence.

Mu Zheng, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, visited the residence of Marquis Renxuan early in the morning.

Ren Xuan sent someone to ask if the young marquis also wanted to go back.

The two events collided at the same time, seemingly "coincidentally," yet there was something strange about it.

After a moment's thought, Ren Fengjue declined the former offer and told Ren Cong to reply that he would not return today and would visit again another day.

What's more important right now is Zheng Daoyuan's death.

He was in a hurry to leave, but just as he was about to get into the carriage, he remembered something else.

"Wait a moment, I'll go to the East Wing first."

Yu Lang, unaware of the "seven-day agreement," saw Ren Fengjue hurrying towards the guest room in the east courtyard and couldn't help but tease Xia, "Since when did your young master become so close to Miss Xia? He even has to report to her before going out?"

Xia choked, unsure how to answer.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that there was some truth to it.

The young marquis is indeed very fond of this Miss Xia.

Ren Fengjue walked to the courtyard gate in one breath, only to see Xia Ximo and Yan Zhengchu walking side by side.

It seems the two of them are going out together.

"Miss Xia."

Xia Ximo was also a little surprised to see him.

Ren Fengjue then asked, "Are you two going out together?"

"Um."

She responded calmly.

Yan Zhengchu, who was standing to the side, opened his mouth as if to say something, but was interrupted by Xia Ximo: "This matter does not need to be told to irrelevant people."

"..."

Ren Fengjue belatedly realized how he had become an "unrelated" person.

A hint of dissatisfaction flashed through my mind.

Xia Ximo asked him, "Is something the matter?"

Ren Fengjue quickly composed himself: "Today was supposed to be the day I fulfilled the promise I made seven days ago, but there's a case that urgently needs my attention right now. So, could this matter be postponed for another two days...?"

"Um."

Xia Ximo readily agreed, then asked, "Is there anything else?"

Ren Fengjue originally wanted to mention the case of Liu from Yan County to her, but he swallowed the words back inexplicably.

"It's nothing."

Xia Ximo glanced at him, her eyes seeming to hold a hint of inquiry, as if she had sensed the unusual state of his emotions.

In the end, she simply nodded calmly.

When Ren Fengjue returned to the carriage, Yu Lang immediately noticed that Ren's expression was somewhat off.

It felt like I'd been rebuffed by Miss Xia...

Could they have had a fight?

But then I thought again, something didn't seem right. These two people didn't seem like the type to argue at all...

He was just thinking about how to ask the right question when Ren Fengjue spoke first.

"Has Shaoqing forgotten what he wanted to say?"

Yu Lang blurted out, "Oh right, I was just about to ask if you and Miss Xia had a falling out."

"..."

Ren Fengjue gave him a cool look.

I felt like I was being stabbed in the eye.

Yu Lang then realized he had forgotten the important matter and quickly corrected himself, "This humble official was negligent; please forgive me, Lord Ren!"

Then he coughed lightly and began to talk about Zheng Daoyuan's sudden death in the study.

The body was discovered around midnight when a servant went into the room to change the tea.

"The servant said that Prefect Zheng had been in his study since nightfall, and only his advisor Lu Xian had gone in once during that time."

"There was no further movement from inside the room, and the prefect did not request tea. The servant dared not enter without permission until after midnight, when it was late at night..."

"The servant had no choice but to step forward and ask, but no one answered after calling out several times. However, there was definitely a figure by the window."

"The servant sensed something was wrong and pushed the door open. There he was, Prefect Zheng, sitting at his desk, facing the bookshelf, already dead with blood flowing from his seven orifices."

Hearing this, Ren Fengjue was also taken aback.

"Bleeding from all seven orifices again?"

Yu Lang responded, then asked with a hint of doubt, "Does Lord Ren mean there are similar cases in the capital recently?"

Ren Fengjue nodded. "Yesterday, something happened in the back alleys of the East Market, and..."

"These two cases are also vaguely related."

Yu Lang's expression changed. "It's a serial killer after all?"

"Not only that, it's also related to an old case from six months ago."

"what?"

The case involved so many things that Yu Shaoqing didn't know where to begin...

Ren Fengjue then went through the whole story with him again.

After Yu Lang understood the situation, they arrived at Zheng Daoyuan's residence.

When Guan Yuezheng saw Vice Minister Ren's carriage at the gate of the mansion, he hurriedly came to greet it.

Ren Fengjue asked, "How's it going with the Ministry of Justice?"

"You guessed right, sir. There were indeed 'fish' on the hook last night."

"The assassin was imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's jail, and confessed before he could even be interrogated."

"It was indeed Zheng Daoyuan. He was afraid that things would be exposed, so he wanted to kill him to silence him."

Ren Fengjue remained calm, clearly expecting this, and then asked, "How is the situation at Li Ada's home?"

Guan Yue said, "Everything had been arranged in advance. There were no casualties, and two people were even captured alive."

Ren Fengjue finally relaxed a little upon hearing this.

"Let's go in and check the situation."

Lu Xian, a staff member in the mansion, has been handcuffed in the hall as a "suspect" awaiting his fate, while the servants kneel in a row, trembling with fear.

Meanwhile, the prefect's wife, Madam Wang, was being supported by her maid and was weeping uncontrollably.

But with Ren Fengjue's arrival, the main hall instantly fell silent.

Sobbing, Madam Wang pleaded, "Lord Ren, you must... catch the murderer and avenge my husband!"

Ren Fengjue nodded slightly to her: "Please accept my condolences, Madam."

When Lu Xian saw Ren Fengjue, his legs went weak and he immediately knelt on the ground.

"Lord Ren, you are wise enough to know that the Prefect's death has absolutely nothing to do with me."

Ren Fengjue didn't respond, but instead chose the chair closest to him and sat down.

The butler personally stepped forward to serve tea.

"Lu Xian, where were you around midnight last night?"

As he asked the questions, his gaze subtly swept across the faces of everyone in the room.

Lu Xian replied, "Around midnight... I was not at home, but went out on business as ordered by the Prefect."

Ren Fengjue then asked, "What matter?"

Lu Xian knew that things had come to this point, and there was no point in hiding it anymore.

He gritted his teeth and said, forcing a smile, "I am acting on the orders of the Prefect to eliminate Li Ada, the murderer in Yan County, and his entire family!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Wang's face changed drastically, and she shouted, "Lu Xian... what nonsense are you spouting? How could Master have ordered you to do such a thing?"

Lu Xian dared not meet her gaze, but in order to clear himself of suspicion, he dared not hold back and simply told the truth.

"Because six months ago, the real murderer who killed the mother and her two children in Yan County was Prefect Zheng..."

"He had Li Ada take the blame and go to jail, thinking that as long as the criminal was executed, the matter... could be covered up."

"Unexpectedly, as the day of execution approached, Lord Ren suddenly summoned Li Ada for interrogation..."

Wang was so angry that she trembled all over. Ignoring the maid's attempts to stop her, she stepped forward and slapped Lu Xian hard across the face.

"You heartless wretch! The master treated you well when he was alive, how can you be allowed to slander him like this now that his body is barely cold?"